Michael Jackson : Grasping the Spectacle

"Throughout his 40-year career, Michael Jackson intrigued and captivated public imagination through musical ingenuity, sexual and racial spectacle, savvy publicity stunts, odd behaviours, and a seemingly apolitical (yet always political) offering of popular art. A consistent player on the public stage from the age of eight, his consciousness was no doubt shaped by his countless public appearances, both designed and serendipitous. The artefacts he left behind - music, interviews, books written by and about him, and commercial products including dolls, buttons, posters, and photographs, videos, movies - will all become data in our cultural conversation about who Michael Jackson was, who he wanted to be, who we made him to be, and why. Michael Jackson: Grasping the Spectacle includes essays that aim to understand Jackson from multiple perspectives: critical cultural theory, musicology, art history, media studies, cultural anthropology, sociology, philosophy, religious studies, literary theory, gender studies, performance studies, disability studies, film studies, and African-American studies. Intended for classroom use as well as research and general interest, this book expands our understanding both of this fascinating figure himself and of gender, sexuality, celebrity, and popular culture."--Provided by publisher Cover 1 Half Title 2 Dedication 3 Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 List of Figures and Tables 8 List of Contributors 10 General Editor's Preface 14 Acknowledgments 16 Introduction Chasing the Spectacle of Michael Jackson 18 PART I MYTHOLOGY AND IDENTITY 26 1 Freaks (from On Michael Jackson) 28 2 Michael Jackson and the Myth of Race and Gender 40 3 Sentenced to Neverland: Michael Jackson, Peter Pan, and Queer Futurity 56 4 Michael Jackson and the Quandary of Black Identity 68 PART II MUSIC AND IMAGE 82 5 The "Split" Biography: Man in the Mirror: The Michael Jackson Story 84 6 From Pop Icon to Postmodern Kitsch: Images of Michael Jackson in Contemporary Art 98 7 Putting the Music Back into Michael Jackson Studies 118 8 "We Are Here to Change the World": Captain EO and the Future of Utopia 134 9 Tomorrow Today: Michael Jackson as Science Fiction Character, Author, and Text 148 PART III BODY AND DEATH 162 10 Dancing with the Elephant Man's Bones 164 11 Cultural Anxiety Surrounding a Plastic Prodigy: A Performance Analysis of Michael Jackson as an Embodiment of Post-Identity Politics 184 12 The Unbearable Lightness of Being Michael: The Religious Witness of Michael Jackson 198 13 "We Are Going to See the King": Christianity and Celebrity at Michael Jackson's Memorial 208 14 Remember to Always Think Twice: The Reconciliation of Michael Jackson 224 Bibliography 240 Index 256 Throughout his 40-year career, Michael Jackson intrigued and captivated public imagination through musical ingenuity, sexual and racial spectacle, savvy publicity stunts, odd behaviours, and a seemingly apolitical (yet always political) offering of popular art. A consistent player on the public stage from the age of eight, his consciousness was no doubt shaped by his countless public appearances, both designed and serendipitous. The artefacts he left behind - music, interviews, books written by and about him, and commercial products including dolls, buttons, posters, and photographs, videos, movies - will all become data in our cultural conversation about who Michael Jackson was, who he wanted to be, who we made him to be, and why. Grasping the Spectacle includes essays that aim to understand Jackson from multiple perspectives: critical cultural theory, musicology, art history, media studies, cultural anthropology, sociology, philosophy, religious studies, literary theory, gender studies, performance studies, disability studies, film studies, and African-American studies. Intended for classroom use as well as research and general interest, Grasping the Spectacle expands our understanding both of this fascinating figure himself and of gender, sexuality, celebrity, and popular culture. -- Publisher description