I, like many ‘90s kids, grew up with Michael Jackson. We’d see him all the time, either on MTV, or just in the news in general. There have been some unsavory allegations about him, which were covered in the documentary Leaving Neverland, but as an adult, I can still look back fondly upon my formative years and what Jackson, the artist, meant to me.
Because no lie, I still bump Mike to this very day. Of course I think about his musical career, but he also made a huge impact on me in the movies as well. I’m greatly looking forward to the upcoming Michael Jackson biopic, and I just wanted to talk about what it was like for me growing up with him in movies.
The Wiz: I Never Knew How Multi-Multi Talented MJ Could Be
I talked about this recently when I went over six Oz-related movies to see before Wicked, but Michael Jackson is in The Wiz.
For those who’ve never heard of it before, The Wiz is an urban adaptation of The Wizard of Oz.
The 1978 theatrical version starred Diana Ross, Nispey Russell, Ted Ross, Richard Pryor, and yes, Jackson. Interestingly enough, the "Thriller" singer plays Scarecrow (though, I think he might have been better as the Tin Man, given what I’ll talk about in my next entry).
I actually saw The Wiz after I heard Thriller in its entirety. This was around 1988 or so since I was born in ‘83, and my mom, seeing that I was obsessed with MJ, asked if I wanted to watch a movie. She didn’t tell me that Jackson was in it, so when he first appears in the film, heavily made up and assaulted by human crows, I vividly remember narrowing my eyes and thinking, Is that Michael?
All he had to do was open his mouth, though, and I then knew. Surprisingly, what impressed me the most was just how wiggly he was. Yes, I knew he was a stellar dancer and singer, but I totally bought into MJ being a scarecrow who couldn’t quite get it together, even when it came to walking, as he had a sort of stumbling gait. It proved to me that this man couldn’t just dance and sing. He could act, as well.
Moonwalker: I Learned Just How Terrifying MJ Could Be
I've talked about this already in my article on why Moonwalker scarred me as a child, but yeah, this movie scared the everloving crap out of me as a kid.
It was mostly the scene where MJ turns INTO A FREAKING ROBOT toward the end. This is why I think he would have been better off as the Tin Man rather than the Scarecrow in The Wiz, since the image of him as a huge hunk of metal is emblazoned in my brain.
In this scene, people shoot at him, and he returns fire with missiles, blowing them to hell. It’s truly surreal. However, upon watching it again as an adult, it truly reminds me of just how terrifying I once thought Jackson was after seeing this movie. And, it’s not just the robot scene, either. It’s also the famous “Smooth Criminal” segment, where he's acting like a straight up gangster, firing away with a tommy gun while people screamed.
I saw this movie at an impressionable age, and it solidified in my mind that Jackson was BADASS. Speaking of "bad," this was around the same time when I listened to the Bad album and saw that killer video where he’s in the subway, decked out in leather.
Later on, his image would change dramatically and he would show his softer side more (“Stranger in Moscow,” for instance, is lowkey my favorite MJ song). That said, Moonwalker made me believe that he was the baddest (and somewhat scariest) man on the planet at the time.
Captain EO: I Learned Just How Much Cooler MJ Was Than I Ever Imagined
Not too long ago, I ranked Francis Ford Coppola’s best movies. And, while the Godfather trilogy, and one of the best war movies ever made, Apocalypse Now, made the list, one other movie that some might scoff at was Captain EO.
But, you know what? Captain EO freaking kicks ass. Essentially just another Star Wars rip-off for its extremely short run-time, the movie separates itself by giving Jackson an amazing choreographed dance scene toward the end. I mean, I knew he was cool and all, but I didn’t know he was this cool.
Because here was Jackson, not only dancing for himself, but also for the entire world. Not only that, but he was leading an army of dancers who were here to chaaaange theeee world.(They’re gonna change the world!)
Plus, not only did they kill it with that song, they also ended the movie with my SECOND favorite MJ track, “Another Part of Me.”
I was lucky enough to see this film at a young age, and also lucky enough to see it at Disney World (In glorious 4D!) before they closed it forever. Man…MJ was just the coolest!
Men In Black II: I Learned Just How Silly MJ Could Be
I think a lot of people are in agreement that Men in Black II is the worst movie in the franchise. Either that, or Men in Black: International. But, whereas the latter is kind of bland, MIB II just feels like a lesser version of the first movie, so it’s the most forgettable in the series.
Well, that is until Michael Jackson shows up for a scant few seconds. I honestly could not believe what I was seeing when I first saw his scene in the film.
By 2002, when the movie came out, Jackson had long shed the bad boy persona he had built in movies like Captain EO or Moonwalker. This was also long past the “Black or White” music video era, where MJ went ballistic on a car like this was a bonus round of Final Fight or something.
No, by the early 2000s, sad to say as it was, MJ was kind of a punchline. However, it wasn’t until I saw MIB II that I realized that you know what? MJ wasn’t taking himself seriously, so why should I? This was actually really cathartic to me at the time, since he seemed so cool when I was a kid, and I felt like even though I still liked his music by the early 2000s (I actually enjoy Invincible), I was kind of growing tired of him as an artist.
However, seeing him plead to be Agent M in this movie really made my heart happy, and I learned that he could be more than just what I always thought he was. He could also be really goofy.
This Is It: I Learned To Process MJ's Death With This Film
I’ll never forget the day Jackson died. I was on the way to Boston with my then-girlfriend-now-wife and I had heard that Farrah Fawcett had died, which of course sucked, only to hear a few hours later that Michael Jackson had died also.
I told my girlfriend to stop the car. I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. It took a while for me to process his death, and I listened to MJ nearly nonstop shortly after his passing. In a lot of ways, I kind of didn't want to see him ever again, and also wanted to see nothing but him. His death really made me reflect on just how much of a presence he had in my life since as far back as I could remember, and it didn’t feel right. I mean, Michael Jackson? Dead? How?
So, when the concert documentary film, This Is It, came out, I kept away from the film for the first few weeks. His death was still too fresh in my mind, given that he died in June of 2009, and the film debuted in October 2009.
However, seeing it really helped me process his death. The film is beautiful in that he was so full of life there, and it looked like it was going to be a really great concert until his untimely passing. Still, it helped me remember that even though people may die, art never does, and This Is It will always be a reminder of that for me.
