Michael copying Fred Astair

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Oldschooly

New member
I was watching a tv show about classic actors, and one of the people they discussed was Fred Astare (sp?). They were showing a clip of one of his movies, I cant remember the name of it, but it was extremely obvious that Michael has, in the nicest sense of the word, totally ripped that movie off in not only one of his songs, but one of his videos, and one of his dance moves. It was almost exactly the same as YRMW, and that hunched over dance move he does in the video, that was no Michael original. Not to mention the line 'the girl was bad, the girl was dangerous'. Sang in exactly the same way as Michael sang it. I wish I knew what the name of the movie was, Id find a clip for yall. I found it to be a bit of a rip off to be completely honest, I thought Michael came up with it all himself!
 
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TevaMac

New member
Hi Amy!

I would love to see the Fred Astaire clip you are talking about. Michael always copied other artists like Fred Astaire & James Brown; he used famous artists paintings for his video sets, etc as other artists now copy him. However, there is a big difference between imitation being the most sincere form of flattery and a "total rip off."
 
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Oldschooly

New member
To me it wasnt imitation. The second I saw it I knew YRMW, Dangerous, Smooth Criminal. I only have the internet on my phone now, but if I get it back on my computer soon Ill try and find what movie it was and see if its on youtube.
 
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TevaMac

New member
Well, I remember watching "This Is It" and the Smooth Criminal scene was mixed in with an old Humphrey Bogart movie, maybe instead of it being a "rip off" the set design was intentional. A part of the "Black or White" video looks like "Singing in the Rain" - Gene Kelly.
 
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TevaMac

New member
Sometimes even I surprise myself. Here is what Joe Vogel had to say about MJ's Black and white video.

Q: Which song and which music video do you believe are Michael's strongest?


the music video that I'd say is his strongest, or his most interesting, is probably 'Black or White.' [...] You can experience the music video for what it is, or you can dig into some of the inspiration and realize he's pulling from everything from Spike Lee to Gene Kelly's 'Singing in the Rain.' He just brought so much to his work that critics haven't even touched.

http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/59656177.html
 
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blargle

New member
So you're mad at Michael because of a misunderstanding on your part? Michael and Fred were friends for years. He dedicated Moonwalk to him.


“Oh, God! That boy moves in a very exceptional way. That’s the greatest dancer of the century”. - Fred Astaire

“I didn’t want to leave this world without knowing who my descendant was. Thank you Michael!”- Fred Astaire (shortly before his death)


Those are quotes from Fred himself. So I think he would be okay with Michael paying homage to him.
 
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Sammy Sam

New member
Yeah I wouldn't say MJ "totally ripped off" Fred Astaire at all. He always said that he inspired him. Michael was very much into the gangster scenes from the 50's and the dance sequences from Fred Astaire's movies. He's only paying homage to him.
 
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Oldschooly

New member
And no, Im not mad, nor is there any misunderstanding, Im very well aware they were good friends. What irritates me is the double standard, that its fine for Michael to copy others, this includes the moonwalk, which IS fine, but others cant copy him because they arent able to come up with something original? Yeah that irks me a bit.
 
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Oldschooly

New member
And anyone who has been on this site as long as I have knows full well there have been many a conversation about certain artists who idolise Michel a rip off his moves and work.
 
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blargle

New member
It would have been helpful if you had included the other info in your first post. The way it was written made it sound like you felt like Michael deliberately misled you.


Just because some fans claim JT or Usher or whoever are stealing Michael's moves doesn't mean it's true. They are inspired by Michael the way Michael was by Fred. If those people are too dumb to see it that's their problem.
 
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sushigirl28

New member
Where I have a problem with other artists 'copying' Michael is when they claim the moves they do (which are clearly Michael's) are THEIRS and their idea alone. If someone gets such an inflated ego that they give the impression or say that THEY have only came up with them, b/c they cannot come up with something new, that's where there is a problem. And I am keen to observe this. After a while, seeing some people just not copping to saying the truth gets old real quick. That's where their is a difference between paying homage and letting inspiration breath, and plagerism while claiming something is yours or purposely giving that illusion. Just the same as I would feel if it was done to me.

Cheers!

xo
 
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