Backstage, London, 1988. The crowd is roaring, bleeding through the walls, screaming for something they are sure is theirs. Right at the back, ‘he’ hops once, twice and then thrice. Unhurriedly, he turns back, eyes locked with his aide Bill Bray (LAPD officer-turned-head of security) standing behind, followed by a nod and a flicker of a smile. Then he faces the front. The flashes come hard now, slicing the moment of the smiling icon into something beautiful. For a moment, it doesn’t feel like Jaafar Jackson anymore – it feels like Michael Jackson has, in the words of netizens, ‘possessed’ his actor nephew in the recently-released Michael.
This feeling has pulled fans to theatres, even as early reactions on Rotten Tomatoes suggest a colder reception. Critics have questioned its flat narrative, which skips the legend’s controversies. However, fans are holding onto something else entirely. “I made it a priority to watch Michael on the second day of release. The decision wasn’t about following critics’ score but about honouring the legend,” says Amrin Alexander, a freelance fashion stylist.
Comedy content creator JB Shashank chose to block out the early reviews altogether, allowing him to stay with both sides of the film. Sitting somewhere between admiration and critique, he says, “When it’s MJ, you owe it to yourself to experience it firsthand. It’s not a flawless film, but there are moments that remind you why he became who he became. I even caught myself dancing in my seat.”
Directed by Antoine Fuqua and bankrolled by Graham King alongside the Michael Jackson estate, the film builds around music, movement and presence of the known yet unknown. The flick, the posture, the timing and the way Jaafar moves, with music and love of the millions around, takes viewers back to the MJ era, where lives Billie Jean, Remember The Time, Smooth Criminal, Dirty Diana and many more. The American singer died in Los Angeles in 2009 due to acute propofol intoxication at the age of 50.
Content creator Swathi R Rao describes the film as something driven entirely by energy. She says it feels like being inside the performance rather than just watching it. “Those negative reviews didn’t match my experience. It’s sad that they didn’t ask the opinion of the real fans,.They judged the film based on the premier show reviews. Michael deserves an Oscar,” she says. Earlier, Rao’s overwhelming reaction had gone viral, capturing the emotions of fans.
And yet, even within that admiration, there is space for disappointment... that comes when something means a little extra. “Reviews are for no reason – probably up due to his race – a black man from Gary, Indiana, who made it! I’m a moonwalker. I had been waiting for the film for years,” says Shama V Bharadwaj, a student, further praising the body language Jaafar carried.
The desire to see more than the performance than what is already known has indeed been tick-tocking in the minds of MJ fans since the film’s much-hyped announcement. “I wanted to see the human side of him, not just the concerts,” Alexander adds.
However, Bharadwaj questions what the film leaves out. “I expected Diana Ross, but later, apparently, there were a lot of shots after she asked them to remove the scenes. The film lacked emotional scenes. The OG collaborations with Paul McCartney (of The Beatles)... they could’ve also added a tiny pinch of Martin Scorsese’s existence. The controversy wasn’t mentioned because it started after he was 30. Maybe it will be covered in the sequel. The storyline could have been better,” she says.
Shashank, on the other hand, expresses that he wasn’t in for a highlight reel, but for a better understanding of the person behind all that greatness, pressure and the loneliness. “We support him no matter what,” Rao holds loyalty steady. For fans, that connection doesn’t change with ratings or discourse.