“Michael” is the highly anticipated biopic of Michael Jackson, one of the most influential and controversial figures in pop culture history. The film ends on a high note as the artist performs his song “Bad” for a hysterical audience, then fades to black before displaying the words, “His story continues.”
Well, his controversy and obscurity certainly do.
This film, produced mainly by Jackson’s family and friends, may have been intended to introduce him to a younger audience who did not grow up with his music. Older crowds who wanted to gain insight into the star’s mysterious inner life also flocked to theaters, setting opening weekend records after its April 24 release.
The Jackson presented in this film was an awkward and sympathetic character. He grew up feeling pressured to elevate his family out of their meager life in Gary, Indiana and become the face of their family band, The Jackson 5.
Jackson’s childhood is one of the only parts of the movie that feel raw and complex. His father Joseph, in a performance expertly crafted by Colman Domingo, pushed all of his sons into entertainment and worked as their manager while always claiming he had the family’s best interests at heart.
The film paints him as a self-serving abuser, and he may have been. But he may also have been a desperate product of his time who saw limited options for his children. Whatever his reasons, his ambition deprived Jackson of the chance to make friends his own age or truly develop as a person.
There is also something disturbing, with decades of hindsight, in seeing a child sing and dance professionally in front of adult fans. As the band’s lead singer, Jackson (and the young actor who played him, Juliano Valdi) performed romantic and emotionally mature songs before the age of 10 while adult audiences were genuinely swept off their feet.
But the entertainment industry’s free pass on child labor is an entirely different conversation.
The film’s main faults were a repetitive plot (how many times can Jackson vow to break away from his father and then get pulled back into the family band?) and the glaring omission of the allegations against him in his later life.
The latter is the main complaint critics have used against the biopic. To not even address his allegations of child sexual abuse, often the first thing people think of when they hear the pop icon’s name, seems to rob the character of any nuance he could have had.
Instead, the film paints him as a starry-eyed innocent who watches old movies with his mom between giving time and money to animals and sick children. These may have been valid and admirable parts of his life, but the movie treatment avoided any possibility of wrongdoing or even fully realized adulthood by Jackson. To then see him onstage, dancing and singing provocatively while women scream and faint, is somewhat jarring.
If anything about the film can be called faultless, it is the performance delivered by the entire cast. Larenz Tate plays a kind Berry Gordy who coaches Jackson through his first studio session and entry into the world of fame.
Jaafar Jackson, playing the titular character, portrayed his uncle effortlessly in his breakout role. Especially during the immersive, heart-racing concert scenes, it was easy to believe the audience was witnessing a live experience with Jackson himself.
Critics and theatergoers remain divided after “Michael” with reviewers calling the whitewashed narrative an “insult to him as an artist.” Rotten Tomatoes scores differ wildly, with public audiences pointing out that critical acclaim does not always equate to the enjoyment or staying power of a movie.
Revitalizing the narrative of a legendary life is both delicate and daunting. While audiences might not know Jackson any better after seeing the biopic, the box office triumph is satisfying an obvious appetite for the kind of entertainment the “king of pop” put forth his entire life.
Hannah Kichline, multimedia editor
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