It would appear that being able to tell a celebrity ‘no’ now and again is a decidedly good thing, especially when it comes to telling the late pop star Michael Jackson that playing Professor X was out of the question. Without resorting to mockery it’s fair to state that Michael Jackson was never the right person for this role no matter what perspective one uses. Not only was he not right for the role due to his soft-spoken nature, but was also reminded that Professor Xavier was an older white man, to which Jackson apparently replied that he would wear makeup. At the time that might have been seen controversial enough, thinking of how it would look now, people might actually sign a petition to state that it shouldn’t be allowed. Or it could fly by without comment since the double standards that some live by might think it’s okay for ‘whiteface’ but ‘blackface’ is completely unacceptable. The implications of this simply muddy up the subject though, so it’s likely best to stick to acting talent and the fact that Jackson had one setting, ultra-sensitive. Anyone that saw his acting could have deduced this since to be certain, Jackson was a very sensitive individual and it came out whenever he was on camera. The problem with this is that despite his infirmities and cultured manner, Professor X is still a character that has a very forthright manner and isn’t known for being particularly sensitive.
The sad part of this is that Michael was already in the midst of his downfall at this time and it was a bit too clear that he wasn’t in his right mind at all times. The elaborate pitch he made for his part in the Marvel universe made it clear that he wasn’t joking, but this only worried people more since when it comes to the music scene he was one of the best that could have been relied upon to perform, at least in his prime. But when it came to acting, Michael had a very select number of roles that he could have taken on, while cameos were about as effective as he could really be in many movies. Without trying to speak ill of the dead, he wasn’t a great actor, but he was a great singer and a loved musician that had legions of fans that would have backed him up in just about any endeavor. Those that might have backed him for the part of Professor X might need a reminder that his acting days really weren’t that big of a success since the movies he did show up in made use of his music in a big way, which was the only reason he was efficient, while in other movie appearances he was there and gone in a very short amount of time. Had Michael actually been given the part of Professor X it feels that things would have gone off the rails in a big way since the character is one of the most important in the X-Men and it would have started the movie on a very sour note that could have only been made worse had Michael been given the part of Logan. Now if that didn’t make you shudder then you might just be a diehard Michael Jackson fan that believed he could do anything.
At one point in the 90s, it became obvious that he was trying to buy out Marvel when the company was having difficulties, but thankfully this didn’t happen since if anyone could guess, Michael would have found a very big inroad to becoming whichever character he wanted. The other character he’d lobbied for was Spider-Man apparently, but obviously this never came to pass either. No disrespect to the late performer, but he wasn’t that great of an actor. He was great as the king of pop, and he was legendary when it came to his performances, but acting was not his forte. There have been plenty of people that have parodied Michael Jackson throughout the years, and some representations were fair while others felt as though they went over the top a bit, but in a lot of ways, Jackson was better off staying away from the camera unless he was singing since this is where he excelled in a big way. Any other time, however, he simply didn’t have the forceful personality that would have been needed for a great number of roles. Seeing him as a part of the X-Men would be enough to make a lot of people cringe since the very idea of him being the leader of a superhero team would have likely torpedoed the movie before it ever started. Jackson’s legend is best served by remembering him as a performer, where he truly shone for the public.
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