AKA William

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Of course, that says as much about me as it does Michael Jackson, but the fan-base of “You Are Not Alone” is infinitely more limited than that of, say, “Thriller.” The “Thriller” video is actually something of an exception in that his positioning as the man in an onscreen heterosexual couple does not take away from its effect. I hasten to add though, that this chaste coupling might as well be a girl and her gay best friend. Insofar as they are passable as boyfriend/girlfriend, Michael’s role is the non-threatening adolescent pretty-boy, legitimate only as a leading man for teenage fantasies in the Jonas Brothers or early Scott Baio mold.

Another unsuccessful attempt at being a straight leading man, “The Way You Make Me Feel” casts Michael in the unlikely role of a concupiscent Casanova with his shirttails (in the video) contradictorily tied up Daisy Duke style. He barks and gyrates, but it’s just so off-putting in its implausibility. And don’t get me started on his video with Naomi Campbell for the unfortunately titled “In the Closet.”

The brother-sister duet with Janet on “Scream” was a missed opportunity. They conceived a primal battle cry against that most ubiquitous of celebrity complaints, media distortion in the fishbowl. They could have and should have focused this fantasia inward on their own struggles as artists and people instead of spending most of the song raging at tabloids.

There are, however, some powerful and fascinating moments in the “Scream” video. Like anguished children, they both frequently scratch their hands down their faces, as if they have no outlet for pain other than to rip off their own skin. At one point, Janet actually does this to her thigh, shredding her pants, and in the years that followed, they both often wore clothing with slits across the legs – a gesture of solidarity, reclaiming all the suffering as fuel for growth and empowerment, a transcendence of their struggles. And I like this Michael, dressed in ultra chic, severely futuristic couture and shot against a sleek, stark space ship. No longer trying to fit in with the bad boys, this is an image of Michael the fully arrived Superstar of Tomorrow.