There is a handful of celebrities who stand out as having made their
mark in the minds and hearts of fans around the world at the end of this century, and who
have the potential to carry us on into the next. One such person is Janet, Like Whitney,
Brandy, Puffy and the two Michael’s (one her brother, the other the phenomenal
basketball star), Janet Jackson is known around the world as a one-name wonder. She has
talent, charisma and a reputation that elevate her above the celebrity crowd. At the same
time, she repeatedly has shown that she is emotionally vulnerable with an ample dose of
the insecurities that plague people in general.
Now age 32, Janet has been performing since she was a child, appearing with her famous
brothers, The Jackson Five, and later as a child actress and performer in her own right.
With seven recordings released since the early '80's she has sold more then 40 million
records worldwide. Her latest, The Velvet Rope, is triple platinum, and she spent the past
year touring the U.S and the world with her two-hour long, high energy extravaganza during
which she sang and danced tirelessly.
Janet has talked about the pain that plagues her young life, yet it is unclear why shades
of blue and gray seem to pervade and color her very persona. She makes it clear that a
cloud hangs over her relationship with her father, the family patriarch whose heavy hand
guided her brothers and her to stardom. She is very close to her mother, one of the few
family members with whom she is in close touch. She even has expressed concern that the
controversies surrounding brother Michael's life might discolor of her own. In fact, she
acknowledges she was "hurt" when a major corporate endorser backed out of an
agreement when Michael’s problems surfaced a few years ago. She also says she hopes
that she and sister LaToya can heal their relationship now that LaToya can is divorced
from her husband-manager, whom the family feels kept LaToya at odds with them.
The Velvet Rope is a metaphor for her innermost feelings, though she denies the assumption
she is into bondage and that she is gay because she sings of woman-to-woman love. But she
confirms that she has been battling depression and low self-esteem "Just because you
have money doesn't mean you can't feel worthless," she says in an EBONY interview.
"Just because people consider you beautiful doesn't mean that you feel that
way," Many of her fans ask:" How could someone of her wealth and talent and
beauty be depressed and unhappy?" But Janet, as is the case with her siblings, seems
to harbor dark feelings and emotions that only she can identify.
"Singing these songs has meant digging up the pain that I buried a long time
ago," she says of The Velvet Rope. "it's very hard and sometimes confusing. But
I've had to do it. I've been burying pain my whole life. It's like kicking dirt under a
carpet. At some point there's so much dirt you start to choke. Well, I've been choking. My
therapy came in writing these songs. Then I had to find the courage to sing them or else
suffer the consequences-a permanent case of the blues."
When she needs a shoulder to lean or cry on, there is Rene Elizondo, her constant
companion for the past 13 years. When they met, Rene was an assistant cameraman, and Janet
was recovering from a broken marriage (at age 18 to James DeBarge). She and Rene became
friends first and then lovers. Over the years he has been her soul mate, her best friend,
her critic partner, her main man. On The Velvet Rope CD, Elizondo gets production credits
for the first time (at her insistence), though he has collaborated with her on other
recordings. He has said he prefers to remain in the background.
With the 1986 CD Control, Janet declared her independence, and from that point she has not
been shy about expressing her sexuality and showcasing her tattooed and pierced body. She
has appeared in and on magazines almost nude, and in one case with only Rene's hands
covering her breasts. When she appears in public, she shows off her ample cleavage. (She
denies having had breast augmentation though she acknowledges having her nipple pierced
for Rene and her nose pierced for spiritual reasons.) Yet at other times she appears to be
shy and introverted. With The Velvet Rope, she sometimes shocks her listeners and concert
audiences with poignant lyrics about physical and emotional abuse, with sassy, risqué-if
sot profane-language. At other times she comes off like an angel singing her way into
heaven. Yes, Janet is a study in contradiction, or maybe conflict. She is extraordinary
beautiful, yet when she looks at herself in the mirror, she says she sees a face that
needs improvement. Despite her chiseled ab’s and taut derriere she see's a body that
needs more exercise. Though she is at the apex of the world of entertainment, she still
trying to prove herself. "I've never felt I was on top," she says in a recent
interview. "I'm still trying to get there, still climbing the mountain."
As we head into the brave new world of the new millennium, Janet Jackson will be there to
shock and entertain us with her ever-evolving persona.
By Lynn Norment
