Why did Michael Jackson change his appearance?

Was there a logical(medical or otherwise) reason for him to change the way he looked?

I think Mindmelda gave the best explanation for this.

Here is a quote from Mindmelda:

I think he put all his energies into his creativity and recently, his children, and was afraid of sexual contact and intimacy because of his body dysmorphia. That's an extreme form of obsessive compulsive disorder where you feel too ugly to be loved and see yourself as disfigured, and can be addicted to extreme dieting, exercise regimens and plastic surgery. Social phobia and depression tend to go along with it. Jackson exhibited all of these things. People with it tend to be secretive about their disorder and can mistakenly be thought of as being vain because of their preoccupation with appearance. They're just the opposite, they feel defective and often become very reclusive out of fear of inflicting their defects upon others.

People with dysmorphic disorder tend to avoid intimate contact, feeling undeserving of sexual intimacy, too. They believe they're too hideous to ever be loved. I do think he enjoyed being around children more than most adults and that was for a couple of reasons. He felt children are less judgmental about appearances and more accepting in general (they aren't, actually, by age 5 children have definite views about who is fat, ugly, pretty, slim, etc), and also he felt he'd been deprived of his own childhood.

Even Jackson's preoccupation with dwarves and "The Elephant Man" were manifestations of body dysmorphia. He felt he had physical defects and these were people who he identified with. The method he used to have children is how a person who is "defective" has children, they cannot have them naturally, so they use a surrogate mother. It's been discussed publicly whether these children are even his biological offspring. They don't look like him at all. He may have wanted children but not wanted to pass on what was to him his genetic "defects". Again, manifestations of body dysmorphia.

my FtM transgender son and i
had this discussion and he said
he can relate to the sense of
never being able to just "be"...

being out of place in your own skin....
what a horror of a scenario and add
to that the nightmare of being a JW...

PLUS having wanker Joseph for a parent

that guy didnt have a chance....

He mentioned how his dad teased him for his nose.  His plastic surgeries started with his nose.  He also said that he loved his dad but despised him more than any other person. Someone here had the theory that he saw his dad in his face and he wanted to change the features that reminded him of him.  Who knows, but that sounds like as good explanation as any.  But remember too that much of his changing appearance and behavior had to do with his physical conditions.  The lupus is quite obvious in Thriller-era photographs and his vitiligo had started then too (as witnessed by the use of his white glove to hide it).  Then he stuck to only long-sleeved shirts, which hid the progress of the discoloration in his arms.  Photos from the Bad and Dangerous eras where you can see his chest clearly show marked vitiligo patterns.  More recent photos of his arms show only a few isolated dark spots.  But without an explanation from him on why he seemed to be changing from black to white until he appeared on Oprah Winfrey, people were left to wonder for years whether he was ashamed of his race.  But in fact he did have a real skin condition.  He also had the burn to his scalp which may have involved more plastic surgery (or hair grafts) to deal with, or which at least negatively impacted his appearance.

I personally think he looked his best in the Thriller era. His facial features were quite attractive and sexy (especially his eyes and lips).   It is sad that he ended up with such a disfigured appearance.  As Klein said, he didn't know when to stop.

Thank you Leolaia,  you beat me to it.

There is a lot of silly stuff spouted about Michael by people who haven't bothered to do their homework.

I knew a dark Maori with vitiligo on his face.  He is not with us any more.  May he RIP.  It is very disfiguering on dark skin.  I'm OK, I only have it on my bum where it seldom sees the sun and I'm white anyway so very few people have ever noticed it, but I can understand how devastating it would be to have it on your face and/or hands especially if you were a public figure.

So there you have it AGB.  You didn't have to ask that on an ex-JW website.

A quick Google would have answered your question for you.

There is an interview on CNN with Mike's dermatologist that covers the subject.  Use Google to find it.

Cheers

Chris

I changed my name because I hated what it represented: A loser and freak.

Geez, the brown stuff (melanin) does not rub off nor can it be bleached white.  It's not like a spray tan.

MJ stated once that he thought Afro-Americans were an ugly race, which may have been induced by his unthoughtful father's comments when

he was a teen trying to establish self confidence.  From the first nose job he continued with reconfiguring his face to that of a white person

including straightening his hair. Its true he may have been psychologically impaired with dysmorphic disorder, in conjunction with a strong bout of narcissism.

The sad part of his story is that I think the plastic surgeons that he connected to,  took advantage of his situation and monopolized on it to make them rich.

Just like the so called doctors that were said to be in his care, they were more or less PHD drug pushers that gave him whatever he wanted just so they would

be kept on staff and on the payroll. All a bunch of Hollywood blood Suckers    

These two photos are among my favorites of Michael Jackson, but you can see the lupus very clearly on his face:

And even more here:

As for his vitiligo, you can see it through the lightening makeup on his chest here (notice also the arms):

Geez, the brown stuff (melanin) does not rub off nor can it be bleached white.  It's not like a spray tan.

Patients in whom the condition affects more than 50 per cent of their body surface sometimes opt for medical depigmentation by applying a drug to the normal skin until its colour matches the areas affected with vitiligo. The results are permanent and irreversible. In addition, by undergoing depigmentation the individual will always be abnormally sensitive to sunlight. http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/ate/skinandhair/204975.html

"...including straightening his hair."

Good lord, I straighten my hair.  I do so because my hair in it's natural state (thick, course, and tight curls or kinks and shoulder length) is hard to manage if I don't straighten it.  I don't do it to appear white.  Black women do not straighten their hair to appear white.  Neither do black men.  Some black men who do it do it for style reason.  Think Prince, Morris Day, Katt Williams.  MJ in his younger days (back in the 70's) wore an afro which looks much like my hair in it's natural state (no chemicals or hot comb).

MJ may have gone under a procedure to have the rest of his skin match what was affected by vitillgo but I'm sure that most black folks who have the condition do not consider it to be an option.   I take offense to this topic and IMHO this topic is no better than the society saying way back when that all blacks with turn white in paradise.

Josie

society saying way back when that all blacks with turn white in paradise.

  They said that???  Do you have a link?

Josie, remember back in the 70's when white men used pipe cleaner perms to kink their hair into afros? I helped give my first father in law a perm that way, with literal pipe cleaners for tobacco pipes. Why did white people get kinky perms? Why do white women tan until they are very dark skinned? Why do white women get their lips poofed up? I don't think they are trying to turn black anymore than Michael was trying to turn white.

Just be thankful you haven't got vitiligo Josie.  Black or white, it gets the sunburn from hell and never tans to protect you from the next burn.  Plus it's not pretty.

You can hear clips of Michael himself talking about his vitiligo and how he is proud of being black in this BBC tribute.

Cheers

Chris

society saying way back when that all blacks with turn white in paradise.

Yes please post a link! I read the info just last week but I've completely lost the site where I found it.

Actually, I'm glad that this post had those pictures and explanations. I always thought he did it on purpose and was not sick at all. He does look sick, though, from the pictures (not doctored are they?). I'm a fan of MJ's and am glad to know the truth of the matter.

Poor guy. At least now he's at peace.

Charles Russell thought that vitiligo heralded the millennial kingdom:

*** zw00 10/1 p. 296 Can Restitution Change the Ethiopian's Skin? ***

The following, from the is the third we have seen reported. These suggest and illustrate the process of restitution soon due. The item reads,--

"FROM BLACK TO WHITE HE SLOWLY TURNED."

"PARKERSBURG, W. VA., Sept. 8.--It has fallen to the lot of the Rev. Wm. H. Draper, pastor of the Logan Memorial Church, of Washington Conference, A.M.E. Church, of this town, to give a living affirmative answer to the famous Biblical question, "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots?" Though once as black as charcoal, the Rev. Mr. Draper is now white.... He first experienced a prickling sensation on his face, and upon close investigation found a number of small white spots scarcely larger than the point of a pin. He became alarmed, thinking he had some peculiar disease, but he did not suffer, and aside from the prickling sensation felt nothing unusual. Gradually the white spots became larger and extended themselves, until now, after the change has been in progress for over thirty years, Draper has not a single dark spot on his body.

"Many years ago, before this strange metamorphosis took place, Mr. Draper was in charge of the same church he has now. He was popular with his flock and his departure was a source of great regret. When he recently returned to Parkersburg there was great rejoicing among the churchmen because their favorite pastor was coming back. When, however, Draper appeared in the pulpit the first Sunday, not one of the congregation recognized him. In fact, it was all he could do to convince them that he, a white man, was the same old black preacher they had years before."  

These pictures are not Michael Jackson, but illustrate what vitiligo can do to very dark complexions.

Here's a pic of Michael's face: