(ThyBlackMan.com) Was on a talented writers blog one evening, he goes by the name of Derrick Jaxn (and his namesake is the title of the blog, too.) I soon, ran across an interesting piece he wrote a while back titled “Hailed then Nailed.” In short, he elaborated on how the African American community (other races do it, too, obviously, but this is a black blog.) can raise its most famous celebrities up on a pedestal, but as soon as the celebrity commits a wrong, they are then ostracized, placed with the burden that they are horrific human beings and spurned from the rest of the born sinners of the world. As if their sins are “greate……never mind.
Toward the end of the article, he rolled off a few names of our fellow black celebs whom we verbally decapitated. In chronological order: Chris Brown, Chad Johnson, Gabby Douglas, Kanye West, LeBron James, Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson.
Of course, Michael Jackson is the of-all-end-all of being demolished by his
own. I’m sure everyone who knows me, or have read my articles on other sites, know I’m a huge MJ fan and I like to Christian myself a historian of him. After four years of post-death in-depth examination of his life, music and other dealings, I find it funny that the African American community decided to claim him as theirs, again.
Just forget the last 20 plus years that we disowned him because of his lightened skin, assuming that he didn’t want to be black. Or, that we still said he bleached his skin when the last 16 years before his death he said he preached he had vitiligo. How the tables when you’re not living, right? Calculate his plastic surgery, eccentrics, “preferred” relations with white people, and albums’ never reaching Thriller status in the sales department, what you have ladies and gentlemen, is the eponym-based Michael Jackson Effect.
Essentially, the blueprint is simple; all a black celebrity has to do is something that is considered “offensive” by any stretch of the word by the general public and media, everything and I mean everything that celebrity does will be scrutinized, examined and nitpicked. Prime example from the list Mr. Jaxn mentioned, Lebron James. The fact that he embarrassed his former team on national television was just the fuel to a fire destined to burn. For the next two years, he was destroyed constantly and given an even higher standard after his lost to the Dallas Mavericks in 2011.
Already with a tarnished image, he embraced the villain role that 2011 season only to see his popularity take a sharper decline. Sadly, jokes about his hairline were at the time, and still will be endless and unless he wins 7 rings, NBA fans won’t let him forget he’s no Jordan or Kobe. And of course, that he converted teams to win. Even after seizing his second crown this past June, I won’t be surprised if he still feels a tad but uncomfortable and slighted.
To bounce back to the “overall” effect of discouraged criticism, I use to read reviews of Michael Jackson’s last three albums he released alive, (Dangerous, HIStory and Invincible) and thought it was unbelievable how the reviewers (of perhaps white reviewers or tied in his personal life and eccentrics to his work. I thought, “What does that have to do with his work? His artistry?” And I realized nothing. As long as you’ve done incorrect to the media and the public, they will never forget it and use it against you.
I read Rihanna’s Pitchfork review of her latest album Unapologetic, and half the review was concentrated on why she was dumb for taking Chris Brown back and attempting to take her listeners on a guilt trip. A reviewer’s job is to critique the music and do compare and contrast with the artists other works if they choose to. But, once in the Michael Jackson Effect, things that have nothing to do with your work field will now be brought up. It’s one thing when the white media says it, but the sting is even deeper when it comes from your own race.
The Michael Jackson effect is one of the few things that are crippling the black community. We raised the celebrities that we worshiped then secluded so high, that we forgot that they were human beings who ate, slept, and used both options in the rest room like the rest of us. What makes it worse is that once that celeb crosses that stratosphere, it’s three times as hard for them to get back to the popularity they once had.
Mr. Jaxn noted that Chris Brown was nominated for awards, made hit singles and sold relatively well. But what does he get branded with? Being a woman beater. Still. When he cried doing a MJ tribute, “He’s trying too hard.” Multiple apologies to Rihanna; “He’s still a woman beater.” Then the irony of the situation, he becomes the bad boy he believes he is, and people tell him it’s a cry for attention and he needs help. As the late Tupac Shakur once said, “America eats its babies.” 19 years later, and a semi product of the MJE, he couldn’t have been more correct.
But let’s refocus back to our problem. Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston both went to their graves being ridiculed, chastised and criticized by their own over their addictions to drugs and inappropriate behavior that I’m 99.99 percent sure somewhere in the world one of ours is doing the same exact things the two gifted artists have done. R. Kelly and Rick Ross will never shake their image from their allegations. Gabby Douglas, to many, will be the girl who didn’t have her hair in the best shape when she won the gold. Want to know why? Because we, as in the African American community tie the image to the person. And we forget that we don’t have an image, so we can easily say “We’re all humans, so we make mistakes.” We pull down our own until they’re dead. Then we carry them into the sea and act like we missed them as they float off. You already know, crabs in a bucket.
But what’s even funnier to me, is let R. Kelly be someone’s brother, MJ ones uncle. Gabby ones best friend and Chris Brown ones cousin. I’m willing to bet my pay checks for the rest of the year the concept of them being verbally crucified will change in an instant. I’ve seen it happen countless times, “If you don’t know this person/don’t know what happened then don’t speak on it.” On social networking sites, it makes my head spin. So, if it happens to us as in the common folks, or to someone we know personally then we protect, and defend, but because they are celebrities, then they going straight to damnation until it’s time to go home? Maybe self-hate comes out of our own the same way inner racist comes out of white folk when Barack Obama comes on TV.
At the end of the day when it’s all said and done, the same people we laugh at, judge, ridicule and hate, have feelings, too. When R. Kelly leaves off stage, Robert Kelly has to read and hear the young girl taunts. When Rihanna gets nitpicked about her smoking or living on the edge, or that she’s an idiot for going back to Chris Brown, Robyn Fenty has to hear it. And trust me, this isn’t a holier than thou message, I’m not even the one to kick it. But, what this is, is a message to stop the unlawful crucifixion of our own. Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston would probably break down in tears if they saw the support they now have.
It’s a travesty that they will never personally witness their image be immortalized. And if we keep it up, we will be singing the praises of how great of an artist Rick Ross, R. Kelly and Kanye West are when they are no longer living. And I stress, and emphasize, that the white media is guilty of this cause, too. It was mainly the white media who constructed or assisted the downfalls of Jackson and Houston (not that some was self-inflicted,) but when the bus splashed mud on the two artists, we stood there and laughed, and laughed, and laughed. Besides, we have to remember that everybody wants to smell their roses while they still can, ask Amy Winehouse and my late older brother, Minister Landrum Washington.
Music Editor; Brad Washington
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