It's not like that anymore (well the places that I've gone too).
The past 2 years I've been going to black Friday at the malls and It's been pretty calm. Last year it felt like a regular day. I remember the sales associate at Bloomingdales telling me that he was shocked at how slow it Was going.
I do know it gets crazy at outlets. Everyone is literally shoulder to shoulder. The Gucci outlet had a tote bag for $100 and the line was out the door all the way around the parking lot for that store/bag