The Journal of Michael Jackson Academic Studies | ISSN: 2452-0497
Dynamic, Influential, Inclusive, Cultural, Explorative, Unique
Jackson ends the Bad album the same way he commenced it: with a question. In the same way that it is impossible to answer the question “Who’s Bad?” in any definitive way, the final question leaves us profoundly unsure. “Are you okay?” is sung dozens Read More …
Abstract: The dynamic process of producing and consuming commodities shapes not only individuals but also their relations with each other and their societies. Although popular culture theorists have often attributed to popular music the effect of securing the consent of subordinated people for their own Read More …
Songs: “The Way You Make Me Feel,” “Speed Demon,” “Liberian Girl” The next three songs introduce the more specific normative constructs of gender, identity, and agency and go beyond troubling or disrupting them the way “Bad” did. They envision alternatives to hegemonic constructs and playfully Read More …
Songs: “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You,” “Dirty Diana,” “Leave Me Alone” Michael Jackson’s post-Bad career was very explicitly about redefining, questioning, subverting, and casting a critical eye on cultural assumptions (as Susan Fast documents in Dangerous). But he started these challenges on Bad. Hegemony Read More …