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IMDb > Black or White (1991) (V)

Black or White (1991) (V) More at IMDbPro »


Overview

User Rating:
7.0/10   560 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 25% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
John Landis
Contact:
View company contact information for Black or White on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
14 November 1991 (USA) more
Genre:
Music | Short more
Plot:
In this video, Michael Jackson sings that it doesn't matter if you want to be his brother, it doesn't matter if you're black or white. | add synopsis
NewsDesk:
(8 articles)
Jackson dominates Aussie singles chart
 (From digitalspy. 6 July 2009, 3:48 AM, PDT)

Michael Jackson at the movies…
 (From SoundOnSight. 27 June 2009, 11:21 PM, PDT)

User Comments:
Gray area.... more

Cast

  (Credited cast)

Michael Jackson ... Himself

Macaulay Culkin ... Blonde kid
George Wendt ... Father
Peggy Lipton ... Mother
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jeffrey Anderson-Gunter

Tyra Banks ... Herself

Glen Chin

John Landis ... Director
Cree Summer
more
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Runtime:
6 min (short version) | 11 min (long version)
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color
Sound Mix:
Stereo

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Cameo: [Tyra Banks]one of the extras who morphs into another person. more
Goofs:
Continuity: When Michael is dancing with the lady in the middle of the street, he holds a sheet from a newspaper. He then scrunches it into a ball and throws it away. It blows away, but then the newspaper suddenly appears right by his foot again, and is now flat and intact. Then in the next shot it has vanished again. more
Movie Connections:
Featured in Michael Jackson Live in Bucharest: The Dangerous Tour (1992) (TV) more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
1 out of 8 people found the following comment useful:-
Gray area...., 15 December 2000
Author: George Litman from Marietta, OH USA

I can still remember when Michael Jackson videos were hyped more than the Olympics; seemed every half hour or so MTV would give you a minute-by-minute countdown as to when the next one would premiere.

But then came "Black or White" which, while still partially good, showed a darker side of the singer that even "Thriller" didn't touch.

It starts out innocently enough, with a "Dennis the Menace"-type scene where Culkin's dad (Wendt) shouts at him to turn down his stereo, to which the kid replies by dragging some humongous speakers downstairs, hooking up his guitar and blasting dad through the roof of the house. His mom (Peggy Lipton) is cool but stern ("Your father's going to be very upset when he comes down").

Then the real video begins, with Jackson singing and dancing with different races in different countries (Africa, Russia, India, etc.) about racial equality and prejudice. Then the music ends as different people are shown lip-synching to Jackson's music, each head morphing into the other to show equality between people. It's effective and the message makes it through.

BUT, then comes the end of the video, where a black panther is seen slinking out of the studio and into the dark city streets outside. The panther morphs into Jackson, sporting an arm cast(?), who proceeds to jump onto an abandoned vehicle, smash it up with a crowbar and masturbate(!) atop it. After this is done, he jumps down from the car roof, morphs back into the panther, slinks away and is gone.

Just what was THAT supposed to signify? I couldn't ponder a guess but it all but destroys the goodwill beforehand and muddies up the equality sung about earlier.

Later showings of the video excised the last part of "Black or White" after many angry calls and letters, nowadays, that's likely the only version of Michael's video you're likely to see.

It's just as well, with all the "press" Michael's gotten lately, he doesn't need anything else hanging over his head.

Five stars, for a mostly good video, courtesy of Michael's talents and John Landis' direction.

Face it, Michael - the "Thriller" is gone....

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