30 years of Michael Jackson's "Thriller": A personal retrospective

Today, the world remembers when 30 years ago the music video for Michael Jackson’s Thriller had its premiere on MTV. I’m sure a lot of writing pieces will be published regarding this event, but I didn’t want that to stop me from sharing my personal experience about it. 

I must confess that my history with this video is unclear. To begin with, when the video came out on December 2nd, 1983, I was inside my Mom’s tummy, so I obviously missed out on that historic moment. My first images of Michael Jackson were in the early 90’s with his Black Or White video. At 7 years old, I was truly mesmerized by it and thought it was awesome that Macauley Culkin was featured in it. Like all of the other MJ videos, it has magic and escapism, both of which undoubtedly fascinate people of all ages. Michael was a magician on his own right with rhythms, lyrics, and images.

Then I remember seeing videos for his other singles from Dangerous (1991) and even his mostly forgotten musical collaboration with Eddie Murphy (and I’m not referring about his participation on Remember The Time). I can’t exactly recall when and where I saw Thriller for the first time. I believe I must’ve probably seen it on VH1. I remember they used to show it and right after they would play a behind-the-scenes documentary. Curiously, I don’t have any memories of being scared by the zombies or the werewolf at all, coming from someone who would run away from the Halloween costumes aisle at the pharmacy.

I do remember that I would always watch that short film with close attention, not being able to get my eyes off it. Even the title card with the warning at the beginning had its own mystique, adding some creepiness to the whole thing. Then, as a teenager and a young adult, I would always play the song on Halloween, because Thriller is the universal synonym of Halloween.

Warning title card at the beginning of Thriller.  

After MJ’s unfortunate passing in 2009, I rediscovered his music, the one that I used to enjoy as a child before the scandalous details that the media would contaminate us with. Granted, he was not your typical person and he had strong issues throughout his life (maybe we’ll never know what else was in his mind), but suddenly the world decided to ignore his hugely influential artistic contributions and instead would assign him the terrible role of a tabloid freak.

One of my post-mortem rediscoveries was Thriller as a song, as a music video, and as an album. I watched the video on YouTube many times, refreshing my memory with the iconic choreography and attempting to recreate it. Also, it was constantly shown on TV as a tribute to MJ. No matter what, I could never stop watching it or change the channel. Since the year of his death, on Halloween night I put the DVD of his videos and play Thriller as a holiday tradition. I always enjoy it greatly. I’ve also found myself playing the video for no reason throughout the year. When I hear someone playing the song or the album, I get excited and I want to dance. I’ve even dreamed of dancing the Thriller choreography with a crowd on the street. Wouldn’t that be fun?

When I do this, it isn't a nervous tic. It's art. I think MJ would agree. 

MJ and John Landis, the director of this masterpiece, gave us a world of cool zombies with swagger. If you ask me, those are the coolest zombies ever, because they can dance better than many of us who are alive. This video has all the fun elements of a horror movie combined with powerful music and even funny moments. One of the moments that I find particularly cute and funny is when MJ is chewing popcorn with his mouth wide open and smiling while sitting at the movie theater. I’m so geeky that I’ve found myself imitating him on the theater! How is it possible that one man can even influence the way we eat popcorn?

"I loooove my movie!"

We’ve seen many artists and directors take notes from this and other MJ videos. Even the Backstreet Boys gave us a nice Thriller homage with their video for Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) (1998). The influence has gone so beyond that fans all over the world have made countless videos in which they recreate the choreography on the streets, on weddings, and even in jail, reminding us of the great power that music has within us. 

We can all agree that what Charlie Chaplin was to movies, Michael Jackson was to music videos. They both helped change the game in each of their eras, along with other artists like Buster Keaton and Madonna, respectively. In fact, it’s no coincidence that MJ always proclaimed himself as a Chaplin fan. They gave us art that would fuel our imaginations and inspire us for decades. Centuries will pass, and I’m sure people will still be talking about their work. Kids, adults, and elders will be dancing to Thriller while covered in “city lights”, no matter how “modern times” will become.

Happy Birthday, Thriller!