Luchini Fallin' From the Sky
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_N1L3YwbLK0
I think I’d rather watch this over and over for two hours.
Well, This is It won the box office this weekend. It’s made a little over $21 million since it was released last Wednesday. Despite my unabashed love for both Michael Jackson and documentaries, I didn’t see it. When I heard the documentary was going to be shown in theaters I’d pretty much decided not to go. But since that initial decision, I’ve been a bit ambivalent about it. Part of me is really curious to peek at the genius and see Jackson’s (edited) creative process. The other part of me doesn’t want to participate. It’s not really a date movie material, is it? Wiping my salty tears with buttered fingers, leaving popcorn crumbs on my cheeks is not a good look. And who can practice the moonwalk on a sticky movie theater floor? Besides, I don’t need corporations and other folks profiting off of my mourning. I wonder how his mother, his children feel about all of this.
The slew of free MJ mixtapes I downloaded at the beginning of the summer seem a more appropriate way for me to personally honor the greatest entertainer of all time. I’m afraid that seeing the movie will do nothing but make me to dwell on the end of his life, his tragic death, and I’d rather remember the best of times. I like the mixtapes because they lure me into rocking out into amnesia. I forget about the fact that MJ isn’t here anymore, because the music makes him immortal. (Whoa. That was corny.)
Now, if they decide to show Moonwalker in IMAX theaters, I’m there. Until then, I suppose I’ll just spend my time arguing that the demo version of P.Y.T. is better than the one that appeared on Thriller. And if I want to buy something to commemorate his life, I’ll cop one of those lithographs. The commercial for them is alarming, problematic, and funny as hell:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ3h4FOaBD0
(Yes, you heard that right. They said that his white suit was “as pure as his heart.”)
I’m curious: Will you see This is It? Did you see it? What did you think?
Hey Summer,
I saw it on Monday. I must say it was beautiful. It showed that Micheal Jackson is an amazing artist even in a constant state of surveillance and ridicule. Yes, in many ways my heart ached because I realized as I watched the movie that the world we live in can fuck you up when you do not conform to dominant social norms especially appropriate gender roles.
I know you listen to your mix tape, but I will say as someone who initially said she would not see it was moved to tears by it. My tears where not only because of his passing, but because we do not know how to cherish (not tolerate) people for who they are. But it was beautiful.
Hey Summer,
I saw it on Monday. I must say it was beautiful. It showed that Micheal Jackson is an amazing artist even in a constant state of surveillance and ridicule. Yes, in many ways my heart ached because I realized as I watched the movie that the world we live in can fuck you up when you do not conform to dominant social norms especially appropriate gender roles.
I know you listen to your mix tape, but I will say as someone who initially said she would not see it was moved to tears by it. My tears where not only because of his passing, but because we do not know how to cherish (not tolerate) people for who they are. But it was beautiful.