12 years after the death of Michael Jackson: why the King of Pop's skin color changed
The passage from black to white pigmentation was one of the great controversies of his life.
The transformation of Michael Jackson's skin was one of the most talked about controversies in the life of the King of Pop, the music star whose career marked a before and after of music in the '80s. His change began to be documented on the cover of the album "Bad", 1987, after the artist came from a traditional tan on his famous album "Thriller", late 1982. There was talk of treatments to change the coloration of skin and vitiligo, a rare disease that attacks epithelial cells. 12 years after his controversial death, the issue continues to be talked about.
If it was a simple eccentricity or a real health problem, you will never know for sure.
It is an interview made in 1993 with the presenter Oprah Winfrey, Jackson revealed that the change in his skin color was never intentional but quite the opposite: it was the product of a disease that he described as "white spots", vitiligo, a bad that suffers from around 2% of the world's population, which manifests itself through unpigmented spots as a result of the destruction of pigmentation cells by the immune system.
Jackson's words were corroborated years after his death, when it was revealed that the autopsy report made by doctor Cristopher Rogers mentions that the singer had "vitiligo, a disease that affects the pigmentation of the skin."
So many times compared to Elvis Presley, who rose to the top with music strongly rooted in the black community like early rock & roll, at the time, in the early '80s, many began to believe that Jackson seemed obsessed with following exactly the reverse path: being or appearing white, putting on his own body as a pledge of exchange.
For this reason the rumors that he did not have such a disease and that he bleached his skin with benoquin and other products because he was ashamed of being black. On the other hand, it is often said that those same products could have caused the vitiligo on Jackson's skin. While it is true that the use of whitening products can cause vitiligo, the truth was never known.
A comment from Michael Jackson himself on his beloved ET, his friend Steven Spielberg's movie character, perhaps sheds some light on a controversial, weird, controversial, and mysterious existence: "In many ways, the story of ET is the story of my life. He is in a strange place and wants to be accepted. Where he feels most comfortable is between children. He offers love and seeks love in return. And he also has a super power that allows him to take flight and go where he wants and away of everything mundane: I identify myself with that. "
What is vitiligo?
Vitiligo is a disease of unknown origin capable of killing pigmentation cells in the skin. The pathology is generated when the melanocytes, responsible for producing skin pigmentation, stop producing melanin, which in the short term begins to leave spots and later large areas of the body without their natural color.
It can affect the eyes and mucous membranes, such as the tissue inside the nose and mouth. Vitiligo is not contagious, nor does it affect internal organs. Its appearance is only at the level of the skin.
It does not represent life risks but generates profound psychosocial consequences in those who suffer from it since it can affect the patient emotionally and the relationship with his environment, it can also cause low self-esteem, sadness, stress, anger and insecurity.
