This Michael Jackson Tribute From the “Thriller” Girl Is Insane
I think this is art, but in the words of its singer, I'm so confused. Ola Ray starred with Michael Jackson in the "Thriller" video 30 years ago. In the time since, she appeared in bit parts on shows whose titles were punctuated with exclamation marks like Gimme a Break! and What's Happening Now!, had her drug arrest profiled on A Current Affair and successfully sued Jackson's estate for royalties. Jackson died over four years ago, and Ray has just gotten around to paying tribute to him. The project would be an ignorable clinging to past glory were it not utterly unhinged.
There is cartoon smoke, a blue-screened bedroom secreting magenta, the Sheldon High School Dance Troop painted like zombies so half-heartedly they were perhaps painted by zombies. There is a dance breakdown mimicking the one in "Thriller," in case you don't remember it but especially if you do. "I remember," Ola reminds us constantly in a voice that is part slinky, part primal screamy and, entirely out of tune. There is Ola Ray in a feathery mask driving a convertible, walking down the street in a translucent dress, wearing a sequined top in a forest while she remembers some more. Images from "Thriller" sporadically flash on the screen. "Did you know that you made me scream when you did what you did to me?" she sings at one point. He did. He heard her when he turned into a werewolf (i.e. what he did to her).
With incompetence and absurdity combining to create something so original it's amazing, this is the Showgirls 2 of music videos. "Thank God for giving me the strength to complete this project," reads Ray's message at the end of the video's credits (this video has credits). Indeed. Thank God.