Michael Jackson He is one of the most famous musicians of all time. So much for his indelible hits (Smooth Criminal, Beat It or Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough)as well as his original dance steps, his legacy will endure over time.
One of the most difficult sides to avoid in your career is that of the music videos. And the King of Pop also crossed all possible borders in this field to provide audiovisual pieces that marked generations, as was the case of Thriller and Billie Jean. The same thing happened a November 14, 1991when Jackson released the video for Black or White.
The expensive process behind the “Black or White” video
There’s a lot to unpack about this iconic video, but what can be said is that it didn’t come cheap. To be more precise, cost 4 million dollarssomething unusual for the time, due to the number of days of filming – it lasted about a month -, the post-production effects and the actors.
black or white mj 4.jpg
Although the original video lasts 6 minutes and 23 seconds, there is an extended version of 11 minutes and 2 secondswhich is composed of different parts. First, the video begins in the home of a typical American family, with the son (Macaulay Culkin, Home Alone actor) listening to rock at full volume. The father challenges him because it was too late to have the music so loud, so the boy responds by taking out two giant speakers and an electric guitarin which he plays a chord that serves to send his father to the other side of the world.
There, the man is somewhere in Africa, surrounded by a tribe that follows Michael Jackson’s choreography – black and white, obviously – which gives rise to the beginning of the song. At minute 5:28 of the video you can see a complex, novel and revolutionary effect for 1991, which consisted of the morphing (transformation) of the faces of people of different ethnicities. Among them appeared the name of Tyra Banks.
black or white mj 2.jpg
Another element by which Jackson was characterized was the introduction of musical directors to your videos. As was Martin Scorcesse in Badthis time it was up to John Landiswho had also directed Thriller. However, the process was complicated, since on the one hand the director claimed debts that they owed him for the success of the terror that scared everyone back in 1983. On the other hand, Landis described the filming as chaotic and tortuous, mainly due to the singer’s erratic behaviors.
And the King of Pop was in a challenging moment in his career; I haven’t released new music in a long time. and it was the first time that I would not record something under the tutelage of the recently deceased Quincy Joneshis mentor and the mind behind many of his successes. For these reasons, I had a demanding attitude and crazy decisions within the filming process.
black or white mj.jpg
On some occasions, he arrived many hours late for the filming schedule, like the time when, when it seemed that he had disappeared, it was because he had run away with Culkin – who became a great friend of his – to buying toys at Toys R Us, where he spent $50,000.
None of this could surprise anyone who saw the video, which is a collection of ideas that passed through the singer’s head and that he captured in a kind of visual salad. In fact, the song ends at minute 6:20, but from that point on a completely different moment begins. The camera shows the behind-the-scenes of the video that had not yet been released and follows a black panther who leaves the set, goes down some stairs and transforms into Michael Jackson, who dance without music for 4 minutes straightwith steps that wanted to find the most sensual side of him.
In a fit of creativity and anger, Jackson He spins around, grabs his crotch, moves his arms and legs in unimaginable directions, and breaks cars, shop windows, and posters. to finally become that black panther again. This part generated controversy due to the movements that the singer tried to show as sexy, but which had been rejected by Landis.
black or white mj 3.webp
As if that weren’t enough, the video culminates with television’s best-known family; Bart Simpson is shown watching the end of the video in the famous yellow characters’ living room when Homer interrupts him and turns off the television..
The song was released two days before its official release on radio, which caused euphoria among Jackson’s fans and expectation for the audiovisual piece. The premiere of Black or White It was like no other, and it took place on November 14, 1991. In the United States it was seen on MTV, VH1, BET and FOX and at the same time it premiered in thirty countries. It is estimated that the audience exceeded 500 million viewersa commercial success never seen before. This song was the first cut of what would become their album Dangerous.
Black or White talks explicitly about racismbut it is much more than that. It is an artistic expression of one of the greatest artists in history. The style, the production and the song marked everyone who saw that video. Once again, everyone was talking about Michael Jackson.
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
