![]() ![]() You know, I never really thought about that connection of the club managers and the big boss, played to perfection by Marlon Brando, as possibly representing the powers-that-be at Sony but, now that you point it out, it makes perfect sense! Really keen observation. In fact, he begins having confrontations with these managers and ultimately the club owner, just as Michael Jackson himself was having increasingly heated confrontations with the managers and ultimately the head of Sony over how to reach an audience. Michael Jackson’s character is pretty sure of himself and confident he can win her over, but they go to a club where the managers want her also and seem to think they have a right to her, and they try to keep him away from her. So this woman – possibly representing their audience – has more than one performer competing for her attention, just as entertainers often seem to compete for an audience and market share. Importantly, another character played by Chris Tucker – a popular entertainer in his own right – is also attracted to her. The plot has his character trying to woo a young woman, and as we’ve talked about a number of times in previous posts, these love interests often seem to represent his audience. Willa: And you can really feel a lot of those intense emotions in this video. And I just remember thinking, ‘Wow, I bet he’s pissed!’ And maybe that very issue was one of the bones of contention between him and Sony at the time.īut, I remember getting the phone call from the MJFC president back in 2001 when all of this was happening and her telling me that the video Michael wanted to make had to be scrapped because of friction with Sony and Michael was now scrambling to make a video for “You Rock My World” and it had to be completed in a very short amount of time and he was “less than happy” about the situation. One would think that an artist of Michael’s caliber would have complete autonomy and control over how a project would unfold. He already had the video concept worked out and everything so, when Sony made the decision to release “You Rock My World” instead of “Unbreakable,” I know he probably felt extreme anger and frustration. As you mentioned last month, he really wanted to make a video for “Unbreakable.” This is also the song he wanted to be the lead single from the album, not to mention the title of the the album itself. ![]() As you know, You Rock My World was not the video he originally wanted to make. I’m sure Michael was feeling very “frustrated and powerless and angry” by that point. And I think the reasons for that are really clear. Like you can actually feel the tension beneath the surface as you watch it. The whole video just feels a little bit raw to me. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it makes me uncomfortable but, I do come away from it feeling very on edge. I have always had a similar reaction to this one. Joie: Well, I understand completely about the video making you uncomfortable. I watch it and just feel frustrated and powerless and angry, and not even sure who I’m mad at. You Rock My World is completely different. I watch it and come away feeling empowered and inspired and ready to take on the world. But Black or White expresses a righteous anger. ![]() But Black or White is angry also, and I love Black or White. It’s very angry, for one thing – one of his angriest. To be honest, this video has always made me really uncomfortable. To be honest, I never knew much about those battles or paid much attention to them, but focusing on Invincible for a month forced me to really think about what he must have been going through then, and that’s led me to look at the You Rock My World video in a whole new way. Willa: So Joie, in October we spent the entire month taking a close look at the Invincible album, including some of the battles Michael Jackson had with Sony during its production and promotion. ![]()
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