Critics didn’t love Michael and audiences basically went to see it in droves anyway. But, that doesn’t mean the critics were misguided in their analysis of the film.
This weekend, the Michael Jackson biopic looks poised to crush the box office. Already, Lionsgate’s movie has raked in more than $12 million on Thursday here in the United States. Current box office projections for Michael have the Antoine Fuqua-directed feature bringing in about $85 million in the territory alone.
But, as fans and contrarians alike stand to gloat over critics, does that really matter. On Rotten Tomatoes, Michael sits at 39%. Critics roundly lambasted the film. Make no mistake, the musical sections are a delight for longtime fans of the pop musician. But, aside from dynamite turns from Colman Domingo, Jaafar Jackson and Nia Long, there’s not a lot of weight to the proceedings.
Instead of having a real conversation about the merits of the film as a piece chronicling the life of Michael Jackson, folks on social media are taking legitimate criticism and reducing it to “haters.”
It’s a sad scene. But, moments like this become more prevalent as people’s desperation to be entertained takes over. “Good Vibes Only,” but for an entire culture. In some small way, it’s easy to understand why viewers, especially Black ones, would want to see one of the most influential entertainers ever have their story told with a new coat of gloss. Unfortunately, critics are not here to blanketly rubber stamp a movie. Even if the songs are good!
Michael creates divide between critics and audiences
In the same breath as that 39% on Rotten Tomatoes, Michael is Verified Hot with a 96% audience score. As with the entire late period of Jackson’s life and after his death, a lot of the audience just wants to dance and remember the good times with The King of Pop.
See, but that’s not a movie critic’s job, nor should it be. A lot of the time, these people’s job is to reflect on how a piece of media functions. And with Jackson, it’s hard to ignore some of the abuse allegations and the legal troubles he had later in life.
With Jackson’s estate being so heavily involved in the production, there’s reason to be skeptical about sanding the edges off of this story. That’s not just conjecture either. Previous reporting indicates that elements of this story have been altered during production. And as a result, it’s hard to keep those observations out of your impressions of the final product.
Even without that inside baseball, a lot of the critics writing now lived through the height of Michael Jackson’s popularity in the early 90s. He was at the literal top of the world and the court cases were the biggest story going. Making the choice not to delve into those elements and to focus mostly on the positives of this gargantuan star is puzzling.
What does Michael’s success tell us about fandom?
Michael may well break even more box office records for a musical biopic before its theatrical run is over. The fanbase is thrilled already. So, that likely won’t change. But, the kind of victory lap from the fans here is on-par with the strangest reactions of any online fanbase you will encounter. What does it say about the state of modern fandom that challenging dogma is met with outright contempt?
Heading into a historical moment where critical thinking and analysis are going to be more important than ever, a lot of our viewing public is all too ready to put that necessity aside to have a good time. “Thriller” is an objectively amazing song, but it’s not going to hurt anyone to think about how the person who made it behaved while they were alive. Two things can be true at once. I remember the time we all could have agreed on that.
(featured image: Lionsgate)
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