Michael Jackson's "Dangerous" Mind

A narrow staircase leads up to the train room, half of which is filled with an elaborate Lionel set. In addition to the trains on the track, there are more in unopened boxes on the floor. Another part of the room is covered with race-car tracks. Standing against the walls are larger than life Bart Simpson cardboard cutouts and Roger Rabbit displays, along with an E.T. video display packed with copies of the tape. Peter Pan and Mickey Mouse and Bambi quilts lie on the floor. "The kids have slumber parties up here," says one of Jackson's employees as he takes me through the house.

Ironically, as Neverland becomes even more magical and dreamlike, Jackson himself can't often enjoy it. For most of the three years he's owned it, much of his time has been spent in Los Angeles sequestered in more than a half-dozen darkened recording studios. Now that the album is done, he'll be busy for months, cranking out videos for the various songs on Dangerous. He also has plans to star in his first feature film, tentatively titled Midknight, for Sony's Columbia Pictures and will hit the road to support Dangerous by the middle of 1992. Touring plans have not been formalized, but it's clear that Jackson, in his drive to stay on top of the entertainment world, will want to take his time and make the show as spectacular as

"The plan is for him to start work on his film," says Bob Jones, who for the past three years has been working for the star's own company, MJJ Productions. "But with Michael you never know. That could certainly change. Since I've been here, Michael has been in complete control. He knows what works for him and for the public. He's much more fixed in his ideas as to how he wants to do things."

One thing is for sure, Jackson won't be spending much time at Neverland lying by the pool. For as everyone in the world knows by now, the Michael Jackson show is, once again, open for business.

The King of Pop. That's how Fox, Black Entertainment Television (BET) and MTV, the American TV outlets that got the rights to premiere Jackson's "Black or White" video, now refer to him. That was the deal. You want to get "Black or White" first, you dub Jackson "the King of Pop."

It makes some kind of sense. Bruce is the Boss, Elvis is the King, Prince is, well, Prince. And Michael Jackson? Somehow Wacko Jacko, as the British tabloids have called him, doesn't cut it. So if the world won't crown him king, why, he'll do it himself.

Which explains the November 11th, 1991, memo, typed on MTV Networks letterhead, that was circulated among the MTV staff the week before "Black or White" was first shown. The memo directed all on-air personnel to refer to Jackson as "the King of Pop" at least twice a week over the next two weeks. It also thanked staff members for their cooperation, adding that "Fox and BET are already doing this." "The fact is that a lot of people have changed their names recently," says Tom Freston, chairman and CEO of MTV Networks, in defense of the company's actions. "M.C. Hammer is now Hammer, and Michael Jackson is 'the King of Pop.' Who are we to stand in front of the wheels of progress? Whatever they want to call themselves, we try and oblige."

So MTV and the others dubbed him "the King of Pop" and showed his video, and the world went crazy. It's estimated that half a billion people saw the premiere of "Black or White," which quickly became MTVs most requested video of the week. As a result of the overwhelming response, the network put the video into what Freston calls superheavy rotation. "No artist, including himself," Freston says, "has ever gotten more plays per day."

While "Black or White" has received more concentrated exposure than any other video, it does not have the hand of influential impact that "Thriller" had. "Thriller" clearly broke new ground: Its $1.2 million budget was more than had ever been spent on a video. By combining narrative, dramatic nonmusic sections and ambitious choreography, Jackson and director Landis set new standards for music videos. The "Thriller" video also helped Jackson sell as many as 1 million albums a week for the month following its initial airing.

In the days immediately following the premiere of "Black or White," in newspapers large and small all over the world, millions more read about it and about the controversy that erupted over the videos last four minutes, in which Jackson simulates masturbation, zips up his zipper, smashes in the windows of a car and throws a garbage can through a storefront window.

Entertainment Weekly devoted its cover story to "Michael Jackson's Video Nightmare." Even the Wall Street Journal saw fit to tell its readers about the Jackson brouhaha, noting that "the Jackson video wasn't viewed as truly offensive to almost anybody of commercial importance to the singer."

Jackson's handlers immediately denied any suggestion that the controversy had been planned. Certainly, it's not far-fetched to imagine that media-savvy Michael Jackson, a star for more than twenty years, hero to both children and their grandparents, might have had an inkling that if he rubbed himself and smashed up windows, he would get a rise out of his fans. On the other hand, if he didn't plan to create a controversy, it simply means that, yes, Jackson really is quite detached from reality, as many believe.

Yet whatever his intentions, and despite his statement ("It upsets me to think that 'Black or White' could influence any child or adult to destructive behavior, either sexual or violent..."), released the day after the video aired, those around Jackson, as well as at least one top Sony executive, seemed overjoyed at all the attention. "No story ever got this much play on the news but a war," said one Jackson associate a few days after the premiere.