Michael Jackson

 MICHAEL JACKSON'S FANBASE

              For many years, Michael Jackson has had a crazy influence on fans worldwide. He was a famous American singer, songwriter, and dancer, being a star since his childhood singing and dancing with the Jackson 5 before going solo. Having so many innovative dance moves and music like his album "Thriller" and "Bad," became some of the best-selling of all time. Despite the controversy surrounding his personal life, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest performers of all time. 

                Among many fandom cosplays, Michael Jackson is a popular choice. Cosplay is an expression for 'costume play,' and it refers to the act of dressing up as fictional characters. Cosplay is often connected with fandoms, many fans chose to dress up for comic conventions, music festivals, and Halloween parties. Most Cosplayers often recreate some of Jackson's most iconic looks such as his red leather jacket from the "Thriller" music video or his sparkling military jacket from his "Bad" tour. All these costumes hold a significant influence on fans. Cosplay on Michael Jackson is not only limited to his outfits but also includes his signature dance moves and gesture, such as the moon and the "crotch" grab. Some cosplayers even go the extra mile and use makeup and prosthetics to resemble Jackson's distinctive facial features. Michael Jackson Dance Cosplay

Figure 1: Thriller cosplay                                                                  Figure 2: Smooth criminal cosplay

    Michael Jackson's influential dance moves had fans going crazy, and fanbases around trying his iconic moves. Fans establish their presence over multiple social media platforms. Some of those iconic moves was the moonwalk, another move with him leaning towards at a 45-degree angle and being able to get on both pointer toes. This had fans practicing the moves, trying to recreate all these dances. The one move that had most fans going crazy was the move of him leaning forward. The reason for this was that the move was physically impossible, so fans from all over were confused and searching for the trick/answers to this move. After fans found the secret to the move, they would post it on social media for other fans to know and try. 

Michael Jackson's fanbase would create replica shoes and hitch members so they so do this move. This shows how far fans would go and what they would do to learn this move. Fan Shoe Replica. The video shows a fan showing his shoes with a hole in the bottom for the hitch. Seeing how fans were influenced by Michael Jackson's dance moves is cool.

        This leads into the story and background of Michael, even though he had a very controversial past. It still didn't affect the loyalty of his fans, his fans would create documentaries of him. They would research his past life and how he became Michael as we know him today and grab influential clips from different standpoints and achievements. Put them together to create documentaries for other fans to watch. MJ Documentary. These were the fans that wanted to know the in-depth life of Michael. These fans were called the "Knowledge seekers" unlike regular fans that would just listen to his music, these fans would research his interviews, background life, and family member, dissecting his music, and personal belongings. 

        Content Creators like bloggers, Youtubers, and fan pages have dedicated their lives to promoting the legacy of Michael Jackson by reading his articles, going to his musicals, collecting MJ artifacts, having all the MJ music CDs and etc. One of those content creators goes by the name of MJFangirl, she has a website where she dedicates her life to the legacy of MJ and travels to support his legacy. In some of her travels, she visited the "thriller" house, collecting many artifacts of MJ and even getting to see Michael perform live at a concert. Her website is used to carry on his legacy and her stories to other MJ fans. 

Link To Her Website

MJFANGIRL

Work Cited 

MJFANGIRL. (n.d.). https://mjfangirl.com/

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Bambino, Madonna. Michael Jackson Thriller - Halloween Costume Contest 2017, Oct. 2017, us.v-cdn.net/5020761/uploads/editor/wa/mqpksijj5qt4.jpg.

“Michael Jackson Remastered 😭🕊️✨ @wowjuliano.” YouTube, 9 Apr. 2023, youtube.com/shorts/WNHxt96T1MY?feature=share.

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“Michael Jackson Remastered 😭🕊️✨ @wowjuliano.” YouTube, 9 Apr. 2023, youtube.com/shorts/WNHxt96T1MY?feature=share.