[Buckaroo]

 Jacko Appears on magazine cover| Showbiz | This is London

[Art Vandelay]

Has he changed his nose again? It doesn't look as sharp as it used to be or maybe it's just been airbrushed in the photo.

[design219]

Must be a prosthetic.

[Jawbone54]

Still freaky.

[Rumor]

I don't care what anyone says, Thiller and Moonwalker are badass.

[CRASH HARDDRIVE]

Is there anything of him left that's actually real?

[Shaddim]

He looked great during "Off the Wall" and "Thriller", and ok when "Bad" came out, don't have a clue what happened after that.

Just some bad surgical choices, I guess.

[brassplayersrock²]

only some?

[Shaddim]

Hmmm, I guess I was trying to be polite.

Does make my skin crawl, though.

[KeriVit]

OK, MJackson is still the King regardless of his freakish nature.

[ghporter]

Michael's nose in the picture is well lit and properly made up. The paparazzi pix tend to be HORRIBLY lit-maybe intentionally so. Get two idiots with cameras flashing at about the same time and you can make both pictures look like a horrorshow. Not that Michael's nose is at all "human-like" but it ain't as bad as you see in those stupid "candid" pictures.

But I miss Michael from 25 years ago. He was GOOD. Really, really, really good at singing, dancing, performing, and just plain being BAD. But I don't know what happened to that guy. Maybe he burned up after that accident on the Pepsi commercial set. Michael hasn't been the same since...and he's gotten worse. It's sad.

[IceEnclosure]

new nose? it's ****ing photoshop.

[IceEnclosure]

also, see how the part around the nostrils makes a cool looking "M"? sick!

[Buckaroo]

Has his hair changed?

[Buckaroo]

Doesn't it look like that Partridge kid? I forgot his name.

[shifuimam]

Has anyone yet figured out how he went white?

I think is going to be the eternal unanswered question in western society. We'll figure out time travel before we figure out how that dude morphed into a white guy.

[Kerrigan]

"Nappy headed ho"

Anyways, I think what happened is that somehow or another he decided he wanted to be "light-skinned" because it would make him look more like Peter Pan (enabling him to use his appearance as a pickup line on kids) and then dunked himself in bleach.

[Buckaroo]

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

Has anyone yet figured out how he went white?

I think is going to be the eternal unanswered question in western society. We'll figure out time travel before we figure out how that dude morphed into a xxxxxxx.

This is out of line. Please edit your post. This is out right rude.

[shifuimam]

Better?

Also: I'm still wondering how you can bleach your skin THAT MUCH without it burning off or something. It goes way, way beyond unnatural (Pamela Anderson's ever-changing chest) into terrifying (Jocelyn Wildenstein).

[Kerrigan]

What did he morph into? A cracker? A wigger? The terminology doesn't matter, because we all know what really happened: an incredibly talented man morphed into a creepy mooch who avoids work at all costs.

[Face Ache]

I remember when he was still cool and could sing about girls with some credibility.

Working Day And Night is still a great song.

[hyteckit]

Who's the hot chick on the cover?

[Stogieman]

Janet Jackson

[Sealobo]

Ebony?

[Kevin]

Thriller is still a good album. It's just hard not to picture him molesting little kids while listening to it.

[richwig83]

He is a genius, i dont think anyone can challenge that!!

But I miss Michael from 25 years ago. He was GOOD. Really, really, really good at singing, dancing, performing, and just plain being BAD

Totally agree... those were the days... still got Bad and Thiller on LP!

[Sherman Homan]

Originally Posted by Sealobo 

Ebony?

Ivory.

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

Michael's nose in the picture is well lit and properly made up. The paparazzi pix tend to be HORRIBLY lit-maybe intentionally so. Get two idiots with cameras flashing at about the same time and you can make both pictures look like a horrorshow. Not that Michael's nose is at all "human-like" but it ain't as bad as you see in those stupid "candid" pictures.

Actually, it is. A least the last time I saw it in real life.

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by Kerrigan 

What did he morph into? A cracker? A wigger? The terminology doesn't matter, because we all know what really happened: an incredibly talented man morphed into a creepy mooch who avoids work at all costs.

You say that like it's a bad thing.

[Powerbook]

<Connery>

"I'll take The Rapist for five hundred!!"

</Connery>

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

Has anyone yet figured out how he went white?

I think is going to be the eternal unanswered question in western society. We'll figure out time travel before we figure out how that dude morphed into a white guy.

There is a disease called vitiligo that causes melanocytes to stop producing as much or any melanin, and it affects a small number of people of African heritage every year. Michael has this disease, and has had for many years.

And your wording is, to say the least, inelegant, and more likely just plain meanspirited.

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

Has anyone yet figured out how he went white?

I think is going to be the eternal unanswered question in western society. We'll figure out time travel before we figure out how that dude morphed into a white guy.

Nope. It is answered.

He has vitiligo, which is a skin condition which causes loss of melanin, the skin pigment. The exact cause is not known, but it's thought to be a combination of genetic, auto-immune, and environmental factors. Michael Jackson first mentioned it in an interview with Oprah in 1993. When it was early on, he could cover up the white spots with makeup, but as more of his body lost pigment he opted to bleach the rest of his skin, which is an acceptable treatment.

Vitiligo can be very damaging psychologically, especially when the person is darker skinned to begin with. I have a black patient in my practice who has advanced vitiligo. His entire body is blotched with white and black skin. Most people shrink away from him as though he has a terrible contagious disease or something. He's decided to go through with bleaching the rest of his skin white, like Michael Jackson. The last time I saw him, his "black spots" were much lighter.

There's no doubt about Michael Jackson being nuts. And that's why people have trouble believing the vitiligo story. But as crazy as the bleaching story sounds, one would think that if he was doing it just to "become white," that bleaching wouldn't be an acceptable cosmetic treatment for vitiligo, but it is, which lends credibility to Michael Jackson's story.

Now, the nose... three words. Body. Dysmorphic. Disorder. These people have a distorted body image, even though most other people don't think there's anything wrong with their appearance. These people think they're so disgustingly ugly that they can't show themselves in public, for fear of being ridiculed. The rich, like Michael Jackson can "do something about it." Like getting repeated nose jobs until there's no nose left, or repeated face lifts that there's nothing left to lift. I can imagine that a person with BDD who has vitiligo would turn to skin bleaching.

That's the most likely explanation for Michael Jackson's transformation from a black man to a white woman, as my father put it one day. "When did Michael Jackson turn into a white woman?"

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

...and it affects a small number of people of African heritage every year.

Vitiligo affects whites, too, only it's not as noticeable, obviously.

One of my trainers, an infectious disease specialist, has it. If you look at his hands, his fingers are completely pink (like albino pink), while the rest of his hand is noticeably darker, yet still "white." And the edge between the areas is ragged and splotchy. It hasn't affected his face, and you have to really be looking to notice it.

[Dakarʒ]

I'd like to see the untouched PSD file.

[shifuimam]

Oh no, I know about the vitiligo thing. But I've seen plenty of people afflicted with it, and none of them have a 100% change in skin color - it's patchy, even if it's large patches. The dude completely, 100% changed his race. I just have my doubts that it's a result of vitiligo.

And even if it is, where are the pictures from when he had patches, before bleaching the rest of his skin? If the patches get larger - or he later chose to whiten the rest of his skin - he should have been dark-skinned with white patches for awhile, as opposed to what happened, which was a gradual but uniform whitening of his entire body.

Not only that, but he has done a lot of things to caucasian-ify himself. The nose job, the makeup, the cheekbones, the chin cleft...

He's really a curious entity.

[design219]

Originally Posted by Dakarʒ 

I'd like to see the untouched PSD file.

[Dakarʒ]

In retrospect, I didn't want to see the untouched psd file.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by Person Man 

Michael Jackson first mentioned it in an interview with Oprah in 1993. When it was early on, he could cover up the white spots with makeup, but as more of his body lost pigment he opted to bleach the rest of his skin, which is an acceptable treatment.

He also said he wasn't a child molester. And a lot of other lies.

I wonder if the nosejob and the other modifications he did to his body were done because he had a skin problem..

The difference between this procedure and any other is, black people saw this as him turning his back on them, and trying to be white. So his explanation could just be a lie to cover up some weird desire to want to be white.

I am not saying this is the case. But has it actually ever been PROVEN that Mike has this condition? He hasn't been known to be the most honest guy in the world.

I also remember Doctors at the time dismissing his claims.

[RAILhead]

IN all seriousness, I want to know how he made himself white. It's not makeup. He seems to have actually changed the color of his pigment. HOW?!?!?

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by RAILhead 

IN all seriousness, I want to know how he made himself white. It's not makeup. He seems to have actually changed the color of his pigment. HOW?!?!?

The same way girls have been getting their brown eye bleached.

[shifuimam]

You can bleach your EYES? I want in on that gig! I'll bleach mine and have them tinted day-glo orange. Preferably with a pigment that is blacklight responsive.

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by RAILhead 

IN all seriousness, I want to know how he made himself white. It's not makeup. He seems to have actually changed the color of his pigment. HOW?!?!?

From the Wikipedia page on vitiligo:

Alternatively, some people with vitiligo opt for chemical depigmentation, which uses 20% monobenzylether of hydroquinone. This process is irreversible and generally ends up with complete or mostly complete depigmentation.

That's how.

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

Oh no, I know about the vitiligo thing. But I've seen plenty of people afflicted with it, and none of them have a 100% change in skin color - it's patchy, even if it's large patches. The dude completely, 100% changed his race. I just have my doubts that it's a result of vitiligo.

I believe him. He probably did have vitiligo. But many people won't (or refuse to) believe it because of all the other nutty stuff he did. The bleaching technique my patient is using will result in uniform, white skin.

And even if it is, where are the pictures from when he had patches, before bleaching the rest of his skin? If the patches get larger - or he later chose to whiten the rest of his skin - he should have been dark-skinned with white patches for awhile, as opposed to what happened, which was a gradual but uniform whitening of his entire body.

We'll probably never see pictures. MJ is super, super secretive so that will see to that. Also, he's a performer, and had access to makeup. Makeup can cover a whole lot. He probably first used black makeup to cover the small white spots and once the white spots got to big he switched to white makeup to cover the black spots. You can use makeup throughout the bleaching process. Also, he didn't need to cover his whole body with makeup. Just the parts not covered by his clothes.

Not only that, but he has done a lot of things to caucasian-ify himself. The nose job, the makeup, the cheekbones, the chin cleft...

Yep. And I offered a theory on that, too. Body Dysmorphic Disorder. Think about it. If you already had some measure of BDD, and then you developed vitiligo that would either make you a blotchy freak or completely white, wouldn't you opt for the bleaching, and then go for surgery to make yourself look more Caucasian? I know it doesn't make sense, but then it's Michael Jackson we're talking about. Your final statement says it all.

He's really a curious entity.

And we'll probably never know the full truth.

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by Dakarʒ 

In retrospect, I didn't want to see the untouched psd file.

You can't unsee it.

Also, I think his lips are weirder than his nose.




And can anybody tell me why he's so white?

[Powerbook]

Originally Posted by Person Man 

Vitiligo can be very damaging psychologically, especially when the person is darker skinned to begin with. I have a black patient in my practice who has advanced vitiligo. His entire body is blotched with white and black skin. Most people shrink away from him as though he has a terrible contagious disease or something. He's decided to go through with bleaching the rest of his skin white, like Michael Jackson. The last time I saw him, his "black spots" were much lighter.

No offense, but why didn't you tell him to get a proper cure??? My black colleague with severe vitiligo (face, arms) went twice to Africa to get treatment. He's 99% black again now (condition also further improving).

PB.

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by Kevin 

He also said he wasn't a child molester. And a lot of other lies.

True.

I wonder if the nosejob and the other modifications he did to his body were done because he had a skin problem..

Perhaps. As I indicated to shifuimam, he could also suffer from Body Dysmorphic Disorder, so it's entirely possible the vitiligo could have triggered the rest of the transforming surgeries. Re: the nose, it's apparently always bothered him, if interviews with his brothers/sisters are to be believed.

The difference between this procedure and any other is, black people saw this as him turning his back on them, and trying to be white.

Sure. Especially because he was/is a public figure. Nobody is accusing my patient with vitiligo of "turning his back on being black."

So his explanation could just be a lie to cover up some weird desire to want to be white.

Could also be true.

I am not saying this is the case. But has it actually ever been PROVEN that Mike has this condition? He hasn't been known to be the most honest guy in the world.

He has always been one of the most secretive guys in the world, so it will definitely never be PROVEN one way or the other. It's too personal and he will never let himself be tested. He probably doesn't care what people think.

I also remember Doctors at the time dismissing his claims.

You'll always find doctors on both sides of the fence when disputing something like this. When celebrities are involved, you'll find doctors supporting their claims, and you'll find doctors dismissing them. Which do you think the press is going to want to cover? Yep, the ones dismissing them, because it's more juicy that way.

Same thing with murder trials where the perpetrator claims insanity/incompetence. The defense will find a psychiatrist that will say insane/incompetent and the prosecution will find one that says not insane/competent. Who's telling the truth? Hard to say.

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by Powerbook 

No offense, but why didn't you tell him to get a proper cure???

*I* didn't tell him anything. I'm also not the one who sent him to the dermatologist, who he picked on his own, based on recommendations from friends and family. I'm not a dermatologist, so I'm not qualified to tell him what his treatment options are, what the risks/benefits of each one are, what the likely outcome is, etc. He is the one who made the decision. And an informed one at that. He researched every option available before deciding. So to him, it is a "proper" cure.

My black colleague with severe vitiligo (face, arms) went twice to Africa to get treatment. He's 99% black again now (condition also further improving).

I'm not saying that this is what your colleague had done in Africa, but according to the Wikipedia page on vitiligo, it can be done the other way, too.

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

In late October of 2004, doctors successfully transplanted melanocytes to vitiligo affected areas, effectively repigmenting the region. The procedure involved taking a thin layer of pigmented skin from the patient's gluteal region. Melanocytes were then separated out and used to make a cellular suspension. The area to be treated was then ablated with a medical laser, and the melanocyte graft applied. Three weeks later, the area was exposed to UV light repeatedly for two months. Between 73 and 84 percent of patients experienced nearly complete repigmentation of their skin. The longevity of the repigmentation differed from person to person.

There are many ways to treat conditions, and you have to look at the patient's specific situation when evaluating them. Some might stand out as being clear choices given the situation, but in this case, where each one (going all white or going all black) has advantages/disadvantages that are relatively equal, no one option is "more right" or "more proper" than any other.

If I had to guess at advantages/disadvantages to both options (bleaching vs repigmentation) in a black person, I'd come up with:

Bleaching
Advantages: Gets rid of the blotches. Permanent. (i.e. no risk of having to do it over)
Disadvantages: Makes you white. Permanent. Risk of chemical damage to skin, scarring, etc.

Repigmentation (according to the technique above)
Advantages: Gets rid of the blotches. Makes you black again.
Disadvantages: Not a complete guarantee of success. Risk of rejection of transplanted cells, risk of damage to the skin with the laser. Not guaranteed to be permanent.

Relatively speaking, six of one, half dozen of the other.

[Rumor]

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

You can bleach your EYES? I want in on that gig! I'll bleach mine and have them tinted day-glo orange. Preferably with a pigment that is blacklight responsive.

That explains wanting your nipples pierced, you little raver you.

[Rumor]

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by Powerbook 

My black colleague with severe vitiligo (face, arms) went twice to Africa to get treatment. He's 99% black again now (condition also further improving).

Oh yeah, why did he go to Africa? Are there no places in the U.S. offering that treatment? How much did it cost? How did he pay for it? The answers to these questions could mean the difference between one option vs. another. Most insurance won't pay for something like this. (It's "cosmetic" and therefore unnecessary).