2026 Preface
A couple of years back, I saw “MJ: The Musical” on Broadway. As a ‘jukebox musical’, the 2021 production was well paced, beautifully acted and choreographed. The musical is set in the months before Michael Jackson’s planned 1992–1993 “Dangerous” World Tour, and suggests interesting parallels between the events in MJ’s life and the music and videos he created. The production went on to win four Tony Awards, including one for Myles Frost in the lead role.
As a follow-up to this award-winning production, I recently saw “Michael,” the 2026 biopic of Michael Jackson directed by Antoine Fuqua. The film details the artist’s life from 1966, during his time with The Jackson 5, up through his first solo tour in 1988 in support of his album, “Bad”. MJ is portrayed by his nephew Jafaar Jackson (son of J5 original Jermaine Jackson), who does a fine job of trying to recreate MJ’s magic.
I say “trying to recreate” because neither Myles Frost nor Jafaar Jackson could possibly embody the unique talent and artistry of one of the twentieth-century’s greatest and most influential performers. I had the great privilege of having seen Jackson in concert with his brothers on The Victory Tour and solo on The Bad Tour, both shown briefly in the 2026 film. But no depiction of MJ’s performances could capture the full power and intensity of his lion-like presence in concert. Though his classic albums remain historic moments in music and pop culture, his artistry on stage as the greatest song and dance man of his generation was unparalleled.
And in many respects, his music was a significant part of the soundtrack of the first decades of my own life.
The Jackson family is split down the middle on sanctioning the new film and critics have been similarly split, many voicing concern that its “sanitized” version of MJ’s life sidesteps controversial charges of child molestation, which first surfaced in August 1993 and led Jackson to resolve a civil lawsuit in 1994 with the family of Jordan Chandler. A second series of molestation charges led to a 2005 criminal trial, in which Jackson was acquitted. Arguably, his reputation didn’t begin to recover until after his untimely death at the age of 50 in 2009.
Conveniently, both the Broadway musical and the 2026 film end their time frame before any of this ugliness came to light. At the conclusion of the film, we are told “His Story Continues”, an obvious reference to a possible sequel film or films. And musically, there is much more to MJ’s story, considering the release not only of “Dangerous”, but of the double album, “HIStory”, and even MJ’s epic appearance at the 1993 Super Bowl Halftime Show.
Reportedly, the director had filmed material relevant to the Chandler charges, but these scenes were subsequently removed from the final print because they violated a clause in the civil settlement that barred the depiction or mention of Chandler in any movie.
Given these recent developments, I thought it would be a good time to reboot my 2019 essay, “Michael Jackson, Ten Years After: Man or Monster in the Mirror?” The essay was published on the tenth anniversary of MJ’s tragic death in 2009 and explores the question of whether allegedly ‘bad people’ can create ‘good art’. It can be found on Medium and Substack.
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