CLEVELAND - Sleek, glamorous and full of
childish enthusiasm, a young man (played by 25-year old Michael Jackson) runs
out of a movie theater in pursuit of his date, (played by 23-year old Ola Ray).
The gorgeous young woman had just seen a frightening film while out with the
guy and was so spooked that she charged out in fear and frustration just moments after
it started. After a little “flirtatious teasing,” Jackson gets back in her good
graces by singing to her as they stroll down a dark and desolate street. This
represents the calmest time in the entire evening for Ola, because soon after,
her smiles would once again turn into screams.
It went that way for many of
us watching too.
Today marks the 30th
anniversary of the release of the seminal short film (though labeled a music
video), Michael Jackson’s Thriller. The
groundbreaking flick premiered on MTV that night and immediately became a
cultural touchstone for both its star and the entertainment industry at large.
In retrospect, it is both
fascinating and quite sad that this grand time in Jackson’s life represented
the very peak of his enormous powers, popularity and public reputation. Sure,
he went on to have a historically successful 1984. But the Thriller film forever remains a transcendent artifact of the man at
his most creative, innocent and accomplished mind and overall being.
The bookends of MJ’s charming serenade
in the 13-minute masterpiece happened to involve his character turning, first
into a ‘werecat’ then into a wild-eyed, dancing zombie. The harrowing nature of
both scenes sadly mirror his own real life. Between the release of his 1979
solo smash LP Off the Wall but prior
to the dawn of the “Thriller” era in late 1982, the path of his life changed for the worst in
an instant. During a live performance, Jackson suffered a broken nose after
falling on stage. This led to the first of an obsessive number of nose jobs,
and thus the downward spiral of his own self-consciousness took flight.
This seemed to take a back
seat to his rapidly ascending popularity in early ’83 when the newly released “Thriller” album began dominating the
music charts. But after the Cinderella-type adulation and achievement that MJ
enjoyed for two years suddenly ended in 1985, his public profile began taking
subtle hits, then massive attacks in the media and the court of public opinion.
And it lasted for the rest of his life.
This reversal of fortune was
illustrated time and time again for MJ’s co-star in the film. First Michael was
a nice and charming guy, then he suddenly turned into a monster. That turned
out to be “only a movie,” but then the “real” him comforted her by singing that
he could “thrill [her] more than any ghost would ever dare to try.”
Then, the “real” him became a
possessed zombie hell bent on scaring her into oblivion. THIS turned out to be
just a dream, but secretly Michael still had “cat eyes” that he was hiding.
I shudder when I think about
how his life played out in the same roller coaster fashion as this film’s
storyline did. The man changed the course of history and raised the standards
of imagination and creativity with this short film. Those facts alone made it
grossly unfair that he was ultimately fated to live the remainder of his life
being chased by the proverbial demon that would never just let him be.
On such a special anniversary
of such a special artistic work, I am grateful for the genius of Michael Joseph
Jackson and how he masterfully delivered the Thriller film to the world.
Forever love.
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