This Is It

I have to admit, about a month post- Michael Jackson’s death, I had had enough talk about him. While I was a fan back in the day of Thriller (I was 19 and had it on vinyl), I hadn’t paid any attention to him for some decades, thought the media hype sickening, and only had a fleeting feeling of sadness when he died.

But there is something to be said for serendipity. I probably would have never watched This Is It had Blockbuster not pre-viewed it in the store a few weeks back while I was in to rent a movie. The beat-rich music caught my attention first, drawing me back in time to his hay day. Then, when I looked at the screen, I remembered what I truly loved about Michael Jackson’s music…the dancing! I wasn’t really sure what was going on in the documentary, but there was Michael and dance entourage doing their thing. I was sucked in. I was transfixed for quite some time and it took several long sighs from my son before I finally said, ‘OK, we’ll leave now.’

So now I had to rent it, knew the release date, and even thought about rushing to the store to get it on the first day. But I got a grip and waited a few days.

While I really rented This Is It thinking it would be simply some sort of compilation of Jackson music video flashbacks, I learned quickly that this is a documentary about preparation for Michael’s come back to the stage and swan song all in one. We see auditions for dancers - pumped up, jazzed, truly beautiful dancers - all eager to dance with Michael, to say the least. We are walked through the story of what this all is, from the press conference announcing the comeback, to the venues that would be played, and on through the brainstorming and rehearsal phases of the various numbers that would be performed. Throughout, we get to know Michael as an artist and a person. His artistic brilliance is so apparent, from relaying his vision for graphics on the stage to directing exactly when a pause or beat needs to come in to breaking into dance simply as he is talking to a musician. And we get lots of close ups of his singing and his dancing.

Like Ebert, as told in this review, I was a little nervous as the film progressed…nervous about how Michael would hold out, half expecting him to show us how burned-out and washed up he is. But it never came; he had no problem revealing his energy and creativity to rival the stage dancers who were 25-30 years his junior.

More surprising to me is that I learned a little bit about the person who Michael Jackson was. The way he treated others is a testament to what a kind person he must have been. Giving direction and advice in a soft voice, openly showing affection to those he worked with, and revealing humility in his interactions with others said it all.

No wonder he is so loved by his fans and those who work with him. I was struck by the admiration the young dancers and other production staff had for him. They clapped for his rehearsals like an audience that had slept overnight on the sidewalk to get tickets to his latest concert.

So I thank director and Jackson friend Kenny Ortega for doing this documentary. I was glad to see something that didn’t trash the dead and make a freak out of him, but showed his human side. He showed him to be a gentleman. Make that gentle man.

And that fleeting feeling of sadness over his death, it’s not so fleeting anymore. The world lost someone special.