Forum

My Reasons MJ Was Not Someone I Looked Up To.

Posted by Cara Twillie on February 7, 2010 at 4:47am

First, let me say, the man was a genius musician and I loved his music. 

 

BUT he really did us a disservice by not letting himself be seen with patches of Vitiligo.  If he had, even just for a while, people would have had a better understanding of his choice to depigment.  The transformation is hard but worse is an almost immediate seeming switch.  Kinda like the whole Sammy Sosa "mystery".  Once I found out MJ had Vitiligo, I got mad.  He was one of our best chances at getting the world to understand.  I guess his insecurity got the best of him. 

 

Maybe I am wrong for feeling that way, but at that point, I wanted to be the face of Vitiligo.  I dont want people with Vitiligo to hurt.  I wish everyone with it could have the attitude I and some others have about it.  I just think that he pushed us back a step as far as social acceptance because of the choice he made and being in the spotlight.

You need to be a member of Vitiligo Friends to add comments!

Join Vitiligo Friends

Email me when people reply –
Follow

Replies

  • Sand February 8, 2010 at 12:30pm
    I think one of the things that the media has failed to mention is that Michael Jackson possibly had Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). I think the general public who doesn't believe that he had Vitiligo see his skin transformation as another attempt to "fix his flaws" thus hiding behind an actual disorder.

    I was diagnosed as a child and I remember MJ's various shades from when he was diagnosed in 1987 to when he spoke to Oprah about having Vitiligo in 1993. I remember being incredibly angry and offended at that time because he clearly wasn't spotted like I was and for years I would say that he was a liar because at no time did we ever see him spotted.

    It wasn't until I started rapidly naturally depigment that I actually believed that he had Vitiligo. Honestly, I suspect that he never even chemically depigmented but covered up his spots with heavy makeup for years. If you look up pictures of "They don't care about us" video, you can see some of his remaining pigment.

    At this point, I feel more compassion for MJ because I have issues with BDD and can't imagine having gone through my own issues in the public eye. And the man had some very serious issues aside from Vitiligo.

    What gets me is how the media describes how MJ looked later in life, "depigmented" and the descriptions of his skin then because I wonder if that is how people perceive me. I only have three spots of natural pigment remaining and people do make comments about my skin. I try to address some of the comments with some education about Vitiligo but a lot of times people don't quite understand.

    I admire your attitude toward Vitiligo and hope to get there someday!
    • Sarah M > Sand February 9, 2010 at 12:24pm
      ' I suspect that he never even chemically depigmented but covered up his spots with heavy makeup for years'.

      @ Sand
      Completely agree , the autopsy report stated that there was some pigmentation left around his chest area and also other parts of his body...I forgot where it was. I've read somewhere that his makeup artist also said that as his vitiligo got progressively worse, it became almost impossible for him to cover the spots with a makeup matching his natural skin colour…so he's forced to switch make up and started to use a 'pale/white' shade in order to match his vitiligo spots.

      @ Cara
      I think we all kinda wish that he did his bit to raise vitilgo awareness …. however I can’t even begin to imagine what it must be like for him to through it all in public.
  • AMY February 7, 2010 at 7:00pm
    I agree with you, If he had been more out there with it then vitiligo would just be another skin disorder that people just brush of as nothing. But it's too bad some of these celebs don't use their gift to be open. They hide alot behind all that fakeness of celebrity.
  • Hector February 7, 2010 at 1:52pm
    The guy had a lot of problems, as eccentric as he was he did help A LOT through his Heal the World foundation, he even donated all the proceedings of the Dangerous World Tour.

    He talked in interviews about his vitiligo more than a couple of times, of course he wasn't going to be out there parading the black patches. Be it as it was he lived under unbearable attention from the media.
This reply was deleted.