ABSTRACT
This chapter tracks the rise of ‘Wacko Jacko’, Michael Jackson's derisive media image that took root at the height of his fame. It is argued this image was in response to the various threats of race and difference that Jackson posed and, as such, was a contemporary manifestation of minstrel caricature. The chapter goes on to explore how Jackson responded to ‘Wacko Jacko’ in his short film Michael Jackson's Ghosts (1996). The film is an impassioned and strategic retort and one that fittingly reveals Jackson to be a dynamic descendant of the Black minstrel tradition. The chapter includes a discussion on the 1993 sexual misconduct claims that became, arguably, an extension of ‘Wacko Jacko’ by feeding into the social, political and cultural role that that media image played.
