Sunday 28 June 2009

RIP 'Jacko' (AKA Peter Pan): the Tragic Anglo Mangina


Michael Jackson was a tragically confused figure. He was confused about his ethnic identity, but even more so about his gender identity. This has often been attributed to an abusive childhood and the demands of his craft. However, Jackson was an archetypal figure, not an eccentric aberration. The themes that guided his tragic existence were in fact deeply embedded in the prevailing Anglo-Saxon culture. For all his gloved posturing, it is telling that Jackson's child-man persona can be traced to the repressive, latent-homosexual hothouse of Victorian England - where piano legs were covered lest they incite lustful thoughts. And ultimately, to the soured instincts of Anglo-Saxon Protestantism in all its Calvinist, misandrist horror.

It is no surprise that Jackson's preferred alter-ego was Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up. This is a classic Anglo-Saxon archetype, first articulated by the English Victorian writer, J M Barrie. Barrie himself had a piping voice, mincing walk and did not need to shave, even in maturity. This bizarre archetype is of immense significance, however; this is because it shows Jackson's preoccpations were not unique to his personal experience, but deeply rooted in Anglo-American culture - specifically, Anglo-American puritanism.

But why should Puritanism breed denatured types like Barrie and Jackson? Reflect a little and the answer becomes plain: a prepubescent state is the supreme statement of puritanical repression. And now Jackson's puerile preoccupation is revealed for the specifically Anglo-Saxon aberration that is was. 'Sleep-overs' with young children, affectation of a childish voice and manner, wearing lipstick and eye-shadow - all were inspired by a puritanical fear of manhood and its burden of dynamic potency. Of course, hatred of sex automatically incorporates hatred of manhood, in that manhood is an inherently virile condition. This is also why Anglo-American culture detests masculine men - indeed, men in general. Consider how specifically male issues - suicide, educational failure, prostate cancer, heart disease - are universally ignored across the Anglosphere. Then consider how - when some entitled Anglo princess goes missing for ten minutes - the media mobilizes enormous interest in the case.

Jackson's shame at being male and his bizarre preoccupation with trying to affect a genderless self-presentation can be traced to the degraded, parlous state of masculinity in Anglo-American culture. For the past thirty years (though this malady is of ancient vintage) the trash media habe been pumping out a clear, unmistakable message: manhood is bad. In all its forms, masculinity is now a despised, ridiculed, aberrant 'lifestyle choice' - one endlessly contrasted with the chipper entitlements of Anglo feminism.


In sum, Jackson was an eidolon of Anglo-Saxon values, not a cultural aberration. Because of the parlous, victimized state of manhood in the Anglosphere, the Peter Pan persona is a natural response to the gender-vilification men routinely receive. Adopting a pre-pubescent identity spares one the bile and chagrin directed against men in Anglo-American countries. The road of Peter Pan is easier than fighting the good fight against Anglobitch feminism - but ultimately ineffective and fruitless. And as Jackson found out, that road is also dangerous. Aside from the operations taken to maintain his juvenile appearance, such systematic suppression of his masculine identity must have wrought a fearful toll on Jackson - doubtless expressed in his dependency on medication and premature heart attack.

In the coming weeks (years? Decades?) much will be written about Jackson's sociological/cultural significance. His death truly concludes the Twentieth Century in showbiz terms, at least. In a broader symbolic sense, his death ends the prevailing themes of late Twentieth-Century global civilization - Anglo-American infallibility, paternalist politics, centralized mass-media and, of course, Anglobitch feminism. From our perspective, Jackson's untimely death was simultaneously watershed, lesson and warning - take heed, my friends.

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