michael jackson before and after michael jackson plastic surgery victim

A famous plastic surgeon traced the singer's path from a typical African American to a disfigured white-skinned "doll"

August 29, 2018 is a sad day for all fans of the legendary Michael Jackson. The "King" of pop music could have turned 60 today. Many are sure that he would have easily lived to old age if he had not been so obsessed with his own appearance, had not tortured himself with diets and plastic surgeries.

The leading plastic surgeon of one of the Moscow clinics told the readers of the site what changes the famous singer made to his appearance. Alexander Igorevich VDOVIN .

In his opinion, today no one will say for sure how many plastic surgeries were done to Jackson. But if we compare photographs of the early period of his life with later ones, then several facts become obvious.

Rhinoplasty

Michael personally admitted in the pages of his autobiography that he changed the shape of his nose, and made a "dimple" on his chin. Then the singer claimed that the operation was a necessary measure to fix the septum after falling during rehearsals. But I am sure that the reason is different: Jackson has been unhappy with his appearance since adolescence.

"Thank you" to his father, who inspired the boy's complexes. They say that the artist had dysmorphophobia - a psychological illness in which a person suffers due to any shortcomings and imperfections in appearance.

During the first operation, the doctors narrowed the bridge of the nose, but this was not enough for Jackson. As a result, Michael had five rhinoplasties, and his naturally wide nose of a typical African American turned into something shapeless and scarred. It got to the point where he needed a cartilage transplant because his nose started to rot and failed. To do this, I had to take part of the rib.

1980 Still black Michael Jackson. Source: GLOBAL LOOK PRESS

Contour plastic

Already at that time (early 2000s), operations to change the shape of the face began to gain popularity. For this, silicone implants and fillers were used, which were introduced into the chin and cheekbones. This is what Jackson did. The result of such plastic surgery was an unnaturally wide face and deep depressions. Coincidentally, during that period in the life of a pop star there were several lawsuits at once, so it is not surprising that Michael became haggard, lost weight and began to look bad. He tried to fix it with makeup.

They say that the singer always dreamed of an “outstanding” chin, so the implant was inserted there too, and the seam in the middle of the chin was healed - hence the dimple. All together, it looked terrible, coupled with thin lips, an unnatural shape of the cheekbones and chin.

Color of the skin

The press procrastinated the fact that the "king" of pop music suddenly "turned white". It was rumored that for this they bleached his skin with a special potent drug - glutathione. However, after the death of the singer, it turned out that the cause of these metamorphoses was vitiligo - a violation of skin pigmentation.

To hide the spots, Michael was put on a huge layer of makeup and prescribed a large amount of potent drugs. This, of course, could not but affect the state of his health. As a result, his skin turned sallow and Jackson was forced to wear a mask.

Three years before the singer's death, the artist was diagnosed with skin cancer. They even said that Michael had a full skin graft, but this is hard to believe. He underwent several operations aimed at destroying cancer cells, but in the end he was tired of fighting the disease. Surprisingly, Jackson did not die from cancer. His heart simply stopped beating, and this, according to the doctors, had nothing to do with skin cancer.

Many celebrities entrust their faces to plastic surgeon Alexander Vdovin

Michael Jackson's plastic surgery is a delicate topic for the singer's fans, but exciting the minds of the public. In the press and on television, amateur psychologists talk about "hundreds" of surgical interventions on his appearance; fans compare photos from different years, trying to prove that his face hasn't changed that much. Michael himself avoided discussing this topic, reasonably noting that the artist should have been interesting to the audience primarily with his art. Michael, of course, was right about this, but given the public interest in this side of his life, it would be wrong to completely keep silent about it. Therefore, we asked one of our authors, professional dancer Amor (Lyubov Fadeyeva), to shed light on this issue from a point of view closest to that of Michael himself - from the point of view of an artist.

I have been asked many times to write about the role plastic surgery played in the life of Michael Jackson. Several attempts to start this text ended in failure - each time something stopped me. Because it's not easy to talk about it. But the time has come to fulfill the promise, despite the fact that you will have to deal with the many negatives that this difficult topic has acquired.

Type in Google "stars and plastic surgery", and you will find a lot of photos of famous people, and under them - hundreds of negative reviews, conflicting opinions, tactless remarks of the idle public. Michael Jackson had to endure such pressure, perhaps in the most severe form - in the history of show business. That is why talk about plastic surgery in the life of Michael Jackson has become the topic of the most violent debate, even among his fans.

Because of the speculation and slander that surrounds her, fans don't like to talk about this topic, which is quite logical. After all, it’s really not too nice to delve into how many times an artist has changed his own face with the help of any operations or procedures, if he himself did not like to talk about it. Usually people do not call crowds of spectators when they go to a beauty salon or to a doctor's appointment. So in this case, there is something so personal in this topic that it would not be too ethical for annoying gossips to infiltrate. Michael has repeatedly said that the appearance of an artist should not be discussed so meticulously, and that there are more important topics - first of all, his own work. It is impossible not to agree with this. But it is also obvious that too much attention has been drawn to this topic, and it is impossible to completely bypass it.

I'm not a doctor, but an artist. An artist who also turned to plastic surgeons. Therefore, the topic of plastic surgery is familiar to me firsthand. And I would like to explain to those who are not familiar with this field of medicine how an artist's view of plastic surgery can differ from the generally accepted one.

It so happened that for many people plastic surgery is something from the category of taboo or gossip. You can discuss stage costumes, music, dance - this is normal, but plastic surgery is perceived as an intimate affair behind the scenes, plus, even worse, they perceive plastic surgery as an attempt to interfere in the affairs of nature, to argue with God, to create something ridiculous and unnatural. There was a stereotype: if you do plastic surgery, it means that you have psychological problems that you solve in the wrong way. Many psychologists broadcast the popular idea of ​​"accept yourself and love as nature created." All this is not bad. But this is hardly a universal recipe and a broad view of the problem.

I would like to look at this topic from a completely different angle - precisely for the reason that it is feared and denied, and the conversation about Michael Jackson in this regard inevitably comes down to the questions “How many operations did he have and which ones?” or “What was his problem?”

In fact, it is pointless to try to count operations, prove and determine the causes for each case separately. This is very important to understand. Plastic surgery is done with one main goal - to look better, and their number can vary from one to several manipulations at a time, depending on what a person wants to achieve. Some things can be done both separately and at the same time. It is more important not how much to operate, but HOW.

Therefore, I will not unsubstantiatedly assert that Michael did such and such an operation for such and such a reason. And I will not, as Michael's fans usually do, give examples of his photos at different ages in order to calculate how many times his nose has changed or something else. I'd rather talk about my own trips to surgeons. I hope that in this way I will help the reader understand how it happens, why it happens, and what can be judged from the outside, and what can not.

In addition, it seems important to me to explain the meaning of plastic surgery as I understand it - differently than it is customary; talk about it as a movement towards progress. So that questions and disputes about the quantity and quality of someone's operations finally recede into the background.

"Saw, Shura"

Patients of plastic surgeons are divided into two types: some are quite calm about questions on this topic (like me), others tend to hide everything. Some, even with a nose that suddenly became obviously straight from a crooked one, want to tell everyone that “it was like that.” Surgeons sometimes complain that patients try to completely hide their acquaintance with them, contacting the clinic. It shouldn't be condemned. Sometimes it is more comfortable for a person to leave all his work on himself behind the scenes and even forget about some episodes as much as possible. But no matter how much the patient hides something, the fact and the process of change are an exciting happy moment for him. You're like a butterfly flying out of a cocoon! It's an amazing feeling.

Nature has rewarded me with a far from ideal appearance, I am critical of myself. Yes, I can present myself. I can choose my photos in which I look more advantageous. But aesthetic medicine made me a little better than what I was by nature. And this is still not the limit of what is desired.

My first approach to aesthetic medicine happened when I was seven years old. It all started with orthodontists. From early childhood, I went through a number of manipulations to change the bite, of which not all were successful, but my smile was completely changed by the age of 22.

I have dreamed of reshaping my nose since childhood and ever since I accidentally saw an old documentary about the Georgian surgeon Vakhtang Galaktionovich Khutsidze as a child. A unique film, very meaningful and, what I would especially note, very refined and spiritual. Almost the entire process of the operation was shown there in general terms. How anesthesia is injected into the face, an incision is made through the nostrils, everything superfluous is pulled out from the inside and, as if when creating a sculpture, they hit the bone part of the nose with an osteotome and a hammer, and in the final, they seem to mold the nose with their hands, setting it in place. I saw with what bruises people came out of these operations, with plaster bandages on their faces, and what amazing metamorphoses they underwent when everything healed. It was the 80s, the film is black and white. It was called Make Me Pretty. I remember him for the rest of my life.

I must say that no one in the family ever criticized my nose, my face or figure. I was loved and praised enough. Therefore, my claims to my appearance come from me, and not from my parents or strangers.

Later, as an adult, I bought a book on plastic surgery and read about existing technologies to change certain parts of the face, especially rhinoplasty (nose surgery). It was very helpful, because I not only roughly understood what I wanted to do for myself, but also learned about the history, development and improvement of plastic surgery. For example, before they did a lot of the same type of nose changes, which is why the appearance of patients was more unnatural and some stereotyped. Now the individual features of the shape of the face and nose of a particular person are more taken into account. In addition, noses that were made 20-30 years ago more often came out with breathing problems. Surgical techniques and instruments were less sophisticated - for example, lateral incisions along the nostrils were more often used, while now almost all manipulations are done from the inside, with the exception of some difficult moments. For example, specific African noses require incisions on the sides of the nose, because the nostrils are partially cut and moved closer to the center of the face, leaving external seams on the sides of the nostrils.

I will not bore readers with details, everyone, if desired, can read such books, websites, even watch films and photos. The main thing that I would like to convey when talking about my experience is the fact that this is a certain path, that a person does not come to this suddenly, and that plastic surgery is a very exciting and exciting topic.

Therefore, from the theory I will tell only the most basic.

Rhinoplasty (surgical correction of the shape of the nose) is almost the most popular operation in plastic surgery, in addition to braces and other rejuvenation procedures. It is interesting that often very slight changes in the shape of the nose, imperceptible to others, make the face more harmonious. A person can slightly narrow the tip of the nose or its upper part, and you will not notice these changes in it, but pay attention to the fact that the person has somehow become prettier, has lost weight, maybe. After all, the features are sharpened. On the other hand, some natural changes in the face, caused, for example, by the same weight loss, are sometimes attributed to plastic surgery. There are also injections of various drugs that can slightly change the shape of the nose without surgery.

In this regard, Michael got into a very unpleasant situation: journalists and ordinary people reading the yellow press acquired a strong association between the name of Michael and plastic surgery. As a result, whatever happened in his appearance, it was immediately attributed to the effect of plastic surgery. It came to absurdities - like jokes about falling off the nose or the notorious rumors about fair skin transplantation. All this is just nonsense.

Rhinoplasty can be very diverse. You can separately change different parts of the nose: the terminal section, alar cartilages, triangular cartilages, the septum, the back of the nose (its bone part), etc. Sometimes something is slightly reduced, sometimes it is slightly lengthened, there are many nuances. And sometimes the process of change goes not in one, but in several stages: first, a person will come to do only the tip of the nose, and then he realizes that the changes clearly did not give him the desired result, so another operation is performed, and sometimes, and more, and more. Sometimes they even tell you directly that you need to be ready for a second operation in case of any complications or an unsuccessful result. On the one hand, surgeons do not recommend correcting the nose more than twice. After all, then each operation is connected with the fact that again and again it is necessary to wade through the scars and provoke the appearance of new scars, injuring the tissues. The human body is not plasticine, you cannot mold it many times, somewhere there may be a limit to the possibilities. However, even from the stories of completely ordinary people doing rhinoplasty, it becomes obvious that there are many cases when such operations are performed three times, and even more. Everything depends on the situation.

Osteotomy (reshaping the bony part of the nose) is required when removing the hump and almost any significant narrowing of the nose. It is impossible to narrow the cartilage and not affect the bone, because if you do this, then the proportions of the nose will be disturbed. This was explained to me personally by my surgeon. The top of the nose will be unnaturally thick, and the bottom unnaturally narrow. Therefore, the bones are sawn, the pieces are removed, the rest is shifted, forming a thinner bridge of the nose.

I remember one time, when I was surfing the Internet in search of suitable surgeons and clinics and met examples from the life of stars on plastic surgery sites, among which, as always, there were derogatory reviews about Michael Jackson, I suddenly saw on one of the sites his photo, under which there was a proud inscription: “He also knows what an osteotomy is!” It sounded like a compliment for once.

Cartilage-only surgeries require less downtime (about a week) and are relatively easy. Operations with osteotomy require two weeks in a cast, which disappear with consequences in the form of large bruises and swelling in the first week, with irritated mucous membranes and, as a result, with a runny nose.

But I will pass from the general theory to the practice. The first time my nose was operated on by a woman, the second time by a man. I am more satisfied with the second surgeon. I performed the first operation in 2000, the second in 2009.

The first operation I endured somehow even fun. Then I was operated on only cartilage, reducing the nose and correcting a clear asymmetry under local anesthesia.

The lady who operated on me then was not very attentive to the formation of some kind of image in advance and managed with a simple discussion without pictures. But she had a great sense of humor. Lying on the table, one could laugh, listening to her talk about the dacha and quarreling with the patient on the next table. She worked with high quality, but she cared about the form just enough so as not to spoil a person - in this way she observed the measure and did not harm.

When they took me off the table, I was probably the happiest person in the world. Not for long. Bruises, in fact, did not appear at all. The plaster was removed after a week. And ... the moment of truth has come.

You look in the mirror and realize that you wanted more. But this is half the trouble. We must understand once and for all that the nose is a rather unpredictable part of the face after operations. The nose is scarring, swollen, as if "floating" back and forth, gradually taking on its final shape. These are long months of waiting and regular looking in the mirror. At the same time, no one sees your changes. Because the nose is not the part of the face that affects recognition. More often cardinal changes are noticed: when the huge tip of the nose is gone, when the huge hump is removed, when the large nostrils have decreased. People see only large-sized objects, and the fact that your nose has ceased to be uneven somewhere - they most often do not make out. It is interesting that the first surgeon warned me about all this before the first operation, but until I encountered this firsthand, I could not imagine how specific this process really is.

And this is a tragedy for the huge number of operated people who go out into the world and think that now compliments will fall on them. And the public just doesn't respond.

Changes in my face were noticed only by one of my attentive students. To others, I had to explain my stay at the clinic by showing an old photo and poking my finger at what had been taken away from me. Only then could a person notice and say: “Ah, well, yes ...”

Edema and swelling last from six months or longer. The full result of the operation can only be seen many months later. Although ordinary people from the side of this subtle process will not notice. However, there is a difference: it can be significant for the view of the surgeon and even more so for the patient himself. In the morning you get up and go to the mirror - your nose is swollen ... In the evening you look - it is already smaller. And so he "walks" back and forth, gradually decreasing in size.

But still scars ... If you read the forums for patients of plastic surgeons, you will understand that true fans and maniacs live there. People whine: “Oh, my beakiness got worse, I went to inject diprospan, and then it failed!” An outsider may consider all this reasoning with strange words just a whim, because an outsider may not notice any “beakiness”. But the patient sees it. Hormonal drugs are injected into the nose to reduce scarring that can spoil the shape. Sometimes scars can only be removed surgically, sometimes the skin is thinned in different ways. I will not delve into a whole heap of experiences of a person who has done rhinoplasty and dreams of seeing the desired result. I'll just say that one thing can be planned, but another thing can turn out. You can draw a very good model of the desired nose on the computer, but in the end this model will not work in real life. Even though the operation itself can be quite successful and competent, the external result is still often not what you wanted. A lot here is determined by nature, how the healing process goes on in a particular person, and therefore the surgeon cannot fulfill his plan with absolutely perfect accuracy: the nose continues to form naturally for a long time after the operation.

This is how one operation for many people turns into a whole series - to correct the first one, or to remove scars, adhesions, solve some breathing problems, etc. And since the process of obtaining the final shape of the nose after plastic surgery can take for many months, the patient may not immediately realize that he is not satisfied with the result. It is also important that a second operation cannot be done too soon after the previous one - it is usually recommended that at least a year has passed.

When you face all this live, you forever forget the arguments about how many plastic surgeries Michael Jackson had. Because here repetitions and adjustments are quite an ordinary phenomenon. And operations can involve as many changes at one time, as well as minor multiple amendments. For example, the patient may not like the resulting scar, or the nostril is not breathing well, and this has to be corrected again surgically. Moreover, more often than not, more subtle, inconspicuous details are repeatedly corrected like this than obvious flaws.

I cried a lot after the first operation due to dissatisfaction with its result. And I was very well mentally prepared for the second. Vile nature both times formed a completely different tip of the nose, which I drew for myself in the "project". When I found a second surgeon, I described my wishes to him more clearly and based on real experience. It was a completely different approach. The doctor told me that if I want to change something more serious, then I need to cut the bone, and also outlined the importance of straightening the septum and the purely artistic meaning of inserting a piece of cartilage at the tip. I liked his scheme and seemed to meet my wishes. All in all: “Saw, Shura, saw ...” (c)

I was only afraid of general anesthesia, I had never been under it. Local anesthesia last time suited me perfectly. But after reading about how someone was operated on under local anesthesia, listening to the knock of an osteotome on my face, I agreed with my surgeon that it was absolutely cruel and that it was better to sleep through it. That's how I found out what propofol is.

Before the operation, I read and read again, having studied everything I could about this very anesthesia. I even figured out what they inject during the operation: first you are injected with propofol, then, since this drug depresses the natural process of breathing, they insert a tube into the trachea and connect it to an artificial respiration apparatus, and local anesthesia such as lidocaine is injected into your face (the body is something still experiencing pain, it's just that the brain does not hear it). Adrenaline and an antibiotic are also injected. In general, after the operation, I found with interest traces of injections in different places.

On the web, it is easy to find detailed descriptions of rhinoplasty operations with step-by-step photographs, which show everything that is done with a person and with his nose. But these photos are not for the faint of heart, of course. I prefer to imagine the process I'm going through. I'm so calm.

I read the stories of patients who went to such operations, and they wrote that when they were put on the table, they were simply pounding with extreme fear and panic. But I calmly took a picture, chatted with the anesthetist, walked to the table with my feet and lay down. I only remember how painfully they stuck a needle in my wrist, and then a bag with a white liquid above me, and after a few seconds I was no longer here.

It was hard to wake up. You are pushed aside, forced to breathe, and your nose is completely plugged deep to the nasopharynx, and you have to live with this for two days (!!!). At first, your face feels somehow strange, and you want to sleep to death. A couple of hours is just a struggle with sleep, because you can’t sleep. They shake you all the time and check if you are breathing normally when you come out of anesthesia.

After such a more complex version of the operation, the sensations, of course, are unpleasant. Because this is a sleepless night, when the anesthesia has already disappeared, and a high temperature, and injections with anti-inflammatory drugs, and bruises with swelling. Just imagine that a brick has been dropped on your face. The face becomes almost completely dark blue-black, and the swelling is such that the cheeks overlap the eyes. Gradually increasing swelling and aching pain for several days. It remains only to lie and moan ... The number of pills swallowed and their names becomes a whole list every day. And they give you to breathe through your nose only on the third day. Waiting for this is the hardest thing, perhaps. When everything is finally taken out from inside the nose, the first thought is: “AIR!!!”

Here is a small quote from my diary entries at the time:

"Houses. Can't breathe through my nose, fever, bruises, even bruises in my mouth. Pain. Pain. Sheer pain. Today is probably the worst day ever. I sit and count the hours, because the dream of getting rid of the plugs in my nose occupies almost all of my consciousness. And wait until tomorrow morning. Until that time, I am afraid to die from the desire to sneeze and take a deep breath. And I can't sleep at all. … The previous operation was a trip to the resort compared to this hell. But I don't regret for a minute what I did. My spirit hasn't gone, I'll get through this too."

But two weeks of torment was still worth it. Both experience and another kind of nose are not ideal, but definitely better than the two previous “options”.

Such is the history of my metamorphoses. Therefore, when I think about how many times Michael was as painful and hard as it was for me in separate episodes, I am visited not by thoughts that evil inhabitants attributed non-existent operations to him, and not that he had something wrong in my head.

I have tremendous respect.

You know, this is a struggle with reality and its rigidly set conditions. She tries to break you down, put you in a frame, and you break her down for yourself! Through pain, through trials, experiments! But you do not believe that the ideal reality is unattainable.

I once asked a question to people who have known me for more than one year: “How many times do you think I have been operated on?” Nobody could answer this question. Similarly, none of us will be able to answer the question of how many times Michael was operated on. Moreover, people who have never experienced plastic surgery will not be able to determine this.

To be precise, I lay down on the operating table four times. All operations were associated with aesthetic needs. And I cannot say that the number of my operations will not increase over time. I'm not getting any younger, and I don't consider myself perfect either.

Sometimes they give me a dubious compliment: “Oh, you haven’t changed a bit since university!” How “nice” to hear that when you endured so many procedures to change. So it's all for nothing? No, this is fundamentally the wrong question.

The whole point is elementary in the fact that people see absolutely not what I see myself. Most well-done facial surgeries are invisible, and the changes are so subtle that only those with special experience, if at all, see them. In addition, according to the external impression, you, without being in the subject, will not understand that the nose is quite natural in appearance, while the whole “redrawn” from the inside.

That's pretty much what I have. If we talk about all my changes, then my frenulum under my upper lip was cut off, three healthy teeth were removed, and the remaining upper teeth were shifted 8 mm back, the bone part of my nose was sawn in the middle, part of the bone was removed, the back of the nose was shifted and narrowed, cut off alar cartilages, triangular cartilages, the septum was rearranged, and the tip of the nose was extended with a piece of my own cartilage. For readers, this probably sounds scary and not completely clear if you do not know a number of names from anatomy. But it looks completely normal. The vast majority of people don’t even think that something in me has been changed so seriously.

Thanks to this, I smile the way I smile and have three nose "options" in my life.

I can say from my experience that Michael Jackson went through a lot of that too. He had to do a lot more than once. And I didn't change all at once. I repeat once again: a person who undertakes to change his nose, with no small probability, gets into the story with two operations. Many do and much more operations. These are ordinary people, not pop stars or photo models. This is not a specific situation that concerns only Michael Jackson, but quite a common phenomenon, if not ordinary.

Concluding the story about myself, I want to urge the reader to understand one more very important thing: plastic surgery can be not only a way to eliminate shortcomings or deal with psychological problems. They can also be considered as a creative path, as stages of development: after all, by changing our appearance, we are looking for a new image and live a new stage in the perception of our personality.

Face like a canvas

Every person is a visual image. Everyone, to one degree or another, takes care of himself, picks up clothes, combs his hair. It is enough for someone to look just decent, someone needs to create a vivid impression. And we cannot deny that the artist's appearance is part of his work, his image, it is a kind of tool in order to make some kind of impression. Visually important are clothes, and appearance, and hairstyle, and makeup. It is one thing. And if the artist thinks through the visual channel very brightly, feeling keenly, then he will no longer look at his reflection in the mirror like an ordinary person.

When I met or read people who undergo plastic surgery, I was convinced many times that these are people with a heightened sense of harmony and visual perception. I am no exception - I am a visual. There are many people who have experiences similar to mine. We change our faces because we see minor flaws in them, although other people with a different perception may not pay attention to them. This is not a rejection of YOURSELF as a person, but only a rejection of some features of your appearance. After all, human individuality is primarily a soul, and not a physical body. Otherwise, we would not change hairstyles, we would not dye our hair, otherwise a hairstyle can also be considered a part of individuality. Recognition of a person on the physical level does not consist of facial features or the shape of the ears, but of the expression of the eyes, the expression of the face in the first place. To accept some features of your face or not to accept is an individual matter. For someone it is important to accept yourself as you are, for someone it is important to change. Someone knows how to turn his flaw into the main advantage, while someone removes it and completely reborn into a new image of himself. In fact, both approaches are correct, they are just different ways of being an individual.

In addition, this is an attitude to one's appearance as to a canvas on which one can draw. After all, changing the form is the creation of an image. It would not be an exaggeration to say that this is precisely a creative approach to one's appearance - the approach of an artist.

Of course, not everyone perceives and positions themselves as artists. But there are quite a lot of people walking down the street in the crowd who have visited plastic surgeons. They all want to shine with unearthly beauty and be different, be better. And what scenes can be seen in a simple St. Petersburg clinic (not in Hollywood), when women throw themselves at the surgeon’s feet and beg: “Redo it again!” I once witnessed such a scene.

However, Michael Jackson was an artist in the highest sense of the word. He did not just change his nose or something else (I will do without details), he created a holistic image. Sometimes successful, sometimes not so good. He mixed age-related changes with surgical changes, supplemented by new hairstyles, outfits, makeup. Therefore, people were lost in his appearances, which changed, as it seemed to them, so drastically, as if he had performed a hundred operations. The townsfolk argued endlessly about whether something in Jackson's face was changed surgically, or whether it was makeup, lighting and age-related changes. Meanwhile, in fact, it could have been just one operation in a long time and not at all in the place that for some reason everyone was looking at. At the same time, something was done in the name of approaching the ideal, and something because of age. Alas, life forces us to change both naturally and, as a result, artificially. And so there are endless disputes about the number of his manipulations with the face.

But it's not about that amount. Just think - isn't it amazing in itself that one artist left such a wide variety of impressions about himself? Michael created images of himself, and his very life was like an exciting novel that can cause conflicting opinions, but certainly never leaves the audience indifferent. And his appearance, which provoked so many different reactions, became one of the important components of his phenomenon.

Almost all fans of Michael Jackson have read his story about a broken nose, which became the reason for the first operation (according to Michael, this happened on the set of the movie "The Wiz" in 1978). Whether there was such a reason, or Michael decided to change himself even earlier - it does not matter. But it is obvious that in order to fix a broken nose, there is no need to give it a different shape.

All the fans heard about the ridicule of Michael's father, Joseph, that the father called his son's nose wide and ugly. Was this the reason for the change? This is hardly the main thing. Bad childhood memories don't always motivate you to do something. For an artist, the main measure is his own vision. Michael undoubtedly changed himself in many ways because his taste and creativity demanded it. Why do I think so? Yes, simply because I do not see the need to portray him all the time as a notorious teenager, whom he is constantly introduced to. Michael Jackson is a mature, established artist with his own perception.

Obviously, there is a huge difference between the Michael of Thriller or Bad and the Michael of The Wiz. And it is obvious that the choice is made in favor of aesthetics. Yes, we can say that Michael was attractive without surgery, but if you are an aesthete, an artist who wants to be number one, then it's even ridiculous to argue: you need to strive to be completely special.

I am not inclined either to exaggerate the number of his plastic surgeries, or to underestimate him, idealizing the picture. I know that some fans believe that there were only three operations in the life of Michael Jackson. I note that an experienced plastic surgeon is unlikely to believe this, but he will never be able to name the exact number of operations. It's just not possible. Only the person himself knows exactly how many times he visited surgeons. And I want to say to those who are traumatized by the idea that there were more than two or three operations on the nose: you can believe for yourself what you want. No one has the right to convince you, there is no point in this. As I said, the number of operations does not matter, only the result matters. But you should never try to prove your case with the help of a photo of Michael of poor quality, in low resolution, in different angles and make-up. Yes, all the photos are of the same person. The nose does not change much in appearance if some sutures or a few millimeters of cartilage are corrected. You will not see this in the photo and will repeat something obvious FOR YOU, but for those who have faced the reality of plastic surgery, such arguments are completely unconvincing.

Before judging, you need to know that there are a number of specific aspects in plastic surgery that ordinary people are not aware of.

When the surgeon works with the client, before and after the operation, he photographs his face in great detail, and only the nose is taken from the side, left, right, bottom, top, half-turned from different sides. All the smallest millimetric asymmetries that you may never catch your eye are fixed. So, if you want to prove to someone that Michael only had two or three surgeries, drop the idea of ​​doing it with a couple of photos. They do not prove anything, except that Michael was taken in such and such a year in these photos.

What else is important to know about plastic surgery in general and in relation to Michael Jackson in particular? I'll highlight a few points:

• one should not confuse the natural changes of a person with age or in connection with some health problems with changes due to surgical interventions. Sometimes natural changes in a person can look much more radical than surgical ones.
• It is important to understand that plastic surgery does not always aim to radically change something in a person's appearance. A large part of these operations aims to make very subtle subtle changes that are not conspicuous and look natural. You can stand next to a person who has had five plastic surgeries, but not notice anything about him and never know about it.
• plastic surgery is a fairly wide range of different manipulations. Each case has its own characteristics, which you may not even be aware of. And plastic surgery, like any field of medicine, is constantly evolving. What was done, for example, in the 1980s, can already be done in a significantly different way in the last decade.
• I repeat once again: there is no need to treat plastic surgeries with superstitious horror and prejudice: they say that changes in appearance are the lot of notorious people, the desire to fit oneself to some standards, etc. In fact, plastic surgeries are not actions at all more immoral than hair coloring or cutting. When a person changes something in his face, body, etc., he does not lose his personality, but changes his appearance. And often for the better.

The altar of perfectionism

I hope I managed to create in the reader's head a slightly more realistic idea of ​​​​what plastic surgery is. A fair question may arise: why do you need to know all this?

I will answer that I am not trying to destroy someone's ideal, but I would like to break a certain pattern. After all, those who attribute non-existent operations to Michael Jackson, and those who try to claim that he did not do them, are similar in a certain sense. Both those and others see in plastic surgery something, if not shameful, then too ticklish.

I cannot say that all of Michael's experiments were equally successful, and I cannot accurately judge the reason for each. It's not just about operations. And the surgeons who do not recommend going too far are right. After all, living tissue cannot be cut and spliced ​​endlessly. Whether Michael regretted any of his experiments - we cannot know this, and it hardly matters. His striving for the ideal was important. And all the arguments about the need to accept yourself are inappropriate here. We know that Michael was a charming young man. But he was an ordinary charming person, and he needed to become much more. And I consider it very primitive to call all these attempts simple folly, as the spiteful critics see it. Instead of considering what exactly and in what quantity was done, it would be better to realize the very fact of how ready a person was to improve, overcome, experiment. Undoubtedly, he was for himself a work of art - and what! He argued with this ruthless reality against all possible arguments.

I would like the reader to try to look at such a frightening topic of plastic surgery from a different angle. I think it's a great topic. This is an exciting story of a creative experiment, an attempt to destroy the framework and standards. And stop counting operations: two or ten, three or one hundred, what's the difference?! Then count all the stage costumes, all the T-shirts torn on stage, all the powder, hair gel or other make-up elements. Does it mean something to you?

We must remember that Michael Jackson was a unique artist. And no less unique was his appearance, sometimes so different, at the same time so integral and absolutely unlike anyone else. There are people who imitate his appearance, but there was no one like him before Michael and no one after.

His appearance has become as memorable and incredible as his characteristic dance movements, his sensational video clips. All this may or may not be pleasant, bewildering, seem wrong or overblown, but no one can deny the effect: Michael Jackson created an entire era in art and became a symbol in the eyes of millions of people. For someone - a symbol of beauty, for someone - a symbol of absurdity. Well, this can be called the inevitable duality of everything truly bright and extraordinary. And while some skeptics criticize his appearance and speak venomously about his plastic surgeries, millions of people experience indescribable delight looking at him. This delight cannot be explained by some hackneyed formulas of beauty, but at the same time we cannot deny its presence and power of influence.

There are people who claim that they would respect Michael more if he had remained with the external data that nature gave him. But this is all just common sense. Michael Jackson wouldn't be Michael Jackson if he didn't break the mold with his whole being, not only creating spectacular performances on stage, but also shaping his exceptional physical appearance. He was absolutely unique and managed to create an incredible, special image.

For him, this was by no means the “loss of individuality” that psychologists denounce plastic surgery and glossy beauty patterns. For Michael, it was an extension of his UNIQUENESS. Which we sometimes undeservedly belittle by the fact that we begin to count his operations and prove that there were exactly as many of them as we counted. And this belittling occurs not only when trying to attribute more to him, but also when trying to attribute less. Because it is worth remembering: for Michael, it was not the quantity that was important, but the goal. And whether he wanted to name the exact figure or preferred to remain silent about it - it does not matter. We must respect his desire to achieve perfection. His colossal work on himself, which included, among other things, plastic surgery, is an undeniable cultural phenomenon. This is the most important thing in this whole conversation.

I think that understanding this aspect leads to a clearer understanding of both the role of Michael Jackson in world culture, and his unique aesthetics and perception system, which can not be accepted, but cannot but be appreciated as an exceptional example of an original personality with rare charisma and a unique ability to give people joy, love and self-confidence. He must remain in history as a brilliant artist and as a great experimenter, relentlessly striving for the ideal in everything.

He might not want to flaunt what was behind the scenes inside the operating room. And this is a completely natural desire. But there is no need to discount the sacrifices he made on the altar of perfectionism.

Amor (Lyubov Fadeeva), February 2015

The results of the examination of the singer's body, made by doctors immediately after his death, are overgrown with new details. As it became known the day before, a nasal prosthesis, which Michael Jackson wore for almost 10 years, disappeared from the morgue. As told to the magazine Rolling Stones a witness who wished to remain anonymous, when he saw the body of the singer lying on the table in the morgue, the prosthesis was no longer on his face.

Michael Jackson's face, which had undergone so many painful alterations and which he had hidden from the public for decades, was revealed and a bright light fell on him. The prosthesis he used to attach to his damaged nose was missing. In its place, pieces of cartilage were visible, surrounding a small dark hole, - he said.

Earlier in the report of the pathologists, it was mentioned that the singer's face was deformed as a result of numerous interventions by plastic surgeons, but how much was not reported. According to doctors, Michael Dzheksoe underwent at least 13 plastic surgeries. According to a source close to him, the surgeons disfigured the singer's face so much that the nose on his face was practically absent.

Back in 2001, Western tabloids wrote that due to unsuccessful plastic surgery, the singer's nose almost completely failed: “The singer's nose was struck by necrosis, that is, necrosis of the cartilage. For a pop star, this has become a real drama. He began wearing surgical masks and covering his face with a black handkerchief, but not because he was afraid of germs. In fact, everything was much more dramatic - the singer hid his disfigured face. Michael Jackson even ordered a special nasal prosthesis, but not only for purely aesthetic purposes, but also in order to breathe normally. Every time he appeared in public without a face mask, the prosthesis was carefully camouflaged under a thick layer of makeup. And all the same, the unnatural, slightly upturned contour raised bewildered questions. The singer's fans believed that the singer still had his own nose - even if it was mutilated by plastic. And they were wrong. This came to light the other day when Michael Jackson performed on stage at Madison Square Garden in New York. While dancing and actively moving, the singer accidentally touched the tip of his nose with his hand, and it fell off and fell on the stage right at the feet of the star. The audience was shocked, and Michael Jackson was forced to hastily flee backstage."

Later, in 2004, plastic surgeons tried to restore the singer's nose by transplanting a piece of cartilage taken from his ear onto his face. However, this operation was also unsuccessful. "KP".

Michael Jackson is a man whose name has become a household name when it comes to plastic surgery. All his life, the pop idol strived for perfection in everything. And if in his work he achieved everything that any singer can only dream of, then the pursuit of an ideal appearance played a terrible joke on him.

How has Michael Jackson changed throughout his life?

How did it happen that a handsome black boy turned into a frightening wax figure with a porcelain face while still alive? There are many versions - a painful passion for plastic surgery, psychological problems, illnesses. But the fact that Jackson hated his appearance, body, face, even skin color has long been a known fact. He rejected with disgust everything that nature had given him. He fought desperately with her and she seems to have repaid him in kind.

Michael's fans watched in horror as their idol changes in appearance every year. Over time, he began to look less and less like the black young and charismatic singer with lush, curly Afro hair, whom they knew at the height of his stellar career. Caustic remarks, jokes and outright bullying flew at the singer even after his death.

What plastic surgery did Michael Jackson do?

The tragic fascination with plastic began back in 1979. Then Michael made his first rhinoplasty. But this operation was more of a necessity than a desire to improve appearance. At one of the rehearsals, the young singer broke his nose during an unsuccessful dance move. The surgical intervention was not very successful - there were problems with breathing through the nose. For the singer, such a defect is unacceptable, so Jackson decided on a second nose job.

After that, it was already difficult to stop him. He kept changing his nose. The singer went under the plastic surgeon's knife so often that he disfigured his face to an extreme degree. The appearance was mercilessly mutilated, and the nose began to collapse from so many surgical interventions.

The back of the nose began to gradually sink in, and necrotic spots appeared on the skin. A surgeon from Germany tried to correct the situation. He replaced the rotten part of the nose with ear cartilage tissue in order to somehow restore the shape of the almost disappeared nose. As a result, the photos of Jackson from 2005 to 2009 are terrifying. On them, the favorite of millions scares his fans with a scarred nose, which has acquired a strange, unnatural shape.

Psychologists believe that such a painful desire to change the appearance lies in deep emotional experiences, originally from childhood and adolescence. After all, then the psyche is still very vulnerable, and those around him did not regret pointing to Mike on his wide African-American nose, considering him ugly. Oddly enough, the first such cruel bullying was given to the boy by his own father. He not only beat him, but also broke him morally - he told his son that he was ugly, gave him offensive nicknames, such as "big nose". It is not surprising that this part of the face became enemy No. 1 for the singer, with whom he fought desperately until he completely destroyed it.

How many plastic surgeries did Jackson have?

Michael Jackson admitted to only two operations. The first is rhinoplasty after an injury, the second is a dimple on the chin. He made it, imitating the American actor Kirk Douglas, known for his role as Spartacus in the film of the same name. US doctors claim that there is much more plasticity on Jackson's face and it is visible to the naked eye. Their words are also confirmed by pathologists who performed an autopsy of the body after death. They found traces of at least 13 plastic surgeries.

The singer's mother tried to stop the sad dependence on aesthetic medicine. She asked her son to stop changing his appearance. The woman even went to a plastic surgeon and persuaded him not to do more operations on Michael. Her efforts were useless, and experiments on appearance continued.

Not only the nose was subjected to constant plastic torture. Jackson changed almost everything in his face. He put implants in the cheekbones and chin. And he did it so dramatically that the proportions of the face were distorted. A protruding square chin “a la Kirk Douglas”, huge and sharp cheekbones against the background of an emaciated, emaciated face - this is how the idol appeared before his fans after another plastic surgery. All this terrible picture was completed by a triangular, slashed and tormented nose - small, triangular, unnaturally upturned, covered in scars.

The singer's lips also experienced constant metamorphoses. Many blacks are proud of their plump lips, consider them an ideal to follow. Unfortunately, Jackson was not one of them. The lips, as well as the nose, irritated him, so war was declared on them. Michael reduced them, they became thinner and more elegant. The singer's smile became more feminine, permanent lipstick appeared on her lips.

Blepharoplasty has become another failed addition to the crippled plastic face. By nature, the singer had slightly bulging, large eyes. They haunted him, betraying his belonging to the Negroid race. All his life he dreamed of being like a European. Therefore, the next victim of the perfectionist was his eyelids. He changed their shape, but the fisheye effect remained. The unsuccessful reincarnation was supplemented by permanent arrows on the lower and upper eyelids, as well as eyebrow tattooing. The indelible make-up only exacerbated the situation. Michael was losing his individuality more and more, acquiring some very repulsive facial features, little resembling human ones.

How did Michael Jackson change his skin color and become white?

There are two versions of why the Negro singer became white by the age of 30. First - in his quest to become a real European, Jackson constantly bleached his skin. There was even an opinion that he completely replaced all the skin on his body. The second version was voiced by the singer himself. He claimed that since 1986 he had been suffering from a serious illness - vitiligo. With this disease, pigmentation is disturbed, light flesh-colored spots appear on the skin. The disease and the drugs to treat it caused the singer's skin to turn completely pale. But not only this disease tormented the singer, he struggled with another trouble - skin cancer. Shortly before his death, the singer underwent surgery to remove skin affected by cancer cells.

How did Michael Jackson die?

Michael Jackson died on June 25, 2009 in Los Angeles. It happened the morning after his doctor, Conrad Murray, gave him an injection of propofol. This potent medication is prescribed in case of chronic insomnia. Overdose leads to cardiac arrest. Two hours after the injection, the doctor found the singer unconscious, but the pulse was still palpable. When the 911 rescue team arrived, the doctors began to resuscitate the patient. He was then taken to the University of California Hospital. Long attempts to bring the patient back to life were unsuccessful, Michael Jackson's heart stopped forever.

Farewell to the singer took place on live television around the world. Nineteen television channels broadcast the ceremony, with about 31 million viewers in America alone. Internet services were failing, unable to withstand too frequent requests from all over the planet about the death of a beloved singer.

Around the death of Jackson there was a real stir. Conrad Murray was put on trial for manslaughter. He was found guilty and received four years in prison. The official cause of the singer's death is murder. But some experts believe that Jackson's fascination with sedatives and painkillers led to his death. According to the Aesculapius, it was the overdose of medicines that led to premature death.

Michael Jackson remains the "King of Pop" for fans in many countries around the world. He created his own unique style of performance, introduced new trends in music and dance fashion. His "moonwalk" was and remains a signature movement that passes from generation to generation as a symbol of a stylish and free individual. And by the number of released copies of musical recordings, he still remains the world leader.