Jesse Potter

So two thoughts are going through my head as I’m sitting in the theater getting ready to watch This Is It.  First of all, I was blown away by the crowd that was gathered in this smaller theater even when the movie has been out for a week or more.  Every age group was represented, from the two REALLY old ladies sitting next to me, to the posse of twenty-something girls two rows back, a lot of folks who looked to be in there 30-40’s (probably Jacko’s prime audience).  There were junior high and high school students, teens on dates, and strangest of all to me was the group of about 5 young boys who couldn’t be older than 9 or 10 years old.  At the end of the movie, one of these young kids even spouted “I got to hear my jams!”   I couldn’t believe the sheer amount of draw that this one man’s music holds over this country even though he’s been out of the music scene for the decade.  He hasn’t recorded a song since that little boy was born and yet he was a hero to this kid.  Now granted, Michael has had his fair share of press, good and bad, in the last few years, but even that situation is not exactly prone to ingratiate him into a young boy’s heart if you know I mean.  The truth of the matter is, irregardless of what you think of Michael as a person, his music has absolutely transformed American pop culture.

The second point that I realized as I was getting ready to view this film is that for my entire life I have not considered Michael Jackson to be an actual human being.  He has always, at least in my own head, been thought of as an almost fictional character.  This is partly because I’m obviously too young to remember his early days with the Jackson 5 and even for the bulk of his solo career.  The only thing that I specifically remember about Michael Jackson’s music from my youth is the song that he recorded for the soundtrack to Free Willy (which is still an awesome movie and the song “Will You Be There” is still one of my favorites).  Maybe it’s also got to do with the drastic changes he made to his appearance and the outrageous life that he lived, but I really thought of him more as a character on TV than a real life celebrity.  This movie certainly removed that false notion, you see Michael in a very human light, no make-up, no pretenses, just him doing what he did best.

The movie itself is like most concert documentaries that you’ve seen.  Each song is profiled with a short break in between each major tune to cut to behind the scenes footage and interviews with various people involved with the production.  You definitely get the sense right away that this was a MAJOR undertaking, with an enormous custom-built stage, a fifty foot tall video screen playing footage specifically shot for each song. The crew had to consist of at least 200 people, between costume design, coreographers, set-up crew, roadies, sound and light techs, and of course the band and dance teams.  This group really is the supporting cast to Michael in this movie, we follow the journey of the troupe of dancers as they audition, train, rehearse, and really do some amazing dancing.  All of the dancers and the band members are professionals in their own right, and probably each one of them will go on to have successful careers of their own, Michael really chose some of the best performers and musicians in the world to support him on stage.

While watching Michael dance and sing across the stage, I was struck by the fact that he’s a 50-year old dude doing these things.  I mean, he really was one of the most creative and innovative dancers to ever live.  He’s doing moves in his 50’s that most people couldn’t pull off in their 20’s.  I mean, think about it, he was 50 years old, you know what other celebrities are in their 50’s, try Alec Baldwin, definitely not going to be pulling any moonwalking anytime soon, he’d have a stroke trying to do what Michael’s doing.

Or try even another guy famous for his dance moves, Patrick Swayze, he died just recently at the age of 56, but he sure wasn’t shaking those hips anytime in the last decade.  Michael was the consummate performer, he knows every note and every word of every song he’s ever released, and can dance flawlessly along with each one.  I wonder what would happen when he would be in his car and one of his songs came on the radio, I don’t think he could help but to do all the moves right there is his seat.

The biggest triumph of this film for me was the incredible task of editing the footage together.  Ninety percent of the footage in the movie was shot on a couple of days during rehearsals.  You can tell which day is which because of his flamboyant outfits, on one of the rehearsal days he was wearing a silver sparkly jacket with bright orange pants, on another he wore a more toned down suit with a blue jacket and red shirt.  Each song however, is mixed together perfectly to make a seamless transition from one day to the next, as if it’s one performance.  The director of the movie was also the performance director for the concert and I really think that it will be considered for an Oscar in the Editing category.  It just works, there are no clunky transitions, you feel as if you have seen an entire Michael Jackson concert, and you’re in the front row with a backstage pass.

At the end of the day, I was entertained by this movie.  Sure, there was plenty of crotch-grabbing, and weird comments and crazy outfits, but that’s what you expect from Michael Jackson.  I know a lot of people are turned off to the man and his music because of his strange personality and behavior, and most especially because of the charges against him.  I can completely and totally understand all of that.  I personally think that he was an incredibly troubled individual with obvious mental instabilities who put himself in some awful situations.  As for whether I think he did it or not, it’s really not my place to say. I know absolutely nothing of the details of that case.  All I do know is that he was acquitted by a US court and the rest has already been sorted out by God.  I do think that he’s made some terrible decisions in his life, but I think, from what I’ve seen, that he was a very broken man who was desperately trying to make sense of the world.  He is always talking about love and trying to live his life for love, and I honestly believe that he wanted that to be true.  He was and will remain one of the most influential and controversial figures in pop culture.  He was a talented performer, creating some of the most popular songs of this century.  I think it’s wrong to think of him as any more than that, some people literally worship him as an idol. His funeral had as much hooplah and press coverage as if a president or king had died.  He was not a superhuman, he was a talented, broken individual who lived his entire life in the public spotlight, which contributed to his strange personality.  At least  his music will last much longer than his personal celebrity, and someday people will be able to enjoy the music without focusing on the man.  I know that’s true for the little boy in the theater.  He just came to hear “his jams” and in fifty years, that’s what he’ll remember.

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