Saturday 31 October 2009

This is it!


I was never a fan of pop music nor any type of fake, made up things that tried to rid people of their hard earned dosh. I do enjoy a bit of reggae music, light banter and a bit of the west end type of stage plays. Never did I realise that I was a fan of Michael Jackson's; until yesterday that is!

It was my sister in law's birthday and wifey and I decided to take her to MJ's movie 'this is it' as she was quite a big fan of the man. I was never keen on watching this as I always thought that this was a money making stunt by bitter investors who couldn't make their money from the O2 concerts.

I always thought that MJ's story was one which was blown over proportionately. However, I realised that the man was indeed a true entertainer. It's a bit sad that I only realised this after the man's death.

The movie/documentary starts with a few interviews with some of the dancers who had come to take part in this concert from long and far as Australia. Some of them were in tears when they were speaking on camera and then it struck me that these people didn't know that MJ was dead at the time of these recordings. These were recorded before the death of MJ and the dancers were still in tears, such was the aura of the man. Imagine how distraught these dancers would've been after hearing the fate of their long time idol!

During the movie MJ gets involved in almost every aspect of the project. Starting from the music to the nitty gritty bits in various rhythms etc...The man certainly knew his music. All men taking part in rehearsals looked as if they were living a dream and creating part of history and all of them looked as if they wanted to be there. Money would've been a factor for them to be part of this gig but I know for sure that it was not the main motivational factor. If I'm to go by Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory, this was the moment they achieved 'self actualisation' or 'realisation'.

The 50 year old Michael Jackson was a far cry from what he was during his youth but he was a different man on stage. He commanded as if it was his own. He reminded me of a man possessed by music and I felt the enthusiasm and the passion that was running through this man. It was as if he had brushed aside all the criticism and risen as the great phoenix itself. The man was moving as swiftly and gracefully as an Olympic level ice skater and singing as good as any pop star alive today. This man had obviously been living and breathing his music, he know every step, chord and beat in his music. He epitomised the true meaning of the word 'passion'.

The movie ends with a song that we all never got to hear whilst the 'king' was alive. Generally when a movie ends and the names begin to appear on the screen, one by one, everyone tends to get up from their seats and walk down towards the exit slowly. But for the first time in my life I saw a movie theatre full of people, seated until the last note was sung and the last frame was shown. We all celebrated the life of a man who was surely a king to many people. Michael Jackson is physically no more but I have a feeling that we will not stop hearing about him anytime soon. He has left such a legacy and I'm sure the man will live longer in every one's hearts. If we were to take Shakespeare's greatest line literally; "all the world is a stage and we are mere actors", then this is the time do it, this certainly WAS IT.

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