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'Michael Jackson's This Is It' - a conversation
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Michael Jackson poses by the poster for his show, "This Is It," when it was debuted in London. (AP/File Photo)
The following is a transcript of a conversation had by two old friends, Jessica Costello and Casey Arnold. Jessica is the writer for this Examiner page, and Casey is her oldest friend in the world. They are both fans of Michael Jackson, and both went to see the new film, "Michael Jackson's This Is It." Here is their conversation about the movie:
JC: ok, so what grade do you give the movie overall? (A through F)
CA: hm, B
JC: I have to say a D -- I can't put my finger on why I didn't' like it so much
JC: Why a B?
CA: well, i went in there knowing that it was basically a concert movie. i liked the way it started out showing the dancers and how grateful they were.
JC: Can you believe how many of them were just *weeping*?
CA: i know, it was really touching
JC: It's like Michael Jackson is some sort of dance Jesus for them. -- I kind of wanted to get their reactions after his death for it to come full circle
CA: right, like these young kids admiring this man who was 50 years old and could still show them up
CA: yeah, i did too
JC: remember when were were young, and how we used to just dance and dance to his music? ...and this was the late 80s -- i bet a lot of kids had that experience in the 70s and through the 80s and 90s... plus now! it's the true definition of timeless -- music that makes you just want to shake your booty
CA: i don't know about you, but i remember watching moonwalker and finding him really sexy...particularly in the Dirty Diana sequence. one of the first adult men that i felt was somethin' special, ya know? like you had tom cruise and patrick swayze
CA: it's so hard to critique a film that's basically home footage. i mean, you could tape michael jackson eating his breakfast and i would have paid money to see it on the big screen because he's so magnetic
JC: i remember being in 3rd grade (who was the teacher across the hall from the black teacher who had leg hair sticking through her panty hose?) -- we had to write essays about who we would like to spend a day with -- dead or alive -- and i chose michael jackson
CA: haha miss eaton!
JC: and i waxed poetic about how being at his house would be so fun and we'd eat candy and dance and ride the carousel
JC: yes! and she let me play a michael jackson song after i read my essay. i picked 'man in the mirror'
CA: oh man i LOVED that song too
CA: one of my all time favorites
JC: so good -- and they ended the movie with it. loved that part. but you're right -- it is hard to critique a film that's home video footage -- but i just left the theater feeling like it was not satisfying. i wanted a bigger-than-the-world michael, and i got a man who was down to earth
JC: do you think releasing the movie so quick after his death was wrong? or was it the right time?
CA: i don't know if i think they should have made it at all. even though i enjoyed it....and i'm glad that people could remember him the way he was instead of all the controversy surrounding his life and death. but it's clearly a grab for money. but if they were going to release it....now is the time for them to get the most money, while its fresh in all of our minds
JC: sadly, you're right -- the director, kenny ortega, pushed and pushed for it to come out as soon as possible after his death... he seems like a nice guy in the footage. and i kind of understand his need to share this with the world -- he was the director of the show, and wanted his masterpiece to come to light (because all of those ticket holders would never be able to see it)... but it seems like money grubbing to me. i prefer to remember michael jackson as the voice we heard on the record player at my mom's house... putting the needle on the "Thriller" record and dancing in our PJs.
CA: absolutely. and it was sort of heartbreaking that no one ever got to share that experience. the tour was going to be epic. but if he really wanted to honor michael's memory and not just *his* tour, he would have made it much more thorough. follow-up interviews with the dancers, fans, scenes from the news when he passed etc etc
JC: yeah, that's exactly what i was missing and couldn't put my finger on it! i wanted to CRY... you know? i wanted to go to a movie and shed tears for MJ. and this one didn't do that for me.
CA: this was definitely more like a concert dvd i'd pick up at 1/2 price books and put on while i was cleaning up the house or something. but i knew it wouldn't be a documentary. i WANT a documentary, but i bet they didn't have any interview footage with michael to work with anyway
CA: did you by chance read rabbi schmuely's book about him? the michael jackson tapes?
JC: i saw something about it on TV... what was it about?
CA: i guess in the early millennium, as i recall, michael and schmuely became close. he was his adviser, of sorts, and michael wanted him to tape their conversations. they had a bit of a falling out after a couple of years because, schmuley says, michael stopped taking his advice. he was taking a lot of pain medications, not focusing on becoming a mentally healthier person or his crusades for children or the planet, which he was working on with schmuley. schmuley thought this concert series was a bad idea
JC: he has the rights to the tapes? i bet he's going to make some sort of movie out of them... like when they made that tupac movie of him speaking
CA: yeah, i guess he has the rights to the tapes. it would be more interesting if they made a movie out of it. the content was super interesting but the writing drove me nuts. very repetitive. he basically summarized the entire book in the foreword. i honestly got only a little more than 1/2 way through it before i gave up since i'd already read everything that was happening in summary at the beginning
JC: i can understand your frustration -- they are tapes, so of course they'd be more interesting in audio format without all of the weird writing filler
JC: you know who loved the movie? elizabeth taylor -- she twittered up a storm about it! she said "It is the single most brilliant piece of filmmaking I have ever seen. It cements forever Michael's genius in every aspect of creativity."
CA: that's sort of a bold statement to make....
CA: i mean, i really felt like it captured his magic and it was powerful to watch, knowing that he died so close to the time this was filmed, but i mean....it wasn't brilliant film making. they pointed a camera at a genius.
JC: that's true -- i think i was most entranced by his dancing. it looked so effortless... i kept thinking "if he's on pills and injections and whatnot, how the hell can he dance so well? and remember the dance moves when he's in sync with the other dancers. it was amazing."
CA: no one can deny that he was a deeply troubled person. so sad on the inside. it seems that the only place he was really happy was on stage where people were proud of him. i can imagine how hard it was a night...to be alone with his own thoughts
JC: so sad! in the end, i'm glad that this footage is out there for people to watch, but i don't think it should have been such a big movie release... "this is it" won't be the last movie made about him, for sure
CA: i agree. i bet they will make movies about him for decades to come. concert footage from the 80's will show up in people's basements, letters he wrote, it's never going to end. he's a part of not only american history, but world history. this movie, i think, is almost a blip on the radar in that respect. no exciting revelations to be found, just the confirmation of who he really was.
(Jessica and Casey take time to think about "Michael Jackson's This Is It")
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