The Master of Mystery
Shmuley Boteach: Alright, I want to speak about something with you which is crucial to this book. Of all the things I've seen about you, I have to tell you, I have never seen anyone who understands the power of mystery the way you do. (...) So there are two things I want to ask you. Talk to me about mystery and what it means to you and how did you get the discipline to hold back when you know that every TV show wants you? I mean, gosh, we're being pounded by every single show in America right now to get an interview with you. How do you, where does that discipline come from? Especially Michael, this is important to comment on, because people, your detractors willl criticize you and say, "Michael's a child, he behaves like a child" when really the only definition of maturity that everyone agrees on, is that maturity involves a capacity for delayed gratification. When other people act impetuously, and you can be patient and wait for things in their proper time, that's considered the essence of maturity and self-control.
Michael Jackson: Thank you.
SB: And your career is built on that and I'm not just saying that to flatter you. It's true, I'm amazed at it. So talk to me about mystery. How do you know this, where did it come to you, the power of that which is concealed?
MJ: Wow, you'r so observant. It's amazing how you notice details. Um, I studied... I love psychology, I love magic, I love... I love real beauty. I love real talent. I love when something's miraculous, when something's so beautiful you shouldn't get it. What I love about Halley's Comet, and I always say this to my lawyer, Halley's Comet is no more of a miracle than the moon or the sun. But we make a big deal about it because you see it once in a lifetime and everybody's out there to see it. You know astronomers and fans and people and it's this thing that circles around the solar system but you see it once in a lifetime. If it happened every night nobody would care, but to me the moon is just as miraculous. I always talk about deer and dogs and cats. A lot of people go, "There's a deer! There's a..." 'cause they're shy, they're always hidden. It's a big deal to see a deer, I mean, and I appreciate that, how people should appreciate real ability and I always say I don't care if you're the most talented person in the world, if you come on the television every day people will regurgitate you. You have to know how to play your audience. You have to know that and it's true, Shmuley. And it's not just a game. But it's real for me, it's real for me. It really is.
SB: How do you know that? For example, I had to be taught this. I write about this a lot in my books but I began to develop a lot of my ideas on it from insights from other writers, thinkers, philosophers, etcetera.
MJ: [If you remain mysterious, people will be] more interested, yeah.
SB: Look, if a woman is always taking off her top, no one's going to want to see her breasts.
MJ: That's right.
SB: But if she does it once in a while, that's what makes it so exciting. That's what makes it erotic.
MJ: That's right.
SB: But when it's, everyday...
MJ: That's right.
SB: Like you go to the African tribes and women walk topless, it's nothing.
MJ: Nothing, nothing. Leave something to the imagination. I believe in that and people are all...
SB: Did someone teach you that?
MJ: No. No, it just, looking at... learning from nature and learning you know, just watching and studying, being a serious observer. And umm, you can say to somebody, you can go, "There's six doors, you can open any of those doors. But the fifth door, don't open it. Don't open it, no matter what." Of course everyone is going, "What's behind door number five?" because it's the great mystery. And that's, everyone wants to expose door number five because you know... And I love that and it's not like a game but I want people to appreciate talent and ability. I only do an album every five years. Other artists do an album every year and my albums outlast and outsell all the other artists. And people wait for it. There's like, you know, a whole pulse going on about this album. [Michael was working on completing Invincible at the time]. It's like a fever, they're waiting, they're waiting. It's important to wait.
SB: So what is it about the hidden which makes it outlast the revealed? What is it about holding something back that people want it suddenly?
MJ: I just, I love, I do love the power of mystery, I really do. I think it's very powerful.
SB: Is it spritual? What is it?
MJ: It's spiritual, it's people conjure up all these ideas in their head about what's going on. I mean they used to say, you know, Howard Hughes is up there and he owns the hotel but he stays on that floor, he doesn't come down. He's in the dark, he's in the corner in the bed with long nails and hair down to here and he's hooked to an IV. So the brain would just go crazy conjuring up all kinds of crazy stories, and I love that. I love Howard Hughes 'cause he played this big thing. I mean, to me he's like one of my masters. But, I don't know, this is the first time I've ever said this Shmuley, I love Howard, he's a genius.
SB: Because what? Because he knew the power of mystery?
MJ: How to play people, yeah. He knew how to make the public interested. P.T. Barnum was pretty good at it himself.
SB: Is it just a matter of withdrawing? Is it that simple?
MJ: It's rhythm and timing. You have to know what you're doing. Like you never see me on award shows saying, "The nominees are...". And I get asked to do every show. Now they don't even ask. They know I don't do it. Or to host the show or to come out and say like, "Coming up next, Michael Jackson to present the record of the year.". You never see me coming out and doing the nominees. I don't do it. They know not to even ask me. It' not what I do.
SB:You will never do something which makes you be the means to another end. You're either the end or you're not. It's either about you or you're not going to be the road.
MJ: Yeah, and I'm not trying to say that I'm holy or God or...
SB: But you're not going to belittle yourself either.
(...)
SB: And that's what happened to Madonna. Madonna overexposed herself. She's still a celebrity but she's not what she was.
MJ: Yeah, I know.
SB: She didn't even overexpose herself, Michael, through TV and music. It wasn't that she gave too many interviews. Rather, she overexposed her body. She was a sex symbol. People wanted to know what her body looked like, and she did that stupid, sleazy, disgusting book, and all you had to do was buy the book. The mystery was permanently gone.
MJ: I know, I know. Exactly right.
SB: (...) So you instinctively knew timing, mystery? You just knew?
MJ: ?Yeah, it's true, Shmuley.
SB: It's not like a manager pulled you aside and said, "Michael. You can be a big star. Don't overdo it"?
MJ: No. No way.
SB: Did your brothers not understand it?
MJ: No, they don't understand it. They would jump on anything, any second. If anybody said, "I want to interview you tomorrow about Michael's new style of dress,"Sure." 'Cause they just want to be on TV, to be on TV. I think people appreciate you much more when you, you know conserve, just hold... you know
SB: Hold back?
MJ: Hold back and build yourself and give yourself a certain kind of class and make them reach out for you and just... (...) That, see, that's important to understand in show business. If you open with too much of a bang, where do you go from there? You crescendo too big, you have nowhere to go. You can't do that. That's why I always say, in amusement parks, the guy who creates the roller coaster, the dips, you're going up at first, way up and you go, "Oh my God, why did I do this?" Then it takes you straight down and it takes you up a little bit, then down, and he's the real showman, the guy who creates the dips. You know the peaks and the valleys, then he takes you straight real fast and up and upside down. He's a showman. That guy's a real showman because he understands syncopation and rhythm and structure and that's important. That's real important as an artist of show business and most of your artists today know nothing about it.
SB: They all overexpose themselves.
MJ: At all. At all.
