unlike the moonwalk or the robot, grabbing oneself is not a dance step that requires years of practice to master. it's about context too; what was he trying to express in regards to racism by doing that? I seriously doubt that this had been building up inside him since was a young man, or that he was supressed by his religion. rather, he was influenced by what others were doing at the time, and more importantly, it was in response to the criticism that he was too clean cut. it wasn't genuine, which is why he was singled out for it. the public expected that kind of behaviour from those other artists. not Michael.
he marketed himself a role model for the youth. no one made him do that. he (privately, and sometimes publicly) criticised other acts who were raunchy or used profanity. as the president said in '84, he was proof of what one could accomplish with a clean lifestyle. he compromised his values for popularity. it was a step backwards. before he created trends, now he was following them. he never would have commissioned paintings of himself in Jesus' place at the last supper (!) had he remained a witness. or paraded around in military jackets flanked by soldiers. he certainly wouldn't have erected a statue of himself to float down thames. he became larger than life and no one could tell him anything. there was a domineering and sinister energy that seeped into his music and the way he presented himself. what he represented before all of that was something positive and unique.
Michael wore blue in 'the way you make me feel' which featured the crips. should that be looked at as an endorsement? the 'beat it' video may have been fictional, but at least the song was solutions based and represented Michael's true stance on violence (he spoke about this in his autobiography). it had more of an impact as well.
wasn't 'bad' supposed to be about a young man who got shot by a plain clothes police officer? I didn't see any reference of that in the film..
