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Music Video | 1997

Michael Jackson "Ghosts" (1997)

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Details
Album: Blood On The Dancefloor
Künstler: Michael Jackson
Titel: Ghosts
Year-Date: 1997
Heads
Regisseur: Stan Winston
Plot & Quotes
Genre: Pop
Misc
Choreography: Jeffrey Daniel
Intro: Yes
Intro runtime: 5:30
Lyrics: Michael Jackson
Music: Michael Jackson
Official Homepage: www.michaeljackson.com
Outro: Yes
Outro runtime: 0:30
Runtime: 38:00
Script/Written by: Michael Jackson
Script/Written by: Stephen King
Sound Mix: Stereo
Special: Yes
Talent: Michael Jackson (Unknown)
Talent: Seth Smith (Unknown)
Technische Spezifikationen: colour - format unknown
VFX Company: Digital Domain
Clipland ID: 928422600

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User Comments
Sunday 10/22/06

Akeilla
User's rating: 10/10
I love this video it is so awesome I can't wait till they show it on VH1 or MTV for halloween
Sunday 03/12/06

i just watched it like 2 minutes ago and i had wanted to see it sooo bad and i think it is soo tight. i luv things like that like ghosts and the supernatural. and i luv it
Thursday 02/23/06

User's rating: 10/10
That movie was way beond great! i liked the dance moves and they lyrics! only 3 words that explain how i feel about it "i loved it!"
Saturday 01/07/06

User's rating: 6/10
IT WAS A DECENT MUSIC VIDEO, BUT PERSONALLY I THINK TRILLER WAS A WHOLE LOT SCARIER.
Monday 01/02/06

User's rating: 10/10
Michael Jackson is an amazing artist. This video is so unique and I absolutely love it. Every second of it was just awsome.
Thursday 10/27/05

User's rating: 10/10
may i see the video
Wednesday 10/05/05

User's rating: 10/10
voy a bailar esa
Friday 06/17/05

Philtopia
this video is quality, loving every second of it nice 1 jacko what a legend
Sunday 02/06/05

All this hate..
This clip is not ingenious.but it`s how you would say it..cool.Michael acting is very good..and considering he`s not a professional actour..i would give him 9.5.
it was..Another succesful video.
Monday 01/31/05

the ghosts video was an interesting video but i liked it
Sunday 07/07/02

_Ghosts_ is a fascinating failure artistically; it's no small wonder that it wasn't widely seen in the U.S. for 4 years.

The 3 songs used (_2 Bad_, _Is It Scary_, and _Ghosts_) aren't bad - though their lyrics are uncomfortably bitter. The poor direction doesn't help; as some people commented at the Internet Movie Database, it gives less attention to the dancing than it does the makeup effects and the ENDLESS reaction shots. And Jackson's attempt to show off by playing two characters, himself and the mayor (the credits list 5 characters, but the other three are transformed variants on the basic two) is pretty embarrassing - even Stan Winston's best makeup can't convincingly make Jackson a white middle-aged guy, because Jackson can't act very well.

The video's real failing is its tone and mixed message. There's no ignoring the fact that the story is an allegory for the child-molestation scandal Jackson was involved in: a mob of folks from _Normal Valley_ want to run Michael out of town because he's telling the preteen boys ghost stories (there are no girls in this town, apparently!); the bilious mayor especially hates Michael and calls him a freak over and over. Michael responds by imprisoning the crowd and showing off his powers to them. The kids love it; most of the adults do too - only the mayor is immune to the magic and he is duly tortured and punished for it, and all ends happily ever after.

If that plot description seems rather brutal for a Jackson video, I'm sure that he didn't mean it to come across that way - but it does. The problem is that the mayor's concern, especially when you take the allegory into full effect, is a genuine one. He may be rather cold in accepting people who are different, but that doesn't neccessarily make him evil. Our nominal hero, in the meantime, seems to overreact to this threat, particularly in his cruel treatment of the mayor (whom he eventually drives to his doom). If the video wanted us to consider this ambiguity, then it might have worked - but at no point are we cued to do so. Instead, we must glean from the looks of wonder/fright on the kids' faces that Jackson is wonderful.

Of all of Jackson's unsuccessful videos, this one has a fascination all its own in its disturbing implications, which makes it more interesting than, say, _You Rock My World_. It may be worth a viewing on that account alone.
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