Music Video - Billie Jean
Popularity
‘MJ era’
- entire population made a group decision to follow the career of one star only
‘Prince’ was forced into a distant second-fiddle role
- even though he could dance, he couldn’t dance like MJ
MJ’s all-encompassing appeal never happened before in the history of pop
- Elvis, Beatles were famous, but their appeal was limited to white people
Reinvention
‘Cute front man from Jackson 5’
- Jackson tried to shatter this perception
He created the ‘flashy, enigmatic, dangerous persona’
- appeared in Beat It, Billie Jean and Bad
Historical of modern methods
Powerful influence: began with 1983 hit
Global phenomenon: 7 years
Budget: 50k
The idea that a single must be accompanied by a production video
Dancing on illuminated pavement
Symbolism
- road is reminiscent of the illuminated dance floors of the disco era, popularized just 5 years
prior in Saturday Night Fever
- unlike the colourful 1970s floors, these barely function
- ground is bleak, dirty, covered with trash = meaning disco is dead
, Two-person mid shot
Then fades into one shot, which reflects intimate moment in being intruded
= Jackson’s fading may represent his need for privacy
Mise-en-scene of gold lamppost
His intertextual reference to Midas’ touch
= success/aspiration
Challenges stereotypical representations of ethnicity
The stereotypical image of him attracting attention for being famous and in the spotlight
- One of the first major black artists to achieve mainstream pop success
His clothing vs white homeless man
- ‘Rat Pack’ style shoes, white suit vs scruffy clothing
He’s gazed upon by white females, woman in the white sheets remain enigmatic
Not Intertextuality
The detective narrative isn’t an intertextual reference
- It illustrates the story of Billie Jean in a way typical of the music video
The music video is a relatively recent form (late 1970s)
- He’s performing, lip synching, dancing
Intertextuality
Wizard of Oz
- The road he dances along, with its impossible layout across an imagined city suggests the
Yellow Brick Road
- He appeared in the remake of the film
References to Film Noir
- Lowkey lighting
- Detective in trench coat
- Smoking a cigarette
- City streets
Popularity
‘MJ era’
- entire population made a group decision to follow the career of one star only
‘Prince’ was forced into a distant second-fiddle role
- even though he could dance, he couldn’t dance like MJ
MJ’s all-encompassing appeal never happened before in the history of pop
- Elvis, Beatles were famous, but their appeal was limited to white people
Reinvention
‘Cute front man from Jackson 5’
- Jackson tried to shatter this perception
He created the ‘flashy, enigmatic, dangerous persona’
- appeared in Beat It, Billie Jean and Bad
Historical of modern methods
Powerful influence: began with 1983 hit
Global phenomenon: 7 years
Budget: 50k
The idea that a single must be accompanied by a production video
Dancing on illuminated pavement
Symbolism
- road is reminiscent of the illuminated dance floors of the disco era, popularized just 5 years
prior in Saturday Night Fever
- unlike the colourful 1970s floors, these barely function
- ground is bleak, dirty, covered with trash = meaning disco is dead
, Two-person mid shot
Then fades into one shot, which reflects intimate moment in being intruded
= Jackson’s fading may represent his need for privacy
Mise-en-scene of gold lamppost
His intertextual reference to Midas’ touch
= success/aspiration
Challenges stereotypical representations of ethnicity
The stereotypical image of him attracting attention for being famous and in the spotlight
- One of the first major black artists to achieve mainstream pop success
His clothing vs white homeless man
- ‘Rat Pack’ style shoes, white suit vs scruffy clothing
He’s gazed upon by white females, woman in the white sheets remain enigmatic
Not Intertextuality
The detective narrative isn’t an intertextual reference
- It illustrates the story of Billie Jean in a way typical of the music video
The music video is a relatively recent form (late 1970s)
- He’s performing, lip synching, dancing
Intertextuality
Wizard of Oz
- The road he dances along, with its impossible layout across an imagined city suggests the
Yellow Brick Road
- He appeared in the remake of the film
References to Film Noir
- Lowkey lighting
- Detective in trench coat
- Smoking a cigarette
- City streets
