5 March 2010
This is It (2009)
My impression of Michael Jackson was of a frail man incapable of basic motor functions that, if touched, would shatter to glass. This is It profoundly disproves that, showing him as a completely engaged performer with his hands in all aspects of the performance. He’s chastising the band for being a beat off, he’s telling the lighting people what he needs to cue and when. It’s impressive that some of this footage (it’s never called out specifically, though some of it is recognizable from the 24-hour news cycle) is from the day before his death. 
There’s not much else to the documentary, making the title apropos. His backup dancers are in awe of him, and it’s refreshing to see through the veneer of lunacy he (according to Bubbles) meticulously constructed around his persona. This torch was naturally carried by the media, and became more and more grotesque, in aid by MJ himself, of course, with the bedding of children and whatever exactly happened there.
Not too much here shows the wacky personality – he’s soft spoken and kind, and maybe his demure attitude reflects a level of arrested development, but that’s projection on my part. A reading of a man in action as dictated by the media of his life, the narrative constructed both by him and others which was carnivalesque, to say the least. But regardless of the other passions, kosher or otherwise in his life, you can see that the music is what engages him, drives him and inspires those that surround him.
3 Comments currently posted.
Ero says:
Ken says:
Given so much coverage of him in the media, it seems like a documentary about him would be boring. Thanks for the warning of the fitting title.
Now as far as the fictionalized movie with lots of over-dramatization and hopefully a little bit of psychedelic willy-wonka-alice-in-wonderlandisms… that’s what I’m waiting to see!
jake says:
I think that’s one of the reasons it works so well – it’s not about him at all, but about the process of putting on a show, and how he fits into and controls it. For the fictionalized movie you speak of, I ‘recommend’ Moonwalker – it has Joe Pesci reveling in phalluses.
Tempted to rent this, despite my general indifference to any post-Thriller MJ.
My wife’s dad’s wife explained to me at great length why this movie was amazing, and now that you’ve seen it too I’m kind of intrigued. Is there much detail about the music-making itself?