King of Pop Makes a Comeback

Thank you God, for finally giving me an opportunity to watch a surreal comeback story that neither a Christopher Guest mockumentary nor a Joaquin Phoenix fabrication could top. Ladies and gentleman, allow me to reintroduce Michael Jackson, the King of Pop.

Perhaps not to be outdone by Britney Spears’ literal circus, Michael Jackson is going to be performing a number of shows this summer at London’s O2 Arena. Already, the number of shows has been bumped from 10 to 50—all for a guy who hides from the public with masks and veils.

As part of the shameless promotion of the event, Jackson was recently brought before a ton of psychotic, screaming fans to give a press conference. With his face looking slightly more human than usual, he waved, did a number of poses, and repeatedly said, “I love you, I really do,” and, “This is it. This is really it.” By “it,” he is referring to what he calls “the final curtain call”—in London at least. A press release from the O2 Arena’s website gushes about the momentous performances and says, “This really is ‘It’!” The “it” is bold and capitalized, just like Stephen King’s “It,” the psycho-clown who terrorizes children.

The website makes such a ridiculous attempt at mythologizing that even Jerry McGuire might get a little embarrassed: “Three quarters of a million fans clearly feel the same way and their attention will now turn to the actual concerts, perhaps the most anticipated in history. Up there alongside Elvis Presley in Las Vegas, Michael Jackson is about to write a new chapter in entertainment folklore.”

Beyond the predictable popstar hyperbole, the promotional material tries to show why literally the whole world will have some hyper-historical, folkloric obligation to paying attention. Anschutz Entertainment Group, who is responsible for this incorrigible (yet unsurprising) selling of Jackson’s comeback, is able to hide behind one thing—its bottom line.

As with any business, AEG will only sell what people are willing to buy. As it turns out, all 50 of the concerts have sold out in what is being touted as “record time.” Although there seem to be hints of ticket-site scamming, it is fairly apparent that MJ super-fans are still numerous, and they somehow have enough liquid assets right now to both buy a ticket and travel to England.

I almost understand where ticket buyers are coming from: I too love Michael Jackson’s music. It was some of the first music I ever got from my parents, and before he went completely nuts (or was abducted by extraterrestrials), I even liked watching his music videos on VH1’s “Pop-up Video.” I always went to see “Captain EO” when I was at Disney, and the “Free Willy” soundtrack was one of my favorites when I was six.

It’s clear why I, like millions of people, enjoyed his music and even respected him as a person, but that was before the horrifying accusations, the strange and incriminating behavior, the drug abuse, the strange surgeries, his marriage to Elvis’ daughter…the list goes on. Since the first allegations emerged more than 15 years ago, the world has been a forced audience to one of the most bizarre stories of modern pop culture.

Do people forget, or do they just not care? Perhaps on one hand, his fans are simple irrational fanatics who will show up no matter what.

On the other hand though, it always seems that, with Michael Jackson, he is able to let just enough time pass before emerging once again. He does so when even the most fanatical supporters cannot keep him afloat, allowing public amnesia to expurgate the immediacy of his sins.

After time has passed, these fans (and perhaps even you and I) are somehow able to reconcile his completely reprehensible and inhuman actions with the feel-good catchiness of “Billie Jean” or “Thriller.” They, with the rest of media and entertainment, are able to separate their knowledge of the past from the present and herald the return of the freak show like it was the Second Coming.

For those who have bought tickets, I am not going to say whether it’s right or wrong because that’s not my question to answer. I will say, though, that I look forward to a day when the human memory will evolve past providing us with only the capacity of holding life-long grudges against friends who owe us money and instead allow us to remember the more gruesome details of recent history. Also, to ticketholders, I’m sure it’ll be an interesting show. If MJ’s behavior over the last 20 years in any indication, “This Is It” is likely to be an epic fail, and I’m glad we’ll have YouTube to watch it go up in flames. After Michael has made his comeback, and we are left with our obsolete memories, I look forward to 2020 and Chris Brown’s “Wife-Beater Tour.”

—Staff writer Andrew F. Nunnelly can be reached at nunnelly@fas.harvard.edu.