Jacked

IMHO, the best latter-career Michael Jackson song *and* video is "Scream". That brilliant Janet & Michael number. Directed by the great Mark Romanek (my favorite music video director of all bloody time).

Romanek is terrific at exploiting an artist's unique appeal. In "Scream", he manages to perfectly capture Michael Jackson's anime-like features. Unlike Martin Scorsese's "Bad" wherein MJ seems miscast as a tough-guy in his own video, or any of the videos that try to cast MJ as a skirt-chasing lothario, Romanek doesn't try to unnaturally thug up Michael Jackson. Instead, he enhances Michael Jackson's strengths/essence: his doll-like features, his sense of alienation, his undeniable dance skills. Romanek understands the unique art-form of music videos. He's not trying to make a short film. In that way, he excels where the big-name feature directors fall a bit short in the medium.

There is so much brilliant, iconic imagery throughout "Scream". The black-and-white, blown-out spaceship aesthetic helps to normalize MJ's latter-day pale-skin: he doesn't look as out-of-place as he does in his other videos. He looks so otherworldly, it makes sense to see him on a spacecraft. Romanek knows how to make someone look good.

Romanek also managed to create a video that looks utterly gorgeous but also somehow humanizes both Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson in a way they both needed. You get the sense that Michael and Janet had *fun* making this. Glimpses of sibling rivalry/one-up-manship. A playfulness that seems more real than in most of their other clips.


The Warhol reference is apt in the video. This is some serious pop art. It's a shame that MJ didn't have more genuine hits of this caliber later in his life. The video and song are super-slick but they also seem strangely heartfelt.

The video simultaneous casts Michael Jackson as an alien and humanizes him. Quite a feat.