Line #24 Film/MichaelJacksonsGhosts


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/511fcbc366b93b947856553a7657572a.png]]
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3	''Michael Jackson's Ghosts'' is a 1997 ShortFilm (at 39+ minutes, the third-longest music video to date according to the ''[[Literature/GuinnessWorldRecords Guinness Book of World Records]]''[[note]]the current contender is the 177-day-long music video for "Level of Concern" by Music/TwentyOnePilots[[/note]]) directed by Creator/StanWinston, produced by Music/MichaelJackson, Stan Winston and David Nicksay. Mick Garris's screenplay is based on a story hashed out by Jackson and Creator/StephenKing (loosely based according to King).
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5	The short is an allegory for the child molestation accusations leveled against Jackson, and the resultant scandal, over 1993-94. The mysterious "Maestro" (Jackson) has secretly been telling ghost stories and performing magic tricks for the young boys of nearby Normal Valley, but when one of the boys tells the adults of the town about it, they form a TorchesAndPitchforks mob led by their Mayor (Jackson again) to run the "freaky" stranger out of town. Maestro responds by trapping them in his HauntedHouse with him and unleashing a parade of ghouls and dance numbers...
6	It can be found [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfthWFa9cDo here.]]
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8	----
9	!!This film contains examples of:
10	* {{Allegory}}
11	** Maestro = Michael Jackson
12	** The Mayor and the other adults = Adults who find his RealLife behavior suspect; commonly interpreted as a direct TakeThat in the Mayor's case. As the Wikipedia article puts it, he is "a comically arrogant, plump [and white] man who bears more than a passing resemblance to Thomas Sneddon", the Santa Barbara district attorney who tried to prosecute Jackson on child molestation charges in 1993-94, and actually would over 2003-05 when ''another'' accuser came forward with similar claims.
13	** The secret meetings with children = Jackson's {{Intergenerational Friendship}}s with prepubescent kids, as well as his charity work on the whole.
14	** The angry mob assembling when one of the boys makes the mistake of revealing the secret meet-ups with Maestro = Jackson being accused of molestation by Jordan Chandler. Note that the boy in the film is chewed out by his older brother for spilling the beans, but their mother insists "He did the right thing."
15	* BerserkButton: Maestro would probably have gone a bit softer on the pranking if the Mayor hadn't kept referring to Maestro as a freak and similar terms. After we see the rage that the Mayor produces, Maestro keeps an almost perpetual DeathGlare on the Mayor, though still has mostly TranquilFury until he breaks out the songs.
16	* BlackAndWhiteMorality: Mayor = bad, Maestro = good.
17	* BodyHorror: First, the Mayor is subjected to an OrificeInvasion, then is forced to perform against his will, and ''then'' is transformed into a hideous "ghoul" version of himself.
18	* BookEnds: Maestro is introduced by pulling a prank on the town residents. At the end of the film, a group of kids pull a similar trick on the Maestro.
19	* TheCameo: Mos Def is part of the angry mob that wants to run Maestro out of town.
20	* ConceptVideo: With some of the most talky of TalkyBookends yet!
21	* CrucifiedHeroShot: After the ghosts dance on the ceiling, they float back down to the floor in this pose as "heavenly" music plays.
22	* DarkIsNotEvil: Maestro.
23	* TheDeadCanDance: The Maestro's minions.
24	* DeliberatelyMonochrome: The opening few minutes (until the mob enters the ballroom) are in black and white.
25	* DemBones: Maestro pulls off his own skin and strips to being a skeleton, whereupon he dances.
26	* DisneyDeath: Maestro fakes his death to throw off the Mayor in the climax.
27	* DisneyVillainDeath: Seeing that the Maestro isn't dead ''and'' has reassumed his Superghoul form to boot sends the Mayor fleeing through a window. A transcript of the film (which, sadly, has since evaporated along with Geocities) even calls this a "presumably very messy Disney Villain Death". No one seems to care either way in-story.
28	* DopeSlap: In the early going, a running bit has a little boy's older brother smack him this way for revealing stuff about the mysterious Maestro that he was supposed to keep secret. Their mother then does the same to the older brother, usually with the comment "Don't hit your brother!" [[RuleOfThree After the third go-round of this]], the mother is smacked by an unseen force, implied to be the Maestro's doing.
29	* EvilSoundsDeep: Michael uses his actual, deep-register voice when playing as the mayor, making ''Ghosts'' the only known recording that showcases him using that voice at length.
30	* FatBastard: The Mayor.
31	* FatSuit: Jackson plays the Mayor in one of these.
32	* GothicHorror: Contains enough tropes to actually be considered this.
33	* ImpactSilhouette: The Mayor leaves this in the wake of his SuperWindowJump.
34	* LiterallyShatteredLives: Maestro smashes himself into the floor as if he were made of stone when the Mayor says he still wants him to go, crumbling into dust. This turns out to be a DisneyDeath trick, however.
35	* MisunderstoodLonerWithAHeartOfGold: Maestro, though the heart of gold is an InformedAttribute.
36	* MoonwalkDance: Michael transforms himself into a skeleton and dances the moonwalk.
37	* NightmareFace: Maestro pulls his face in grotesque appearances and transforms into a skeleton.
38	* OrificeInvasion: The Maestro possesses the Mayor by turning into a liquid form and pouring himself down the victim's throat.
39	* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: Though leading an angry mob ''is'' an overreaction, it's not hard to sympathize with the Mayor for being concerned that a strange person who otherwise doesn't interact with anybody in town is not only meeting with kids but '''telling them to keep their meetings a secret''', and to see Maestro's behavior as unnecessarily cruel. That the deck is clearly stacked in Maestro's favor -- the Mayor is just a lot of talk, with no evidence that he could back it up with action (given how reluctant the mob is) -- doesn't help.
40	* RavensAndCrows: A crow watches the approaching mob and later startles them in the ballroom before turning out to be a shapeshifted form of Maestro.
41	* RearrangeTheSong: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GQFpmqkvy4 The original 1996 cut of the film]] used a slightly remixed version of "2 Bad" for all the dancing scenes. "Ghosts" and "Is It Scary" were added in the final cut.
42	* RuleOfThree: See DopeSlap above.
43	* SerkisFolk: The dancing skeleton sequence is one of the earlier uses of this technique.
44	* SuperpoweredEvilSide: Maestro's "Superghoul" form, who subjects the Mayor to the aforementioned BodyHorror torture.
45	* SuperWindowJump: The Mayor exits the story this way, out of fear.
46	* ThatMakesMeFeelAngry: Creator/NathanRabin [[http://www.avclub.com/articles/spooktastic-case-file-174-michael-jacksons-ghosts,46847/ points out]] the use of this trope in his write-up:
47	--> The dialogue in "Ghosts" is elemental to a perverse degree: No one ever obfuscates when they can communicate what they're feeling in the bluntest, most primitive manner possible. So we learn that The Mayor thinks Maestro is weird and strange and doesn't like him when The Mayor says, "You're weird. You're strange. [And] I don't like you."
48	* TorchesAndPitchforks: Played straight.
49	* TrueBeautyIsOnTheInside: The intended moral according to WordOfGod.
50	* UncleTomfoolery: Music/MosDef's character -- think Creator/RichardPryor in his "scared" mode.

Context Film / MichaelJacksonsGhosts