Death of a Legend: That Mean Lean

Okay. I'm back in my "Michael Jackson trance" that I've been in since his passing exactly a week ago. I just viewed one of my favorite videos from him, "Smooth Criminal" and thought I'd post it.......and tell a little story too.

Michael Jackson - Smooth Criminal


This was one of my favorite songs back in the day. The video is awesome and oh how Mike leeeeaaaaans, right?

Childhood memory: I remember back in the day how my little brother and I would watch Michael's videos religiously. You see, our dad has a VHS of nothing but Michael Jackson videos (He might have recorded it from a special shown on TV at the time, Idk) and since my brother and I were heavily exposed to Michael Jackson, we loved this VHS (when I'm done with this blog, I may call dad up and ask him to look for that vhs for me so I can see it again possibly over the weekend).

Whenever the tape got to the "Smooth Criminal" video, I remember my brother and I would both be in our shoes or stocking feet trying to duplicate. My brother was always good with impersonating Mike's moves. Me? Notsomuch. But I tried. (I got better once I got into dance though, but like everyone else, I'm no Mike duplicate).That lean though? I definitely tried. Without question. I nearly busted my head trying to do this lean, lol. My brother actually did bust his head. Good times.

Let's focus on that lean again, shall we?




As I got older, watching the video, I concluded that this was just a mark of camera work at its finest. The rules of gravity don't allow for a 50-degree lean, period. But then he did it in concert and I learned that it's in his shoes. There's something going on with the soles of his shoes or something. Either way, it's DOPE! (I still wanna learn this move, though lol).

One of my favorite parts of the video? Around the 7:47 mark where the little boy is doing the moves. Isn't he adorable?

Another thing I love about this video is how it easily distracts you from the lyrics as well as what's really going on in the video. The song is talking about a "smooth criminal" who comes and attacks a woman named "Annie" and just like any "smooth criminal", he leaves unscathed, yet "Annie" is suffering ("he left the bloodstains on the carpet"..."it was her doom"). However in the video, Michael comes onto the scene and even though people are highly suspicious of him and he causes a ruckus, he's dancing with them (remniscent of the "Bad", "Remember the Time" and "Beat It" videos)........but in the end, it turns out HE was the "Smooth Criminal" all along. Smooth, eh? Smooth indeed :). Because the dancing and the other elements of the video are so entertaining, I doubt people are even thinking about all of this. Of course I did though lol.

It was my intention to post just ONE blog of my favorite Michael Jackson videos and title the blog, "Death of a Legend: The Videos" or something like that. But then as I compiled my list, I noticed that there were entirely too many videos I wanted to include, each with a small personal story/piece attached to it in some way. So I've decided to continue this tribute sporadically and create an official "series" of some sort. You'll see the influence that MJ had on my life and hopefully it'll make you bring out your personal experiences in connection to the world's greatest artist as well.