Narcissism killed Man in the Mirror Michael Jackson | News & Politics | News & Comment

FIRST POSTED JUNE 29, 2009

musical routines. Michael Jackson admitted to Oprah Winfrey that he would sometimes feel sick from fear at the sight of his father.

What seems to have been especially traumatic to Jackson as a child was his father's nickname for him: 'Big Nose'. He subsequently had so many nose jobs that after a point his surgeons dared not risk another one and began to fake them, persuading Jackson that they had done further surgery when they had not.

For Jackson, the persistent pressure to perform at the top of his ability and to perfect his image to conform to some idealised icon he had in his mind, were powerful indicators of his desperate longing to be loved by a father who had made him feel he could never get it right.

Michael Jackson's face changed from being that of a black African-American boy to looking like a Hollywood female starlet, with a markedly slim nose, white skin, and a dimple on his chin. Some photographs make Jackson look remarkably similar to such female stars as Elizabeth Taylor and Liza Minelli, both of whom he was close to and admired.

Bubbles may have been the only one whom Jackson did not feel he had to wear a mask for or perform to in order to be loved

There was an uncanny sense that Jackson was trying to slip into the body of a woman. It has also been rumoured that Jackson was on hormone treatment to preserve his high falsetto voice. His increasingly feminine appearance suggests that he may have felt, at least at an unconscious level, that he could only have really been loved by his father if he had been a girl.

At a deeper level, Jackson may also have come close to resembling a woman as a way of trying to be inside his mother's body - a mother who had not perhaps been able to make him feel she was able to keep him inside her mind.

Jackson's attempts to transform his physical appearance were also bound up with his terror of aging. While Jackson took other extreme measures not to age, such as sleeping in an oxygen tent, his emotional development seems to have remain fixed at the point of his sudden stardom.

Walter Yetnikoff, head of CBS Records, who bought the Jackson Five from Motown, recalled: "He had no social skills. Sometimes I felt that he was still six." Although Jackson was not 16, like Narcissus, he discovered his nemesis when he was discovered by an adoring public.

Perhaps the saddest and most telling relationship Jackson managed to have in the course of his life was with his pet chimpanzee, Bubbles, whom he adopted in 1986 and treated much as a baby or a baby extension of himself.

The well-known pioneer of French psychoanalysis, Jacques Lacan, once referred to his dog, Justine, as the only one who never took him for another. By this he meant that his dog did not expect him to be anything than what he was and was therefore the only one who made him feel truly loved.

We can imagine that Bubbles, like Justine, may have been the only one whom Jackson did not feel he had to wear a mask for or perform to in order to be loved. Humans, in his experience, loved him for the star they wanted him to be and his desire to fulfil this role played a major part in his premature death at the age of 50.

Jackson's incessant quest to transform himself into a public idol in order to find the love that he was yearning for may yet ultimately - and ironically - succeed.

The German doctor Gunther von Hagens was said to have been in talks with Jackson months before his death to preserve his body as a 'plastinated' mummy, to be placed next to his beloved Bubbles, who was plastinated a number of years ago, to live on forever together.

FIRST POSTED JUNE 29, 2009

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That's your opinion... I respect it but can't agree with it though!

Posted by Dorisandro at 4:50pm on June 30, 2009

Actually if you do some research on Narcissism, Joe was a textbook Narcissist. Michael was emotionally and mentally enmeshed throughout his life, and while he had Narcissistic tendencies and some ego, he was far from Narcissistic. I think if anything, the world outpouring proves he was adored and approved of by his fans. He was a huge and giving humanitarian, something the press failed gravely to report on. He had a skin disease and lupus. His plastic surgeries, however many he had, were most likely related to his disapproval of himself. While kids at the age of five were playing tag and hide and seek, he was performing in clubs. The stage was his base of identity, and approval. He suffered horrible verbal abuse, was called ugly, his nose made fun of. On top of mental and physical abuse. He's stated all he wanted was his Father's love and approval, and never got it. Michael was a "mirror", a "product" to his Father. I'm on the fence of whether he was a scapegoat or Golden Child. Look up Adult Children of Narcissists. You'll find Michael. Quit looking on the outside. Michael is a rarity of the heart.

Posted by Gracie Mae at 10:39am on July 1, 2009

Michael never had a real life. His life is a testament to what child abuse does to children and how it can affect them the rest of their lives. Joe should be brought up on charges for what he did to Michael-other parents have been when the child becomes adult. Michael needed serious counseling. If I had realized sooner I would have written to him, or tried. He and Diana had a lot in common, both went to the public realm seeking the love and adoration lacking in their lives. His life is sad, and it is going to be sad how it will be disected publicly. His children need protecting from his sicko family. I don't trust his Mother any more than I trust his demented father. His father used those kids as income until they could break away, Michael thankfully did, however he spent his life trying to "look different" than his father, explaining the surguries-I am not like you!! I wish he could have gotten the help he needed. Being in the public eye it would have been hard, and of course the press would never give him a break. I am so sorry he is gone, although considering he had lupus it was always a time game. When? Males also can get lupus and considering how the news media liked to attack him it would have been degraded and made fun of. I don't understand why the media has always made fun of him? He is and was a Superstar in his own right. He deserved respect, not ridicule. It shows the power of the media, even though his music sales told a different story. It is perverted that his demented father felt the need to call in a couple of old dinosaurs-Jackson and Sharpton. No one is interested in them. It would be an insult to what Michael stood for, unity of all humanity and love, to have them speak at his funeral. If they are on I will not listen to them as their drivel is out of date. We know his importance in breaking down the race barrier, however if you notice his kids are white. He was everything to alot of peoples of the world. I am sorry he is gone. I am sure he is watching us from the other side astounded at all the love we did have for him, all he had to do was reach out, it was always there. "Would someone please dim the lights, a great act (and man) has left the worlds stage" )O(

Posted by Carrie at 12:40pm on July 1, 2009

Also, I do hope Mark Lester can get custody of his children. As their Godfather he should be given the right, after all why have godparents? They need a break from the circus of that family. Let's hope his estate is protected. The justice and legal community need to do right by him for a change...and so does the media. These articles are sorry to read. Michael had the right to live his life the way he wanted, and did. Who would have wanted to trade places with him. Although I personally would have sued my father for the abuse I received as a child, and publicly condemned him for it. I am surprised none of his siblings have done this. He may have made peace with his Mother, she is still not the best thing for his children.

Posted by Carrie at 12:44pm on July 1, 2009

Michael Jackson was by any judgement a special human being, some of the so called "weirdness" is an easy word for a dystopian world and it's subjects. His genius came with a price which laymen cannot begin to understand, the physical abuse from his father to a wonderfully gifted young boy is unforgivable and left him psychologically scarred throughout his life! The drugs were a 'cry for help' to alleviate his physical and emotional pain! We should not condemn him but should understand, there are many things we can all learn from Michael but history tell us we won't! In a world inhabited by nonentities we can ill afford to lose his genius and human qualities. The world is poorer for his passing!

Posted by rogeruk at 2:11am on July 5, 2009

Well said Gracie Mae. I believe what you say wholeheartedly.

Posted by Tracie Richardson at 1:50pm on July 9, 2009

I truly believe that if the media hadnt hounded Michael Jackson, he would still be with us today. I was a huge fan of his during the 80s and part of the 90s (basically until Id outgrown that level of fandom) and everyday at school and college, people would give me newspaper clippings about MJ some from UK, some from imported mags. I saw the media change almost overnight. He was saying that he didnt want to give interviews because he was tired of being mis-quoted and he went from being portrayed as a sensitive and shy enigma to Wacko Jacko wearing masks, sleeping in oxygen chambers, and having extensive plastic surgery. And Im ashamed to say it came from the British tabloids (the sniggering schoolboys that they are). I feel that if that hadnt happened and if the public hadnt been so happy to join in kicking him, then individuals wouldnt have felt there was enough public support to take him to court with false allegations, and he wouldnt have spent the rest of his final years defending himself over and over again. Since his death, Ive been looking at some of the coverage Ive missed over the last decade. What a horrible way to live. Im surprised he made it this far. Once you call someone mad, you can get away with saying pretty much anything about them and people will think at the very least, Hmm, well maybe. I mean he is crazy after all. Im really pleased to see here that there are some people who are questioning what they told and not just engaging in some bizarre public execution.

Posted by gojogo at 2:32pm on July 11, 2009