This Is It

    But then things got freaky.  Since I graduated from college, I buried all the good MJ memories, and the thoughts of chimps and child molestation were all I could muster up until his recent death.  At the time of his death I didn’t even think it was tragic I was so cold to the thought of him. 

    So needless to say, I wasn’t looking forward to seeing this movie.  I was not going to be one of those folks that jumped on the sadness bandwagon, bought more of his music just so I could have a better-sounding version, and start wailing at his rendition of Smile.  I did not want to like this movie.  But as the Rolling Stones once sang – you can’t always get what you want. 

    I’m not quite certain that this movie was ever meant to be a movie.  It feels more like the special features section of a DVD, but that being said, I firmly believe that is what makes the film work so well.  Were it just a concert video, showing the finished product, you would get to see the Michael Jackson that he and his people wanted you to see – polished and show-ready.  What we get instead here is an intimate look at what he was really like.  And all of the negative thoughts just seemed to float away as I was brought back to why I liked Michael so much in the first place: he was one hell of talent.  The guy worked on a level that was saved for the most brilliant of history’s musicians. 

    Watching him backstage preparing for what were going to be 50 sold-out London shows, you get to see a side of Michael that he probably didn’t want to show many people, and on only a couple of instances during the course of the movie was I reminded of his strange eccentricities.