Ebony Magazin December 1984:
EBONY: You don’t seem to have any objections to messages in music as long as the messages are positive. Your music, unlike some artists, stays clear of messages glorifying drugs. But drugs are a reality. How do you view it?
MICHAEL: In the field I’m in, there is a lot of that and it gets offered to me all the time. People even go as far as to just…stick it in your pocket and walk off. Now, if it
was a good thing, they wouldn’t do that….I mean, would somebody drop something beautiful in my pocket and just walk off? But I don’t want to have anything to do with any of that. I mean, as corny as it sounds, but this is how I really believe: Natural highs are the greatest highs in the world….Who wants to take something and just sit around for the rest of the day after you take it [drugs], and don’t know who you are, what you’re doing, where you are? Take in something that’s gonna inspire you to do greater things in the world.
EBONY: Both Tatum and Brooke are fine actresses. You did all right in The Wiz. What’s in the future for you now in films?
MICHAEL: I’m very excited about a lot of things that I want to do and that I’m going to do in films and things. I really can’t wait….Since The Wiz, incredible offers have come to me, things that are still in the making.
EBONY: You once said that you will be careful about choosing your next role so that you won’t be typecast anymore. You said that since The Wiz, some people
still call you Scarecrow because of that character role you played.
MICHAEL: Whatever role you play, people link it with your personality. But it’s acting. You’re portraying another person….I wish it wasn’t called acting because I don’t really like actors. I mean, the word acting.
EBONY: Please elaborate.
MICHAEL: I don’t think acting should be acting. Acting, if you’re acting, you’re imitating realism. You should create realism. It should be called believing. You see, I
always was against it when I thought about acting. I don’t want to see an actor. I want to see a believer. I don’t want to see anybody that’s gonna imitate the truths. It’s not real then. I want to see a person that’s gonna believe the truth….That’s when you move an audience.
EBONY: What kind of questions do you wish you would be asked but nobody ever asks you?
MICHAEL: That’s a good question. Probably about children or writing, or what I just talked about….You don’t make a better world of minds and things when people
put the wrong things in their lyrics and give the wrong views on stage and everything. It’s just so important and I think this can lead so many people astray, because an artist can be built up so big in his career that this could change the whole world by what he does and thinks. They’ll listen to him before the President or any of these big politicians. You have to be careful. They could change these peoples’ way of life by what they say and do. That’s why it’s important to give off love vibes and that’s why I love what I do….When Marvin Gaye put out the album, What’s Going On, so many Blacks as well as Whites - but mainly Blacks-were educated. ‘Wake up. What’s going on? Wake up.’ I mean the ones that don’t watch the news, don’t read the papers to
really dig in the depths of humanism. What’s going on? Wake up.
EBONY: There have been some campaigns against so-called dirty lyrics songs by
some popular musical groups. Do you have any views about such groups and
their lyrics?
MICHAEL: Sometimes they go too far. They don’t leave anything for the imagination. If I just walked out on stage naked, there’s no imagination. I’m not letting them imagine what I look like without the clothes. But you see, they overdo it….We got to leave them something to imagine. People go too far at times. I think
it’s important to set the right example because there are so many kids who look up to us.
As the most productive year of his entertainment career comes to a close and his
talents helped him gross about $100 million, Michael is not content to rest on his
laurels or his loot. He faces a future guided by two observations, both of which he
made: “I’m interested in making a path instead of following a trail and that’s what I
want to do in life - in everything I do,” Michael told this writer in an interview on July
13, 1979.
He made the other observation in his role as Scarecrow in The Wiz, a movie in which he co-starred with one of his dearest friends - Diana Ross. In a scene near the end of the film, Michael spoke these words through his Scarecrow character: “Success, fame, fortune - they are all illusions. All there is that is real is the friendship that two can share.”
Those are the thoughts of the Michael Jackson nobody knows.
Oprah interview:
Oprah: But can you really forgive?
Michael: I do forgive. There's so much garbage and so much trash that's written about me it is so untrue, they're complete lies, and those are some of the things I wanted to talk about. The press has made up so much ... God ... awful, horrifying stories it has made me realize the more often you hear a lie, I mean, you begin to believe it.
Michael: Someone makes it up and everybody believes it. If you hear a lie often enough, you believe it.
Diane Sawyer interview with Lisa-Marie 1995:
Diane Sawyer: We're going to show you a film now, created by Michael Jackson. And, it is causing a furor...in some movie theaters around this country. They say among other things that, it is clearly modeled, after 'Triumph of The Will'. They mean, Riefenstahl. A Nazi film with a Nazi meaning to it.
Michael: It's not true. None of that's true. None of those things are true.
Diane Sawyer: Did you watch that film before you did it?
Diane Sawyer: I watch everything, I love movies, I love documentaries. It had
nothing to do with that at all. Diane Sawyer: But there are people who keep saying, this is . . . they look at it and say this is... Michael: Absolutely not.
Diane Sawyer: You were....
Michael: It has nothing to do with politics, or communism, or fascism at all....
Diane Sawyer: Well, the critics have said that, its the most... body vein, glorious,
self-deification a pop singer ever undertook with a straight face. Michael: Good! That's what I wanted.
Diane Sawyer: For the controversy?
Michael: Yeah! They fell into my trap.
Diane Sawyer: But the people who say that...
Michael: I wanted everybody's attention.
Diane Sawyer: But for the people who say those symbols, matter ...
Michael: No. The symbols...no . .
Diane Sawyer: The suffering ...
Michael: No. The symbol has nothing to do with that. It's not political. It's not
Fascist. It's not dogma. It's not...y'know, ideology and all of this stuff. It's pure, simple
love. You don't see any tanks, you don't see any cannons. It's about love. It's people
coming together . . .
Diane Sawyer: About love. We're gonna let everybody watch a bit of it.
Michael: Yeah, but its art. It is art!
Diane Sawyer:OK.
Michael: We had a director, we get him to create art.
Lisa Marie: Ah, I just want people to know what they're dealing with, before and... understand, that I'm not the, that we are not .. the jokes, the degrading comments, all that kind of stuff, its really irritating. So I didn't get to get it in there, I hope this is over alreay, but ...
Michael: We want to choke them!
Diane Sawyer: Alright, so in five years you want to...
Lisa Marie: Yeah, we want to choke them.
Michael: Don't believe the garbage, all the tabloid junk. Don't read it, don't listen to it. It's junk, it's stupid, enough of it.
Simulchat Interview Thursday, 17 August 1995:
Compuserve Question from MANCHESTER, NH: [102331,3335] Brett Mallard: If you could be any super hero... like Batman, Superman, et al.. whom would you choose to be and why?
Michael Jackson: I like Batman a lot... If I could choose one, it would be Morph, from the X-Men. He can become anything ... He constantly transforms himself. I
think he can even teleport, which is interesting and exciting to me. He's not as popular as the others, but that makes him exciting
Compuserve Question from KANSAS CITY, MO. Jim Shea: Do you ever wish you could walk into a public place and not be mobbed by your fans?
Michael Jackson: I have every disguise you can think of... that is why I wish I could be Morph so I could change places and just enjoy life. I would love to do that.
Internet Question from MJJ: You have accomplished so much in life. What else would you like to accomplish in life?
Michael Jackson: I love movies my dream is to make films, not only act and sing but to produce them as well. And I love animation
Interview with Fans (1996) November 10th, 1996:
Question: "If you could spend one day in complete anonymity, where would you go and what would you do?"
MJ: "Probably go to Neverland, or an island isolated somewhere. What would I do -probably write music or kind of create some music or stage play or something -
something creative. I never stop working
Molly Meldrum Interview Tuesday, 19 November 1996
Molly: It is just amazing. Can I ask you what is Stephen King like?
Michael Jackson: Stephen King is a very gentle sweet kind man I mean the profile that we see... the books, with his works... he's nothing like that. He's very humble. Molly:R i ght . Michael Jackson: ahhh... A lot of people judge me the same way. I'm pretty simple... I love to create. I love to make magic. I love to create the unexpected. You know. And Stpehen... He's just wonderful, he's not bizarre or strange or weird. He's a loving person.
Interview with The Mirror Tuesday, 13 April 1999 by Piers Morgan:
"You'd think a machine is moving them around."' The star starts to rap out his sister's hits to me, using the desk in front of him as a drum. This is definitely one of those
Kodak moments for the grandchildren.
He goes on: "I start singing and there's screaming all over the house. "I start dancing and Prince is all in the way trying to dance with me. "Jackson never plays his own music to his children - "I'm saving that for a surprise when they are a bit older,"' he smiles. He would love them to go into the entertainment world but he's aware of the dangers
TV Guide Interview December 4, 1999:
What are their personalities like? (His children)
Michael Jackson: Prince tells me all day that he has to make movies. So I bought him this video camera, I say, "What are we doing this time?" He goes, "Star Wars." So we put some figures on the table, make them move. And Paris is just now starting to talk and walk. She’s very sweet. And I’m surprised she loves dolls. My sister Janet didn’t like that sort of thing. She was a tomboy. I thought [Paris] was going to be like that, but she isn’t.
Online Audio Chat October 26, 2001:
Anthony: Now, one of the, you know, the kind of conventional wisdom in the music
industry is, you know, audiences don't really have an attention span any more, you
know. If an artist stays away for too long the audience wanders off and goes
somewhere else. Was that a concern of yours with coming out with a record and
taking a while to work on Invincible or do you, uh, are you convinced your fan base is
still there and will be as strong as ever?
Michael: I'm, I'm ... No, the answer to your question is that has never concerned me
once and I've never thought of it. Because I've always known if music is truly great or
if a movie is truly great, people want to see it or hear it. No matter where you, how
long you've been away, or whatever the situation is. You know, greatness is greatness
and if you really do a great job on what you're doing, people want to hear it. Or they
want to see it. You know, it doesn't matter, It really doesn't. Long as you're an
innovator and a pioneer, you know. And that's the most important thing. Give them
what they want to hear.
Anthony: Now we have Warful writes in, "Are you working or planning to do any more short films for Invincible, specifically for the really fast tracks such as 2000 Watts, Heartbreaker, Unbreakable, and Invincible?"
Michael: Absolutely, and she said... Whoever said that said the right word when they
said said "short films." And uh, that's what we try to make them, short films: a
beginning and middle and a ending of a story. Uh, to take the medium to a new level
but absolutely. There's like a an array of, an encyclopedia of just great short films to
make from the album. It's very exciting. I can't wait to do Threatened. It's a kind of
scary one with Rod Serling from the Twilight Zone. I can't wait to get my hands on
that one.
Anthony: Well, that answer actually might touch on this next question which we have, which wonders, "Where do you look for inspiration when you write your songs. Does inspiration come from a variety of different places?
Michael: Well, the best songs that are written write themselves. You don't ask for
them, they just drop into your lap. Then there are those songs that, you know, you
kind of uh, incubate. You know, you plant the seed, let the subconscious take its
course, and within time you hope something comes, and most the time it does. I don't
believe in the concept of writer's block - that is a bad word. You create it when you
say it. There's no such thing. Um, like any painter or sculptor, they paint... they do
their best work when they're in the 60s and their 70s. Fred Astaire did his best dancing
when he was in his 70s. Angelo [Michelangelo] sculpted late into his 60s and 70s,
doing brilliant ingenious work. But in the music business some of these great artists
have become stumped because they self-abuse themselves at a young age, with all
these crazy things they drink and pills and things, and uh, that's just not good -- just
not a good thing. I hate to say that to hurt anybody, but we should take care of our
bodies a little more.
Michael: And um, and Teddy Riely is just incredible. He's innovative too. I love working with him.
Anthony: And you had worked with him in the past, of course.
Michael: Yeah, he's one of my favorite... as a human being, he's one of my favorite
people in the world. He's just a really sweet, kind guy. You know. And Rodney's very
funny. You laugh all day when you're with him. He turns his music up in the studio
and he starts dancing around the room. He's fun.
Interview with USA Today (2001):
When I was 16, we were doing Las Vegas every
night, and Elvis (Presley) and Sammy Davis Jr. would sit me and my brothers in a
row and lecture us. 'Don't ever do drugs,' they told us. I never forgot it."
Reminded of his own painkiller habit, Jackson goes quiet. Manager Trudy Green,
monitoring the interview with Epic executive Steve Einczig, forbids him to respond,
even though he confessed the addiction and subsequent treatment in a TV statement
nearly a decade ago.
VIBE Magazine Interview March, 2002:
VIBE: Many of us see you as a historic figure, an innovator who has set a standard that still exists in music. Where does Michael Jackson go from here?
MJ: Thank you, thank you. I have a deep love for film and I want to pioneer and innovate in the medium of film - to write and direct and produce movies, to bring incredible entertainment.
VIBE: What kinds of movies? Are you looking at scripts?
MJ: Yes, but nothing has been finalized yet
Interview with Gold Magazine (2002):
Gold Girl: Do you most see yourself as a musician, an entertainer or an entrepreneur?
Michael Jackson: Probably all of the above, because I love entertaining and I always will love entertaining. I love becoming a slave to rhythm. because dancing is about
interpreting the sounds and accompaniments of the orchestra. You know,you be come
the sound, you become the bass, you become whatever you hear, and you do it bodily.
But I try not to get so caught up in it all that you don't think about your future. So
many great entertainers have just been taken in the past, and they ended up lonely, sad
and broken. I've always said to myself, I never want to be that way and I'm going to
try my hardest to learn about the business side, support myself, invest my money,
save. Who knows what tomorrow brings? You want to be protected financially so you
can support yourself.
GG: Would you like to be remembered as a great entertainer?
MJ: I love movies and I love art - and an architect is an entertainer, the guy who builds a rollercoaster is an entertainer. He knows where to build the slopes, and the big anticipation when you go up... He makes you go, 'Oh my God!' when you get to the top before you come down. It's just the same as structuring a show or a dance.
GG: Does it ever become a burden to be one of the most recognized stars in the world?
MJ: There's nowhere in the world I can actually go and have privacy. The thing that hurts the most is the fact that your privacy is taken away from you. To use the silly _expression, you live in a fishbowl, but it's true. I do disguises... People know them all, it's very hard, very hard.
GG: What kind of disguises?
MJ: Bat suits, buck teeth, glasses, afros, prosthetics, make-up jobs, everything. Just to sit in the audience and experience it the way an audience would experience a show; I want to feel how they feel.
GG: Who would be your ideal leading lady, and why?
MJ: An actress? {laughs} You and I should do a film together. Let's do it, I'd love that...
GG: There was talk of you going to the moon to perform an authentic moonwalk here. Is there any truth in this?
MJ: {laughs} There is some truth in it. It's not a rumor. I'll just say that.
GG: Have you always wanted to do film? If your family had not been such successful musicians, would you have turned to it earlier in your life? MJ: I've always wanted to do film, but the tours got in the way. That's why I want to take several years off just doing film. I'd like to get six great movies behind me, and then I'll do a little bit of touring, then I'll do more filming. GG: What kind of ideas do you have for film? MJ: I have ideas for film and movement and dance and things that people have never seen. I can't wait to just surprise people. That's why I've been dying to start a film
production company, and I'm very excited that that's what we're doing with Neverland
Pictures. I get to just have a clean slate and play and create and sculpt.
GG: Tell me a little bit about the werewolf idea in your films, and how does it relate to video?
MJ: I haven't read the script yet for Wolfed - it's one of the movies that we're going to be making and I'm really excited about it. I'm so happy to be working with Sammy
Lee {the co-writer of Music Box, who recently acquired 'first look' rights to Jackson's
films}. We're doing some great projects together in film, and I'm really excited.
GG: And Wolfed will be the first film?
MJ: As of now, our schedule says that Wolfed will be the first film. That's going to be fun. I want it to be really scary. Rick Baker wants to do all the visual effects. He
has seven Academy awards. Rick is very excited about it too - he did American
Werewolf in London. He won an Oscar, and he said, 'Michael, that was nothing.'
That's nothing compared to what he can do today. And he did Thriller and he said of
that, 'It's nothing'. He can go way beyond that. He did all the Eddie Murphy films,
Clumps and Nutty Professor and all that Men In Black stuff too. He does all that.
Michael Jackson - Brett Ratner (Interview 2004):
BR: So list a few things that could be helpful to someone breaking into the music business.
MJ: Believe in yourself. Study the greats and become greater. And be a scientist. Dissect. Dissect.
BR: You said something else before: Don't give up.
MJ: No matter what. I don't care if the whole world is against you or teasing you or saying you're not gonna make it. Believe in yourself. No matter what. Some of the
greatest men who have made their mark on this world were treated like that-you
know, "You're not gonna do it, you're not gonna get anywhere." They laughed at the
Wright brothers. They laughed at Thomas Edison. They laughed at Walt Disney. They
made jokes about Henry Ford. They said he was ignorant. Disney dropped out of
school. That's how far they went. These men shaped and changed our culture, our
customs, the way we live, the way we do things. And I think God plants those seeds
through people on the earth. And I think you're one, I'm one to bring some bliss and
escapism, some joy, some magic. Because without entertainment, what would the
world be like? You know? What would it really be like? It would be a totally different
world for me. I love entertainment. And my favorite of all is film. The power and
magic of movies. It's the greatest, it's the most expressive of all the art forms. I think it
touches the soul. Music and movies are the most expressive. It's almost like religion:
You get so involved, so caught up. You go in the theater a different person than you
come out. It affects you that way. That's powerful. I think that's strong. I love that.
BR: When you can make an audience feel.
MJ: Yeah, yeah.
BR: They relate to it.
MJ: Yeah, they live it. They're a part of it. They forget they're sitting in a seat.
BR: The experience of watching a movie affects their life.
MJ: Their whole life. It could change your life.
BR: Yes, I remember seeing Star Wars in the theater when I was 7 years old. It's a
different experience for Paris or Prince [Jackson's children] seeing it today on DVD,
27 years later. I saw it when it first came out, with all the shock and awe of the time.
No one had ever seen anything like it. There were lines for blocks, and I didn't even
get in the first time. I had to go back the next day to try again. The memory of being
so desperate, at 7 years old, to see that movie makes it an even more unforgettable
experience. The first time you see something like that, it permanently affects your life.
It's like listening to a song or seeing an artist perform for the first time. Getting to see
James Brown, and that moment of tears coming out of your eyes, is different than
listening to it on the radio 20 years later.
MJ: I can't tell you how incredible it was. I just love the great entertainers, the great performers, the great showmen, the great storytellers. just watching them, you're just mesmerized. You're caught up in it. I love it. One spotlight, baby.
BR: Frank Sinatra.
MJ: Yeah. Those guys are cool. And Sammy Davis. I just love it, the whole thing. It's magic, it's real magic. Sidebar: “I’m one to bring some bliss and escapism, some joy, some magic…Without entertainment, what would the world be like?”
Jesse Jackson interview 2005:
Michael: My health is perfect actually.
Jesse: You’ve maintained this weight man, that’s what people is most jealous of and so excited about…
Michael: No no, my health is perfect actually, I’m a great believer in holistic natural foods and eating and (sp) herbs and things, you know, God’s medicine, instead of Western chemicals, not those things, you know.
Jesse: Well, how did the money issue get in it in the first place? Some people called and they thought it was about the Sony catalog. What’s- what’s in that catalog?
Michael: In my Sony Catalog, is all the Beatles music, ahem, all of the music I own – I own Sly and the Family Stone, I-I own such a volume of so many, I own Elvis – so many Elvis songs and it’s a huge catalog, very valuable, it’s worth a lot of money. And there is a big fight going on right now, as we speak about that. Now, I can’t say whether or not – I can’t comment on it, but there’s a lot of conspiracy, I’ll say that – conspiracy going on as we speak.
Jesse: It was suggested by a number of your friends and family members was that this fight was really more about this catalog issue than it is any thing else. Do you believe that?
Michael: Well, you know, I don’t want to comment. I don’t want to make a comment, Jessie ah—it’s a real delicate issue and uh, I’ll let you, I’ll let you make the comment on that one
Michael: (Clears throat) Ahem, my level of trust will change. And ah, there-there there’s a lot of conspiracy going on. I’ll say that much. A lot of it.
Jesse: Do you think that….
Michael: All around me.
Jesse: Is the conspiracy connected to the celebrity or to the trial or to the catalog – what do you think the source of it is?
Michael: I-I can’t comment. I can’t comment Jessie, I-I don’t wanna… it ah, I’m under a gag order and it’s a very serious thing. I don’t want to say the wrong thing. With the wrong flavor. It’s a very delicate area. Very delicate where we are now.
Jesse: Good. Good. Let me ask you this question though, that for those who are praying fervently, want to help and look forward to seeing Michael Jackson again. What can people expect next from you?
Michael: Well, like-like I always say, I’m-I’m a person of the arts. I love the arts very, very, very much. And ah, I’m a musician, I’m a director, I’m a writer, I’m a composer, I’m a producer, and I love the medium. I love film very, very much. I think it’s the most expressive of all of the art mediums. The sculptor can sculpt, the painter can paint, but they capture a moment, ah, they freeze time with the moment. In film, you live the moment. You live, you have the, audiences for two hours. You have their brain, their mind – you can take them any place you want to take them. You know, and that idea is mesmerizing to me – that you can have the power to do people, to move people to change their lives and that’s where you to marry the music [and the] individual together. And that’s what excites me so much about film and the future. Because I love motion pictures very, very much.
Jesse: Since people have-have risen so high and so far with your dreams, what are, what are you dreaming of now?
Michael: Oh ahem (clears throat), like I was saying before, ahem, it’s to innovate, to tie in the medium of-of film, and there’s other things I want to do, which are some surprises. Ah, things in society that I want to do in the future. You know, in Africa. I have some great plans, ah, that I’ve been preparing to do there. I’d had several meetings with people whose flown out to see me since I’ve been going through what I’ve been going through and so my heart is set on doing some things there, very much so as well.
At Large With Geraldo Rivera Interview 5-2-2005:
GR: So how do you feel being here again, being in a recording studio again, focussing
on the music again? Is it a relief, in a sense?
MJ: It’s a great relief. It makes me feel like I’m totally at home. I’m into my own. Which is what I’m here for. Any of the arts… like that could be film, you know, music, any type of art, I love it.
GR: So, when you’re being the quote on quote, King of Pop, that’s when you’re the most comfortable? Or is it the creative process?
MJ: The creative process, yes. I’m obsessed with creating…
GR: Yeah. How do you deal with everything in your life being magnified,
exaggerated, almost to a grotesque level.
MJ: It’s like looking at a fictitious movie. Because its fiction. It’s like watching
science fiction. It’s not true. And I know myself and it’s sad when people have to read
those things and they believe it.
GR: Do you feel like holding a press conference every week and saying, this is the rumor du jour, it’s not true
MJ: I know eventually, the truth will prevail and I’m about truth.
GR: What about movies for yourself again? You had The Wiz and some of the others but we haven’t seen you on the big screen in a while.
MJ: I’ll be directing myself. I love directing. I love creativity and I think when an
artist steps forward with a production of some type, if he can express himself the way
he sees it should be done. I feel it and I see it. I’m a visionary. If I can give that, I do
and that’s what I love to do with music and dance and the arts.
GR: At a certain point, Michael Jackson and the brothers Jackson kind of separated
artistically, is this a moment in your life where you’re coming back together?
Obviously you’ll continue your solo career, but what’s the big plan, what’s the big
picture at this stage in your life? What has been left unachieved? What would you like
to do?
MJ: There are a lot of surprises. Film. I love film. It’s innovating, taking the medium to a new place. I used the music video medium as a short film medium to take me to the next level.And hummm, I’m having a lot of fun!
