Janet Jackson: "Rhythm Nation"

Janet Jackson began her career in sit-coms; she was under the age of ten, and people were telling her she was "too chubby."

In her teens, she began her solo musical odyssey. Early efforts were modest, but young Janet soon seized the creative reins and made "Control," a buzzy album. This led to "Rhythm Nation," a world-storming effort, a source of one of the most-influential music videos in history (for the title song).

"Rhythm Nation" had seven top-five singles; this just doesn't happen, or happen often. Janet invented her own viscerally thrilling dance moves; watch "Escapade," and you'll see the template for Britney Spears's career, and you'll also see little proto-Lady-Gagas. At the height of her powers, Janet had one real rival--Mariah Carey--and that rival couldn't dance.

As a gay boy in the heartland, I had minimal patience for blockbuster films about straight men bombing buildings. I understand that Sissy Spacek, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Kathy Bates were making smart choices in the eighties--I guess the eighties were in some ways *better* than the present, for Hollywood women--but, to little me, Janet Jackson was the ideal "movie-maker." She made short movie-musicals. If I see the smoky grating in "Rhythm Nation," I can still feel my heart racing.

Janet is back with an apparently inscrutable documentary, and she is also back with "Malfunction," a gripping short film from the NYTimes. The Times points out that Janet's apparent "sin," in 2004--feeling OK with one's sexuality--now seems to be something worthy of celebration (with "WAP," "Love Myself," and so on). When Janet spoke, recently, at her Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, she ended with a note to the judges: "Please induct more women."

This Valentine's Day "season," I leave you with "Escapade":

Leave your worries behind...

Well, you could be mine....

Love you, Janet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFX3gQHIroU

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