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25 June 2011

Michael Jackson祭日二週年

今天是已故流行音樂天王巨星Michael Jackson (29 August 1958 — 25 June 2009) 的二週年祭日。因此,打算寫些關於他的文章,以此紀念這位我的「偶像巨星」。

兩年前Micheal Jackson的暴斃死訊頓時轟動整個世界,尤其是對於當時期待著他的最後一場演唱會的歌迷們。一個顛倒音樂和舞台、魅力發射光芒的超級巨星的突然絞死,人們在震驚中總會覺得那是一件難以接受的順理成章的事情。普遍上,巨星的一生必然比我們這些平凡人所經歷的更加豐富、多姿多彩、富戲劇性的,甚至是傳奇性的,因為這樣才配得上「巨星」的定義。因此,作為他們生命的最後一幕,巨星的死必須是超越性的:超越平凡,超越俗套。如此,他們的生命才會取得一種文化符號上的完整意義。

Micheal Jackson自小就出道,從小就被認為與「偉大」不可分開。如果他的暴斃絞死,能夠將他從當時的聲名狼藉中脫離出來而被投進於永生不朽中,那他應該會含笑而離世吧。眾所週知,Micheal Jackson是一個大孩子,一個拒絕長大的大小孩(好像S.H.E的《不想長大》):他喜歡小孩,喜歡玩具,建造Neverland,把自己當成Peter Pan小飛俠一樣。看來,這明顯基於他心理上的一種補償行為:他希望尋回所失去的童年、童真和童心。可惜的是,現實和事實都告訴我們,沒有任何人可以擁有兩次的童年,就算天王巨星也不例外。Micheal Jackson窮其一生的精力試圖去找回他所失落的童年,可是他不知道,就算在他的夢幻樂園完成後,他所追求的其實早已被丟在背後,一個離他非常老遠而永遠回不去的地方。

此外,Micheal Jackson的悲劇,也基於他失去了一種「界限感」:他企圖想要超越種族、膚色、年齡、體能,甚至生理的界限,而不斷地去進行整容、漂白和服藥物,甚至睡在氧氣房里,以為這樣可以讓他更長壽。這種看似非常天真既無知的行為,可能是來自Micheal Jackson在舞台上呼風喚雨的無所不能的感覺。對於他這深信自己能夠自我改造的能力和信念,有時候人們看了也會為此感動和敬佩。

無可否認的,Micheal Jackson的舞步讓全世界的人們都傾倒,備公認為舞台王者(King of Dance)。我一直認為他的獨特舞步是無人科取代的,他在舞台上的神奇魅力,不只是因為他的扭動性的肢體舞蹈,而是彷彿將所有的熱情都釋放出來,將歌、舞、人三者都結合為一體。因此,他的音樂和舞蹈,乃是一種「看音樂,聽舞蹈」的創新性。難怪對於70、80年代成長的X Generation來說,Micheal Jackson的地位是不可取代的。Micheal Jackson已經成為這個時代的人的共同記憶。

有人說,某某名人的離世象徵一個時代的終結(現在已有Post-Micheal Jackson這個Urban Term)。Micheal Jackson的死,其重大的時代意義是無法被低估的。美國Newsweek週刊如此形容,Micheal Jackson「也許可能是我們最後一個流行音樂天王」,而事實上他的確是史上獨一無二的流行音樂之王。在MTV剛興起的時代,他創造了主導性的潮流。他的1982年面世的《Thriller》,至今仍是全球最暢銷的大碟。在他之前的巨星如貓王(Elvis Presley)、披頭四(Beatles)也從來沒有Micheal Jackson紅遍全球的偶像魅力的瘋狂跡象。在他之後出現的Madonna、Britney Spears、Coldplay、Beyonce、Lady Gaga在面對當今互聯網時代的低迷音樂口味的影響下,更不用講。

然而,Micheal Jackson對於世人,意味著甚麼?我們不該把他放在宗教廟宇里當神靈來供奉,也不應該將那些困擾他下半生的醜聞當作一種「消費性的娛樂事件」來看待。Micheal Jackson也許真的擁有太多才華可以揮霍,但他始終還是無法負擔起對自己身份的一種迷茫:他超越種族、性別和年齡的行為和吸引力,來自他對自己的膚色、性慾和作為一個黑人男人特徵的壓抑和否定。最後,他寧可選擇失去和掏空自己的主體性,將自己改造成一個不黑不白、不男不女、不老不少的「非人」:Micheal Jackson把自己奉獻給舞台、觀眾和流行音樂的方式,也注定了他生命必定是以悲劇收場。

最後我想要說的是:Micheal Jackson對我們世人而言,最大的啓示,不在於他的成功,而是他的失敗。世人當吸取Micheal Jackson悲劇為教訓,他的悲劇作為一個警世寓言,提醒我們:人只所以為人,必須具備完整的自我意識,以及主體性。我們都是按著上帝的形象被創造的,這是人的形象可貴之處。


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6 comments:

  1. Hi Isaac! I agree with you about MJ's music, since you are more than qualified to comment about the music part. However, I do not agree with you about his life, how he 'tried to be neither black nor white, neither man nor woman'. His life is not a tragedy, in my opinion. The only tragedy is how much people misunderstood him. Believe me, I had some doubts about him before, but after his death, I felt that I owe it to him to find out the truth behind all his controversies.

    Yes, it's true he bleached himself, but no, it's not because of vanity, simply because he had vitiligo, which nobody believed, even after his autopsy report (http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/02/09/mj_autopsy.pdf) came out. FYI, bleaching is a treatment method for a disfiguring vitiligo. The amazing thing about this is how from his disease he managed to start a fashion trend - the one glove. I remember seeing an interview of a person with vitiligo, he mentioned about how his skin discoloration appeared on his one hand at first, and he thought about wearing one glove to cover it. Then he remembered that MJ did it already, years before.

    The sleeping in oxygen chamber (whatever it is called) is a hoax. It is a little more complicated than a simple hoax, really, as truths are wont to be. I remember reading somewhere that he was giving it to the burn center he set up at a hospital after his Pepsi accident, he went inside for a publicity shoot and wham!! the next day the papers talked about how he slept in the oxygen chamber. For his part, he did not clarify at all as he thought it a good publicity to let people think he was as different as a superstar can be. You can probably apply this same storyline to all the rumors you heard about him.

    As for his molestation trial, it was just a big joke, except that I guess the stress from it ultimately cost him his life. I read some articles from reporters covering the trial, and the general consensus was that the prosecutors were wasting their time on a non-existent case, with not an ounce of evidence to support their accusation.

    So when you said his life was a tragedy, I have to disagree with that. I think his life was a shining example of triumph over adversity. Despite the misunderstanding of the whole world, he still managed to give his message of love through his music. I am not speaking as a fan of his music, but rather as an admirer of his person.

    If you would like to affirm what I said above, you can go to this website http://mjtruthnow.com Ignore the comments on the pages, and all you will get is cold hard truth about Michael Jackson. Now that he's gone, getting all the facts right is the least justice we can give him.

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  2. Hi Yee Cai, it is glad to hear from your comment that is totally from another different perspective and even based on some unrevealed truth behind his story. I have to agree with you that I did not really go deeper into the actual truth behind his story. To me, his death is still a tragedy as a reminder to the world. I just feel that the way he deals with the news reported against him has brought a big impact to his life. I do not reject his success in making a better world through his music and charity works, but his death is also a lesson to the world. I totally respect my idol MJ and I definitely wish people will know more about this superstar. Anyway, thanks for your insightful sharing and some informations about MJ and this has shown that you are in fact more qualified to comment about MJ.

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  3. Hi! very late reply to this :P and thanks for your reply! I see your point. I am glad someone I respect like him and write so much about him :D

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  4. Isaac, MJ有白癜风 他不是无法接受自己的黑人身份而漂白的 可没有人相信 但我相信 因为我不觉得他是个歧视自己身份的人呢!他是个很有爱心的人 视每个生命都很宝贵的人 我也超级respect他!

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  5. 我很同意樓上的講法!:) MJ確是患有白癜風;所謂的「漂白」只是新聞報道一派胡言!加上目前世界上還未有人工漂白皮膚這門技術。而且他為自己是一名黒人而驕傲!
    而没人比他更有愛心了,救助兒童的捐款超過三億。
    另外,他共進行四次整容手術,共三次為了表演而受傷去整鼻子,一次是下巴凹槽。
    「服藥物」?!其實在MJ死後,在驗屍報告中指出,他身内並無非法藥物,藥片或者酒精。
    我覺得最最可笑的是「睡在氧氣箱」0_0,MJ本人都有多次解釋這是誤會,也又是新聞報道一派胡言...那氧氣箱是MJ出錢建造,為了MJ成立的慈善燒傷中心的病人,因他也曾經因為燒傷而去整容:')為何他被拍到睡在内裏?因初建造成後MJ感好奇,就躺上去一會試試,結果就被記者拍了照!:@而且長睡氧氣箱會死的=.=
    MJ曽多次解釋以上事件的真相,他在他的自傳「Woonwalk」也提這些事,但人們只把他愈描愈黒:(没有人相信...他是一個很好的人,不論對家人,朋友,妻兒和fans都極好!MJ死了我希望人們能結開以前對他的誤解和懷念他一生充滿奇妙色彩的天王!:-*
    RIP and God bless you Michael Jackson!:D

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  6. Hmmmm …. this websites is fantastic, I love reading your posts. Keep up the great work! You understand, many people are hunting around for this information, you could aid them greatly.

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