The Broken Beauty of Michael Jackson

Yesterday, I saw "This is It," the documentary culled from over 100 hours of rehearsal footage of what was to be Michael Jackson's final tour. I really enjoyed this film. So much so that I bought Thriller off of Amazon marketplace (24 years after the fact). As much as it is easy to say this after his death - it is a great, great album.

Here are some thoughts on the film...

I enjoyed the lack of artifice, hysteria and histrionics that usually accompanies a Michael Jackson production. Except for one section, there are no rapid cuts to screaming fans or shots that only serve to magnify the myth of Michael Jackson. Instead, we get to see the working artist in the trenches preparing himself for a tour and working hard. One is reminded that Jackson was very, very gifted artist... a fact that was somewhat lost amid the nonsense of the past 15 years. Some of the best moments of the film are simply watching the amazing control he had over his body as he effortlessly moved and danced around the stage. He also had a wonderful voice which is underscored in the way he effortlessly sings the coda of "Human Nature" with an aching beauty.

It was interesting to see how much the crew enjoyed the Jackson 5 songs that he performed, particularly; "I'll Be There." This segment brought a big smile to my face as I enjoyed the purity of those songs and what they mean to people. At the same time, I wondered if the J5 songs have the same aura of beauty and joy for Jackson as they have for his fans given the tumultuous lack of childhood he experience in that period of his life. Do they conjure good memories or bittersweet, painful ones? Wherever Jackson himself is at, there is a broken beauty when one witnesses the juxtaposition of the fresh faced 12 year old singing those songs to the 50-year-old version of Jackson that is markedly changed in appearance. I like what my Pastor, Dave Cover, wrote about this in a recent blog of his...

"It was clear that there is both a glory and a wretchedness to Michael, just like in everyone else. But it seems more obvious in him. He was so talented and, well, so obviously gloriously made in the image of God. And he was also so deformed and decrepitated by his own idolatries of fame and money. You could actually see the very physical toll his idolatry took on his appearance. I felt so sorry for him. Yet I’m sure God sees me the same way. My heart’s idols ruin me in so many ways that are clearly visible in my relationships, my emotions and attitudes, and yes, my own appearance."

One last thought - The Jackson I saw in the film is a distinctly lonely man. One gets the impression that there is an invisible barrier between him and his crew and, as a result, the viewer. Jackson's inner world is the living embodiment of the line used to describe the mystery of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, "Nobody ever goes in and nobody ever goes out." As I became aware of this subtle undercurrent in the film, I started thinking about the success of Thriller. It was probably the best and worst thing to happen to Jackson in that it brought him incredible success and fame but at the cost of true relational community. Jackson himself once said in an early 80’s interview,

"Even at home, I'm lonely. I sit in my room sometimes and cry. It's so hard to make friends ... I sometimes walk around the neighborhood at night, just hoping to find someone to talk to. But I just end up coming home."

Jackson's loneliness is poignantly evident all these years later and probably the most tragic part of his whole story.