What is the real reason why MJ changed his skin color?

I'm glad no one had the bad taste to say rigor mortis.

they say he had vitiligo.

I believe LSD's answer is correct.

I also heard (from a very good source, that I'm not gonna share in this forum) that another issue he had was this: on camera, a person with lighter skin and darker skin cannot be made to look good all at once. Given that he was usually outnumbered, he started lightening his skin so he could look good as well (fair 'nuff).

But why he got obsessed with plasticsurgery I think is more about his psyche - one documentary I saw suggested it was his bad relationship with his father, and the fact that when he looked in the mirror he saw his father that created an obsession to change. Makes sense to me.

Vitiligo, tho' I don't remember him with pale patches of skin just the whole of him getting paler and paler.

To do that black or white music video

Is was vitiligo.

I have Vit. I have light skin so mine does not show up like someone with dark skin. Lots of people go through bleeching treatments so that you cant see the white spots that stand out. When people see your spots, they act like you are dirty or they can catch it.

It sometimes works sort of like a scar and wont re-pigment if it gets deep enough into the layers. If you can catch it in early stages, sometimes you can re-pigment.

Stress is a big factor.

It is usually on hands, face and other visible areas of the body.

He suffered from Vitiligo and instead of just leaving his skin alone he bleached the remaining colored parts white.