Do not get me wrong: Jackson did produce some excellent short-films in his career, and possessed a strong sense of what would work visually - of what would be unique and strange. I would advise film-goers and pop fans to seek out "Thriller" and "Ghosts" to see his artistry well conveyed on film.
This, however, is less a short-film than a piece of corporate propaganda: for Jackson as 'The King of Pop', for Disney, for George Lucas and even for US consumer capitalist culture as a whole. Rock 'n' roll, dance and 'cute' anthropomorphised animals will win the day, inevitably, against the 'evil aliens' as led by Anjelica Huston's Supreme Leader. The scenario is sketchy, and relies on special effects, choreography and artless noise to keep the audience engaged.
Jackson is painted as the humane dictator, appealing to the SL's better nature or her 'beautiful side', and then in effect crushing her and her people when they refuse to yield. Her forces become EO's due to a spot of magic; she is eventually transformed into a human, which, surprise surprise makes for the sort of Happy Ending that Ronald Ray-Gun would have adored.
This whole venture can be summed up as efficient propaganda for the American way of life and globalisation more broadly.
This, however, is less a short-film than a piece of corporate propaganda: for Jackson as 'The King of Pop', for Disney, for George Lucas and even for US consumer capitalist culture as a whole. Rock 'n' roll, dance and 'cute' anthropomorphised animals will win the day, inevitably, against the 'evil aliens' as led by Anjelica Huston's Supreme Leader. The scenario is sketchy, and relies on special effects, choreography and artless noise to keep the audience engaged.
Jackson is painted as the humane dictator, appealing to the SL's better nature or her 'beautiful side', and then in effect crushing her and her people when they refuse to yield. Her forces become EO's due to a spot of magic; she is eventually transformed into a human, which, surprise surprise makes for the sort of Happy Ending that Ronald Ray-Gun would have adored.
This whole venture can be summed up as efficient propaganda for the American way of life and globalisation more broadly.