Michael Jackson: Black or White
- Music Video
- 1991
- 11m
Michael Jackson's video accompanied with the single ''Black or White''.Michael Jackson's video accompanied with the single ''Black or White''.Michael Jackson's video accompanied with the single ''Black or White''.
- Awards
- 1 win & 2 nominations
- Native American Dancer
- (as RobbieLeeGeneral)
- Jeffrey Anderson-Gunter
- (uncredited)
- Tyra Banks
- (uncredited)
- Veena Bidasha
- (uncredited)
- Bart Simpson
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
- Homer Simpson
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
- Roberta Chow
- (uncredited)
- Blonde Kid
- (uncredited)
- Young Indian Dancer
- (uncredited)
- Khrystyne Haje
- (uncredited)
- Mother
- (uncredited)
- African Dancer
- (uncredited)
- Yuko Sumida Holley
- (uncredited)
- Dancer - Girl
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaTyra Banks: One of the extras who morphs into another person.
- GoofsWhen Michael is dancing with the group of Russians, the amount of artificial snow on the floor keeps changing.
- Quotes
[first lines]
Father: Turn that thing off!
[goes upstairs and enters the blonde kid's room, making the rock music stop]
Father: I thought I told you to turn that thing off! It is too late and it's too loud!
Blonde Kid: But, dad, this is the best part.
Father: You are wasting your time with this garbage. *Now, go to bed!*
[exits the blonde kid's bedroom by closing the door so hard that the Michael Jackson poster falls over]
Blonde Kid: Okay.
[He brings the big speakers into the living room, sets up his electric guitar and adjusts the speakers from "loud" to "Are you nuts?". His parents notice him with his electric guitar]
Blonde Kid: Eat this.
[the boy plays an electric guitar loudly enough to fire his father into space, to finally landing in Africa]
Mother: I'm afraid your father is going to be very upset when he gets back.
- Alternate versionsAfter receiving many angry phone calls and letters of protest, the later showings of this video removed the scene where Micheal Jackson smashes a car with a crowbar, smashes a window by throwing a garbage can at it, and grabs his crotch while dancing.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Top of the Pops: Episode #28.46 (1991)
But then came "Black or White" which, while still partially good, showed a darker side of the singer that even "Thriller" didn't touch.
It starts out innocently enough, with a "Dennis the Menace"-type scene where Culkin's dad (Wendt) shouts at him to turn down his stereo, to which the kid replies by dragging some humongous speakers downstairs, hooking up his guitar and blasting dad through the roof of the house. His mom (Peggy Lipton) is cool but stern ("Your father's going to be very upset when he comes down").
Then the real video begins, with Jackson singing and dancing with different races in different countries (Africa, Russia, India, etc.) about racial equality and prejudice. Then the music ends as different people are shown lip-synching to Jackson's music, each head morphing into the other to show equality between people. It's effective and the message makes it through.
BUT, then comes the end of the video, where a black panther is seen slinking out of the studio and into the dark city streets outside. The panther morphs into Jackson, sporting an arm cast(?), who proceeds to jump onto an abandoned vehicle, smash it up with a crowbar and masturbate(!) atop it. After this is done, he jumps down from the car roof, morphs back into the panther, slinks away and is gone.
Just what was THAT supposed to signify? I couldn't ponder a guess but it all but destroys the goodwill beforehand and muddies up the equality sung about earlier.
Later showings of the video excised the last part of "Black or White" after many angry calls and letters, nowadays, that's likely the only version of Michael's video you're likely to see.
It's just as well, with all the "press" Michael's gotten lately, he doesn't need anything else hanging over his head.
Five stars, for a mostly good video, courtesy of Michael's talents and John Landis' direction.
Face it, Michael - the "Thriller" is gone....
- Mister-6
- Dec 15, 2000