In 1987, Michael Jackson released an 18-minute music video “Bad”, which was directed by Martin Scorsese and replenished Jackson’s collection of short films. At that time,
“mass pop music culture did not have a vast space for queer black performers”, but Michael Jackson has already gained the worldwide recognition, “pushed through racial barriers” and “achieved an entirely unprecedented and gargantuan fame in a previously white supremacist music industry”. However, the ambiguity of his race, gender, and sexuality still caused an “ongoing cultural anxiety”.
The format of his short films was, what McLuhan would call “the crossings or hybridizations of the media” that create the new formats for “the message” to be delivered. Michael Jackson’s music video “Bad”, released at the time of racial and homophobic prejudice, is a perfect example of how “the hybrid or the meetings of two media”, in this case, film and music video, conveys a certain message, promoting social justice. “Bad” brings our attention to the issues of race, gender and sexuality, and class, challenging stereotypical thinking and conformity and calling for action.
Marshall McLuhan, in his book Understanding Media, wrote that “we have produced the greatest flood of misbegotten standards” that dominate and greatly shape our society. Moreover, “the transforming powers of the new media” condition the “release from the ordinary trance and numbness imposed <…> on our senses”, which allows for social change to take place, and which is exactly what “Bad” is attempting to do. However, Marshall McLuhan indicates that “it was not the machine, but what one did with the machine, that was its meaning or message”, which is an important aspect to keep in mind when analyzing media. It is not simply what is shown, but what does it mean that is important.
He also talks about “the necessity of understanding and controlling media”, and, “Jackson's videos may be capable of playing a key role [in] evolving public discourses of race, sex, and class”, as he became a role model after the period of the civil rights movement, and inspired a whole generation “to both claim blackness and [be] ‘more than a color’”.
In “Bad”, Michael Jackson’s character Daryl, a student of a prestigious school (where the students are predominantly white males), returns home to his old friends, whom he has not seen in a while. The music video starts with the close up of Jackson, who raises his eyes and looks directly at the camera. This moment is significant, because, here, for the first time, the audience sees the ambiguity of Jackson’s appearance: he is black, yet his features, his nose, lips, and cheekbones, are different from what is typically associated with African-American, moreover, he wears an eyeliner, a typically feminine attribute. Later in the video, clothing also become an indicator of the difference between Daryl and his surroundings: the use of jewelry and tighter leather clothing makes Daryl stand out among his friends, indicating the difference in sexuality. Daryl’s/ Jackson’s appearance will be one of the primary reasons for his character’s struggle throughout the short film. In addition, this moment is also one of the several times of Michael Jackson directly talking to the audience in this music video. By opening the film with such an image, filmmakers establish an intimate connection between the audience and the singer.
As mentioned earlier, the music video deals with several social issues like racism, homophobia, and class tensions, which can sometimes be hard or uncomfortable to talk about, because of how deeply these things are often embedded in our lives. “Literate man is quite inclined to see others who cannot conform as somewhat pathetic”, which, however, does not mean that those who do not conform are, in fact, pathetic. The example is when Daryl’s classmate tells him how proud he is of him as if Daryl needs a white boy’s approval, encouragement, or praise. Here, the deeply embedded racism plays out as a microaggression. A Latino boy, whom Daryl encounters in the metro, asks, “how many guys are proud of you?”, which shows that the two relate to each other’s frustration. Such behavior and treatment by his classmates has a harmful effect on Daryl and distances him from everybody. As shown in the scene in the train, Daryl is sitting alone, in an “unspeakable psychological distance”, misunderstood or disregarded due to his race.
However, the prejudice against Michael Jackson’s character does not stop there. Even among his friends, he is not comfortable. They tease him: “yo, College, what’s your major?”, asking about the clothes that white boys wear to school, and he accepts it. Here, the atmosphere “that Jackson's character occupies a position outside the power of language to describe is thus established”. This part of the music video deals with class tensions inside the black community.
However, “Jackson’s unruly performances of gender and sexuality” also have complications. At this point, Daryl’s clothing, his accent and manner of speaking, and his interests indicate the problematic difference between him and his friends. For example, Jackson’s softer voice and his accent become a target of his friends’ ridicule, as in “a homogenized culture” or in “a man’s world”, this is a feminine way of talking, which causes hostility. Another stumbling block appears when Daryl refuses to participate in illegal activity or use violence, since “Jackson’s anti-violence stance is built upon an exploration of the sensuous somatic self, a queering of conventional masculinity through the body—much more powerful and dangerous than Jackson’s lyrical admonition to reject violence”. This causes further discrimination, because, here, to a certain extent, Daryl’s non-traditional masculinity possesses a threat to the “claustrophobic interpretation of masculinity” and leads to “detestation of gay male sexuality [that] is linked to gays who ‘act like a women,’ thus abandoning the masculine privilege to which he is entitled”. Although it is not clear, whether Daryl (or Michael Jackson) is gay, it is evident that “he draws on gay culture—its signs and codes”.
Marshall McLuhan wrote, “the meaning of a message is the change which it produces”. At a certain point, Michael Jackson’s character gets tired of the discrimination and interference of his friends, who say that he is no longer “bad”, which, in this context can mean “a cool real man” or “a thug”. This brings the video to the part, where it attempts to promote social justice and change.
“I’m tired of you messing with me, leave me alone!”, “you ain’t nothin’!”, the frustration breaks out, and Daryl, at first, seems to give up, but then challenges the offenders. “The child, the cripple, the woman, and the colored person appear in a world of visual and typographic technology as victims of injustice”, but Michael Jackson shows to the audience that one can fight and win, when Daryl prove to his friends that he is bad. The ending is a very important part, as showing Daryl’s friends leave him alone creates a “utopia” of the social change and justice. It is also significant because it brings the idea that all the power that the dance has demonstrated, is inside of Daryl, and it was always there.
Daryl is mistreated and forced to conform throughout the music video, and there are several moments, when, through the use of clothing and props, filmmakers show that his true self is trying to break out of him and that he has had enough. When Daryl takes off one glove, leaving the other one on, he literally and figuratively denudes a part of himself. Same with the hood: once, he puts it on to conceal his identity, but takes it off in the end, because his character no longer needs to conform, explain himself or hide. Also, right before the dancing starts, the pipes crack, and steam comes out of them, like the rage of the main character, which scares Daryl’s friends. Also, in the middle of the dance, Michael Jackson takes the lattice out of the wall, saying “here it comes from within”, and an air flow comes out, which refers to the inner feelings of Daryl and calls for action of those who are discriminated against just like him.
The music video also promotes social justice by talking to the audience directly. Apart from the opening image, in which Michael Jackson almost asks the audience, where do they stand on this matter, he also points to the camera to the words “what you’re about” and shows a fist to the camera in the end, which seems to reinforce the idea that Daryl is bad and wants to make sure that the audience knows it.
Furthermore, the “shhh” sound that Michael Jackson makes, trying to silence the speechless friends, refers to how, often times, people who do not conform are forced to keep quiet by the majority. This sound puts the offenders in the shoes of offended ones; and they do not like it, as they immediately try to use violence to stop it. The video also shows the importance of the issues it raises, when, in the end, the dancers start screaming in an attempt to draw attention or out of frustration with injustice.
Social change is also shown by the empowerment that Daryl receives during the dancing, which “attempts to substitute masculine gestures for the feminine gestures” and a big part of Jackson’s performance “can be read as queer”. The dance symbolizes “a struggle for aesthetic, professional, sexual, and racial independence, or autonomy, in the most profound sense”. Jackson also uses dance “to counter conflict or violence”. The examples of queer performance are the runway-style walking, ballet moves, hips movement, repetitive whipping sound, and ‘crotch grabbing’, as well as the fact that “Jackson seems to be split between two voices <…> : the sneering “Bad” braggadocio voice, which makes its claims of toughness, and the intertwining chorus, which encourages with squeals, “whoops”, whip snaps, and, <…> ‘Ch’mon.’”. The dance also proves that Michael Jackson’s character is truly bad when the dancers use paint spray.
To conclude, “Bad” represents the new medium, in which, through the use of symbolism, sound, and composition, a message criticising discrimination is conveyed. In this video, Michael Jackson attempts to bring attention to the topics of race, class, gender and sexuality, and “offers the promise of movement, of creating a world with the always-existing possibility for change”.