It's an interesting topic of discussion too, as long as everyone treats each other - and Michael - with respect. I don't doubt that we all love Michael so there should be a place for a discussion like this on the forum. It needn't be tucked away in the 'Hood' section IMO. Besides, we've had similar threads (like the "what makes you a heretic among MJ fans" thread) before without any problems.
There's one thing about Michael that I completely changed my mind about in the past week but I didn't really find the thread to share it. Perhaps this is the place. I've always felt this strange contradiction about Michael that he was very humble but at the same time seemed megalomaniacal. I didn't understand the HIStory statues, the obsession with breaking records, wanting to be called the King of Pop, the weird paintings that depicted him as a king or an angel, how he wanted us all to see the fans' extreme adulation, et cetera. To me it went beyond ambition and I even suspected he had narcissistic disorder (not in the nasty sense that people associate it with, just in the sense that he craved outside approval and needed to think of himself as exceptional).
But then a few days ago I came across an article of a woman - I think she was a professor - who did a critical analysis of the Black or White video. I never really understood the meaning behind that video and the controversial ending but that article was a true eye opener for me. This woman grew up in the 1960s and she related a conversation she had with her black friend (she herself was white). She described the racism that Michael experienced growing up and the racism and denigration that his family members and musical role models (Sammy Davis Jr, James Brown, etc.) were treated with. Of course I knew Michael had to deal with racism but as a white European woman in my 20s, I had never realised what a profound impact this must have had on Michael. He had a natural competitive streak anyway but he must have felt like he needed to work twice as hard to get the recognition that white artists like Elvis and the Beatles got (and he was probably right). As the author of that article noted, he needed undeniable proof of success in the form of record sales, sold out concerts, global adulation, to prove that he could be equal to or surpass the greatest white artists. That's why it was important to him to be recognised as the King of Pop and to have the greatest selling album of all time. All of these symbols - the statues, the paintings, the records, the awards, the adulation - were a way to signal to the outside world that he was an man of accomplishment, not to be denigrated or dismissed like his predecessors. Now it makes sense to me how he could be so humble yet at the same time care so much about 'superficial' signs of success that a "real" artist shouldn't care about. This is probably already common knowledge among his black/minority fans but it came as a revelation to me, and I consider myself to be rather worldly
