I have always wondered just what MJ was thinking (see details)

If you look at this picture, you see a recently deceased man who was not only a great dancer and musical phenomenon that also happened to be hounded for his alleged abuses of children. But I don’t want to discuss that and I would appreciate if no one brought that up here, what I want to discuss is what do you think he was trying to do when he so drastically altered his look. He went from a black person to a pale white creature that hardly seemed human at times. I know it is all speculation, and there will probably be no real answers, but what do you suppose MJ was thinking when he changed his appearance so drastically over the years?