Michael Jackson is someone most people in today’s age both know and love as a musical artist. His most popular songs have won multiple awards and he accomplished many things in his lifetime. What people might not realize is that many of his extremely catchy and popular songs actually have deeper meanings.  In Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror”, he uses this song to portray real life issues, and how they all start and end with the individual. Michael Jackson sings about changing the “man in the mirror”, something he is emphasizing through the use of only putting one person in color instead of the entire shot. Doing this lets the viewer focus on specifically that aspect of the shot, and it is used multiple times throughout the entire music video. By highlighting one person or thing as an evildoer, Michael Jackson furthers the viewer to see, literally in color, the evil carried out by this individual.

Michael Jackson uses color in the beginning of the music video to highlight the “evils” of the world. He uses real life videos and pictures from both historical and current events, putting everything in black and white besides what he wants the individual to focus on, or what he considers the evil in that individual shot. For example, 36 seconds into Michael Jackson’s music video, “Man in the Mirror”, police officers are shown running into a crowd and beating pedestrians. One police officer in specific is shown in color, while the rest of the crowd is in black and white. This instantly draws the viewer’s attention to this officer in particular, seeing his brutality as he runs into the crowd. The producer uses a long shot to show the whole scene, but puts everything in black and white besides the police officer to put emphasis on him. In the foreground, there are a few officers running at the crowd. In the midground, there are other police officers attacking the crowd, and the singular cop that is in color. In the background, there is a building showing the music video is set in a town. The way the camera is angled shows the entire scene with many people, but the highlighted officer who is beating a pedestrian is used as a way to show the brutal relationship between the police and the seemingly innocent citizens. The use of color in this shot is used to shine light on the police brutality that is both prevalent at the time, and in modern day. This worldly problem has been prevalent for a long time and is still very prevalent today. Solving problems can all start with an individual, and even if only this one singular police officer did not use force, there would be less evil in the world.

Another evil Michael Jackson tries to show is the horror that was Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. At 1:19, Hitler is shown talking to a crowd, and everything is in black and white besides the Nazi symbol on his arm. The producer uses a medium shot to portray Adolf Hitler from the waist up, allowing the viewer to see and focus on his facial expressions and the swastika on his arm. In the foreground, there is a podium showing that he is publically speaking, and letting the reader infer that it is to a crowd. Adolf Hitler is in the midground of this shot, and the viewer’s eyes are instantly drawn to him and the swastika, due to the color. In the background, there are three other officers standing behind Hitler in their uniforms. The attention of the viewer is wielded to the swastika, since it is the only thing in the shot that is in color. The swastika is a world wide symbol of the atrocities committed in the name of the Nazi power. Having the swastika on Adolf Hitler’s arm being the only thing in color also emphasizes the idea of how an entire country was swayed by this symbol to commit brutal atrocities. Perhaps without the symbol of a swastika, the individual would be able to stand up to the crowd and choose good or evil.

Towards the end of the music video, things change. Instead of grim black and white images with only a little bit of color, everything is bright and in color. It begins to show how individuals are making a change in their world, attempting to make things better. It shows everything from farmers fighting for better wages and safety to Martin Luther King Jr. fighting for the rights of African Americans all over. Instead of the dark and grim shots, everything is colorful, giving the viewer a different feeling overall. Bright colors depict happiness and success, while the dark colors from before depicted sadness, suffering, and evil.  

Michael Jackson’s visual text is not just a catchy song, it is also very moving. It demands the viewer to start with himself/herself, and make a change. It appeals to our emotions, since when the viewer is watching this music video, they are watching awful videos of real life horrors, and the videos being actual footage instead of something acted out or cartoons makes it much more emotionally tolling and makes the viewer feel more strongly about the message he is trying to portray. The utilization of color in the music video highlights the aspects that are important to get the meaning of the video, and realizing that changing the world and the problems in it can truly start with changing the “man in the mirror”- yourself.
