i'll get back to my amazing U2 weekend in the next day or two, but i had to stop and comment on my experience this evening.

tonight, Stacy and i went to check out Michael Jackson's "This is It." i haven't really gathered my thoughts about it into a coherent whole, so here they are in no particular order...

• Michael Jackson was an incredibly talented and incredibly weird dude.
• Michael surrounded himself with people who praised him constantly and never crossed him or pushed back on anything he had to say or wanted to do. this made him come off like a demanding child-star. (you know... the one where everyone is waiting for his parents to step in and give him some boundaries or a sense of reality.)
• a Michael Jackson show was the ultimate in spectacle. (i mean that in the best possible way.)
• even when he wasn't trying as hard as the other dancers, Michael moved in such a fluid way that he was just captivating. (seriously... even when he was just clapping along to the beat, there was something about the way he did it that was undeniably great.)
• up close, it was scary to see how much plastic surgery he'd had and how un-human he looked. (tattooed lips, the strange thing above his mouth that was supposed to be his nose and that ridiculous cleft in his chin made him start to look a little Frankenstein-ish.)
• from what i can see from this movie, Kenny Ortega is pretty much a massive tool. ("you missed your cue, MJ." "no... i decided to change the cue." "okay everyone, MJ changed the cue... watch him for the cue.")
• Michael was essentially a very demanding, overgrown child.
• he used metaphors to describe things before trying to describe the actual thing. it was a little maddening to watch.
• a butt-load of money was spent on that show... no wonder they made it into a movie. they had to try and make some of that back.
• i was a little shocked to find that Michael could actually sing and sounded really great even on the old songs.
• he sounded even better when he remembered the words to the songs he wrote.
• the guitar chick freakin' rocked.
• his final speech to his dancers/singers/band/production team was the combining of about twenty-five random phrases that, in the end, meant nothing.
• his personal stylist should be fired. (he or she was listed in the credits and should never be given a job in fashion again. ever.)
• the "Thriller" and "Smooth Criminal" videos were pretty cool.
• the rain forest video with the little girl was pretty dumb.
• i'm pretty sure that the black girl that Dixon has been dating on 90210 was one of the dancers. not that i'd know anything about 90210. Dixon? who's that? i mean, obviously Stacy just told me about that.
• even though he appeared to be drugged or just weird at times, it's pretty amazing that he could (seemingly effortlessly) remember all of that choreography.
• also amazing that he had such a specific vision for every part of the production. (he knew exactly when an instrument was even slightly off.)
• amazing that the dancers actually had to practice at perfecting the crotch-grab.
• Michael's choreography was AMAZING on the big numbers, but particularly awkward on the ballads. (note to... well, anyone who ever performs a song like "Human Nature"... just stand there and sing it. it doesn't need choreography.)

i'm sure i could come up with more thoughts, but those were my first impressions. i grew up on Michael Jackson. i remember my dad playing the "Thriller" album when it first came out. i remember buying "Bad" and "Dangerous" and watching "Michael Jackson's Moonwalker" on VHS in my room. (i also remember locking the door and practicing the dance moves in front of the mirror. i was good when i was in 4th grade!) so, this movie ended up being, for me, a retrospective look at Michael Jackson's career in my life. what a strange vantage that provides. it's hard to believe that he was even the same person. but hearing him sing those songs and dance those moves left no question... Michael Jackson, as strange and wacko as he may have been, was one talented dude. and, like him or not, he changed the face of pop culture, pop music and pop dance forever. like him or not, in one way or another, he influenced what you're listening to and watching. it would have been fascinating to see if he could have made the comeback he so desperately wanted. it also makes me wonder... if he could accomplish all of that with what he had, what could he have been capable of if he hadn't been plagued by so many demons in his life?

- barnes

Tags: Michael Jackson | "This is It"