Pop, poems and porn

Diehard fans of Michael Jackson say claims the star had a collection of disturbing images won't affect sales of his poetry

A bilingual version of Dancing the Dream: Poems and Reflections, a collection of prose by Michael Jackson, hit the shelves in China on June 25.

Although released to coincide with the seventh anniversary of his death, the book also made its debut amid reports that a large collection of child porn and torture images was uncovered during a 2003 raid on the pop star's Neverland Valley Ranch in California.

Ron Zonen, a former senior assistant district attorney for Santa Barbara, told the media that he believes the images were used to "desensitize children" who the pop icon planned to molest.

The claims, which the Jackson family has denied, emerged in the United States and spread worldwide. Yet they made relatively few headlines in China, where the singer has a massive following.

It is too early to say whether sales of the new version of Dancing the Dream will be affected. Yet the publishers and diehard fans are confident it will be well received.

"The book offers a window for people to view Jackson and eliminate misunderstandings," says Huang Yan, deputy editor-in-chief of Shanghai Cai Qin Ren Culture, which published the authorized translation in partnership with East China Normal University Press and Shanghai Qiyeshu Culture.

MJJCN, the largest Michael Jackson fan club in China, responded to reports about the scandalous images by calling for Chinese media not to carry the "fabricated" allegations without verification.

One fan identified only as Yang wrote on the fan club website, "I'm shocked to see a great artist and philanthropist defamed like this seven years after his death."

While Jackson may be a controversial figure in the United States due to accusations of improper behavior with children (he was acquitted in 2005 on seven counts of child molestation and two counts of providing alcohol to a minor), his image has remained largely intact in China.

Since 2009, fans have commemorated his death with flash mobs and candlelit vigils. In June, superfan Xu Hao and his friend rented the giant screen on the side of Shanghai's Citigroup Tower to play videos of Jackson's performances. "He never performed on the Chinese mainland. We arranged it so his fans could dance along with him," Xu explains.

Although an international superstar, few may know that Jackson was also an avid poet. Chinese enthusiasts hope the Mandarin version of Dancing the Dream will provide fresh insight into this mercurial character. "A poetry collection will reach a wider audience, beyond his fans, enabling more people to appreciate his extraordinary talent and benevolent heart," Huang says.

One stanza that fans have already highlighted is:

It was only when I broke all ties

After the stillness of the shrieking cries

In the depths of those heaving sighs

The imagined sorrow of a thousand lies

I suddenly stared in your fiery eyes

All at once I found my goal

The elusive shadow was my soul

Like the original 1992 edition, published by Doubleday, the Chinese version features 100 photos and sketches from Jackson's personal collection.

"The original is now out of print," Huang says. "We worked closely with the estate at every stage, including choosing the font sizes. So it's really genuine."

According to stories on the MJJCN website, the star said in 1995 that the poetry collection is more insightful in terms of his emotion than his earlier autobiography, Moonwalk.

"People ask me how I make music," Jackson writes in Dancing the Dream. "I tell them I just step into it. It's like stepping into a river and joining the flow. Every moment in the river has its song. So, I stay in the moment and listen."

On dancing, he adds: "This world we live in is the dance of the creator. ... On many an occasion when I'm dancing, I've felt touched by something sacred. In those moments, I've felt my spirit soar and become one with everything that exists."

Jackson, who globally has sold an estimated 1 billion records, won 17 Grammy Awards and 26 American Music Awards during his lifetime.

"My colleagues say they learned new things about him while working on the collection," Huang says, adding that the poems reveal more about the "Jackson's beautiful and pure mind" than his songs. "His world was all about love, faith and curiosity."

The authorized bilingual book follows a translated edition by a Taiwan lyricist as well as fan-produced version, which was widely circulated online.

For the latest version, the publishers brought in Chen Dongbiao, a translator who has worked on Chinese versions of books by literary giants like Vladimir Nabokov, William Butler Yeats, Jorge Luis Borges and Ezra Pound.

"I suggest readers pore over this book as if they'd never heard of Jackson," Chen says. "You'll discover new dimensions of him and see the world through his eyes."

The prose is simple but powerful, and twinkles with a luster that makes it relatable, he says. "His poems are spontaneous and very easy to understand. "They don't have big words or unnecessary phrasing."

Chen adds that it will take time to tell if the poems are truly great.

Contact the writers through meijia@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 07/08/2016 page18)