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Rylee Tudor

Marcia Hughes

ENG 1201

20 February 2022

¨Man In The Mirror¨ Music Video Analysis

Michael Jackson´s song ¨Man In The Mirror¨ is a prominent reminder to its listeners that

¨If you wanna make the world a better place take a look at yourself and then make that change¨.

The Song was released in 1988, and its remake ¨Man In The Mirror (Immortal Version)¨ was

released in 2011 almost 23 years later. Both versions of the song are a mixture of both R&B and

pop, which encourage people to get involved to eliminate global issues. The original music video

focuses on showing examples of these problems. While both songs contain the same message,

the original music video creates more emotions. Both versions of ¨Man In The Mirror¨ are

audibly the same because the differences actually lie in the visual representation. These

differences help intensify the lyrics. The song claims that to see a change in our social issues, we

must first change something about ourselves.

The original version of ¨Man in The Mirror is cinematic and curates many emotions. The

song uses videos of past suffrages, many of which are still events that occur today. The main

characters of the video are those in need of help from things like starvation, racism, war, and

many other causes. These are also examples of what Michael Jackson wants his audience to see

as a call to action. The setting of the video is past events, mostly within the United States, but
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there were also malnutrition and homelessness globally that need assistance. The lyrics of the

song are sorrowful. However, the upbeat tempo of the song, along with its repetitiveness makes

it easy to get stuck in a person´s head. Jackson used short videos of people in distress to prove

his point at the cruel things that happen in our world. Jackson hopes that the video´s many

examples along with lyrics like ¨I'm starting with the man in the mirror, I'm asking him to change

his ways¨ will get his audience to realize that global problems could be reduced if people like

themselves take steps to improve them. His target audience is people who recognize societal

problems but do not act upon them to try to resolve them.

In the second version of the song, the performances of Michael Jackson are combined

with parts of the original music video to create a positive mood. It used props such as Michael

Jackson performing the song as well as short emotional clips from the original video. The main

character is Michael Jackson, who is seen alongside people in scenes of grim situations.

Although the song has many settings, the most prominent one is a concert stage. The song urges

individuals to be the change they want to see. The targeted demographic is those who enjoyed

¨Man In The Mirror¨ when it originally came out, and those who were a fan of Michael Jackson.

This video is in honor of Michael Jackson, which is why videos of his performances were

included. The targeted demographic also includes those who see the errors in our world that need

to be fixed. The song is intended to be an example of what could be fixed if people decided to

help instead of expecting others to.

The two versions of the song sound the same, but their visual representations are vastly

different. The original music video brings more emotions to its viewers. This is done with short

videos of past and present issues. The clips lasting 3-5 seconds have topics that range from

poverty, homelessness, and protests to war, racism, and police brutality. Although Jackson only
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specifically calls attention to one issue, the videos draw attention to over a dozen other causes.

Jackson discusses child hunger by singing ¨See the kids in the street, with not enough to eat.

Who am I, to be blind pretending not to see their needs? ¨ and throughout both videos, kids are

facing malnutrition. This is one example of the singer expressing the need to act upon challenges

that are present globally. Jackson was able to get his message across, without ever appearing on

the screen.

The Immortal Version of the song does not express the call for help in the same manner

as the original version. It does not show as many examples of the social issues that the first video

contained. Although the Immortal Version was created after Michael Jackson passed away, he is

still the singer in the video. This combines the emotions curated by some of the clips from the

original music video, with some of Jackson´s previous performances of the song. There are still

parts of the original music video entwined in the video, but it is not the most prominent display.

Of the two, this version is closer to a traditional music video, that focuses on the singer, with

other things happening in the background. Jackson is the main character of the video.

Michael Jackson´s song in both the original and Immortal Versions show examples of

some of the world´s societal issues. The first video captures many intense instances, while the

second music video focuses on the singer. Both songs have the same genre of R&B and pop and

are sung in the same manner. Both versions use pathos in their heart-wrenching videos of global

history, and present problems. The audience is those who notice the problems and assume

someone else would fix them.

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Work Cited

Jackson, Michael. “Michael Jackson - Man in the Mirror (Official Video).” YouTube, YouTube,

2 Oct. 2009, www.youtube.com/watch?v=PivWY9wn5ps.

Jackson, Michael. “Michael Jackson - Man in the Mirror [Immortal Version].” YouTube,

YouTube, 12 May 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKhfT5HA8EE.