Freak Accidents Changed Michael Jackson's Face
Extreme Treatments Altered Star's Looks Not Desire to be White
Jul 18, 2009
Jackson was an unlucky victim of a series of freak accidents and illnesses, but a combination of his wealth, which enabled him to receive intensive treatments for quite ordinary problems, his dislike of interviews and an active rumour machine meant the simple truths behind his transformation was lost amid tabloid speculation.
He denied reports his changed looks came from a desire to be white in a rare interview with Oprah in 1993: “I'm a black American, I am proud of my race. I am proud of who I am. I have a lot of pride and dignity.” But the rumours still persisted; now here’s the truth behind Jackson’s infamous face.
From Afro to Black Wig
Jackson was introduced to the world as a precocious 10 year old sporting a balloon-shaped Afro in the late 60s, but by the time of his death aged 50 on June 25th 2009, he had voluminous shoulder-length wavy hair that’s unusual for a Black man.
The rumour was that his changed hair was part of his attempts at looking ‘less Black’. The truth is that during the filming of an advert for Pepsi in 1984, Jackson’s hair caught fire when the stage pyrotechnics sparked off too early and he suffered second and third degree burns on his face and head.
Despite hours of painful corrective surgery, Jackson was left with a permanent bald patch. Leonora Doclis, a specialist from leading hair loss pharmacy the Belgravia Centre said “Apparently the laser treatment reduced the scar to palm-size, but that is huge. If the follicles are damaged they will not produce hair. It is very unlikely that his hair grew back after this treatment.”
Jackson resorted to sewing in long, straight, softer textured hair implants into what was left of his own hair. This was probably down to Afro/Jherri curled-textured wig been harder to find and integrate into what was left of his hair. The other option was to go completely bald which would not have suited his elfin superstar image.
Over the years the wig styles have changed, from the long and curly look of the Bad era to the short style with middle parting in the You Are Not Alone video, and finally the shoulder-length style prior to his death. A post-mortem of his body revealed that Jackson was almost bald underneath his wig, proving that his changed hairstyle was out of necessity and not because he hated his African heritage.
Jackson’s Thinning Nose
Jackson’s original nose was broad but by the time of his death it was significantly slimmer with a high narrow tip. Some speculated that the taunts he received from his father who called him ‘Big Nose’ led him to seek surgery but again, an unlucky accident was the original cause of the change.
In 1979 whilst doing a complicated dance move, Jackson fell off the stage and broke his nose which led to his first surgery appointment with his now infamous plastic surgeon Dr. Steven Haughlin.
The first surgery left him with breathing difficulties, so he returned to have another one to correct it. Jackson admitted to only those two nose jobs: “I've had no plastic surgery on my face, just my nose. It helped me breathe better so I can hit higher notes."
However over the years, it became obvious that Jackson had had more surgeries, and his father’s taunts and a growing addiction to surgery may have played a part in the star’s continued changes to his nose.
Skin Lightening from Black to White
But the greatest change in Jackson was the lightening of his skin from brown to white. This was because in 1986 he was diagnosed with Vitiligo, a rare disease that causes drastic depigmentation in patches of the skin.
Jackson admitted to having vitiligo during the Oprah interview, “I have a skin disorder that destroys the pigmentation of my skin, it's something that I cannot help, OK? It's in my family, my father said it's on his side. I can't control it, I don't understand it.”
Jackson also had lupus which also causes skin to lighten, and the unlucky combination of these two conditions meant patches of white skin became more frequent all over his body.
In an attempt to even out his skin tone (the patches apparently started on one hand, which was why he started wearing a glove to hide it) he not only used make up, but also took various injections and underwent laser peels and acid treatments to lighten the whole of his skin, eventually resulting in his chalky-white colour.
The treatments and lupus made him sensitive to the sunlight which was why he sometimes carried an umbrella, wore a hat or a mask and always wore long sleeves.
Jackson’s addiction to pain killers also had innocent roots. He first took them to cope with the Pepsi Burns incident and painful skin treatments but he soon began to depend on medication to help him sleep, and after his many surgeries Jackson saw the benefits of Diprivan (an anaesthetic given to pre-surgery patients) in numbing his pain and helping his Insomnia but finding it hard to obtain unless during surgery, began having unnecessary treatments so he could be given the drug.
Jackson was the unfortunate victim of a series of fluke accidents and conditions that together caused the drastic change in his looks. The conclusion that he wanted to be white was understandable, but in fact the extreme treatments he received to deal with problems he couldn’t control was the reality behind his transformation.
Sources:
· Moonwalker; Michael Jackson;1988;Mandarin
· Michael Jackson: The Magic and the Madness; J. Randy Taraborelli; 1991; Citadel
· Michael Jackson Interview with Oprah Winfrey; AllMichaelJackson.com; 1993
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