Oh, Grow Up

Back in 1986, Janet Jackson released her breakout album, "Control". I remember it well -- I was a sophomore in college at a party one night and "What Have You Done for Me Lately?" popped out of the stereo. "Control" was one of the biggest sellers of the period and, to my mind, one of the best pop/dance/r&b albums of its time. Tight production by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Tough beats. Impeccable pacing. What more could you ask for in the 80's.

Flash forward to 2006 and Jackson has just released her new album, "20 Y.O" (or "20 Years Old"). Yes, it has been 20 years since "Control" dominated the charts. (Hard to believe.) And here we have Jackson at 40 ready to take on the pop charts again. It's been a rough couple of years for her -- what with the infamous "wardrobe malfunction" and the fizzle of her previous album, "Damita Jo". (Oh, you didn't realize she released an album last year. Well, neither did most folks and, frankly, it was a dud both critically and in sales.)

Now, I confess that I generally have liked Jackson's albums over the years. No, they don't stretch the mind, but they usually have some of the most consistently enjoyable dance tracks in pop ("Damita Jo" notwithstanding). So, last week, I eagerly listened to "20 Y.O", hoping to be transported back to pop dance heaven. She opens the album with the promising announcement that "she just wants to have some fun." In the first lines of the first track, "So Excited", she offers to open her "spot" for me and let me "act bad." Hmmm. This theme continues all the way through to the last track, "Love 2 Love", in which she ends with the opportunity to let me "have her way with her" and make her "my slave." Hmmm again. (Okay, maybe these tracks weren't specifically directed at me, but, hey, a guy can dream.)

However, somewhere in the middle of all this, maybe about the time she declares that it's 7 AM and about the time to do it again ("Enjoy"), something started to creep me out. Here's Jackson, basically repeating the same dirty talk over and over again. (I don't object to the come on, but it does get a bit monotonous after awhile.) Here she is on the CD jacket, looking today exactly like she did in 1986 with a montage of photos of her from the past 20 years. And then, I think, wait a minute, isn't this woman 40 years old and isn't it 2006?

And then I realized what this was all about. Here is Janet Jackson, queen of pop/dance from the late 80's and early 90's, and now she's going to do it like the young girls do. That's fine as far as it goes -- and I know women enter their sexual peak in their mid-thirties, so she has lots of time left to enjoy herself -- but this all seems kind of limited.

Part of getting older is reconciling who you were in the formative years of young adulthood with who you are now. It's not always pretty, but hopefully, upon reflection, you realize how much you have grown and changed over the years. Think of it, besides the fact that your body didn't jiggle as much, would YOU really want to be 20 all over again? I mean, all of the self-knowledge, relationships, and twists and turns over the intervening time must have have taught you something, right?

Now, I don't begrudge Jackson's enjoyment of the pursuit of sex and I hope she's having a good time, but, really, has she learned nothing in 20 years? Here we have Jackson as female Peter Pan. And, frankly, after awhile, that gets kind of boring. I mean, what do you talk about after the next orgasm?

I don't expect Jackson to suddenly get all meaningful and middle-aged on us. I just wonder why she feels the need to play in this ballfield. Why continue the same old stereotype that you have to look and act 20 years old to have all of the fun? Even Madonna, that other big diva of 80's pop stardom, switched gears when she reached her forties. You may not love the earth mama, kabbalah purveying philospher that she has become, but at least you can see the evolution.

So, maybe, in the end, I'm not in Jackson's demographic any more. (I knew she'd dump me for a younger man.) But, after a few listens of "20 Y.O", the only thing I had to say is "Janet, grow up."