Deborah

Holdstein

Music Video: Messages &

Structures

The ‘3 S

trik

ing

Qualiti

es’

of

a S

tar

in M

usi

c V

ideos

1. The star as a fantasy

‘seer’ or prophet

2. The star as a political

commentator or narrator3. The star as a mediator

or point of resolution for

social conflict

Hold

stein

- M

usi

c

Vid

eo: M

ess

ages

and

Str

uct

ure

s

“Videos seem to divide into two

categories: Those with allegedly explicit

‘political’ themes, and those which revive

the traditional U.S. film musical.”

The fantasy video is based entirely on

performance. This format puts “the group

or star in a mythical, medieval, exotic or

surrealistic series of images and

locations.”“Videos make the artist more accessible

to the fans. When they come to a

performance, then they bring or wear

things they've seen in the video.”

“In the past, artists portrayal will only be

left to the viewers imagination or how

they are seen in concert, the record

album cover pose, photographs and

interviews in Rolling Stone, Time.”

But nowadays, “the video image is

quicker and more powerful.”

Hold

stein

- M

ichael

Jack

son -

‘Beat

It’

Holdstein: “Is Jackson portrayed as a

‘fantasy’, a ‘political commentator’, or

as a ‘mediator of social conflict’.”

The song does address ‘racism’ and

‘social class’ : “They told him don't you

ever come around here, don't wanna

see your face, you better disappear.”

It doesn't need words, it has faces,

gestures, emphasis, and a narrative

one could easily follow without ‘Beat It’

on the soundtrack. Jackson, the mediator, has become a

surreal ‘fantasy’ figure, involved yet

detached from the action he seems to

resolve.

With a vivid start to the scene's, we see several

men, who we will learn are members of a gang

about to meet their rivals for a ‘rumble.’

Political Commentator: “We come upon Jackson

in his apartment, lying on his bed. Somehow he

instinctively knows there will be trouble.”

Crosscutting continues from Jackson to the

gangs, alternating between one gang piling on

a truck, presumably to the rumble's location,

and the other gang, walking.

The suspense of ‘who'll get there first,’ and

‘what'll happen when they get there’ is

heightened by a question: Where's Michael

Jackson, and what role will he play in all of this?

The traditional U.S. film musical: WEST SIDE

STORY is revisited. Both gang leaders line up

against each other, jabbing knife shots.

But the scene is portrayed as a ‘fantasy’

through dance. Jackson enters to stop the fight

(‘mediator of social conflict’) before all

characters dance behind him in one large

choreographed routine.