Part of the fun of having just four days left in my career at Ferguson is that, well, nobody really gives a shit anymore. For the last week especially I’ve seen these managers who have been the embodiment of Professionalism for the last six years start to finally act like themselves. And surprisingly, "themselves" is a bunch of star-crazed celebrity stalkers. I realized this Friday when our big boss took us all out to see the Michael Jackson concert movie This is It.
Honestly, I didn’t want to go. Despite the promise of an afternoon off, I haven’t been an MJ fan since I was a kid and I certainly don’t think we should canonize the guy because he died suddenly. But, hey it was free and everyone else was going – I thought I’d just munch popcorn and make fun of the outrageous production. I was fully expecting a shameful last grope for the investors. This was after all slated to be the biggest concert in the history of the world and now it is not going to happen. But, where typical concert movies are overly produced, the intimacy of this footage made me feel less like I was at a concert and more like I somehow snuck in to the front row of a private performance. There are no crowds of screaming and crying fans to have to endure (with the exception of a small crowd of dancers who watch from offstage). The performances are well rehearsed but not completely polished and the director, lighting engineers and choreographers break in from time to time to go through details of a show in progress. The song selection is what you’d expect although I could have done without all the ballads.
Two of the highlights are Smooth Criminal and The Way You Make Me Feel, both of which get super-sized for the stage. Throughout the entire show, we see some of the most talented dancers, singers and musicians working today. The chick guitar player especially impressed and surprised the shit out of me. And we get to see the Michael Jackson that we haven’t seen for decades: the insanely gifted artist and performer.
While I’m not convinced the guy wasn’t a creepy weirdo in his personal life, he was truly one of the best in his profession and even if you can’t stand what he became, This is It offers a glimpse at what he was before all that - the undisputed King of Pop.
2 comments:
eeee hee!
Ellen had one of the dancers Michael hand-picked for this concert, and he performed on her show, to a song he wrote and performed himself. If ever fans became who they idolized, this was one. He was conpletely awesome, and it was cool to watch some skills we all loved Michael for, without the weird vibe of the man himself. I want to see the movie too, but I'm with you, he was too creepy to give a pass to, just because he died.
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