Inner Michael

We have looked at the Panther through the eyes of the shaman and the historian. Both perspectives are important in understanding exactly what Michael has done in this seminal work. The shaman merges with a power animal and dances the animal in his bones and we have learned that Back or White has an important historical context. The Black Panthers are, in the history books, treated as a domestic terrorist group and not looked upon favorably in the cultural lexicon. They were a militant group but they actually accomplished a great deal of good in some neighborhoods where they tried to clean up drugs and crime. There are those who believe that in an effort to sabotage and disband the organization, the CIA and other organizations introduced illegal hard drugs into their neighborhoods.

It would not have been wise to vocally and openly support them or the movement even some twenty years after their demise. But many African Americans are angry about the blatant lawlessness and overt racism that brought the Black Panthers to an end. And since African Americans were an oppressed and forgotten people, and the government was indifferent to much of their suffering, that anger had nowhere to go so it became permanent internal rage held as resentment.

What better way to pay homage to the struggles of African Americans  and honor a movement for freedom and equality than to show sympathy for its history by reminding and speaking about it but in code? When Black or White was released, there was still a great deal of overt racism that impacted Black Americans. Political correctness had not yet found a home in American culture. The Black or White video can be decoded on many levels for there are layers and layers to the artistry of what may be Michael Jackson’s most significant activist work or at least his most political or culturally critical work. What else can be found in the archetypal and shamanic images of Black or White?

As the first part of the Black or White music video ends, Landis says “cut” after the morphing sequence and as everybody is preoccupied on set, the camera pans right to bring a large black cat into view. The cat is a Panther. In a studio full of people no one seems to notice that there is a fierce wild animal loose  in their midst and they go about their business unaware of the danger. How very metaphorical of Michael; the panther lurks and no one recognizes him or the danger! As the panther moves toward the exit, he pauses to growl displeasure at a statue of George Washington, an historical figure of great prominence in America.

George Washington kept Negro slaves on his plantation and he is reputed to have had a child by one of his female slaves. As President he was sworn to uphold the laws of the country, the Constitution and the Spirit of America as well, which is unwritten and much less defined. The phrase “All men are created equal with certain inalienable rights endowed by their creator” appeared in the Declaration of Independence. The Constitution originally did not mention slavery but referred to “other persons” yet a slave was considered only three fifths of a person. “Slavery” as an institution was mentioned, however, later in the Thirteenth Amendment.

Originally the thirteenth amendment was added to ensure the continuation of slavery but its radification was preempted by the start of the civil war. Near the end of the war and only after Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation was in effect for about a year, the Thirteenth Amendment was changed to abolish, not preserve, slavery.

During his lifetime George Washington struggled with the concept of slavery. While he owned slaves like every other landowner of his time, there was a dissonance of conscience and he placed a clause in his will to free all his slaves upon the death of his wife should he die before her. He kept slave families together and didn’t sell off individual slaves, as that common practice would split up families. Recognizing a slave as “family” is a step toward humanizing rather than dehumanizing them. He held views that appear to be different than his contemporaries. Certainly George Washington nuanced the immorality of slavery but he did nothing to change it because it likely would have meant political suicide for him. He placed politics over morality in addressing the issue of slavery. The morality and the open challenge to slavery would come later with President Lincoln.

On the set of Black or White we notice that as the panther is leaving the room, a man walks by with a ladder and then the panther walks in front of another ladder.  The fact that the ladder keeps reappearing in this video caught my eye. Is that yet another reminder about climbing or a climb? The ladder also has significant allegorical and mystical meanings. The frequent reference to ladders in Michael’s video made me think specifically of Jacob’s Ladder and William Blake’s painting of it which hangs in my home. This particular ladder by Blake is a spiral, which is an ancient shamanic symbol that appears in every indigenous culture and speaks of ascension while mimicking the human DNA spiral. Some have compared Jacob’s ladder also to the Chakras and the path to ascension as a rising of Kundalini and the awakening of the human through the portals called chakras.

The early Christian Origen explains that there are two ladders in the life of a Christian: the ascension ladder of virtue by which a devotee climbs via his acts on Earth and another ladder climbed after death that constitutes ascension of the soul.  While it may not be possible to know what Michael was thinking by incorporating so many ladders, their appearance is not likely a coincidence. Michael would have known the mystical meaning of the ladder because of the unfolding nature of how studies of mysticism and metaphysics progress in an individual made curious of them; but when he first knew we cannot be certain. It seems feasible that abolishing slavery was in actuality, a step higher toward virtue and morality in the evolution of humankind as a whole, as a species.

We encounter yet another reference to stairs next in the video—a descending down the staircase into an alley where the black feline morphs into Michael. When one reveals his animal nature is that a descending step for the human? A step backward, or perhaps downward on the evolutionary path?

Michael walks through the darkness until there is an instant spotlight upon him and he looks us right in the eye with the help of the camera and he launches into some classic Jackson moves including the famous fingering the hat as we hear him roar. The spotlight unexpectedly appears and is thrust upon him. He is a man-imal who finds himself suddenly bathed in the spotlight. Does this refer to his life mission? He looks directly into our eyes twice in this sequence and we are asked to look directly into his. The soul is revealed through the eyes. Is it a Shakti message? The roar also represents an opening of the fifth chakra or the throat and gives voice to the one experiencing the opening.

Michael’s roaring in Black or White is a metaphor for giving voice to the inequality of racism and the stereotypes associated with blacks.  The roar always reminds me of Helen Reddy’s classic song: I am Woman Hear Me Roar of 1973 that is a feminist anthem. The whole Black or White short film says to me “I am Michael, hear me roar.” And the very next thing that happens is an alley cat jumps from a garbage can making a lot of noisy clatter but only a meek meow—by contrast Michael is a wild cat. Is that to say “I am a poor child come from an urban alley but listen to me roar now?” Or maybe “Make no mistake, I am no pussycat.” The interesting thing here is that Michael is not startled at all by the alley cat and he is certainly no small docile kitty. The cat jumping from garbage hardly phases him as he glances once and walks away.

He emerges onto an urban street where strong winds begin to blow garbage at him. That could seem both metaphor and prophetic, certainly allegorical as is much of his work—as he stands steadfast those winds of fate or public opinion or destiny—that blow garbage into his path and onto him. And once again he looks up straight into the camera and looks us in the eye. And instead of flinching or crouching or reverting to his animal form, he begins to dance. Is it a message about what he will embody as he accepts his fate—that he chooses to dance the dance?

But his first dance is not just any dance, it is a tap dance. Tap dance has a significant historical context especially for African Americans. Not considered fully human or only partly (3/5) a real human being, the negro was considered valuable only for grunt work, servitude or amusement as in the inherent ridicule of tap dance which was extremely demeaning to the Negro in society. It originated as “blackface comedy” mostly on Vaudeville and was invented specifically to ridicule slaves. Whites would paint their faces black and mock slaves in dancing that eventually evolved into tap dance. While tap is a combination of many ethnic forms of dance and rhythm, it was specifically invented to mimic black slaves, make fun of them and demean them. Tap dance evolved and became an art form in the hands of the black culture and it defined people like Sammy Davis Jr., but its origins are racist and sinister.

Michael “dances for us” and splashes water – throws water on the fun perhaps? Is he being a wet blanket? Water has great metaphorical, alchemical, allegorical and archetypal meanings which all reference the deep or depth of the human psyche. The water was also a prominent feature in Gene Kelly’s classic dance in his movie classic Singing in the Rain. Michael lets out another panther growl in commentary and protest about being expected to do the dance or follow the rules of tap dance.

The next thing we know, Michael makes a radical move and does his own form of dance that involves autoerotica and unmistakably in erogenous zones. It’s gritty and shocking and radical and surprised many people but it is classic Michael Jackson first getting our attention and then providing the intrigue through mystery. We can’t quite believe our eyes (and apparently Director John Landis couldn’t either) as Michael tells us in no uncertain terms that he is male, he is sexual and he is angry. Can there be any doubt about the activism and the meaning in what he does here as he steps out of the water after throwing water on our classist and racial theories, standards and expectations?

He then gives us a little reprieve by staging a light reference and homage to Gene Kelly and his Singing in the Rain where the character has become a singing star and carries an umbrella. He takes us completely out of context and knocks us off balance. The street light and set is straight out of the 1958 classic movie which parallels Michael’s life in many ways. Michael was a Gene Kelly fan and often incorporated scenes from other artwork in his films. He dances around the streetlight and kicks what appears to be a beer bottle—a mini message about his disdain of alcohol, perhaps? He is known for incorporating cautions to youth in his films as well. Michael didn’t use alcohol then and didn’t like drinking and going to clubs.

The next segment of Black or White has come under fire for its overt violence and sexual overtones. The setting is obviously a poor part of an urban city and an abandoned car.  Cars abandoned where they stop running is emblematic of the ghetto that is often littered with old cars like an elephant or other graveyard littered with bones. The original film had none of the racial epithets that were later added to soften the violence or give it context for the angry and aggressive nature of Michael’s actions and dance. Since he couldn’t have explained it any other way, the epithets added to the artistry and explained Michael’s embodiment of anger but was it the real reason for depicting that kind of anger? In that particular setting?

In the context of Michael’s life, he was thought to be fairly benign and without controversy while Prince, another musical genius and his nemesis, was the classic “bad boy” persona. And in order to deliver his message about racism, stereotypes and how we are all one human race, he first needed to get “their” attention. He got the world’s attention because he understood how to do that—and how to do something controversial to keep people talking and tongues wagging. He understood the power of scandalous material and drama and used it to his advantage and to make bold statements. And it was effective until it got out of hand a couple of years later.

The world had never seen a violent or angry Michael who was the darling of the Jackson Five and Motown, and it was stunned. There was a great deal of criticism about the violence without a context so he had racial epithets added later to the windows and glass to justify the rage and vandalism prominent in the video. Many people missed the point or missed the message but he made it clearer for most by adding the words on the car windows and glass.

The Los Angeles area was especially racially charged because of the Rodney King incident earlier in the year and the streets erupted into violence because of people’s attitudes toward blacks and black art. Michael was claiming legitimacy but many did not see it that way. Many missed the message entirely and yet others got the message and reacted with rage to what they saw as a black man with far too much power and far too great a reach and influence.

As Michael dances atop the car in this segment, he deliberately became suggestive with close-ups, his hands and fingers and movements. In an era that already saw black males as hypercriminalized and hypersexualized, this part of the video is a blatant in-your-face insult and satirical rant spiced with audacious protest. Middle aged women were shocked and men were angry with Michael’s antics and many of those were still closeted racists. How dare this Negro (think epithet) turning white conscript a whole generation of not only black youth but the whites! And the last horror of course—he dares to zip his pants on camera! A black man who appears to be turning white, who dares to show off his sex appeal to white youth and dares to confront, in a close up and on camera, the Mandingo myth of the hypersexual black male in a still pseudo-puritanical society. He then throws the garbage away and dances in the street in an artful, expressive, animalistic and uninhibited way—just that same reference to losing one’s control or sense of restraint that permeates the myth. That must have made some people extremely uncomfortable and others squirm as they absorbed the subliminal message even if they didn’t consciously know what it meant.

After he clearly tells us he capable of being an animal, is a sexual being and will not be restrained, he goes on to prove it by dancing in water, ripping his shirt and destroying the sign: “Royal Arms” which looks like the neon billboard for a hotel. Does “royal arms” refer to something else? Something British perhaps? What might that be? Just how far do those “royal arm” reach? It was the Brits who dubbed him “Wacko Jacko” and we see the “Royal Arms” destroyed and fallen to its demise in Black or White.

There are also historical accounts of vagrants and unknown artists making inn signs and painting “royal arms” in churches. “Royal arms” in that context means the British coat of arms which incorporates a lion and unicorn on a shield. It is  interesting to note this reference in art to royal arms and unknown or unrecognized artists. There is some significance to the inn sign that is neon and while we may never know what Michael was thinking. There are again some parallels to the song by Simon and Garfunkel Sound of Silence. In the lyrics, there is a reference to walking alone down cobblestone streets in the halo of street lamps. It also speaks of a neon god the people made which they prayed to—it was a sign that flashed out its warning that the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls and tenement halls. The song say that people talk without speaking and hear without listening and it amplifies the silence. The silence here is being silenced or now being able or not choosing to speak out. The “Sound of Silence” was a song that young Michael grew up with. Did he incorporate it into this video?

After the destructive rampage is finished, Michael looks around and winces at the damage he has done and quickly morphs back into a panther. We leave him as he walks on down the street still padding through the night in the hood.

To give us a little relief from that intensity, he gives us Bart Simpson, a cartoon father with that same mindset about this garbage being a waste of time, and a remote so that we can see that it’s all just illusion and that if it disturbs us, we can simply turn it all off… Click.