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Spike Lee: Jackson biopic impossible

Bubs

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Not sure whether I should've posted this on Bad section or but admins will move this if in the wrong place.
What is with these people? They keep hanging up the phone on Michael :D

Spike Lee: Jackson biopic impossible
(UKPA) – 47 minutes ago
Spike Lee has said he could never make a biopic about Michael Jackson because there isn't an actor who could play him.
The director premiered his documentary film Bad 25, about the making of the 1987 hit album Bad, in the UK at the weekend and revealed despite being a huge fan of the late singer, he couldn't make a film about his life.
Spike said: "For me - who would play him? I can't do it, maybe someone else will, but for me I can't do it.
"It's easier to do a biopic of someone who's not so recognisable. Michael Jackson is one of the most recognisable people on this planet and who is going to play him?! I can't do it."
The Inside Man director - who worked with Michael on the music video for They Don't Care About Us - was delighted to have full access to the Michael Jackson archive for the new documentary.
He said: "There's stuff there the world has never seen. And a lot of that stuff Michael shot himself. So whenever I was in the edit room and I was seeing stuff for the first time it was amazing, because we didn't know this stuff existed."
Spike also revealed that when Michael Jackson rang him up to ask him to direct a music video for him, he hung up on him twice because he didn't believe it was him.
He said: "Third time he said 'Spike don't hang up the phone! It's me!'."
The film will be released on DVD as part of the Bad 25 deluxe album package on September 17.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/uk...DM9LG2H344UXGXQhg?docId=N0378711346756892261A
 
I totally agree, I love Michael more than anything, but a Biopic is something I really do not ever want to see being made.
For the same reason as Mr. Spike Lee, NOBODY could or should play or ever be Michael, other than Michael. :heart:
 
I agree, I'm not really interested in seeing a biopic but I would love to see several more documentaries done in a similar style to Bad25.
 
I also think there's no way anybody can make an accurate Michael and the accurate story enough to make a biopic, they'd just ruined it for him and for us. Good move Spike. I can't wait for his Bad 25 documentary to come out.
 
I agree with you Brown Gangsta, no biopic but more documents.
Unfortunately, no doubt, one day there is going to be biopic of Michael. I rather see that it is done by the estate and some director who knows Michael, and kind of documentary biopic with actual footage, not like movie of Michael but document bio.
 
I totally agree.. There will be only one Michael Jackson
 
I can't see any biopic being successful. It's too hard trying to get Michael down without coming across as a caricature. I have zero desire as an MJ fan watching a biopic on him. I wouldn't care who they cast or who directed it. It would always seem wrong to me.

They need to focus on a good documentary that reveals new info and comes with new insights. Look at the excitement of this Spike Lee doc, all the fans want to see it and it's getting rave reviews. It's like This Is It. Seeing Michael as himself humanizes him, hearing about him from people who knew him humanizes him, people WANT to see that side of him and learn more about who he was really, but having to see other people play out his life in a way that suits them just takes away from him.
 
I don't want anyone to make a biopic of him. His life is just too special, too extraordinary and too easily misunderstood for anyone to completely understand it. I can't see anyone, except for maybe his own fans, making a fair and factual portrayal of Michael on film.
 
What did you all think of The Jacksons: An American Dream?
 
la_cienega said:
I can't see any biopic being successful. It's too hard trying to get Michael down without coming across as a caricature. I have zero desire as an MJ fan watching a biopic on him. I wouldn't care who they cast or who directed it. It would always seem wrong to me.

They need to focus on a good documentary that reveals new info and comes with new insights. Look at the excitement of this Spike Lee doc, all the fans want to see it and it's getting rave reviews. It's like This Is It. Seeing Michael as himself humanizes him, hearing about him from people who knew him humanizes him, people WANT to see that side of him and learn more about who he was really, but having to see other people play out his life in a way that suits them just takes away from him.
Click to expand...

I agree.

Biopics are usually not accurate portrayals of a person. Biopics are either sugarcoated or sensationalized - and certainly "hollywoodized". In Michael's case it would be increasingly difficult to give an accurate portrayal of him, since he was so private and there were so many rumors flying around him and everyone seems to have a different picture of him in his head.
Also his life and career was so long and complicated that you could not really show it in a 2-2.5 hours movie without the movie being VERY superficial.

So yeah, the right path to go is documentaries like Spike Lee's, focusing on only one aspect of Michael's life and career at once.

To answer KingMikeJ: I liked An American Dream and I thought Wylie Draper and also the kids (especially Jason Weaver) were great as Michael. But that movie dealt with the less complicated part of Michael's life: childhood and youth, until Thriller. It's after that when it gets really difficult to portray him, IMO.
 
This poem was written by an old lady in Scotland.
It was found after her death in the hospital

An Old Lady's Poem

What do you see, nurses, what do you see?
What are you thinking when you're looking at me?
A crabby old woman, not very wise,
Uncertain of habit, with faraway eyes?
Who dribbles her food and makes no reply
When you say in a loud voice, "I do wish you'd try!"
Who seems not to notice the things that you do,
And forever is losing a stocking or shoe.....
Who, resisting or not, lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding, the long day to fill....
Is that what you're thinking? Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse; you're not looking at me.

I'll tell you who I am as I sit here so still,
As I do at your bidding, as I eat at your will.
I'm a small child of ten ...with a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters, who love one another.
A young girl of sixteen, with wings on her feet,
Dreaming that soon now a lover she'll meet.
A bride soon at twenty -- my heart gives a leap,
Remembering the vows that I promised to keep.
At twenty-five now, I have young of my own,
Who need me to guide and a secure happy home.
A woman of thirty, my young now grown fast,
Bound to each other with ties that should last.
At forty, my young sons have grown and are gone,
But my man's beside me to see I don't mourn.
At fifty once more, babies play round my knee,
Again we know children, my loved one and me.
Dark days are upon me, my husband is dead;
I look at the future, I shudder with dread.
For my young are all rearing young of their own,
And I think of the years and the love that I've known.

I'm now an old woman ...and nature is cruel;
'Tis jest to make old age look like a fool.
The body, it crumbles, grace and vigor depart,
There is now a stone where I once had a heart.
But inside this old carcass a young girl still dwells,
And now and again my battered heart swells.
I remember the joys, I remember the pain,
And I'm loving and living life over again.
I think of the years ....all too few, gone too fast,
And accept the stark fact that nothing can last.

So open your eyes, nurses, open and see,
...Not a crabby old woman; look closer ...see ME!!


This poem remind me of Michael.
You have to change some things but at 50 he was a child,teenager,young adult ,adult ,in one person.
It happens to us all if we live long enough, but many forget about the child
I don´t find it strange if he played water ballon fight with children one day and next day was working in a studio or having fun and playing with the Cascio children and then writing poems for dancing the dream like baby seal

So open your eyes, people, open and see,
...Not a wacko jacko; look closer ...see ME!!
I wish more people would see Michael as we see him but I don´t think it can be done in a biopic
 
How about making a biomentary instead of a biopic? Making a documentary of authentic video, behind the scenes of important events in his life, parts of interviews... And do it in like 5 parts, not only in 1, because his career has been so long and his life so complex. A series of 5 biomentaries with authentic video and with interviews of people who knew him well, even if deceased.
I WOULD like to see something like that materialising!
 
lol @ every news story saying the doc is in the Bad 25 package.
 
KingMikeJ said:
What did you all think of The Jacksons: An American Dream?
Click to expand...

Probably we didn't have issues on watching movies about great geniuses like Mozart, Beethoven, etc because we don't have videos such as interviews, performances. So, the information we have is merely based on letter written by them, biographies but Michael since we have an idea about his personality, demeanor, philosophy on life because there are a lot recorded evidence. Nobody could portray accurately what Michael represents, even the actor from An American Dream was a caricaure IMHO.

I completely agree with Spike Lee and I hope The Estate isn't even considering to have that project... *crossed fingers*
 
I agree, no biopic......I myself can't imagine who could possible do MJ justice and the real story of Michael Jackson is more than the tabloid projection, the real story of Michael Jackson was what he always tried to let the world know about him, but the world was just not interested to know.
 
I thought I read somehwere where the estate was thinking of making a biopic of Michael and then decided to put it on the back burner. I believe I read it here in this community. Anyway, it would indeed be hard to portray Michael, his life took so many turns. Do we want the biopic to have ALL his ups and downs including his personal struggles or just the music portion. I don't know if I would like to go through all the darkest moments Michael went through, it would just stir things up again, but that is part of his biography and if it is ommitted it would not be authentic. So, yes it would be very difficult. But if there is a possibility then I do trust the estate to handle it well. We'll see what happens in the future. But the project would be a HUGE and laborious undertaking for sure.
 
Bubs;3702343 said:
Not sure whether I should've posted this on Bad section or but admins will move this if in the wrong place.
What is with these people? They keep hanging up the phone on Michael :D

Spike Lee: Jackson biopic impossible
(UKPA) – 47 minutes ago
Spike Lee has said he could never make a biopic about Michael Jackson because there isn't an actor who could play him.
The director premiered his documentary film Bad 25, about the making of the 1987 hit album Bad, in the UK at the weekend and revealed despite being a huge fan of the late singer, he couldn't make a film about his life.
Spike said: "For me - who would play him? I can't do it, maybe someone else will, but for me I can't do it.
"It's easier to do a biopic of someone who's not so recognisable. Michael Jackson is one of the most recognisable people on this planet and who is going to play him?! I can't do it."
The Inside Man director - who worked with Michael on the music video for They Don't Care About Us - was delighted to have full access to the Michael Jackson archive for the new documentary.
He said: "There's stuff there the world has never seen. And a lot of that stuff Michael shot himself. So whenever I was in the edit room and I was seeing stuff for the first time it was amazing, because we didn't know this stuff existed."
Spike also revealed that when Michael Jackson rang him up to ask him to direct a music video for him, he hung up on him twice because he didn't believe it was him.
He said: "Third time he said 'Spike don't hang up the phone! It's me!'."
The film will be released on DVD as part of the Bad 25 deluxe album package on September 17.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/uk...DM9LG2H344UXGXQhg?docId=N0378711346756892261A
Click to expand...

finally. i thought it was going to take another hundred years for someone to admit it. A lot of times, when a fan describes Michael, they get accused of making him out to be god. in reality..the fan just has a hard time describing the vast difference between him and other celebrities..and other people, in looks alone, let alone other things. it has nothing to do with that fan thinking Michael is god. i'm thinking that if someone told hollywood, earlier, what Spike just said, hollywood would accuse them of thinking Michael is god. No. Michael is just wayyyy different. that's all. So..nobody can play him. in contrast, there are a lot of other celebrities that can be portrayed by, yet, other celebrities. But making that comparison might always cause that insufferable discrepancy.
 
Snow White luvs Peter Pan said:
Probably we didn't have issues on watching movies about great geniuses like Mozart, Beethoven, etc because we don't have videos such as interviews, performances.
Click to expand...

Maybe the families, friends and fans of Mozart, Beethoven who lived with them, in their era and Mozart and Beethoven themselves would be surprised at how they are portrayed in biopics today.
 
respect77 said:
Maybe the families, friends and fans of Mozart, Beethoven who lived with them, in their era and Mozart and Beethoven themselves would be surprised at how they are portrayed in biopics today.
Click to expand...

Respect I believe you, because outsiders show your behavior and motivations for your actions based on how they perceive you. They may show why a person made a decision or acted in a certain way, but that reason may not be the one the dead person had. I had a good example in grad school. This person wrote a psycho-sociological book that was popular among academics, and we had to study it in class. The professor gave the lecture explaining why the author made certain conclusions, what they meant, what led him to reach the conclusions, and was basically showing how this man thought and what was in his head. We all began thinking like that too. When the author came and the professor began to explain the guys motivations, thinking and conclusions to his face, the author looked puzzled and you could see that her interpretations were way off. He made the comment that he did not see things that way. That experience made me wonder about the analyses people made about dead people's work and behaviors. So, God knows what these dead people think when they see how people show and explain their behaviors as though the actors/scriptwriters were in the dead people's heads and know what they were thinking.

This reminds me of Bush saying that Michael was not sexual, although on stage he acted in that way (paraphrase). I mean did he talk to Michael and find this out? Would Michael say this about himself? Most importantly, would Michael think this about himself? I doubt it, but this is how Bush portrays him.
 
Petrarose;3702871 said:
Respect I believe you, because outsiders show your behavior and motivations for your actions based on how they perceive you. They may show why a person made a decision or acted in a certain way, but that reason may not be the one the dead person had. I had a good example in grad school. This person wrote a psycho-sociological book that was popular among academics, and we had to study it in class. The professor gave the lecture explaining why the author made certain conclusions, what they meant, what led him to reach the conclusions, and was basically showing how this man thought and what was in his head. We all began thinking like that too. When the author came and the professor began to explain the guys motivations, thinking and conclusions to his face, the author looked puzzled and you could see that her interpretations were way off. He made the comment that he did not see things that way. That experience made me wonder about the analyses people made about dead people's work and behaviors. So, God knows what these dead people think when they see how people show and explain their behaviors as though the actors/scriptwriters were in the dead people's heads and know what they were thinking.

This reminds me of Bush saying that Michael was not sexual, although on stage he acted in that way (paraphrase). I mean did he talk to Michael and find this out? Would Michael say this about himself? Most importantly, would Michael think this about himself? I doubt it, but this is how Bush portrays him.
Click to expand...

This reminds me of an anecdote about a poet, János Arany in my country (he lived about 150 years ago). Someone wrote an analysis of one of his poems at the time: "the poet thought this, the poet thought that bla-bla-bla". When the poet himself read it, he simply made a note on the margin of the article, saying: "The hell thought this!"

I see Michael as a mirror: because he was so mysterious people tended to fill in the gaps about him with themselves. Including bad people like Sneddon, Dimond, Evan Chandler, Maureen Orth etc. The reason why these people thought the worst of Michael is because they projected their own darkness onto him. Michael realized this too, as you can see from "Is It Scary".

The bottom line is: I'm afraid a biopic would be just another projection of someone rather than a true portray of Michael.
 
respect77 said:
The bottom line is: I'm afraid a biopic would be just another projection of someone rather than a true portray of Michael.
Click to expand...

Exactly. People routinely see Michael through the lens of the media whether they are aware of it or not. Also, I cringe at whom they would ask for input about Michael, e.g., his family, Oxman, the rabbi, Weisner.
 
I don't see who could do it and do it right. I would rather see Bad 25 documentary and things like that where people can see who Michael is and learn that way.
 
Whenever its made (there is no way that some director wont pick up the idea eventually. even if 15 yrs from now) we will all have to come to terms with no one can emulate the full embodyment of who Michael was... Thats a given, we cant expect to see MICHAEL on screen but someone that can in the least sell the story.. NOT the man..

We cannot fault the director who ends up doing it for the dream to make it. In fact once it happens I would say for all of us fans to do what we can to make this movie the best it can to give the best representation of Michaels life as possible.. If its coming out we might as well be a lending hand to it. the more we reject, the worse the movie would be
 
KOPV ^^ the thing is that the script has to be very, very, good and true to his life, and not the way the media wants to portray him. That is why I think Branca put a hold on the idea because they would need someone to write something that is not filled will crap from the media, that is, exploring the true personality, character, and genius of Michael. The problem is that Michael was not very forthcoming to many people due to their tendency to spill all his business, and because he was very private, he told certain people stories to cover his true intent. For example, he told Cascio he married because he wanted to work with the Arabs who were into family. Yet, we have different versions of why he married.

Notice, even in his sole biography he focuses more on his art, and little on his inner feelings and motivations. This prompted Jackie to comment that Michael was so boring and at times she was thinking we have to make some thing up. The thing is that Michael did not want to show people too much of his inner self for them to spread all over the place, so there is a fear that to portray this in the movie, actors may tend to project their ideas of who Michael is. This is a big problem for many fans.

I believe what you said about someone will come up with a movie sooner than later. Hopefully before someone makes another crappy movie about Michael, like the one that had a Black Michael with some white dust on him, Branca would put a team together to come up with an accurate script.

Then we come to the hurdle about the persons who will be Michael. They need to be able to dance, sing and act. I looked at a movie about a Black singer and the dancing skill of the guys who played the Nicholas Brothers, to me, was pretty weak. Anyone who is familiar with the brothers acumen in dancing would notice right away. So the people playing Michael have to be believable. If these key elements are in place, then I am sure many fans will support the idea.

Maybe they should simply make a movie about the Thriller and Dangerous processes; show how he dealt with vitiligo during the Dangerous period, presenting proof of the disorder and treatment, and showing how the media and people reacted to it. They could continue the narrative by getting the transcripts of the trial and enact the parts showing how he was innocent and the rants of the media queens like DD. In between this all, they could show his involvement with charity and his love for all people. They may have to put some romance in.
 
Yes, Michael was in some ways like a mirror, as you say--it is amazing to me that the bad people you name could think him capable of what they accused him of. The mirror comes up a lot in literature--the mirror of Galadriel in Lord of the Rings, and even in Snow White. And of course the Man in the Mirror. "I'm gonna be exactly what you wanna see." I agree people projected their darkness on him--and how. "Who is that boogey-man you're thinkin' of." Michael tried to tell them.
 
KOPV said:
Whenever its made (there is no way that some director wont pick up the idea eventually. even if 15 yrs from now) we will all have to come to terms with no one can emulate the full embodyment of who Michael was... Thats a given, we cant expect to see MICHAEL on screen but someone that can in the least sell the story.. NOT the man..

We cannot fault the director who ends up doing it for the dream to make it. In fact once it happens I would say for all of us fans to do what we can to make this movie the best it can to give the best representation of Michaels life as possible.. If its coming out we might as well be a lending hand to it. the more we reject, the worse the movie would be
Click to expand...

I was hoping they don't do movie, but autobiographical documentary which is made of actual clips, and no interviews from Demon Dimond (or other so called Jackson experts) as some of the document that are out now have used previously.


I agree with you, one day there is going be a movie, he is too big not to make one. I was hoping that the estate will get good and honest script, good director and go ahead first, before some B/C-movie group goes and make one really bad one.

There is already Motown biopic on the works, they made it very public that they are looking for someone to play Michael. I don't think they had any problems to find actors/actresses to play other Motown artists but Michael.
 
I pretty much co-sign everybody in this thread. A biopic is a horrible idea. Stick to documentaries.
 
respect77;3702879 said:
This reminds me of an anecdote about a poet, János Arany in my country (he lived about 150 years ago). Someone wrote an analysis of one of his poems at the time: "the poet thought this, the poet thought that bla-bla-bla". When the poet himself read it, he simply made a note on the margin of the article, saying: "The hell thought this!"

I see Michael as a mirror: because he was so mysterious people tended to fill in the gaps about him with themselves. Including bad people like Sneddon, Dimond, Evan Chandler, Maureen Orth etc. The reason why these people thought the worst of Michael is because they projected their own darkness onto him. Michael realized this too, as you can see from "Is It Scary".

The bottom line is: I'm afraid a biopic would be just another projection of someone rather than a true portray of Michael.
Click to expand...

Can I quote you on this??? :clapping:
 
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