My thoughts on Living With Michael Jackson

Thriller_MJ

Proud Member
Joined
Jul 25, 2011
Messages
4,841
Points
63
Ok this is a heated topic cause of you know who ;) but dispite all his B.S i still think its a very good documentry about MJ sure some secens are abit to personal for him but people want to know the man behind the Music mayby thats why he done it in the first place
 
Yeah other then the junk that came out of it, and the way it was edited I enjoyed a lot of it. It was really interesting to me to see MJ in a different "light"
 
Ok this is a heated topic cause of you know who ;) but dispite all his B.S i still think its a very good documentry about MJ sure some secens are abit to personal for him but people want to know the man behind the Music mayby thats why he done it in the first place
You should have posted this on the mains! Me thinks I'm going to put it there....

Anyway, I agree that it was okay and could have been great if Bash!thead hadn't ruined it with his agenda-driven bent....
 
Last edited:
I hated what Bashir did but It's my favorite interview/documentary.. Some think why?? Well it was the first time we saw Michael react/interact in personal circumstances. We see him react and defend himself from a rediculous person/interviewer. It was the most personal interview.. He showed his emotion a lot.. We saw him also climb a tree, talk about life etc..

I think once you look past Bashir and what he TRIED to do, you can see a great person that Michael IS.

I also love PRIVATE HOME MOVIES.. That's my fav. special, but interview would be Bashir.
 
I never saw anything that bad w/ the documentary. I loved it for the most part. It's a shame dip **** had to put a negative twist on the end. Shows how smart Mike was for having his own film crew also. I thought it was great for him to have a video rebuttle. He got paid more in the long run.
 
I thought it gave a great insight to how life is for him. It showed a courteous loving family man, it outlined his generosity and caring nature. If Bash had cut the s##t and focused more on the music it would have been an amazing interview. I still watch it occasionally but I have to mute when Bashir talks.
 
I recently had a BIG argument about this BUT...

long story short, I think the documentary would've went FINE if it wasn't for bashir. Some fans wanna argue that Mj was so "crazy" and sporadic at that time that it would've been a disaster anyway, but that's just fiction...MJ was perfectly sane :lol: Cuz the jury at the trial saw the WHOLE ENTIRE thing unedited...and some fans who were in the courtroom also saw for themselves exactly HOW much things were copied and pasted to make MJ look crazy. They say that it's almost unimaginable. There are a lot of moments where MJ was kidding and Bashir would cut it so it made him look like he was dead serious. Stuff like that. It's pretty nuts. And some parts MJ got really really upset and started talking with exasperation but the way it was cut...it looked like Mj was being so serious about it.

But in reality the unedited documentary made the jury even more sympathetic for him.

There were a lot of great moments in that documentary though. if ONLY that thing would have gone RIGHT, things would have been sooo much different. It probably would have had a very positive effect on public opinion.

For me though I saw right through Bashir and thought the documentary was pretty decent when it aired...on MJ's part I mean. I mean it's pretty easy to see through Bashirs goofy voiceovers, only if you WANT to.
 
Last edited:
I thought it had some great moments. Watching Michael is a treat. What's HARD about watching it is you knew beforehand where Bashir was heading and so you could see from the get that he was manipulating Michael and that's just really heartbreaking, because Michael put his trust in that blow hard scum bag and the guy betrayd him in the worst way. By the last interview, you could just see how gaurded and uptight Michael had become around Bashir, he knew at that point what was up.

But it gives great insight in to Michael as a person. You see how sweet he really is, that's not some act. It shows what a fascinating person Michael is and when it isn't edited, shows a very real side to him. He's a sweetheart and somebody who has great depth of perception, just really intelligent.
 
I think LWMJ was unfortunately a missed opportunity because of Bashit's ego-driven-deception. It would have otherwise been great.
 
I loved the footage of Michael and everthing about Michael in that documentary - It was Bashit's biased and unfriendly narration that spoiled it - had it not been for that it was awesome. I think a little scripted on MJ's part but all in all it let us have a glimps into his personal life that we might never have seen. I'm glad they also came out with take 2 with Maury to clear up some misperceptions from Bashirs creepy comments and narration on it ... I loved it - but he hurt Michael and gave the public an dishonest view of MJ with his mocking and disrespectful remarks in the narration. I have to pray very hard for the strength not to hate that man.
 
Last edited:
I think Living with Michael Jackson is brilliant and so interesting...you just have to know how to watch it! I only focus on what Michael says...pay no attention to the voice over.
But my fav interview still remains Oprah's! He was so on top of the world when that happened and after!
 
The nauseating voiceover by Bashir (and the replacement of Michael's music with some horrifying carnival themes in the US version) is what really brings down the documentary, not so much the video content itself despite the way it was deliberately edited. Too bad during the actual interview sessions (including the outtakes) Bashir had nothing but praise for Michael and everything that he did. I guess he didn't want the public to see that side, hence the complete 180 at the end. It wasn't until the very last interview session that Bashir asked any of the really ridiculous questions (from plastic surgery, to the abuse allegations, to everything else that caused controversy). It's like Bashir completely played Michael the entire time, showering him with praise, until the very end when he knew it was their last time together, and then he made that final material the basis for the entire documentary.

I still think that the documentary was fascinating simply because rarely ever do we get more than a small glimpse into the private world of Michael. But, I'd take Private Home Videos over these hatchet-job documentaries anytime, and I wish that Michael would produce his very own special at some point in the future. No interviewers or producers that could twist it into something awful, just himself speaking and going about his business, in the studio, and so on. Maybe some more archival footage thrown in for good measure. I also wish that LWMJ would have spent more than like TWO MINUTES talking about the musical side of Michael, at least half of the documentary should have been about how he creates music.
 
I enjoy watching it a lot. One simply has to ignore the voice overs which are awful.

Despite everything, I think this is probably the most honest insight into MJ's world we're gonna get. If he were to make something himself, I'm sure it would be much more sugar coated. He is very wary about exposing himself.
 
My favourite is when Martin Bashir says do you want to be burried in that... and Michael laughs saying NO! and Martin Bashir says "what do you want to happen to you then?"... "I don't ever wanna be burried".. oh so you wanna?

"I want to live forever..."


:lol:I remember seeing that in the advert for it, and I went and told my mother in the kitchen and she tutted cause I'm always coming out with random shiiiizzaaaanizzzums.

And also when hes shopping and he goes YOOOHOOO I had tears falling out of my eyes... especially when Bo Selecta picked up on his yoohoo's and made a sketch about it. :lol:

Other than those funny parts the part that stood out for me most was Michael talking about his childhood, and the hurt he went through... cause of peoples words.:(
 
As much criticism as it received, it did make him a lot of fans.

I re-entered the fandom after that interview.
 
I guess I'm the only person here who didn't watch it to this day. I saw some parts but not all documentary.
 
A lot of people became fans from seeing it so some good came out of it. And it opened the door for clearing up lots of confusion from the past so, in the end I feel it was aaall gooood
 
overall the Bashir documentary is a deception. at least to michael. this is the rason why to this day, i can never forgive bashir for his sliminess.

he got michael's trust to open up his private world and look what mike got in return! he got back stabbed. notice his malicious innuendos in his voice-overs! was that a right way to treat michael's graciousness?

what makes it more pathetic was how obviously bashir took advantage of mike's childlike trust. it was a complete betrayal!
 
Last edited:
overall the Bashir documentary is a deception. at least to michael. this is the rason why to this day, i can never forgive bashir for his sliminess.

he got michael's trust to open up his private world and look what mike got in return! he got back stabbed. notice his malicious innuendos in his voice-overs! was that a right way to treat michael's graciousness?

what makes it more pathetic was how obviously bashir took advantage of mike's childlike trust. it was a complete betrayal!

Yeah, that was really sh*tty. It's hard to watch for that reason alone, its so sad.
 
Last edited:
It could of been a great interview if done the way it should of but that man was just tring to make Michael look bad so i dont like it at all. But we did see some great and sweet stuff out of Michael and how innocent he really is. Its a shame it turned out the way it did .
 
I think the documentary was awful. It had only bad intentions behind it so i cant think anything else and be all happy cause it showed alot of Michaels life....it dosent matter. It was all made fun of and used for hatred. To me that makes this one of the worst ever made about him.
 
In my opinion I hated what Bashir did.. The interview should never gone down that route.. It put Michaels life through HELL.. Tom Sneddon began an investigation BECAUSE of that interview.. BASHIR is a bad man..

On the flip side, I enjoy watching it for ONE reason.. It was the first and only time we saw Michael in a personable way, in the sence getting fusterated, defending himself, showing love.. etc.. It showed his personality A LOT.. Which I LOVE.

But of course I would sacrifice ever being able to see him and his personality shine to have this interview NEVER happen.. It put him through hell.
 
A lot of people became fans from seeing it so some good came out of it. And it opened the door for clearing up lots of confusion from the past so, in the end I feel it was aaall gooood
I became a fan and supporter after the bashumentary, so did my entire family.
 
I recently had a BIG argument about this BUT...

long story short, I think the documentary would've went FINE if it wasn't for bashir. Some fans wanna argue that Mj was so "crazy" and sporadic at that time that it would've been a disaster anyway, but that's just fiction...MJ was perfectly sane :lol: Cuz the jury at the trial saw the WHOLE ENTIRE thing unedited...and some fans who were in the courtroom also saw for themselves exactly HOW much things were copied and pasted to make MJ look crazy. They say that it's almost unimaginable. There are a lot of moments where MJ was kidding and Bashir would cut it so it made him look like he was dead serious. Stuff like that. It's pretty nuts. And some parts MJ got really really upset and started talking with exasperation but the way it was cut...it looked like Mj was being so serious about it.

But in reality the unedited documentary made the jury even more sympathetic for him.

There were a lot of great moments in that documentary though. if ONLY that thing would have gone RIGHT, things would have been sooo much different. It probably would have had a very positive effect on public opinion.

For me though I saw right through Bashir and thought the documentary was pretty decent when it aired...on MJ's part I mean. I mean it's pretty easy to see through Bashirs goofy voiceovers, only if you WANT to.

Why doesn't it get released?
Does anyone know where i can watch it HQ?
 
Last edited:
In Michael Jackson: Conspiracy there are exerpts of quotes from the footage..

talked about plastic sergary more indepth, Bashir tried to bring up Priests molesting children, seeing where it would go :mad:.... Some other things..

When it came to plastic sergary what Michael said made perfect sence..

As we know MJ has mentioned he's done two nose jobs, and put a cleft in his chin.. Michael also said, that when he got his nose job, they pinched the skin inwards making his eyes appear bigger.. Which explained why people keep saying he had eye sergary.. He also mentioned celebs that got plastic sergary.. He even said something like.. "Look at Barbara Walters, she just recently got a face lift. You can see it in the face."

HA HA HA!!!
 
The first half of the documentary was great, but Bash*t ruined the second half. He's a complete ass****. :rant:
 
Last edited:
I actually became a fan after watching this. I'd never really gave mj much thought in the past, noone seems to like him much in Australia :( But i thought he seemed really sweet and likeable in this, esp next to that Bashir clown who i was sick of within the first ten minutes (and this was before i was even a fan) Yes, i know that this documentry caused lots of probs for him in the later months, and it really wasnt a good thing in the end, i guess, but i think it definitely drummed up alot of sympathy as well as record sales for him in the process. Mj didn't really say anything terrible in this interview, it was the voice overs, innuendos and smug interviewing that seemed to get him into trouble.
 
I think Living with Michael Jackson is brilliant and so interesting...you just have to know how to watch it! I only focus on what Michael says...pay no attention to the voice over.

Exactly! When you ignore Bashir's stupid questions and his own bizarre comments every now and then, the document shows that side of Michael we don't get to see just like that. You know what he's like when he's on road, what he's like when he's shopping and the daddy side of him :wub:

A lot of people became fans from seeing it so some good came out of it. And it opened the door for clearing up lots of confusion from the past so, in the end I feel it was aaall gooood

That's true :yes:
 
I recently had a BIG argument about this BUT...

long story short, I think the documentary would've went FINE if it wasn't for bashir. Some fans wanna argue that Mj was so "crazy" and sporadic at that time that it would've been a disaster anyway, but that's just fiction...MJ was perfectly sane :lol: Cuz the jury at the trial saw the WHOLE ENTIRE thing unedited...and some fans who were in the courtroom also saw for themselves exactly HOW much things were copied and pasted to make MJ look crazy. They say that it's almost unimaginable. There are a lot of moments where MJ was kidding and Bashir would cut it so it made him look like he was dead serious. Stuff like that. It's pretty nuts. And some parts MJ got really really upset and started talking with exasperation but the way it was cut...it looked like Mj was being so serious about it.

But in reality the unedited documentary made the jury even more sympathetic for him.

There were a lot of great moments in that documentary though. if ONLY that thing would have gone RIGHT, things would have been sooo much different. It probably would have had a very positive effect on public opinion.

For me though I saw right through Bashir and thought the documentary was pretty decent when it aired...on MJ's part I mean. I mean it's pretty easy to see through Bashirs goofy voiceovers, only if you WANT to.


are you sure theres an "unedited version" of the BASHIR docu?
i would think that there are scenes that he didnt include ....that were later shown
in the follow up docu...
i just dont see how it would make sense that bashir makes a nice docu
THEN editing it with a negativ twist for TV...
but then show the jury the "original" docu.

maybe they were shown the bashir docu PLUS michaels follow up docu?
 
Last edited:
Back
Top