Jamara Royle

Michael Jackson Billie Jean Analysis

Characters

The music video is about love which is stereotypical of the pop genre and also what Michael Jackson sings about, especially in his early songs. The video links to some of Jacksons other videos because of his signature dance moves used in the video. There is negative female representation in the video as this 'Bille Jean' he's talking about is based on all the groupies and women who claim he is the father of their baby which represents women in a negative light and is showing them at their most desperate time for attention. 'She told me her name was Billie Jean, as she caused a scene, Then every head turned with eyes that dreamed of being the one' which shows how popular Michael is and how every woman back then wanted him to father their child. The video also represents the media as there is a paparazzi following Michael and he's avoiding him which indicates how bad the media for paparazzi especially when the star is as famous as Jackson; inferring how difficult it is to avoid paparazzi when you're famous especially when there are women claiming to have your child.

Iconography

The most iconic thing about this video is everything he touches lights up which could connote the fact he is famous or could represent a disco as disco flooring lights up. The fact the street where the floor lights up, is dirty and messed could suggest that disco is dead as not many people go to discos anymore. This is iconic because Michael Jackson was classed as the ‘King of Pop’ and to have everything he touches light up emphasises his significance to the views.

Narrative

There are two narratives to the story; the first of which the lyrics refer to a woman named Billie Jean and her claim that Michael is her baby's father which has an underlying meaning for the 'groupies' of Michael Jackson who would claim he is their babies father; just like he says in his song 'She told my baby we'd danced 'til three, then she looked at me, she showed a photo of a baby crying, his eyes looked like mine'. The second narrative is the video narrative of the paparazzi trying to capture Michael on camera as he goes to Billie Jeans hotel room; which reflects the media in a negative showing how the paparazzi are pests trying to get the next scoop. The two narratives link together as the paparazzi would

Jamara Royle

be trying to capture the story of Michael being the father of a woman's child. Despite being about a woman claiming Jackson is the father of her child the song is also about love because he sings 'People always told me be careful of what you do, and don't go around breaking young girls' hearts, she came and stood right by me, then the smell of sweet perfume, this happened much too soon, she called me to her room' which implies there had to be some sort of love here otherwise he wouldn't be singing about Billie Jean not being his lover. This can be shown in the video when he gets into the bed with Billie Jean. The story is linear, as the narratives are chronological. However the narrative is quite enigmatic as the end is left open; he seemed to have disappeared leaving viewers questioning where he is. It is shown at the end that he is still there despite his invisible form as the floor lights up as he walks down the street notifying the audience he is still there but leaving them in enigma as they will ponder where he is going.

Setting

The setting is an urban street in which represents some sort of discos as the pavement lights up. The fact that the setting is dirty and grimy conveys my previous point of disco being dead. The second location is a hotel room which is meant to be Billie Jean’s hotel room which is ironic due to the stars real life situation however the room is actually a catalyst for Michael to escape and disappear avoiding the paparazzi.

Technical codes

Various camera angles are used in the video; extreme long shots establish setting and most of the long shots and mid shots show Michael Jackson dancing his famous dance moves. Low key lighting is used to emphasis the gritty reality of the media and how everything is exaggerated. The lack of lighting also makes the video seem more mysterious and sneaky like most paparazzi are when they take pictures of celebrities. The darkness put together with the way is dress reminds me of Film Noir as the mysterious figure following Michael and the claim of being a parent to another woman's child sounds like a Film Noir type style narrative.