Michael Jackson and Michael

My wife and I watched the movie, Michael, and we loved it. I was always a Michael Jackson fan since I was young. As a kid, when MTV was still primarily playing music videos, they would still play the Thriller music video, which is just iconic. I was born in the 80’s, but my formative years were primarily in the 90’s, so while I knew his songs like Billie Jean, Beat It, Smooth Criminal, Bad, and others, it was his song, Black or White, that was new material to me. There was also Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker video game on the Sega Genesis that me, my brothers and friends would play. Special attacks in the video game had Michael throw his hat at enemies and even do a choreographed dance routine together with everyone on screen. Outside of all that, I used to break dance in high school up until my mid-to-late-twenties, and some Michael Jackson and Jackson 5 songs were break beats.

The movie itself was great. Jaafar Jackson just played Michael Jackson beautifully, and him being Michael’s real-life nephew just adds to the movie. There were so many times in the movie where I thought that it was really Michael Jackson on screen. Especially from breakdancing, I knew the lyrics to a few of his songs and would sing along with them when they played. Michael’s father, Joseph, was definitely a villain in the movie. However, he seemed to have authentically wanted his sons not to have his life working in a steel mill in Gary, Indiana, so he made sure to use their musical talents. However, he was very abusive, manipulative and controlling with them. Michael Jackson was depicted as something of a brilliant, tortured artist, having no real friends and having animals as his friends along with having trauma from his abusive father. Another thing of interest with this movie is that critics generally gave this movie a bad score, while audiences have seemingly loved this movie. The box office has been great, and I expect that it will just keep growing. It does leave one to question why there is such a disparity, and some have concluded that the critics are just so out-of-touch with what general audiences want and enjoy. Others have pointed out that the critics do not like that Michael Jackson was depicted in such a positive light, especially with his later life being riddled with scandals.

Michael Jackson was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime talent that will never be replicated. His artistry and creativity are still being emulated by artists today. It is 2026 with his popularity starting in the late 70’s, and he is still seen as iconic to this day.