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As the Scarecrow in The Wiz, Michael Jackson also used movies to help break the color line
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With a cast that, through the eyes of 2009, appears to be a short list of Hollywood's trouble-children, The Wiz remains a remarkable achievement that boldly gave Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, and Richard Pryor the chance to make history. It was a prelude to the breaking of several important color barriers that had yet stubbornly remained standing by the time it was released in theaters in 1978.
It's hard to believe now, but when The Wiz was made, the entertainment business was still highly segregated -- even more so than it is today -- and artists of color were still marketed strictly to people of their same racial and ethnic demographic. The Wiz's super-charged interpretation of the 1939 American classic The Wizard of Oz was not just a statement of revolution, but a plea for acceptance into the mainstream. It was one of a number of important steps along the path toward equality that Michael Jackson and other pioneers were a part of forging.
For example, as you may have heard in the past 24 hours from watching one of the many video retrospectives of Michael's life, Michael was the first to break the MTV color barrier. Love or hate MTV, it has been the most influential factor to shape popular culture during Generation X's lifetime. Yet, in MTV's early goings, it was not open for business to African Americans.
It was this type of putting your neck on the cutting block that helped get race relations to where they are today, although, as any artist will tell you, there's still a long way to go.
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