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"This Is It" critically acclaimed -- MJ's legacy is assured

Bo G

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Reviews are glowing, from Variety on down. The ball has been hit out of the park. An era has ended. A new one has begun: today is the day the world shed any remaining doubt that Michael Jackson deserved the crown of King of Pop.

Here's the best link I know that pulls together the largest number of reviews:http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/michael_jackson_this_is_it/?critic=creamcrop.

This thread is to celebrate the massive shift in media and public perception toward Michael we are witnessing, which permanent confirms his legacy.

It is now accepted that Michael's death ranks with John Lennon's as the two most important era-ending events in popular music. John's murder was devastating for me; I remember that day like it was yesterday. I know MJ's death will be the same. We will continue to mourn Michael. But we can also allow ourselves to revel in this moment. Let's toast this day.

Here's an interesting starting point for meta-analysis:

Salon: "This Is It" is only the beginning

In the days and weeks after Michael Jackson's death last June, I was less surprised by the extensive public outpouring of grief over this sudden and painful pop-culture loss than I was by the surly presence of those who carped that the response was just "too much." The latter group seemed to consist largely but not exclusively of past-middle-aged white guys dressed in figurative, if not literal, Buffalo Springfield T-shirts. Jackson wasn't that great, or that important, they grumbled. Other camps also derided what they saw as the media's Jackson grief overkill, holding his death (an apple) up against, say, the war in Afghanistan (an obvious orange), before launching into a screed along the lines of "If the media spent even one-quarter as much time focusing on the important stories ..."

But Jackson's death itself -- not the media's subsequent coverage of the estate haggling or the custody hearings, or the endless parade of "insiders" talking to Larry King -- was an important story, albeit the kind of story whose importance grows, not recedes, as time passes. I say that because watching Kenny Ortega's would-be concert documentary "This Is It," a chronicle of the ambitious comeback concert Jackson was planning at the time of his death, I realized that I still don't know exactly what Jackson's death -- or, for that matter, his life -- means.
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Aww man, don't tease me like this. God oh God oh God oh God I hope this is really the beginning, the change of attitude toward this beautiful man that has been needed for so long. Pray, cross your fingers, shout from mountains, do what whatever you need to do to ensure that Michael is given the chance to be seen (and remembered) as Michael and not as the tabloid character that's been stealing his place for the last decade or so. It's time for the world to open their eyes.
 
his legacy was assured along time ago.sony/aeg prob paid for the reviews cause the u turns of some will make them dizzy
 
I don't mean his legacy as a performer - that's in tact, for sure. It's undeniable. Even those who have a distaste for the man will agree he is peerless. I mean Michael the person. I want everyone to see him.
 
Why would they pay them? Mj always made money for them in the pass while alive and they could not stop the media from thrashing him. The fact is the world is realizing they lost a great talent, human, entertainer and person.
 
so many people here who are addicted to hating the media claimed that all the critics and the media were going to give this movie horrible reviews no matter what it was like. I told em, they were too caught up in their obsession with hating those with different views that it was putting them out of touch with reality, and that there was no way it was going to turn out the way they predicted.. I turned out to be right
 
dancemasterman said:
so many people here who are addicted to hating the media claimed that all the critics and the media were going to give this movie horrible reviews no matter what it was like.
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I'm mostly caught up in political blogs, and we talk often of the "prevailing media narrative." It builds momentum, often regardless of fact. It seemed clear early on that the prevailing narrative about Michael was changing, so I felt pretty optimistic that the momentum would just keep building. In this case, it's finally deserved.
 
dancemasterman said:
so many people here who are addicted to hating the media claimed that all the critics and the media were going to give this movie horrible reviews no matter what it was like. I told em, they were too caught up in their obsession with hating those with different views that it was putting them out of touch with reality, and that there was no way it was going to turn out the way they predicted.. I turned out to be right
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Yes you did! Wise call dancemasterman.
 
Bo G said:
I know what you mean. The media have made it nearly impossible for so many to see him before now. The fog thrown up by the cynicism is clearing. The man himself is emerging.

You can hear tonight's NPR radio story here: http://www.npr.org/templates/player...n=1&t=1&islist=false&id=114088223&m=114253849
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Thanks for posting. Great review. I love the part where he says Michael is sliding across the stage as if solid floor boards are a conveyer belt. I have heard this reviewer before; he rarely gives a good review to anything than isn't an art house film.
 
So happy people are positive about the film.
 
I hope so. I think for a long time people in general, not his fans or close friends etc. but the general public focused so much on crap forgetting why he was loved and special in the first place. He was a real person. He was a genius and nobody can come close to him.
 
marebear said:
I hope so. I think for a long time people in general, not his fans or close friends etc. but the general public focused so much on crap forgetting why he was loved and special in the first place. He was a real person. He was a genius and nobody can come close to him.
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Yep. We used to think of the media as all Walter Cronkites who knew what the hell they were talking about. Turned out too many didn't. Facts didn't matter as much as ratings.

Too late, the public reexamined the evidence, saw it was BS, and realized we were f*cking robbed. Robbed of a great artist, a joy, and a social conscience we needed.

We need to learn our lesson and insist on fact-based journalism. And more L.O.V.E.!
 
Limonali said:
bumping cause this is an important topic! :bump
I will get back here to post! I just saw TII and am lost for words...
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Take your time, Limonali,... digest it... grok it (for those who know what "grok" means... :)
 
Well that's nice that the critics are finally giving respect and accolades where due but how I gauge MJ's legacy is by all those little children that were in the movie singing,dancing, clapping, and just being so in tuned to MJ.
 
Another statement in my "MJ Legacy Watch," this from Associated Press:
"The film, which opened around the globe Tuesday and Wednesday has already earned rousing praise from fans and critics, who say it restores Jackson's reputation as a world-class entertainer."
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LuvsMJwithoutcompromise said:
...how I gauge MJ's legacy is by all those little children that were in the movie singing,dancing, clapping, and just being so in tuned to MJ.
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The TII cast and crew were ON FIRE watching MJ perform. As for the young appreciating him, in the theater where I was the crowd was nearly all teens to 20-somethings. I see a lot of "boomer" events by artists closer to MJ's age, so the difference was striking.
 
The media can say what they want but no single death was bigger than MJ's in history! The whole world stopped. The worldwide net broke down! The TRIBUTES from all across the globe on every corner to a scale Ive never ever seen before... UNBELIEVABLE how loved this man was.

When they die, there won't be a movie made in their honour, and they won't have millions of people mourning over their passing. They can live their sad little existence in their tabloid newspaper office cubicle. I couldn't really care less.

And I hope fans don't get too sucked in believing that the world believes everything they hear, they don't. Hence the out pour of love for MJ.
 
*MissChanel* said:
UNBELIEVABLE how loved this man was.
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It's amusing just how surprised journalists are by this. They had come to believe their own gossip.

Critics and biographers need to acknowledge not only his artistry, but the unusual depths of affection, awe, and yes, lust he generated in millions. It was simply unprecedented, and they should start examining why.
 
LOL.
I guess journalists are even MORE stupid than we thought.
They often just recycle each others junk by doing google searches to find their stories and believe that is good research. They know that often these stories are fabricated or just unsubstantiated, yet they for some reason believe it themselves. There are still some journalists stating that MJ was broke and doing the concerts for the cash when he died, even though MJ's share of the Sony/ATV is worth approx $1billion.
 
Nah, MJ's legacy was already assured. Nothing to do with This Is It. MJ was bigger than the media, as he proved when he sold out 50 nights at the 02 arena despite the skepticism of the press.

You're right that MJ's perception in the press is changing since his death, and that is interesting, but only really to those of us who are interested in the media as an organism. It has nothing to do with MJ's legacy as it has and always will belong to the people.
 
FunkyMunky said:
Nah, MJ's legacy was already assured. Nothing to do with This Is It.
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"Legacy" can have different meanings, but I'm using it here to mean how he will be remembered by the general public.
 
bobmoo79 said:
They know that often these stories are fabricated or just unsubstantiated, yet they for some reason believe it themselves
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The crazed high pressure to put lots of media content out, and fast, has come to mean a sweeping disregard for evidence or nuance.
 
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