The Nightsong's Games & Misc

This man dreamt of mundane things like being able to go a damn grocery store without being mobbed. He felt more comfortable on a stage than any other human social setting. He said that the joy of helping children was often his only reason for living. People don’t realize the psychological weight of those statements. I’m not trying to psychoanalize or diagnose, but people need to get it through their thick skull that being different or “weird” based on made up standards isn’t a crime.

The Black or White video in itself is a colorful, sanitized version of anti-racist rhetoric. It promotes world peace, diversity, and overall completely different in tone from the Black Panther dance. There is a brief and more intense portion of the song where Michael calls out the KKK, which is very powerful. But as a whole, the video has a more upbeat feel and acceptable atmosphere than the dance that follows. This shift was intentional. Michael leaves the set to morph from the panther into a human. He is taking off the mask to show you his deeper feelings about racism in America.

Black people have historically been told how to behave emotionally, sexually, and politically to survive in America. And Michael took these “negative” tropes and turned it into powerful art. He showed them true black rage over injustice (especially at the time with high racial tensions that led to Rodney King being brutalized by police). In a country that polices black men in many ways, Michael took full agency and rejected those standards. Black men can be sexual, black men can take up space, black men are allowed to have “animalistic” anger over their own people being beaten and killed by police. The same public that claimed Michael was too innocent, soft spoken, or not sexual enough suddenly demonized him for showing the exact opposite of that.

He does his signature dance moves, with even more “crotch” grabbing, erotic hip movements , and even a close up shot of him pulling his zipper up. Despite the backlash that Michael usually received over his usual “sexual” moves, he amplified them to show control over his body and his sexuality. He was showing an edgier, less controlled version of himself that shocked the public (fits the Dangerous album theme very well). He also throws trash cans, breaks glass, and shows unbridled raw emotion.There is no restraint or a planned choreography in the video either. There is no music, only Michael’s movements and breathing. It’s pure emotion and energy, much like an animal, as Michael stated. At the time it was just seen as overly sexual and inappropriate.

The video ends with Michael ripping his shirt and yelling, returning back to his panther form. It transitions to Homer Simpson (a white American cartoon character) taking the remote from his son and turns off the tv for watching Michael’s video. It’s as if Michael foreshadowed exactly how the media would be shocked by his art and the pressure for him to be more palatable to white audiences. The controversy was inevitable but the message will never be forgotten. The graffiti of the racial slurs were added in 1993 for a Dangerous: The Short Films and made the symbolism even stronger.

A lot of the general public just thought Michael was being “strange” or out of control in the original 1991 video. But that’s no where near the case. It was a giant fuck you to white supremacy and the standards put on black performers/ black Americans in general.