Abstract: Joseph Vogel’s essays on Michael Jackson are important reading material for anyone wanting to understand what all the fuss about Jackson – beyond his art – was really about. In a new collection titled Misunderstood: Behind the Strange Stories, Controversies, and Clickbait Surrounding Michael Jackson, released May 2026, Vogel touches on some recurring themes from Jackson’s life and artistic career, and which have persisted beyond it. MJ Studies Today columnist Kerry Hennigan uses the collection as a springboard for her own reflections on the themes explored in Vogel’s essays.
Column by Kerry Hennigan, editor of the free monthly newsletter A Candle for Michael, administrator of the fan group “Michael Jackson’s Short Film Ghosts” on Facebook, and an MJ blogger on WordPress. Kerry holds Certificates in the Archaeology of the Ancient World and the Archaeology of Ancient Britain from Cambridge University’s Professional and Continuing Education unit and is passionate about Viking longships and the development of maritime trade routes from the Bronze Age to the Early Medieval period.
REFERENCE AS:
Hennigan, Kerry. “MJ Studies Today CXXVII: Reflections on reading Joseph Vogel’s 2026 collection of essays, ‘Misunderstood: Behind the Strange Stories, Controversies, and Clickbait surrounding Michael Jackson.’” The Journal of Michael Jackson Academic Studies Vol 13, No. 1 (2026). https://michaeljacksonstudies.org/mj-studies-today-cxxvii/
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Reflections on reading Joseph Vogel’s 2026 collection of essays, “Misunderstood: Behind the Strange Stories, Controversies, and Clickbait surrounding Michael Jackson.” By Kerry Hennigan
Photo collage © Kerry Hennigan
Misunderstood: Behind the Strange Stories, Controversies, and Clickbait surrounding Michael Jackson, is Joseph Vogel’s latest collection of Jackson-related essays. Some of the essays are new, and some have been published previously. They address matters as current as the Michael Jackson biopic, Michael, (the release of which was pending at the time the relevant essay was written), and the cacophony of media backlash that has become a predictable pattern following the announcement of any new project by the Jackson Estate – setting off a cycle of “fascination, celebration, scepticism, and accusation.” [1] Given the common themes in the essays, it is invariable that there is some repetition of events and examples cited. Neither has there been an attempt to update some of the older essays with respect to the mention of certain individual(s) whose narratives on Jackson have changed since those essays were last published (and as revealed in Chapter 1).
It is also important to point out for scholars that Misunderstood is not presented as an academic publication, having no reference notes or bibliography. However, Vogel’s extensive knowledge of his subject, his journalistic abilities, and his integrity as a writer on Michael Jackson specifically, and popular culture generally, make his essays a joy to read. Beyond merely informing the reader, as demonstrated by your columnist’s reflections that follow, they prompt a revisit of some of the major themes that occurred throughout the artist’s life and have continued since his death.
“He was childlike, playful and ebullient. He was open, yet elusive, popular, yet polarizing, otherworldly, yet profoundly human.” [2]
Jackson was well aware of his own “otherness.” As Vogel writes, there was never a time in his public life when he was perceived as “normal.” [3] In an essay called “Childhood,” originally intended for inclusion in his seminal work Man In The Music: the Creative Life and Work of Michael Jackson, Vogel describes the pop icon’s formative years as traumatic and tragic. “There was abuse and exploitation; there was endless, exhausting work and imprisoning expectations; there was the glaring spotlight of the public and the omnipresence of hysterical groupies.” [4] While Jackson’s talent was a rare gift, it still required a tough apprenticeship to maximise its potential. That apprenticeship began at a very young age; as Jackson himself declared candidly at the 1993 Grammy Awards, “it was not a normal childhood.” [5]
Some critics have claimed that Jackson had a persecution complex, and that it was of his own making. Whether or not that was the case, even in death he has not been spared controversy. When his personal doctor stood trial for the involuntary manslaughter of the King of Pop, it was not the accused in the spotlight. The media branded it the “Michael Jackson Death Trial” and televised it live. In the essay “’Am I the Beast you Visualized?’ The Cultural Abuse of Michael Jackson,” Vogel reminds us that even when he is not the one on trial, Jackson “is, as he always was, the main event, the tantalising spectacle.” [6]
“Whether by coincidence or design, major moments in Jackson’s posthumous career have repeatedly coincided with renewed controversy.” [7]
Unfortunately for his legacy, in recent years individuals who enjoyed the benefits of Jackson’s friendship when he was alive, have failed to take on board his moral sensibilities. In the essay, titled “A Blockbuster Biopic and New Allegations,” Vogel writes, “the story of Michael Jackson in the twenty-first century remains the same as it has been for decades: extraordinary art, enormous money, and controversies that arrive just as the spotlight grows brightest.” [8] As he notes in another essay, titled “Michael Jackson, Delayed Allegations and Witch Hunts,” in the court of public opinion, “the Michael Jackson witch hunt goes on.” [9]
There have been times when the taint of controversy has faded – as it did when Jackson died in 2009 and the world collectively paused to mourn him. But it wasn’t long before those seeking a payout from what would become the most lucrative estate of any deceased celebrity, emerged to make allegations of abuse that contain conflicting timelines and changing testimonies that lack credibility. (When the FBI released its 300 page file on Jackson under the Freedom of Information Act, it revealed that its investigators had found no evidence of wrongdoing.) [10]
Michael Jackson, while adhering to his own strict moral compass (due largely to his upbringing as a devout Jehovah’s Witness), acted in pursuit of his creative dreams and career expectations and pushed himself physically and mentally to achieve them. His belief in the purpose of his talent as a “God-given gift” to help heal the world, required a level of commitment that was itself beyond societal norms. Yet, the controversy, and the accusations, continue. As Vogel notes, it is a reminder that the debate surrounding Michael Jackson’s life has never truly ended. [11]
As highlighted in Misunderstood, Jackson’s perceived public persona resulted in the strange stories, controversies, and clickbait as indicated in the book’s subtitle. Being the subject of constant scrutiny, gossip and inuendo inevitably impacted his life beyond the spotlight, and likely shortened it, denying him the opportunity to see his children grow up, and denying the world more great art. It needn’t have – shouldn’t have – been that way.
Kerry Hennigan
14 July 2026
Misunderstood. Behind the Strange Stories, Controversies, and Clickbait Surrounding Michael Jackson.
By Joseph Vogel. Cardinal Books, May 2026.
Paperback edition: 111 pages.
Also available in Kindle format.
Contents:
– Introduction
– A Blockbuster Biopic and New Allegations
– Have You Seen His Childhood?
– Trial By Spectacle: Michael Jackson and the Infotainment Era“
– Am I the Beast you Visualized?” The Cultural Abuse of Michael Jackson.
– Michael Jackson, Delayed Allegations and Witch Hunts
– What You Should Know About The New Michael Jackson Documentary
-Gone Too Soon: The Many Lives of Michael Jackson’s Elegy
Sources:
[1] Vogel, Joseph. Misunderstood. Behind the Strange Stories, Controversies, and Clickbait Surrounding Michael Jackson. Cardinal Books, 2026 page 20.
[2] Vogel, page 41.
[3] Vogel, page 65.
[4] Vogel, pages 23-24.
[5] Jackson, Michael. Grammy’s speech transcript 1993: https://www.truemichaeljackson.com/speeches/grammy-awards-1993/
[6] Vogel, page 63.
[7] Vogel, page 21.
[8] Vogel, page 21.
[9] Vogel, page 89.
[10] Vogel, page 74.
[11] Vogel, page 20.
Illustration: Photo collage “Misunderstood” compiled by Kerry Hennigan using PhotoScape X Pro software and professional photo of Michael Jackson. No infringement of original photographic copyright is intended in this not-for-profit, educational exercise.