The Man Who Did Not Prevail

Michael Jackson was to pop what Obama is to politics. No other African American man had gone so far. African Americans revolutionized twentieth century music, but those who sold millions of records were the people that emulated them, like Elvis Presley, The Beatles or the Rolling Stones. Because of this, he was always a source of pride for his race, although for the rest of the world it is difficult to comprehend how this could occur with a person that renounced the color of his skin.

In any case, everyone was there, moved by the surreal career of a broken toy, a trajectory for which any amateur in psychoanalysis rapidly found an easy explanation in the ease with which his father took out his belt and taught the Jackson Five the basics of sacrifice that the artistic world demands.

The price was much too high, and, perhaps, he paid it for the rest of his life. From the time he left his brothers, everything was marvelous and he achieved stratospheric sales figures. The 80s were a glorious decade for him, even while his nose gradually became thinner and his hair straighter.

All the scandals he had been involved in were unable to erase his legacy, and even seemed to strengthen it. In this industry, however, the only certainty is that a similar phenomenon will never be repeated.