The high cost of fame & glory: Michael jackson already paid it!
I don’t remember when I first recognized the force of nature called Michael Jackson. What I do remember is among all the voices played on Top 40 radio, his was the one that could wake me up during long road trips. His tunes were the only songs everyone in the car would hum along to, ad-libbing every note. He was the one my dad would turn the volume up because every song was a groove.
News of his death hit me with a level of grief I reserved for close family. Even though it was in the early days of the internet, MJ's death was the first truly viral moment I remember. His death sent shockwaves, sadness, and then controversy. Critics wanted us to remember that legal advisors encouraged him to settle rather than battle in court allegations of child sexual assault. They wanted us to remember the time he went to court every day to fight a second set of allegations - of which he was later acquitted. His marriage to Lisa Marie Presley - was it a sham? His children - were they biologically his? Did sex and intimacy make the children, or were they lab experiments? What about the Elephant Man and Elizabeth Taylor? He was the first celebrity whose enigmatic presence made every suspicion fact, and no accusation needed concrete proof to be true.
The same news media that helped build the legend of a singing, dancing child prodigy now wanted us to forget prodigiousness and hone in on unsubstantiated pedophilia claims. They wanted us to forget his genius, his work ethic, his desire to do right by people and the planet. But most of all, they wanted us to forget his heart.
Michael Jackson died nearly 20 years ago, but a Google search of “most charitable celebrities” will show that he still holds the Guinness World Records for the most charity donations, as he has supported more than 39 charities with more than $500 million in donations. No one will ever be more entertaining or giving. People will never collapse at the sight of another human being because they are overcome with joy. And “Michael,” a film starring Jackson’s nephew Jaafar Jackson and directed by Antoine Fuqua, has come to remind us.
To borrow a line from Michael’s “Scream” duet with sister Janet - Stop Fuckin With Me!
That is how I felt when I saw critics pan the film, labeling it “whitewashed,” “sanitized,” and “ignoring controversy.” Biopics are not documentaries; they are condensed dramatizations of real events, and if someone says, “No, you can’t include me,” you just can’t.
Conversely, Elvis, the biopic about Michael’s equally controversial and drug addicted late-father in law, was praised by critics. I have ZERO interest in watching a film about a man who stole every song and dance move in his repertoire, so I have no frame of reference on the content of Elvis aside from what audiences talked about or didn’t talk about - Pricilla’s age in the “Me Too” era. The major difference between the two films is the lens. Elvis is told through the eyes of his longtime manager, while Michael zooms in on the subject, centering him. If you want to know the story of the Jacksons, that film is called “The Jacksons: An American Dream” and begins with Michael’s parents meeting and falling in love, the family’s rise to fame, and their subsequent breakup as Michael explored stardom on his own, and his parents’ separation. IT IS ALL IN THAT MOVIE!
Michael is about Michael.
This film is about how Joseph’s heavy hand and Katherine’s soft, loving nature were the perfect counterbalance to build the biggest star this world has ever seen. Did I mention all of this was done long before the dawn of the internet? Michael did not have a bot army filled with artificial hype. His success was from a time when kids hopped on bikes with allowances or money earned from chores, burning through their pockets in hopes of snagging an album before it sold out. He made music in a time when releasing an album was an experience. The artist's creativity was on full display, and Michael went overboard. His albums became more like coffee table books. Complete with song lyrics that encouraged you to listen over and over again until you knew every word by heart. I will not start by talking about how he changed the industry by taking music videos, which were often cheesy and had NOTHING to do with a song, and turning them into short films that came with world premieres. Sorry, Bey - I love you, down girl, but “world stop” is what Michael did with every release. Until the industry set out to destroy him. Tommy Mottola, the creep who married Mariah Carey and stuck her in a castle, became Jackson’s nemesis.
For those of us who were mega fans with merch and magazines, the film is a reminder of something we loved. But if you went to the film thinking you would see the making of a monster - sorry. This ain’t that.
The film offers small glimpses into Michael’s personality.
A man who believed in the biblical text in Habakkuk 2:2: “Write the vision and make it plain.”
We see him planning, brainstorming, and assembling a team to help make him the King of Pop. We see him exercising the biblical principle of compassion. Visiting children’s hospitals in the US and abroad. Donating proceeds from his own third-degree burn injuries suffered while doing something he had no personal interest or desire in doing. We also see him stand up to the man who was his greatest teacher and tormentor - his father Joseph. Even rumors that Michael kept company with Los Angeles most undesirable - the gang bangers- were used to illustrate his case study for the healing power of music.
Shout out to Colman Domingo, I thought Lawrence Hinton Jacobs’ performance of the Jackson patriarch was something to behold, but Colman harnessed intensity, desire, love, and a bit of jealousy - because what we know from “The American Dream” is that the first Jackson that truly desired stardom was Joe.
But Colman’s performance doesn't work unless we believe that Michael used his fear and disdain for his father as fuel for greatness. But he also felt loved and supported by Bill, Barry Gordy, and Quincy Jones, men who benefited from Michael’s stardom but embraced it very differently than Joseph did.
Fear and disdain bring me to my final point. Michael Jackson invented the diss record.
The film, centered on Michael, gives fans cool insights into the inspiration for his songs. They weren’t just one-off pop tunes penned by a man with the least relatable life story in the world, no, they were clues into his life without taudry name-dropping or speculative internet blind items. We know that They Don’t Care About Us, Scream, and Ghosts were pointed records. But the film shows us that getting on the wrong side of Michael inspired him straight to the top of the charts, from the very beginning.
Working Day and Night - Inspired by Joseph’s demand that Michael prioritize family commitments and pursue solo obligations in his own time.
Bad - King of Manifestation wills himself into becoming a cultural icon, despite public opinion and scrutiny around his “masculinity”.
There will never be another Michael Jackson, but there will be a part 2 of the film. To date, Michael has grossed more than $218 million worldwide. Making it the highest-grossing biopic in history. MJ lovers such as myself will certainly make it a Mother’s Day weekend blockbuster as we embark on generational pilgrimages to theaters to continue pushing the icon into territory no one has experienced, because he deserves it.
While it will never satisfy the haters and detractors who want to see him as a pied piper luring children for his own sordid whims, it will no doubt show his struggle with addiction. It will likely show his connection to Colombia's favelas, as that is the culture he absorbed while in rehab. His sons, Prince and Bigi (blanket), served as EPs on the film, so the follow-up will likely introduce Prince and Paris’ mother, Debbie Rowe. And of course, his inevitable and unexpected death under the care of Conrad Murray. There will be tragedy, there will be scandal. I’m not sure why critics needed to skip past his success straight into gossip, since so many of them made a mint selling tales of Wacko Jacko.
I personally can not wait for part two. Fuqua says he is interested if schedules align, there are already scenes of Jaafar at Neverland circulating the internet in true MJ fashion - there is thrill, high energy, and anticipation of what’s to come. Although we all know how the story ends, we still want to see it.
Note: I am in no way diminishing the claims of people who accused him of sexual abuse. He was, however, acquitted, and in the case of the first settlement, the family accepted the clause that does not allow them to tell their story, which I believe, if that clause did not exist, we would have the young man on record disputing the claims originally made by his abusive, scamming step-father.
