We've been reading a lot about Michael Jackson over the past day and this article at Slate.com is the best we've seen. They basically say Michael Jackson was committing suicide, albeit a slow suicide over many years. They talk about his painful childhood years and his rise to fame. They also mention his physical transformation;

... an entirely transfigured physical appearance, morphing from an engaging and handsome African-American man into a misshapen Eurasian woman; his skin bleached, his face re-sculpted; his nose, finally, needing to be practically taped onto his face. He left his race behind and, in a sense, his family too. (The nose, which seemed to have borne the brunt of his obsession with plastic surgery, was his father's.)

Check out their story of his life.

Photo of MJ and fans above, taken in 1988, is by Alan Light.

Below is a video showing the transformation of his face after several plastic surgeries and skin color alterations.

See also a fab video tribute to Michael Jackson here.