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The first video from Jackson's album Dangerous and its unveiling on MTV, BET and Fox (after a Simpsons episode) was one of the most highly touted premieres of its kind. Reteaming Jackson with "Thriller" director John Landis, the video promised stellar guests (Macaulay Culkin, George Wendt) and mind-boggling special effects. It delivered those (the series of morphing faces as the song fades is indeed extraordinary) and something more — a coda that immediately made it one of the most controversial videos ever. After the morphing sequence, the action switches to Michael dancing down a deserted alley and onto the top of an abandoned car, smashing windows and grabbing his crotch. The morning after the video aired, protests over its graphic content and questions about Jackson's mental health slammed onto front pages everywhere. Jacko, it seemed, was finally, completely and undeniably wacko.
Jackson immediately deleted the ending and offered a public apology. But Landis still stands by Jackson's improvised scene, feeling that it only foreshadowed the frontpage story of this decade. "Michael sensed the violence and unrest that ended up exploding in the L.A. riots," says Landis. "That's why some artists are successful. It's like Madonna. She tapped into some national mood, a sexual thing going on in the country. And Michael tapped into something at that moment. He was obviously not so far off the mark in terms of frustration and rage."