Media Madness: Annie is Not Okay. Michael Jackson: 8/29/58 – 6/25/09
In Media Madness, Matt. Murray reviews, revisits and rambles about comics, cartoons and their interactions in and with related media.
Anyone with a conscious memory of the latter half of the 20th Century will probably have at least one wisp of thought related to Michael Joseph Jackson, the self-professed Prince, and then, self-crowned King of Pop. While his talent, and it was immense, lied mainly in the field of crafting and performing danceable R&B and Pop music, like most people born in the advent of motion pictures and television, he definitely had the desire to be a movie and TV star.
His music videos leave a lasting legacy of boundary pushing cinematic techniques and unique storytelling, that not only complemented his music but undoubtedly drove his album and video sales into the stratosphere. Is it any wonder, then, that the “Moonman” MTV presents for Lifetime Achievement in the Field of Music Video was once called the “Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award”?
Unfortunately, beyond his turn as the Scarecrow in The Wiz and his appearance as Captain EO in a Disney theme park “experience,” notoriety as an actor seemed to allude Michael and in his scattered multi-media experience his defining character turned out to be himself. He was given a cameo in the second Men in Black film as “Agent M” an alien begging for a spot on the MIB team, and he left a handful of animated credits to his name voicing or inspiring characters that were in one way or another a version of himself.
