Michael Jackson released the best-selling album of all time, but his life wasn't the best ever, it was filled with scandals and incessant criticism. Realism is a literary movement born in the 1840s and which may have affected singers like Michael Jackson a century after his debut. This essay will prove that Michael Jackson was a great musician and a realistic writer. To do this, Michael Jackson's career will be inspected to find out how he became a great musician. Next, realism will be defined, so that its definition can be used to prove that Michael was a realist writer. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Michael Jackson was born on August 29, 1958 in Gary, Indiana, to Joe and Katherine Jackson (Rolling Stone 3). He died on June 25, 2009 of cardiac arrest (Rolling Stone 2). He was such a good artist that the press had to recognize that a young black man could be the biggest pop star in the world (Rolling Stone 1). Michael Jackson grew up listening to a lot of music. His parents constantly influenced him musically. His father, Joe, played in a band and his mother, Katherine, sang with her children and taught them a lot about music (Rolling Stone 5). After a while, Joe began working with his sons in an ensemble. He named Jermaine, Michael's older brother, as the lead singer. One day, Katherine saw Michael singing and dancing with James Brown, she was shocked by his talent and potential (Rolling Stone 6). Michael loved to dance and sing (Rolling Stone 7). Joe Jackson began coaching his children when he learned they wanted to be artists. The better they got, the more they liked it. In Moonwalk, Michael said he was hit when he made a mistake (Rolling Stone 8). Michael's father probably expected perfection, so he hit Michael to make sure that he didn't make the same mistakes again and that in the end he became the better artist. It was around 1964 that Joe started entering his children in talent shows, they won most of them. When one of their singles, "Big Boy," became a local hit, Joe realized how professional his sons were. In 1966, he began booking his sons in nightclubs (Rolling Stone 9). After a while, they began touring in the "Chitlin Circuit", a network of dark rooms in the United States. While touring the Chitlin Circuit, they opened for many R&B artists, including the Temptations, Sam and Dave, and Jackie Wilson (Rolling Stone12). The most famous venue was the Apollo in New York, where they won an Amateur Night Show. At Apollo, Joe had the opportunity to meet Gladys Knight. Gladys and Bobby Taylor, both Motown stars, encouraged Joe to have his sons audition for Motown, one of America's top black pop labels. Michael said: "We auditioned and they loved it, and Diana Ross came to see us specially after the gig we did for them and she hugged us all and said we were wonderful and she said she wanted to play a special role in our career and that's how it all started” (Pidgeon 14). They had so much talent and potential that the Motown stars wanted to help them achieve the success they were capable of. In 1969, after being transferred to Los Angeles by Motown, Berry Gordy, the owner of Motown, began working with them, according to Michael, Gordy told him that their first three singles would be number one (Rolling Stone 13). Michael and his brothers became known as the Jackson 5. The four.The Jackson 5's first songs were number one, just as Gordy had promised (Rolling Stones 15). Michael was the true star of the Jackson 5. His voice went beyond typical male soul singers and beyond gender norms (Rolling Stones 16). However, they did not write their own music. They asked their producer if they could write their own music, but he said no. The restriction on writing their own music would have prevented the Jackson 5 from growing and Michael from launching a successful solo career (Rolling Stone 18). In 1975, Joe Jackson negotiated a new contract for his sons with Epic Records, for a royalty rate increase of 500 percent (Rolling Stone 18). “The royalty is a payment made for the use of an intellectual property right” Collins. The deal also included solo albums for all members of the Jackson 5 except Jermaine, who remained at Motown because he married Gordy's daughter. Motown did their best to stop this deal from happening, but the only thing they could do was stop the band from using the Jackson 5 name, now the band is now called the Jacksons (Rolling Stone 19). Epic Records moved them to Philadelphia, with Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff their new producers. It was in 1978, with the album Destiny, that the Jacksons finally took control of their music (Rolling Stone 20). Soon after, Michael felt he needed to make some changes to succeed in his solo career. His first decision was to fire his father as manager and find a new manager. He hired Quincy Jones, who was a well-respected producer. Michael loved Jones' talent for mixing complex hard beats with soft overlays. Michael later said: "It was the first time I completely wrote and produced my songs...I was looking for someone who would give me that freedom, as well as someone who was musically limitless." » Michael also stated that he wanted his solo album to sound different from the band's album (Rolling Stone 21). Together they made the album Off the Wall, which showed that Michael was a mature artist. By 1985, the album had sold over 5 million copies in the United States alone (Rolling Stone 22). Michael expected Off the Wall to win the Record of the Year and Album of the Year awards at the 1980 Grammy Awards. But it only won Best Male R&B Vocal. After this, Michael was saddened, but encouraged to make an album that everyone would recognize (Rolling Stone 23). Then Michael wanted to make the best album ever. He released Thriller in November 1982. Michael wanted Thriller to be a collection of great songs, with each song designed for a different audience (Rolling Stone 24). The songs were authentic and described Michael's inner life. These songs dealt with Michael's fears and experiences, the album was filled with personal revelations. Thriller was a mass market masterpiece. This is a feat that will probably never be equaled (Rolling Stone 25). A few months later, the Jacksons performed their biggest hits for Motown's 25th anniversary. After his brothers left the stage, Michael put on “Billie Jeans.” This was Michael's first public performance outside of the Jacksons, as a group. It was one of the best performances of all time (Rolling Stone 26). Seven songs from Thriller reached the Billboard Top 10 and the album became the best-selling album in history. Right now it's sold about 50 million copies, it's probably sold more. At the 1984 Grammy Awards, he received eight awards. Then he went on a world tour with theJacksons (Rolling Stone 29). He was at the peak of his career. He was the greatest musician of the time. Everything began to slowly fall apart when Michael was subjected to racist backlash. He was accused of changing his skin color to appeal to his white audience and get bigger sales numbers (Rolling Stone 31). According to Randy Taraborrelli, author of Michael Jackson: Magic and Madness, Michael didn't really like his body (Rolling Stone 32). He later admitted to having plastic surgery to change his nose and chin, but denied changing the color of his skin (Rolling Stone 33). Michael's body continued to change over time, people began to believe he wanted to be white and others thought he was an androgynous, someone with both masculine and feminine features ( Rolling Stone 34). Michael wanted his next album to be better than Thriller, but it was. almost impossible. He also wanted to defend himself from all the criticism he received because he felt disrespected. He wasn't criticized on his music, but on the things he did, like; his devotion to his animals as if they were his friends, his ongoing facial reconstruction, and his accusations that he slept in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber to maintain his youth (Rolling Stone 35). In 1987 he released Bad, which was good, but not as good as Thriller and Off the Wall (Rolling Stone 36). In 1988, he won no Grammy awards and placed first in Rolling Stone's "worst readers of the year" polls (Rolling Stone 39). Michael then moved to Los Angeles where he built a house known as Neverland. In 1993, a story broke that Michael molested a 13-year-old boy (Rolling Stone 40). He settled it with money outside of court, because he wanted to put it behind him (Rolling Stone 41). This episode made him even more infamous, which led him to use drugs, which he continued to use until his death. The same year, he unexpectedly married Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis Presley. Their marriage was widely criticized and they divorced 18 months later. (Rolling Stone 42). Michael's musical dynamism waned and his music was not as successful as before. His new music was generally intended to justify himself and respond to criticism (Rolling Stone 44). Although he had some good times, his music was less popular in the 1990s. His 2001 album Invincible ultimately adapted to the cultural and stylistic changes brought about by hip-hop and other urban music styles. Michael was no longer known for his music, but for his mistakes (Rolling Stone 46). In a 2003 interview with Martin Bashir, he talked about sharing his bed with children who weren't his in his Neverland home. This sparked much criticism and controversy. Rumor has it that he was so devastated that he attempted an overdose of morphine to kill himself (Rolling Stone 47). Later, another pedophilia controversy arose and Michael was shaken (Rolling Stone 49). The biggest star in the world had fallen. He leaves the United States for Bahrain. In early 2009, he announced a series of 50 concerts, known as “Final Curtain” (Rolling Stone 50). These concerts were probably to give him back his name. On June 24, the Rolling Stones reported that everything went well during his rehearsal and that he sounded like he did at the time (Rolling Stone 51). He died the next day of a drug overdose. His doctor was later charged with manslaughter because he gave Michael drugs (Rolling Stone 52). Moving on to realism, this is a type of literature thatis to interpret reality as it really is (Washington State University 1). Realism emerged in the 1840s and dominated the Western way of life until the 1890s, it began in France and then spread to other countries (McKay 744). Realist writers believed that literature should reflect life as it was, they simply saw things happening and then wrote them down. Major realist writers focused on observing everyday life and then created fiction based on their observations (McKay 744). George Eliot, a Victorian writer who improved the method of psychological analysis of modern fiction (Haight), defined realism as "the doctrine that all truth and beauty must be attained by a humble and faithful study of nature , and not by substituting vague forms, created by the imagination upon the mists of feelings, in place of a definite and substantial reality” (Mullan 1). Realists wrote about subjects that weren't really talked about like alcoholism, strikes, and violence. We don't talk about these topics because they are everyday things that people see, and they don't care about them anymore because they are used to them. These topics have become normal, everyday things, which has made it more difficult for people to speak out against them. Many critics have proposed that there is no real difference between realism and naturalism. Realism is difficult to define, because it has different contexts, European and American (Washington State University 2). In American literature, realism is linked to the post-Civil War period. The article states that "increasing rates of democracy and literacy, the rapid growth of industrialism and urbanization, population expansion due to immigration, and the relative increase in wealth of the middle class provided a fertile literary environment for readers interested in understanding these rapid cultural changes” (Washington University 3). The fact that realists wrote about current events in the United States at the time helped people understand what was happening in their country. It also made them appreciate realism, because it was how they knew what was happening. Michael Jackson was a realistic writer, even though he did not live in the 1840s. Five songs were used to show his realistic writing style; In songs like "Bad", "Smooth Criminal", "Dirty Diana", "Man in the Mirror" and "Just Good Friends", Michael sings about events that happen in real life. In "Bad" he says "Just show your face, In broad daylight I tell you, On what I feel, I'll hurt your mind." This is probably a response to his critics, because he was fed up with everything they were saying. This scenario doesn't just happen to Michael, it happens to other people too. There are people who like to bully or talk behind others' backs. These people usually “never show their face in broad daylight,” meaning they never want to confront the person they have hurt in public. Michael wants to face the critics, and he will tell them how he feels and what he says to them will hurt their minds. Michael is not looking for a fight, but what he says will destabilize the critics. Usually, when a person is being bullied and decides to confront the bully, they will not seek hand-to-hand combat, but a speech that will counter the bully's desire to continue to bully. He tells the truth about bullies without twisting anything. Later in the song he says, "You're not a man, you throw stones to hide your hands." » By saying this, he means that the critics do not have the courageto face him like a man, and they avoid him while trying to hurt him with insults. They hide their hands because they don't want to be involved in what happens next. This is exactly what bullies do. His song “Bad” reflects the conflict with modern bullies and traitors. He fictionalized the events that happened to him and sang about those events to reach a wide audience and raise awareness about the bullies. He said what they did and how they did it without distorting the truth and said it humbly, without calling them out as if he wanted to fight. The second song that shows realistic lyrics in Michael's songs in "Smooth Criminal". “Smooth Criminal” reflects first-degree murder. In “Smooth Criminal,” Jackson said, “He walked into her apartment… She was shot, it was her loss.” » The murderer knew when and where he could find and then kill the target, because he went to her apartment and found her there. The murder then kills its victim. Later in the song he says, "Every time I try to find him, he leaves no clues behind, and they have no way of knowing who the suspect is or what to expect." » When relatives of the deceased try to find the murderer, they are generally unsuccessful. First-degree murderers usually plan things to make sure no clues are left behind, so no one can catch them. When Michael says "they have no way of knowing" he is talking about the police because they don't have enough clues. “Smooth Criminal” reflects real-life first-degree murders, as these people are pretty normal in society. Murderers are everywhere and people accept this fact without trying to stop the murderers. People only try to stop them after they kill someone they can't find the murderer they abandon instead of trying to search differently. Murderers are taken lightly because society doesn't care enough to stop them, it's as if society doesn't care about them at all. The third song with realistic lyrics is “Man in the Mirror”. In "Man in the Mirror" he says "I'm going to make a change for once in my life... As I pulled up the collar of my favorite winter coat, this wind blows me, I see the children in the street, who don't have enough to eat, who am I to be blind and pretend not to see their needs. "A lot of people say they're going to change something in their life, but don't change. They usually keep their promise when they see someone living a harder life than them, because they just can't ignore the fact that they are ungrateful for things they take for granted. Later in the song he says, "If you want to make the world a better place, look at yourself and make a change." you must examine yourself before examining others This is a paraphrase of Matthew 7:5, which says: “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly how to remove it. the speck in your brother's eye." Michael saw how much people wanted to change the world, but he even bothered to change themselves. Michael told the truth about changing the world, because the. The only way to change it is not to wait for others to change, but to start with yourself. He decided to take the first step to make the world a better place, because he couldn't stand the way the world was. in such a bad state and no one has really tried to change it. Everyone accepted it as normal. The fourth song that contains realistic lyrics is "Just Good Friends", featuring Stevie Wonder. Michael said: "(Before.