Michael Jackson in "This Is It"
I love true artisans and craftsmen. It doesn’t matter if it’s a guy who makes cabinets in Ohio’s Amish country, a little-known chef in New Orleans, or a woman who makes handmade jewelry in San Francisco. I love watching someone who sees something in their mind and knows exactly how to bring it to existence. The same applies to artists who know how to bring a photograph, a painting, a book, or a song to life. Master craftsmen (and women) amaze me … and I never tire of watching them.
Over this long holiday weekend, I finally got to watch Michael Jackson’s “This Is It.” His music was certainly part of my youth, and although I didn’t listen to him as much as I got older, I always viewed him as one of music’s standouts. I didn’t idolize him the way I do Sting, nor did I enjoy his music the way I enjoyed other bands and singers, but his songs would have certainly been featured prominently on the soundtrack of my life – and I never tired of watching the physical poetry that was Michael Jackson dancing.
Michael Jackson
“This Is It” showed me a side of Michael Jackson that I’m sorry I didn’t recognize sooner. Although it was filmed just weeks before his death, it showed what an artist and craftsman he really was. More than just his vocal abilities (still amazing) and one-of-a-kind dance moves (absolutely unbelievable for a 50-year old), the movie demonstrated that Michael Jackson controlled every aspect of his show – and his shows were nothing less than full-scale, bigger-than-life productions that would make any Disney or Broadway production manager jealous.
Jackson gave direction to the keyboard players, the lighting technicians, the other dancers, the producer, the cameramen, the musicians and the stage personnel. Not a single aspect of the production was left without his hand-print – and his input always made the end result better. He was a genius.
Regardless of what you thought of Michael Jackson and his legal troubles, his financial troubles, his strange behavior, his ever-changing facial features, or even his music, the man was still a legend, and one of the most talented performers of my lifetime. I always liked him, but “This Is It” gave me a new respect for him as an artist and master craftsman. I only wish I knew these things before he died, because now I know how much I would have loved seeing him in concert … and I will never get that chance.
“This Is It” hurts to watch because we get a glimpse of just how much more Michael Jackson had in him.
Very well put!