Michael it was an ambitious project from the beginning. One of the objectives of director Antoine Fuqua, screenwriter John Logan and producers Graham King, John Branca and John McClain was to make Lionsgate make truckloads of money, another was to please Michael Jackson's heirs by focusing on nostalgia for the best years of the King of Pop without however including the terrifying accusations of child abuse and perhaps lay the foundations for a cinematic universe on the Jackson family (how long is missing from Control: The Janet Jacket Story?).
One thing they don't seem to have worried about is historical fidelity. Not that that's the job of a biopic. As has been said in the past for films dedicated to Queen, Elton John, Mötley Crüe, Amy Winehouse, Bob Dylan and Sex Pistols, if you want to know the history of music, read a book or watch a documentary. Among the few exceptions is the film about Bruce Springsteen Deliver Me from Nowhere also because it takes place over approximately 12 months between 1981 and 1982.
Michael it begins in 1966 and extends to 1988. It's too large a time span to compress into just 140 minutes. It means important events have to be ignored, others dismissed in seconds, and the timeline becomes elastic. And, in keeping with biopic tradition, other things are invented or distorted (if one of the producers is also a character in the film, as in the case of Michael and the film about Brian Wilson Love and Mercyexpect him to be portrayed as a flawless saint). Here is a non-exhaustive guide to the errors of Michael.
Where's Rebbie Jackson?
The film begins in 1966, when Rebbie, the eldest of the Jacksons, is 16 years old, in high school and living at home. Yet there is no trace of her in the film. He's not at the table with the family, he's not in the living room when the kids rehearse, or anywhere else. Who knows, maybe he was always out and about with friends, but his existence was erased.
And Randy Jackson?
Randy Jackson is the second youngest of Joe and Katherine's ten children. When the film begins he was 5 years old. He began performing with the Jackson 5 in 1971, effectively becoming the sixth member. He took on a major role in 1975 when the group left the Motown label and Jermaine left. He is among other things co-author of Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground) from 1979. In the film, however, he was never born.
And Janet?
When the film turns to the events of 1968, Michael has a newborn sister named Janet in real life. He lived in California with his family and began performing with them in 1974, making his TV debut the following year. His first album dates back to 1982. And instead in the universe of Michael the only daughter is La Toya. “She was asked to be there and she politely refused, her decision must be respected,” said La Toya (today Randy Jackson is Janet's manager, so theirs could have been a mutual decision).
The Jackson 5 did not perform with Gladys Knight in July 1968
In the film the Jackson 5 are seen performing at Regal Theater in Chicago on July 12, 1968 introduced by Gladys Knight and the Pips, with actress Liv Symone doing a splendid imitation of the singer struggling with I Heard It Through the Grapevine. In reality, on that occasion the brothers performed after Bobby Taylor & The Vancouvers. It is true, however, that subsequently they often crossed paths with Knight.
Suzanne de Passe was not at Regal
As Joe Jackson (Colman Domingo) watches the Jackson 5 at the Regal waiting for a small mistake to warrant punishment, Motown's Suzanne de Passe (Laura Harrier) emerges from the wings and gives him her business card. It was actually Bobby Taylor who contacted Motown and set up the audition. De Passe still played a vital role in the group's rise, he just wasn't at Regal that night. The Jackson 5 were briefly signed to Steeltown Records before signing with Motown, the film doesn't show this, but it doesn't explicitly contradict it. It's an omission rather than an error, but if we focused on the omissions in Michael this article would be as long as War and peace.
'Off the Wall' is not Jackson's solo debut
When the film moves to 1977, Michael (now played by Jaafar Jackson and no longer Juliano Valdi as a child) is itching to make a solo album. He is so afraid of telling his father that he convinces two record companies to do it for him. Joe accepts as long as the sessions take place at night, so as not to interfere with the work with the brothers. There's no hint of the previous records: Michael's 1972 solo debut Got To Be Thereto the next Ben a few months later, a Music & Me of 1973 oa Forever, Michael from 1975. Off the Wall it was actually the fifth solo album, the first for Epic after their long stay at Motown.
The Jacksons didn't become a quartet
In the film thanks to Off the Wall Michael Jackson becomes a superstar and Joe Jackson pushes the brothers to go back on tour to monetize their success. One of them asks how they will manage without Jermaine. “Your brother made a decision when we left Motown and he stayed,” Joseph says, implying that they haven't toured since Jermaine's exit in 1975 and that it wasn't even possible to do so. Instead Jermaine was replaced by Randy and between 1976 and 1978 they did various concerts as a quintet. The tour Destiny of 1979 was therefore nothing new and had actually started before Off the Wall. The film presents it as their first tour in many years and shows them as a quartet, as Randy is excluded from the film.
Bubbles comes years later
In one of the film's unintentionally hilarious moments, Michael shocks the family by adopting a baby chimpanzee computer-generated imagery named Bubbles. We are around 1979. In reality Bubbles was born in 1983 (and we doubt he played Twister with Michael, but let's ignore it).
The giraffe also arrived later
Crazy as it may seem, Michael Jackson actually kept a giraffe at his family compound in Encino, California, before moving to Neverland. This caused a sensation because he did not have a permit to host an exotic animal and was forced to take her to an animal shelter. But that wasn't until 1986. The film shows her in the house at least six years earlier.
Michael fired Joseph much earlier
In the film, Jackson is saved when he hires John Branca (Miles Teller) as his lawyer (what a coincidence: Branca is also a producer of the film). His first task is to fire Joseph as manager via fax. The document we see is dated 1981. But Michael fired his father two years earlier, shortly after he turned 21.
The idea of 'Thriller' is not Michael's
The film tells the story of the creation of the best seller Thrillerwith Jackson finalizing the tracklist as the album takes shape. He keeps repeating that there's one last song missing. The inspiration for Thrillerthe song, comes while he is at home watching old horror movies. But Michael Jackson didn't write Thrillerwhich is credited solely to Rod Temperton. It was initially titled Starlight. “I knew Michael,” Temperton said in 2012, “he loved films, so I had the idea of writing a very theatrical piece.” However, there was no text. “It had to be mysterious to fit Michael's public persona. I went back to the hotel every night and started jotting down titles. One night it came out Midnight Man. Quincy said I was going in the right direction, but that it wasn't perfect yet. The next morning it came to me, but it was a really bad word to sing: “Thriller” sounded terrible. We had Michael try singing it into the microphone a few times and it worked.”
MTV's timeline is screwed up
Arrived in the film at the period of Thriller the timeline becomes confusing. The fact is that after shooting the video of Thriller in October 1983, the singer visits CBS Records president Walter Yetnikoff (played by a hilarious Mike Myers) in his New York office. Jackson pushes him to convince MTV to broadcast his videos. “MTV almost never features black artists,” says Yetnikoff. «I don't know why. Maybe they don't want to scare the shit out of white kids in the suburbs.” It's true that MTV initially played mostly white artists and not R&B and soul, but that has been greatly exaggerated over the years. Even in the early days it was common to see Eddie Grant, the Specials, Donna Summer, Musical Youth and other black artists on rotation. In the film, Yetnikoff calls MTV CEO Bob Pittman and threatens him: «If you don't put it on the air Billie Jean Within the next 10 minutes, I will remove every CBS artist from your schedule.” It's a story Yetnikoff loved to tell, and something similar may well have happened, but not at that time. MTV has in fact started broadcasting Billie Jean on March 10, 1983 e Beat It on March 31st. At the time of the filming of Thriller by October, Michael Jackson was already a familiar face on MTV, there was no need to threaten them. In fact, they couldn't wait to stop by Thriller 50 thousand times.
All six brothers were on the Victory Tour
At the end of Michael there's Joseph desperately trying to convince his son to go back on tour with his brothers after the boom in Thriller. As the film shows, the promoter was Don King and Pepsi was the sponsor. Jermaine was also there, back on tour with his brothers. There were therefore six of them, but in the film we only see five brothers on stage because Randy is excluded from the story. The film ends with a hint suggesting there will be a sequel. Getting to the 90s, with the first accusation of sexual abuse dating back to 1993, will be complicated. If it happens, expect a much longer fact-check than this.
From Rolling Stone US.
