POP VIEW; A Political Song That Casts Its Vote For the Money

MkGenie

By JON PARELES Published: March 6, 1988 What's the most offensive music video clip ever? For me, one candidate reigns supreme: the clip for Michael Jackson's current single, ''Man in the Mirror.'' It's not the kind of video that brings down the wrath of fundamentalists and would-be censors; there's not a whiff of sex, no blood and little violence. Mr. Jackson doesn't show up in it, either. The clip, which just entered MTV's Top 20, is simply a smoothly edited, slightly tricked-up montage of news footage. But it demonstrates remarkable -I'd say monumental - gall, insensitivity and megalomania. As a song, ''Man in the Mirror,'' is a catchy, uplifting piece of pop-gospel. Written by Siedah Garrett and Glen Ballard, it suggests, ''If you wanna make the world a better place/ Take a look at yourself and then make a change.'' At its most specific, it points out ''kids in the street, with not enough to eat'' and, later, ''there are some with no home, not a nickel to loan.'' It's impossible to tell if the idea for the video originated with Mr. Jackson, but he doubtless had final approval. And the video clip, directed by Don Wilson, includes nothing but specifics. Starving Ethiopian children. Homeless people carrying their belongings. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. South African police battering protesters. Bishop Desmond Tutu in tears. Lech Walesa and a Solidarity rally. The Ku Klux Klan. A civil rights demonstrator being beaten. Adolf Hitler (in black-and-white, but with his armband colorized red, like a soda-pop commercial). John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Aerial warfare. Veterans and Vietnam protesters. John F. Kennedy, and his funeral (in black-and-white, with a colorized coffin). Robert F. Kennedy. Korean student demonstrations. Mikhail Gorbachev. Post-foreclosure farmers. A mushroom cloud (on the beat to the words, ''Make that change!''). That's just the first half. Then comes the Iran-unrest footage, Mahatma Gandhi, an unidentified woman being roughed up by police, Chernobyl protesters, world leaders shaking hands, a Greenpeace ''Save the Whales'' boat, a car set on fire, a Soviet May Day parade, falling bombs, rescues of children, a hostage freed, children fed, Farm Aid and Live Aid benefit concerts (where Mr. Jackson never appeared), a blonde girl hugging a black baby and, finally, Earthrise from the moon's point of view. Mother Teresa's in there somewhere, too. In other words, the clip presents every iconic figure and world problem that offered what television producers call ''good film.'' Like other video clips, ''Man in the Mirror'' was made to sell records. Its particular sales pitch is that buying the song equals concern over issues - a pitch that would shame Joe Isuzu. Mr. Jackson and his advisers are clearly hoping to tap the good will engendered by U.S.A. for Africa's ''We Are the World,'' the all-star benefit single (written by Mr. Jackson and Lionel Richie) that raised millions of dollars for Ethiopian famine relief. To give Mr. Jackson his due on the charity front, he also made the first of his Madison Square Garden concerts on Thursday a benefit, yielding $600,000 for the United Negro College Fund. ''Man in the Mirror,'' however, generates revenue only for Michael Jackson and his record company. Despite the socially conscious trappings, it's no benefit single. It's a pseudopolitical song, too - an old phenomenon that has gone big time in the 1980's. Performers now love the moral high ground, and their listeners like to think they're filled with high-minded compassion. Simultaneously, so much entertainment has turned insular and escapist that the mere mention of a real-world issue signals commitment. But it ain't necessarily so. In song after song - John Cougar Mellencamp's ''We Are the People,'' Earth, Wind and Fire's ''System of Survival'' - issues are brought up to lend the song a little kick, but then treated, to use a 1980's term, nonjudgmentally. The songs point no fingers, reveal no underlying causes, assign no blame, suggest no action. They don't perform the essential political act: taking sides. That might alienate someone. For its part, ''Man in the Mirror'' glances at homelessness and poverty, then rivets its gaze on the mirror and urges ''change,'' as if the solution to economic problems were self-improvement, or perhaps cosmetic surgery. It won't stir anyone's conscience or make anyone nervous, not even a slumlord. Making a living by singing about other people's problems has always had an uneasy undercurrent. After Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young scored a hit single with Neil Young's ''Ohio,'' about protesters shot at Kent State University, Mr. Young wrote (in the liner notes to ''Decade''), ''It's ironic that I capitalized on the deaths of these American students.'' That kind of irony led some performers (Bob Dylan, for instance) away from protest songs and others (Pete Seeger) into more direct activism. For many political songwriters, the ethical payoff is that a song can convince listeners more effectively than a pamphlet or a speech; it can, ideally, move them to action the way a dance tune nudges fans onto the dance floor. Some songwriters are willing to reveal convictions. Sting's ''Gueca Solo (They Dance Alone)'' urges an end to United States aid to Chile; Bruce Cockburn's ''Call It Democracy'' denounces ''international loan sharks backed by the guns of market hungry military profiteers.'' Alpha Blondy, a reggae singer from the Ivory Coast, declares ''Apartheid is Nazism''; the Pogues sing about innocent Irishmen ''tortured and framed by the law'' in ''Birmingham Six.'' In his recent concert, Frank Zappa attacked Pat Robertson, the television evangelist turned presidential candidate, simply by reminding listeners of Mr. Robertson's resume. These songwriters want to influence people - not make friends. In American consumer culture, though, buying the record or seeing the concert - consuming the music - can mark the end of activism rather than the beginning. Organizers of charity singles and benefit concerts know this, and turn consumption itself into a do-gooder's duty. Writers of pseudopolitical songs, meanwhile, consider issues all the way to the bank. ''Man in the Mirror'' would simply be another vague, Mom-and-apple-pie, feel-good song - who couldn't stand a little self-improvement? - if not for its video clip. But in the clip itself, as the lyrics say, ''no message could have been any clearer'': That Ethiopian child with flies crawling around his eye, those protesters being clubbed, that unidentified woman -all of their genuine suffering can now sell records for Mr. Jackson. ''Offensive'' is putting it mildly. Correction: March 13, 1988, Sunday, Late City Final Edition

weiweitiger

"Man in the mirror " is a mild political song which will appeal all people's sympathy but not offend anyone, it is the best choice for a pop singer But "They don't care about us" and "D.S" are too offensive, Even if what you sing is the truth in the will to help people You can not irritate the sensitive nerve of the government or the religious groups Maybe MJ would be better to return to a more mild way in making of new album for best selling There is no doubt that MJ will produce great songs but amusing everyone is always the first especially considering the MJ's current situation , the lawsuit, the age, the marriage, all the rumours.