Latest on MJJC

New Joe Vogel-book about Black Or White-Video

Annita

Proud Member
Joined
Jul 25, 2011
Messages
3,609
Points
113

Black or White: Inside Michael Jackson's Most Controversial Film: Vogel, Joseph: 9798241862174: Amazon.com: Books

Black or White: Inside Michael Jackson's Most Controversial Film [Vogel, Joseph] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Black or White: Inside Michael Jackson's Most Controversial Film
www.amazon.com

Black or White: Inside Michael Jackson's Most Controversial Film Taschenbuch – 30. Dezember 2025​

von Joseph Vogel (Autor)

ON NOVEMBER 13, 1991, the world stopped to watch a music video.
Broadcast simultaneously across four major networks and viewed by an estimated 500 million people worldwide, Michael Jackson’s eleven-minute short film for "Black or White" was billed as a triumphant return—his first new visual statement in four years. What audiences got instead was something far more unsettling: a dazzling global unity spectacle that ended in rage, destruction, and a prowling black panther disappearing into a dark Los Angeles alley.
The backlash was immediate. The final sequence was censored. Critics were baffled. Parents complained. Executives panicked.
In Black or White: Inside Michael Jackson’s Most Controversial Short Film, Joseph Vogel—author of Man in the Music, widely regarded as the Michael Jackson bible—revisits the moment when pop spectacle collided with America’s unresolved racial anxieties.

In this definitive account, Vogel explores:
  • How Jackson reshaped MTV and the possibilities of music videos
  • America's obsession with Jackson's body and face
  • The groundbreaking CGI morphing sequence and its revolutionary impact
  • The symbolic meaning of the panther dance and its connection to repression, race, and the “shadow self”
  • The censorship, backlash, and critical misreadings that followed
  • And why Black or White may be more politically urgent now than ever

Blending cultural history, film analysis, and behind-the-scenes reporting, Vogel traces the short film’s origins through Hollywood’s racial mythology, the legacy of The Birth of a Nation, the rise of MTV, the Rodney King beating, and the charged atmosphere of early-’90s Los Angeles. He unpacks the revolutionary CGI morphing sequence, the symbolic power of the panther coda, and the anger and misreadings that followed—revealing Black or White as one of the boldest artistic gambles of Jackson’s career.
 
… eh. It’s cool to have, but I can’t help but be disappointed whenever someone like Vogel, who has top-tier resources, writes something that doesn’t have much historical value. Something like this could’ve been written by any of us.
 
AlwaysThere said:
… eh. It’s cool to have, but I can’t help but be disappointed whenever someone like Vogel, who has top-tier resources, writes something that doesn’t have much historical value. Something like this could’ve been written by any of us.
Click to expand...
It's not even coming out with a publishing house; it's a self-published book. So he doesn't have the excuse of having to follow the contract's terms as to what a mainstream audience wants.
 
Did this guy publish anything while Michael was alive, or is he just another one of those ****** parasites that's jumping on the bandwagon?
 
I don't understand all the negative criticism here. If an author wants to write a respectful and well-research analysis on Michael's political statements in his art, sounds like a good thing, isn't it? Some people who criticized the panther sequence back in the day without even understanding the symbolism in it might actually learn some things by reading this book.

From the MJVibe article:

"At the heart of the book lies the infamous panther coda. Far from being a gratuitous act of rebellion, Vogel interprets the sequence as a powerful symbolic release: a confrontation with repression, race, masculinity, and what Carl Jung described as the “shadow self.” The panther, Vogel argues, was Jackson’s most honest and misunderstood, statement.
The book also revisits the censorship and moral panic that followed the broadcast, unpacking how critics and commentators misread Jackson’s anger while ignoring the cultural forces that shaped it. Set against the backdrop of early-1990s Los Angeles, the Rodney King beating, Hollywood’s racial mythology, and the lingering legacy of The Birth of a Nation, Black or White becomes a lens through which to view America’s ongoing struggle with race, power, and representation."
 
etoile 37 said:
I don't understand all the negative criticism here
Click to expand...
I can't find any publication of his before 2012. His latest book is about Stranger Things. Seems to be the very definition of bandwagon.

etoile 37 said:
. If an author wants to write a respectful and well-research analysis on Michael's political statements in his art, sounds like a good thing, isn't it?
Click to expand...
MJ doesn't need more people cashing in.

What he needed was more people supporting and defending him at the time, during the dark days, when he needed it most.

etoile 37 said:
Some people who criticized the panther sequence back in the day
Click to expand...
That didn't actually happen. It's a manufactured controversy to generate more sales.

People were fine with the panther sequence. (1) Mostly that version of the video was never actually shown on TV, (2) anybody who saw it just shrugged and moved on, (3) most MJ fans were young enough that they didn't read highbrow newspapers, so they missed the one headline from a "critic and commentator", (4) no Facebook for people to pretend to be enraged, (5) USA =/= the rest of the world where MJ was having more success at the time.

There. I just wrote some text and analysis about the BOW video. Maybe I should try to get a publishing deal?!
 
R1chard said:
People were fine with the panther sequence. (2) anybody who saw it just shrugged and moved on,
Click to expand...
I can tell you that my mother, who liked Michael, was NOT fine with it at all. She just didn't understand it, she only saw the violence and the crotch-grabbing, and she completely missed the message.

I remember reading an article detailing all the symbolism in the panther sequence when I was younger, and it gave me a whole new appreciation for what Michael was trying to express with it, so I'm fine with anybody who can do that for more people.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top