Man in the Mirror

Well, I've easily watched this video 45 times (AXN played it all day long along with "Murder on the Dance Floor" after MJ died), and my mom and I have always agreed on the fact that it does have a a certain social message, which is something I really like.

There are many important (in both a positive and negative way) people on the video, so just to mention a few...

1. AWESOME PEOPLE WHO CHANGED SOCIETY:

• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Mother Theresa
• John F. Kennedy
• Robert F. Kennedy
• Desmond Tutu
• John Lennon
• Mahatma Gandhi

2. PEOPLE WHO DO NOT DESERVE TO BE CALLED HUMAN:

• Adolf Hitler
• Members of the KKK

These are concrete examples, but the video is full of scenes that contain starving African children (which make me feel real sad and pretty helpless... I just can't stand watching this children eating a cookie and thinking that that cookie will probably be the monthly meal), people who get involved in marches (against war, or nuclear tragedies), and there is at least one scene where the "Make love, not war" phrase appears.

All in all, I think it is a very interesting video because of this. Nowadays videos do not even think of social importance - as long as there is a pretty girl or an enormously attractive guy, and as long as the song is famous, the performers are okay with the video.

I think the video and the song have a link because of this:

IF YOU WANNA MAKE THE WORLD
A BETTER PLACE
TAKE A LOOK AT YOURSELF, AND
THEN MAKE A CHANGE

Which is a part of the song that shows that when people decide to make change (both themselves and their immediate society), the world becomes a better place to live. But nothing is perfect, and there's usually an opposing force in everything, so in order to balance the video, we can also remember those who have led to destruction and chaos. It's a contrast to show that even though there's evil in the world, there's also good; and that the latter makes it worth fighting for.

I think this video is a tribute to all of those who have fought and succeeded in improving our world - it is an inspiring song that talks about how people change the world if they want to, and there cannot be a better example of such thing than these men and women.

Michael Jackson was a man who had great affection for the world (he actually donated part of his income to different philanthropic associations), and I'm sure he admired the ["good"] people who appeared here. It is not surprising that a man who had social conscience (despite all the legal issues the man got involved in) decided to make a video of this kind.