Latest on MJJC

"Michael", a biopic about Michael Jackson, is officially happening.

R1chard said:
Huh? "Deserves"? Wrong choice of words. It's just Lionsgate trying to make money from Michael's name. It's a business product. It has absolutely nothing to do with MJ.


No it doesn't, and no I don't.

It doesn't reflect on MJ, his songs, his ability, or his personality. He had nothing to do with it. Most of the people working on the film didn't even meet him.

And - again - I'm not in MJs entourage or his family. I don't gain anything from this, just like I don't gain if people stream Thriller. I have no interest and no reason to care. It doesn't reflect on me or contribute to my happiness.

It's just business. Somebody else's business.


Wtf? He was a private and reclusive individual. He was against the previous biopic, why would he approve of this one?


I don't care what the media says. Not my problem and not your problem.
Click to expand...
Graham went on this venture to make the film before Lionsgate was involved. He first got the rights from the Estate before anything.. Yes it's a business venture, but the people behind the film are people who have love for Michael.

There is no question that Michael always wanted anything his name is attached to in a positive way to be huge. The man wanted everything grand, big, and he cared very much about numbers. He literally manifested "Best selling album of all time". While this is not his body of work, it will be the product that brings a huge amount of attention to his body of work... Also, this films success will affect the way people view Michael Jackson. If you've been around for long, and have dealt with the BS around how MJ is attacked, or have any empathy as to what he went through, what legacy he wanted to leave behind, what his family goes through... The success of a positive MJ biopic should matter to you. - If not, that's on you. For most here, it is very important.


BTW, Michael did not disapprove of the American Dream, he had to approve of various things for the film to be made. Was he happy with every decision, that is another topic.

Regardless, to those who find Michaels legacy important.. This films success is important. If you have the opinion that it does not impact Michael Jackson's legacy, than the legacy you hold within yourself is what matters to you. Many of us care what it matters to the world. He fought his whole life, and with his life to build something that has been continuously attacked, belittled, minimized, and tarnished. For the love of Michael and what was important to him - its important to us.
 
Last edited:
KOPV said:
Graham went on this venture to make the film before Lionsgate was involved. He first got the rights from the Estate before anything.. Yes it's a business venture, but the people behind the film are people who have love for Michael.

There is no question that Michael always wanted anything his name is attached to in a positive way to be huge. The man wanted everything grand, big, and he cared very much about numbers. He literally manifested "Best selling album of all time". While this is not his body of work, it will be the product that brings a huge amount of attention to his body of work... Also, this films success will affect the way people view Michael Jackson. If you've been around for long, and have dealt with the BS around how MJ is attacked, or have any empathy as to what he went through, what legacy he wanted to leave behind, what his family goes through... The success of a positive MJ biopic should matter to you. - If not, that's on you. For most here, it is very important.


BTW, Michael did not disprove of the American Dream, he had to approve of various things for the film to be made. Was he happy with every decision, that is another topic.

Regardless, to those who find Michaels legacy important.. This films success is important. If you have the opinion that it does not impact Michael Jackson's legacy, than the legacy you hold within yourself is what matters to you. Many of us care what it matters to the world. He fought his whole life, and with his life to build something that has been continuously attacked, belittled, minimized, and tarnished. For the love of Michael and what was important to him - its important to us.
Click to expand...
This 100%, but I can also understand when some people are not interested in the numbers. There are and will always be people who talk badly about Michael, don't like his music, whatever, so it is probably for the best to not care (too much) about other people's opinions. It's often too nerve wracking. It's important what Michael means to yourself. There will always be dumb people, no matter what, so I guess that's the point I can understand...

Still, I hope the Biopic will be a great success and there will be more, especially younger fans, that are not as biased, so his legacy can live on.
 
KOPV said:
Graham went on this venture to make the film before Lionsgate was involved. He first got the rights from the Estate before anything.. Yes it's a business venture, but the people behind the film are people who have love for Michael.

There is no question that Michael always wanted anything his name is attached to in a positive way to be huge. The man wanted everything grand, big, and he cared very much about numbers. He literally manifested "Best selling album of all time". While this is not his body of work, it will be the product that brings a huge amount of attention to his body of work... Also, this films success will affect the way people view Michael Jackson. If you've been around for long, and have dealt with the BS around how MJ is attacked, or have any empathy as to what he went through, what legacy he wanted to leave behind, what his family goes through... The success of a positive MJ biopic should matter to you. - If not, that's on you. For most here, it is very important.


BTW, Michael did not disprove of the American Dream, he had to approve of various things for the film to be made. Was he happy with every decision, that is another topic.

Regardless, to those who find Michaels legacy important.. This films success is important. If you have the opinion that it does not impact Michael Jackson's legacy, than the legacy you hold within yourself is what matters to you. Many of us care what it matters to the world. He fought his whole life, and with his life to build something that has been continuously attacked, belittled, minimized, and tarnished. For the love of Michael and what was important to him - its important to us.
Click to expand...
Beautiful post 👏
 
Blues_Away2023 said:
It’s all me me me
Click to expand...
I think R1chard's attitude isn't too unreasonable. He's using himself as an example of a subset of fans. What did the other fan communities gain from their artists' biopics? (an open question). We can at least hope for more acceptance of talking openly about appreciating MJ, and his music and visual influences being around more.

Surely, most fans will end up enjoying some parts and "hating" others. It's not up to anyone to police others for not fully supporting anything posthumous.

Our obligation if there is one, is more towards community than specific products. A big part of that is accepting diverse views.
We just keep being spoon fed press releases from the estate hammering into people that success is based on numbers/$$$$

I think Michael's true legacy is in personal and cultural impact and inspiration. The film seems set to be part of that, but it will never replace it (I hope)

Biopic is important as far as the estate's projects go, but it's not the end all be all that people make it out to be, and people who are invested in such a mindset may waste energy defending things that have little to do with MJ when it's just a major product with his name attached.

I am biopic neutral, won't see it in theater (at least not in the first month). That doesn't mean I won't partake in general fan excitement or online gatherings etc.

Around 2006-7 there was an offer on the table for MJ writing another autobiography. If he made any types of sketches/outline on that and it feeds into the biopic saga, that would make me much more attentive.

Billions of people will always be interested in Michael Jackson, and "the media” doesn't have the impact it once had
 
Last edited:
Richard, although he can be exhausting sometimes, isn't totally wrong. Fans have 0 control about the quality and the outcome of this movie. at one point you have to detach and not make it personal, and not make whatever will be of this movie OTHERS decided to make, a crucial factor for your happiness. flop or success we can't really do anything about it and we can't control what it will generate. I hope and trust that the ones behind it have carefully considered the costs and potential wins and decided that the potential wins were worth the try. that's it. fans can only choose to support the movie, for the rest we can't control any of this shit: box office, general interest, critics reception, media receptions, guilters, Jacksons members acting out, drama etc
 
I do wonder how much of the film will feature the actor playing young Michael and how much of it will be Jaafar.

In the promo they've made a big deal out of Jaafar's transformation, so surely he'll be the lead for most of this film?
 
Zack44 said:
https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-news/michael-jackson-biopic-lionsgate-announced-1296360/

It's officially sanctioned by the estate & the Jackson family, and it's going to be co-produced by Graham King (AKA the producer of Bohemian Rhapsody who secured the rights to make an MJ biopic several months ago) and it's gonna be distributed by Lionsgate.

Also, Graham King is a fan who mentions that he's done his own research about the allegations and believes that he was innocent. So we've got that going for us, which is nice.

Personally, I don't think that a single 2-hour movie is enough to do justice to Michael's career, and I'd rather see the Estate focus on a project that helps vindicate MJ's innocence (e.g. Taj's upcoming Kickstarter documentary series). However, if this movie is done well and is able to improve the general public's perception of Michael in a more positive way, than it's a win-win situation.

What are your thoughts, everyone?
Click to expand...
I’m super excited omg omg
 
SmoothCriminal1995 said:
I do wonder how much of the film will feature the actor playing young Michael and how much of it will be Jaafar.

In the promo they've made a big deal out of Jaafar's transformation, so surely he'll be the lead for most of this film?
Click to expand...
Standard is around 25-40 mins of a movie for these kinds of things, but the J5 were so so huge that I wouldn't be surprised if it's close to the hour mark (if it's a 2+ hour film). If its 2 hours, then 25-40 mins max.
 
KOPV said:
There is no question that Michael always wanted anything his name is attached to in a positive way to be huge.
Click to expand...
Doesn't everybody? I'd want my songs to be huge too. Doh.

But you're talking about what MJ wanted. I took issue with the wrong choice of words, ie I was responding to the use of the word deserves. It's very different. This movie doesn't deserve anything.

KOPV said:
Also, this films success will affect the way people view Michael Jackson.
Click to expand...
If they didn't have an opinion on MJ by now, this won't sway them, lol.

KOPV said:
If you've been around for long, and have dealt with the BS around how MJ is attacked, or have any empathy as to what he went through, what legacy he wanted to leave behind, what his family goes through...
Click to expand...
Been a fan since the mid 80s. I considered going to the trial but I was unemployed at the time and couldn't justify the flights and a lengthy stay in hotels. Do I pass your "fan test"?

Anyway, getting back to it, they're actually two different things. You can separate the art from the artist. Lots of people like music from Oasis or the Sex Pistols, yet they think of those bands as idiots. The same even for R Kelly. Even Beatles.

Either way. MJ's music speaks for itself. The movie won't have any impact on that.

KOPV said:
The success of a positive MJ biopic should matter to you. - If not, that's on you.
Click to expand...
It doesn't matter to me. And yeah, it's "on me", whatever that means. Either way, you don't get to decide what's important to me.

All I really want is a good film. Something that I'll enjoy watching. Not something that you will enjoy watching, or something that other people I've never met will enjoy watching. I can only speak for my own tastes.

I want an enjoyable and fun and accurate movie, but I have no idea if it will be any of those things. If you're taking my indifference to a Hollywood movie as a personal attack on yourself, or on MJ, then that's "on you", to use your phrase.

I don't care if my friends and neighbours and colleagues like it, or even whether they've seen it. That's literally a crazy thing to care about. And caring how much money it puts into the pocket of Frank Giustra is an even crazier thing to care about.

KOPV said:
BTW, Michael did not disapprove of the American Dream,
Click to expand...
No, An American Dream was the J5 biopic. I'm talking about Man in the Mirror from 2004.

KOPV said:
Regardless, to those who find Michaels legacy important.. This films success is important
Click to expand...
I find it sad you're trying to live your life based on the success of others. Get some self-worth!

KOPV said:
He fought his whole life, and with his life to build something that has been continuously attacked, belittled, minimized, and tarnished. For the love of Michael and what was important to him - its important to us.
Click to expand...
Get over it. It doesn't matter what was "tarnished". Just listen to the music. If that makes you happy, why care about anything else? It's all just noise on the periphery.
 
R1chard said:
Doesn't everybody? I'd want my songs to be huge too. Doh.

But you're talking about what MJ wanted. I took issue with the wrong choice of words, ie I was responding to the use of the word deserves. It's very different. This movie doesn't deserve anything.


If they didn't have an opinion on MJ by now, this won't sway them, lol.


Been a fan since the mid 80s. I considered going to the trial but I was unemployed at the time and couldn't justify the flights and a lengthy stay in hotels. Do I pass your "fan test"?

Anyway, getting back to it, they're actually two different things. You can separate the art from the artist. Lots of people like music from Oasis or the Sex Pistols, yet they think of those bands as idiots. The same even for R Kelly. Even Beatles.

Either way. MJ's music speaks for itself. The movie won't have any impact on that.


It doesn't matter to me. And yeah, it's "on me", whatever that means. Either way, you don't get to decide what's important to me.

All I really want is a good film. Something that I'll enjoy watching. Not something that you will enjoy watching, or something that other people I've never met will enjoy watching. I can only speak for my own tastes.

I want an enjoyable and fun and accurate movie, but I have no idea if it will be any of those things. If you're taking my indifference to a Hollywood movie as a personal attack on yourself, or on MJ, then that's "on you", to use your phrase.

I don't care if my friends and neighbours and colleagues like it, or even whether they've seen it. That's literally a crazy thing to care about. And caring how much money it puts into the pocket of Frank Giustra is an even crazier thing to care about.


No, An American Dream was the J5 biopic. I'm talking about Man in the Mirror from 2004.


I find it sad you're trying to live your life based on the success of others. Get some self-worth!


Get over it. It doesn't matter what was "tarnished". Just listen to the music. If that makes you happy, why care about anything else? It's all just noise on the periphery.
Click to expand...
Man in the mirror 2004? Really? You’ve used that abomination of a movie as an example that Michael never liked a biopic about him 😂

Flex??? Come on man
 
R1chard said:
Doesn't everybody? I'd want my songs to be huge too. Doh.

But you're talking about what MJ wanted. I took issue with the wrong choice of words, ie I was responding to the use of the word deserves. It's very different. This movie doesn't deserve anything.


If they didn't have an opinion on MJ by now, this won't sway them, lol.


Been a fan since the mid 80s. I considered going to the trial but I was unemployed at the time and couldn't justify the flights and a lengthy stay in hotels. Do I pass your "fan test"?

Anyway, getting back to it, they're actually two different things. You can separate the art from the artist. Lots of people like music from Oasis or the Sex Pistols, yet they think of those bands as idiots. The same even for R Kelly. Even Beatles.

Either way. MJ's music speaks for itself. The movie won't have any impact on that.


It doesn't matter to me. And yeah, it's "on me", whatever that means. Either way, you don't get to decide what's important to me.

All I really want is a good film. Something that I'll enjoy watching. Not something that you will enjoy watching, or something that other people I've never met will enjoy watching. I can only speak for my own tastes.

I want an enjoyable and fun and accurate movie, but I have no idea if it will be any of those things. If you're taking my indifference to a Hollywood movie as a personal attack on yourself, or on MJ, then that's "on you", to use your phrase.

I don't care if my friends and neighbours and colleagues like it, or even whether they've seen it. That's literally a crazy thing to care about. And caring how much money it puts into the pocket of Frank Giustra is an even crazier thing to care about.


No, An American Dream was the J5 biopic. I'm talking about Man in the Mirror from 2004.


I find it sad you're trying to live your life based on the success of others. Get some self-worth!


Get over it. It doesn't matter what was "tarnished". Just listen to the music. If that makes you happy, why care about anything else? It's all just noise on the periphery.
Click to expand...
You’re free not to care — nobody is trying to decide what’s important to you. The pushback comes from repeatedly framing other people’s investment as irrational or tied to their self-worth. That’s not what anyone is saying.


Public perception absolutely shifts over time. We all watched the change in general sentiment around Michael even from short clips circulating online after 2019. Most people sit somewhere in the middle, and projects like this do influence how the broader public understands an artist. That’s simply how cultural narratives work.


Suggesting that appreciating or caring about an artist’s legacy means someone is “living through others” is a mischaracterization. Enjoying or valuing cultural impact has nothing to do with personal self-worth.


We’re on a Michael Jackson forum - You're belittling people about their adoration for Michael while spending your time on a Michael Jackson forum... There is irony there. — people are here because they care to varying degrees. I share perspectives and information that fans may find interesting and generally appreciate. You’re welcome to approach it purely as entertainment, but dismissing others for caring more about the legacy is unnecessary.
 
Last edited:
Blues_Away2023 said:
Man in the mirror 2004? Really?
Click to expand...
So there you have it. Are you saying there's a MJ biopic you don't think is good, and that you don't care if it's successful?

This is gonna be interesting.

KOPV said:
You’re free not to care — nobody is trying to decide what’s important to you. The pushback comes from repeatedly framing other people’s investment as irrational or tied to their self-worth. That’s not what anyone is saying.
Click to expand...
Let me see if I can help with the predicate logic. What you (and others) seem to be saying is:

1. If you like a work of art (eg a song) you must like the artist as a person
2. If you like an artist, you must like all 3rd party artworks based on them
3. If you like any work of art you must care about whether it is successful/popular

I can confirm that all of the above statements are false.

KOPV said:
Public perception absolutely shifts over time. We all watched the change in general sentiment around Michael even from short clips circulating online after 2019
Click to expand...
I honestly had to look this up to find out what you meant. I guess Leaving Neverland?

Again, for all of the reasons given before, I don't know or care about any of this stuff. I don't watch TV news or read garbage like Twitter or any of the gossip magazines. One celebrity talking about another celebrity is NOT news. It's a cancer that's killing the brains of millions of people. I don't need to know who is accusing who of whatever. I really cannot stress this enough: None of that matters.

MJ went through a trial and came out not guilty. Great. That's the end of the story. Now he's dead and therefore that fact can never change. I won't be devoting any of my precious time worrying about "public perception" or "cultural narratives".
 
R1chard said:
So there you have it. Are you saying there's a MJ biopic you don't think is good, and that you don't care if it's successful?

This is gonna be interesting.


Let me see if I can help with the predicate logic. What you (and others) seem to be saying is:

1. If you like a work of art (eg a song) you must like the artist as a person
2. If you like an artist, you must like all 3rd party artworks based on them
3. If you like any work of art you must care about whether it is successful/popular

I can confirm that all of the above statements are false.


I honestly had to look this up to find out what you meant. I guess Leaving Neverland?

Again, for all of the reasons given before, I don't know or care about any of this stuff. I don't watch TV news or read garbage like Twitter or any of the gossip magazines. One celebrity talking about another celebrity is NOT news. It's a cancer that's killing the brains of millions of people. I don't need to know who is accusing who of whatever. I really cannot stress this enough: None of that matters.

MJ went through a trial and came out not guilty. Great. That's the end of the story. Now he's dead and therefore that fact can never change. I won't be devoting any of my precious time worrying about "public perception" or "cultural narratives".
Click to expand...
I’m getting behind this movie because it’s an official MJ product , just like an album release or broadway musical.

This is a big budget production that will use all Michael’s music , some scenes filmed on location at Michael’s former properties and starring his nephew.

If you can’t differentiate between this and the upcoming film then we’re all doomed.


There’s no point in trying to argue with you tbh
 
For someone who does not care about something, he sure spends a lot of time writing that he doesn't. Also if the person only cares about what he thinks, why did he bother joining a fansite to read what other people think about whatever. That does not make any sense. The same person who says there is no such thing as New Jack Swing, alternative rock, go-go, or neo-soul because he can't identify it, when plenty of others can. 🤣
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top