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REVIEW: ‘Michael’
WFB ^ | 25 Apr 2026 | John Podhoretz

Posted on 04/25/2026 10:39:26 AM PDT by Rummyfan

The Michael Jackson biopic gives new meaning to the word 'sanitizing'

The new biopic about Michael Jackson offers snapshots of his life from ages 8 to 24. It doesn't have a plot, really, just a timeline in which he gradually moves toward separating himself from his abusive father. With the exception of his early plastic surgeries, which he ascribes to a desire to make his face more symmetrical, there's nothing remotely questionable about the behavior of the kid we see in Michael. He's gentle and childlike and in love with animals and toys and Peter Pan. We are meant to understand all this as a form of psychological protection from the soul-crushing violence and emotional blackmail committed against him by his father Joseph (played as an unadulterated demon in human form by the brilliant Colman Domingo).

The movie concludes with Michael having liberated himself from Joseph's tyranny and, now free to be truly himself, burning down the joint as he performs "Bad" at a concert in London in 1988. But this was not the original ending, according to the peerless Hollywood reporter Matt Belloni. As filmed, the last third of Michael centered on the child-molestation and rape accusations against Jackson that dominated the 1990s—but not in a way intended to complicate or deepen the movie's portrait of its subject.

(Excerpt) Read more at freebeacon.com ...


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To: dfwgator

😂


21 posted on 04/25/2026 1:06:00 PM PDT by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped)
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To: nickcarraway

When Michael Jackson was at the height of his popularity, the Baltimore Orioles started their season terribly—I think they lost the first 17 games. The joke was that both Michael Jackson and the Baltimore Orioles wore a glove on one hand for no apparent reason.


22 posted on 04/25/2026 2:48:16 PM PDT by Verginius Rufus
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To: nickcarraway

Did you see the whole movie?


23 posted on 04/25/2026 3:19:47 PM PDT by madison10
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To: nickcarraway

That is sad. I forgot, it came out yesterday, right?


24 posted on 04/25/2026 3:23:35 PM PDT by madison10
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To: Rummyfan

Normal grown men don’t spend an inordinate amount of time, or anytime, building a home with facilities to entertain other people’s children and holding sleepovers with them.

Making excuses for Jackson shows either a naivety or stupidity of how normal men interact with children.


25 posted on 04/25/2026 3:27:55 PM PDT by CaptainK ("No matter how cynical you get, it is impossible to keep up” )
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To: CaptainK

Making excuses for Jackson shows either a naivety or stupidity of how normal men interact with children.


Where were the girls?


26 posted on 04/25/2026 3:41:03 PM PDT by dfwgator ("I am Charlie Kirk!")
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To: dfwgator

The girls only got as far as the park rides.


27 posted on 04/25/2026 3:58:42 PM PDT by CaptainK ("No matter how cynical you get, it is impossible to keep up” )
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To: madison10
No. I don't usually like to see these biography movies. And it always seems like they are movies about a person the creators make up, not the real person.

Do they talk about what his father did to him. Classic case of arrested development. He had to support the family from a young age.

28 posted on 04/25/2026 4:05:37 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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