Michael Jackson Yale Conference Media Coverage Inaccurate
"Regarding Michael Jackson: Performing Racial, Gender, and Sexual Difference Center Stage" a conference at Yale University that brought together scholars from many disciplines for two days, Sept. 23-24. The A.P. report by Diane Scarponi was inaccurate in saying that the legal case against Michael Jackson was not discussed.
(PRWEB) September 30, 2004 - The conference, "Regarding Michael
Jackson:Performing Racial, Gender, and Sexual Difference Center Stage" brought
together scholars from many disciplines for two days at Yale University, Sept.
23-24. Michael Jackson has both a private and a public personae. The Yale
conference focused on Jackson as he presents himself as a public figure and in
his artistic production. In a sense, the conference was a preview and a
validation of the many ways he will be studied in the future as a cultural
force, as someone who has pushed the limits of not only music, dance, video and
film, but also the limits of the right to self-expression within a cultural
framework.
The papers, respondents and discussions focused not on
speculations about Jackson's motivations for personal and artistic choices, but
on how those choices have altered the terrain of performance, music, and culture
itself. His cultural influence can be seen in the multi-disciplinary nature of
the conference, drawing people from musicology, fine arts, English,
culture/media studies, critical theory and photography. Each presenter brought a
different optique within the context of a thorough knowledge of and appreciation
for the significance of Jackson's work.
The papers fell into two broad
categories: 1) Jackson's cultural influence as he has tested boundaries of
stereo-typical, cultural conceptions of race and gender through his
self-expression, and 2) analyses of Jackson's music, videos and films. Uri
McMillan's paper, "White Ambition: Michael Jackson, Racial Erasure, and
Aesthetic Surgery" was not a discussion of specifics about Michael Jackson and
plastic surgery, as the title suggests, but comprised a historical view of the
uses of plastic surgery by various races and ethnicities as a strategy for
coping with prejudice and seeking economic mainstreaming.
Musicologist
Jason King discussed Jackson's vocals in his earlier, adult music, comparing
them to others of his contemporaries. Nora Morrison presented her readings of
themes of racial tension in Jackson's films (Beat It, Thriller, Smooth Criminal,
and The Wiz), as in each of these pieces, Jackson subdues unruly crowds through
music and dance. Rose Theresa's paper, "Michael Jackson, the King of Melodrama:
Innocent until Proven Guilty," was enlightening about the theatrical genre of
melodrama, which was explored through Jackson's short film,
"Ghosts."
Todd Gray's paper was an exception to the two categories, in
that he brought personal knowledge of Jackson to his presentation, as Michael
Jackson's personal photographer for many years, (and designer of the "feet
logo"). Gray showed installations and imagery of exhibitions of his photographs
of Jackson. He said that Jackson had specific ideas about how he wanted to be
represented to the public, and exerted full editorial control over each
photograph that was published.
The A.P. report by Diane Scarponi was
inaccurate in saying that the legal case against Michael Jackson was not
discussed. K. C. Arceneaux's paper, "Michael Jackson: Media and Mythologies,"
presented facts about the child-molestation case against Jackson that have been
suppressed or omitted by media, and explained how media taps into mythologies in
order to raise ratings and "sell" the news. Refreshingly, the conference did NOT
concern gossip about Jackson's personal life, nor mention tabloid stories, nor
rumors. Instead, the conference was a serious look at Jackson's work and his
vanguard position within culture by scholars who were thoroughly familiar with
his artistry. It should be noted that popular culture, as a kind of ongoing,
contemporary history, is a frequent topic in university classes, seminars, and
conferences, and that other celebrities have also been the focus of serious
study as they take their places in the history of art, music, and theater. This
kind of serious study is a needed, balancing counterpoint to the often
inaccurate media coverage of Jackson.
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/9/prweb163004.htm