Spoilers Included.
The legend of Michael Jackson lives on as the 2026 film Michael releases, a biopic of his early years and coming of age. As this movie gained popularity, there was also an increase in controversy around casting as well as leaving out important events in Michael Jackson’s career.
This movie begins with Michael as a child, setting up the plot that his father is an abuser, overworking his children for musical fame in the family. The Jackson 5 is the known origin of the upbringing of Michael Jackson, where he and his 4 siblings performed music and tours together while their father managed them. As the movie continues, it develops Michael’s independence and separation from his father as he grows to become his own artist. Junior Carson Cynowa discusses the impact of the movie for viewers, “The takeaway is truly understanding who Michael was from his upbringing, how he arose as a pop star, and into the king of pop himself.”
Many people have similar opinions, but the movie is rated 38% in Rotten Tomatoes, majorly due to the sanitation of Michael’s image. Instead of addressing any controversy around Michael Jackson’s name at all, producers were legally forced to leave out any mention of Jackson’s sexual abuse allegations against minors. There was also no touch on Janet Jackson, as she declined to be featured. Many people’s view on Michael Jackson alters their viewing experience, as some believe the media is not being shown an accurate portrayal of Jackson. Junior Vinnie Holder, after elaborating how social media has been highlighting specific speculations that are not involved in the movie, says “I want the truth.” Harley Metz backs up this viewpoint by stating, “The movie did a good job representing his life so far but there were a lot of major plot points left out, making the movie ratings different.” Personally, Metz does not believe the missing plot points change her love of the movie, as she ensures to say, “the studio performances and concerts were entertaining and the acting was very good for each character.
Holder’s strong opinions continue onto the casting of the movie, as the main character is played by Jaafar Jackson, Michael Jackson’s nephew. He argued that “It was nepotism how Jaafar Jackson got the role.” He thinks that Jaafar Jackson only got the role because he is in the family of Michael Jackson, not selected based on talent or fair audition. On the other hand, Cynowa counters, “Even though he is Michael Jackson’s nephew, he put himself into training for 2 years to become like Michael in his performance, singing, and acting.” She believes that this hard work and dedication achieves this role for Jaafar Jackson, not his relation to the character.
There are many different controversies and opinions on this movie but overall the movie accurately covers milestones of Michael Jackson’s life that were discussed up until the year 1988. This uplifting movie brings Michael Jackson to the spotlight, with a controversy of excluding certain scenarios and characters. As Michael’s music is coming back into radio rotation, everybody is looking forward to seeing where part two of Michael Jackson’s journey takes us on the screen.
