The team behind the new biopic “Michael” had a lot planned when they started the project a few years ago. Director Antoine Fuqua, screenwriter John Logan and producers Graham King, John Branca and John McClain wanted to make a lot of money for Lionsgate, keep the Michael Jackson estate happy with a healthy dose of nostalgia for the singer’s heyday, wipe away any hint of the frightening allegations of abuse that dogged him in his later years – and possibly lay the foundation for an expanded Jackson Family film universe. (How long until we get Control: The Janet Jackson Story?)
What doesn’t seem to have particularly concerned them is fidelity to historical events. But to be honest, that’s not the job of a biopic. As we have already stated in fact-checking articles on films about Queen, Elton John, Mötley Crüe, Amy Winehouse, Bob Dylan and the Sex Pistols: If you want to learn something about music history, pick up a book or watch a documentary.
The Bruce Springsteen film “Deliver Me From Nowhere” is a rare exception – but there, historical accuracy was easier to achieve because the film is limited to little more than twelve months between 1981 and 1982. “Michael” begins in 1966 and fast forwards to 1988. Too much time for just 140 minutes. Big events have to be skipped completely, others are dealt with in seconds – and the chronology becomes quite flexible.
Invented and distorted
And in the great tradition of the biopic, other things were simply invented or distorted beyond recognition. (When one of the producers himself appears as a character in the film – as in “Michael” and the Brian Wilson film “Love and Mercy” – you can expect him to be portrayed as a flawless demigod.) Here’s a non-exhaustive guide to the factual errors in “Michael.”
Rebbie Jackson exists
When the film begins in 1966, the oldest Jackson sibling, Rebbie, is 16 years old, still attending school and still living at home. She doesn’t appear at the dinner table, nor in the living room during band rehearsals – and nowhere else in the cramped Jackson household. Maybe she was always with friends in these scenes, but it looks like her existence was simply erased in this version of the story.
Randy Jackson too
Randy Jackson, the youngest of the six Jackson brothers and the second youngest sibling overall, was five years old when the film begins. He began performing live with the Jackson 5 in 1971, essentially becoming the sixth member, taking on a larger role in 1975 when the group left Motown and Jermaine dropped out – and even co-wrote 1979’s “Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground).” At least in reality. In the film he was simply never born.
Where are you, Janet?
When the film jumps to 1968, Michael should have a little sister named Janet. She is the youngest of the nine Jackson children, moved to California with the family in 1970, performed live with them from 1974, made her TV debut the following year, starred in “Good Times” from 1977 and released her first album in 1982. But in the universe of “Michael”, La Toya is the only daughter – Janet is not mentioned with a single syllable. “I wish everyone was in the movie,” La Toya told Variety. “She was asked and politely declined, you have to respect that.” (Randy Jackson now manages Janet, and the two probably agree on their stance on the film.)
Gladys Knight was not there
The Jackson 5 did not open for Gladys Knight and the Pips in July 1968
As the film shows, the Jackson 5 performed at the Regal Theater in Chicago on July 12, 1968. In the film they opened for Gladys Knight and the Pips. In reality, they opened for Bobby Taylor & The Vancouvers. Actress Liv Symone delivers a gorgeous Gladys Knight impersonation on “I Heard It through the Grapevine,” and the Jacksons would meet Knight many times in the future – just not that night.
Suzanne de Passe wasn’t at the Regal Theater either
As Colman Domingo’s Joe Jackson watches the Jackson 5 at the Regal Theater, waiting for the slightest misstep to warrant a beating later, Motown’s Suzanne de Passe (Laura Harrier) steps out of the wings and hands out her business card. In reality, it was headliner Bobby Taylor who brought the group to Motown’s attention and arranged the audition. Mind you, De Passe played a huge role in the group’s rise – she just wasn’t on the shelf that night. (The Jackson 5 also briefly recorded for Steeltown Records before signing with Motown. The film doesn’t show this, but it doesn’t explicitly contradict it either. It’s more of an omission than an inaccuracy. If we focused on all of the omissions in “Michael,” this article would be longer than “War and Peace.”)
“Off the Wall” wasn’t Michael’s solo debut
When the film jumps to 1977, Michael (now played by Jaafar Jackson instead of the young Juliano Valdi) is desperate to make solo records. He doesn’t dare ask his father directly and persuades two record company managers to do it for him. Joe agrees – as long as the sessions take place at night and do not interfere with Michael’s work with his brothers. “He can do whatever he wants in his free time,” says Joseph, “as long as he keeps working with his brothers. From nine to five, his ass is mine. After that, it’s up to him whether he wants to record an album at midnight.” Not a word about Michael’s solo debut “Got To Be There” from 1972, the one that followed shortly after, “Ben”, “Music & Me” from 1973 or “Forever Michael” from 1975. “Off the Wall” was actually his fifth solo album – although it was the first for Epic after his long time with Motown.
Randy’s role was kept secret
The Jacksons weren’t a quartet after Jermaine’s departure
After “Off the Wall” hits and Michael becomes a real superstar, Joe Jackson urges the brothers to go on tour and capitalize on their success. One asks how they’re going to tour without Jermaine. “Your brother made his choice when we left Motown and he stayed,” Joseph says. “The point is: We have to exploit Michael’s album.” It sounds like they haven’t toured since Jermaine’s departure in 1975 and hardly thought it was possible. But Randy filled the gap, and between 1976 and 1978 they played a lot of concerts as a five-piece. The 1979 Destiny tour wasn’t a premiere – and it started before “Off the Wall” was even released. The film depicts them as their first tour in years and shows them as a quartet because Randy simply doesn’t exist in the film.
Bubbles came into the picture later
In one of the film’s most unintentionally hilarious moments, Michael surprises his family sometime around 1979 by adopting a CGI-animated baby chimpanzee named Bubbles. Bubbles wasn’t born until 1983. (We also doubt that he played Twister with Michael – but we’ll let that pass.)
The giraffe also came later
As cliche as it sounds, Michael Jackson actually had a baby giraffe on the family property in Encino, California, before moving to Neverland. This caused quite a stir because he did not have a permit to keep an exotic animal and had to give the animal to a private animal shelter. But that didn’t happen until 1986. In the film, the giraffe can be seen on the property a good six years earlier.
Branca as savior
Michael fired Joseph earlier than portrayed
In the film, Movie-Michael finds a selfless savior when he hires John Branca (Miles Teller) as his lawyer. (By coincidence, Branca also produced the film.) Branca’s first official act: to fire Joseph as Michael’s manager via fax. The document in the film is dated 1981. In reality, Michael separated from his father two years earlier – shortly after he turned 21.
Michael didn’t have the idea for the title song for “Thriller”.
“Michael” devotes a lot of time to the creation of “Thriller,” and Jackson pins song titles on the wall piece by piece as the album takes shape. He insists that one last song is missing. The inspiration for “Thriller” comes from watching old horror films at home. But Michael Jackson didn’t write “Thriller.” The song is solely credited to Rod Temperton.
“I met Michael,” Temperton told M magazine in 2012 — mentioning that he originally called the song “Starlight.” “He loves movies, so I came up with the idea of writing something really theatrical… This was so clearly a big production that it had to be the title track – but there were no lyrics yet, and ‘Starlight’ just wasn’t enough. It had to be mysterious, fitting for Michael’s changing persona. Every night I went back to the hotel and started writing tracks. One night ‘Midnight Man’ came to me. Quincy said I was on the right track, but it wasn’t right yet. The next morning it came to me – but it was a really stupid word to sing: ‘Thriller’. It sounded terrible. But we got Michael to spit it into the microphone a few times and it worked.”
MTV chronology misrepresented
The MTV chronology is not correct at all
Once the film reaches the “Thriller” era, you lose track of the timeline. Sometime after filming the “Thriller” video in October 1983, Michael visits CBS Records president Walter Yetnikoff (played wonderfully by Mike Myers) in his New York office. Jackson urges him to persuade MTV to play his videos. “MTV almost never plays Black artists,” Yetnikoff says. “I don’t know why. Maybe they don’t want to scare the white kids in the suburbs.”
While it’s true that MTV initially played predominantly white artists and gave little space to R&B or soul, the extent of this has been greatly exaggerated over the years. Even in the earliest days, Eddie Grant, the Specials, Donna Summer, Musical Youth and other black artists were regulars on the program.
In the film, Yetnikoff calls MTV CEO Bob Pittman and yells at him. “If you don’t play ‘Billie Jean’ in the next ten minutes, I’ll pull every CBS artist from your program,” he says. “Bruce Springsteen, Cheap Trick, Charlie Daniels, Billy Joel. Cyndi Lauper, Bob Dylan. You can put them all in a plastic bag, dip the bag in Crisco and then shove it up your ass.”
That’s a story Yetnikoff liked to tell, and some version of it may have actually happened. But not at this point. MTV began airing “Billie Jean” on March 10, 1983, followed by “Beat It” on March 31. By the time the “Thriller” video was filmed in October, Michael was already the face of MTV. They didn’t have to be threatened with losing their Charlie Daniels videos in order to play his stuff – they counted the seconds until they could show “Thriller” for the first time and then repeat it what felt like 50,000 times.
The Victory Tour with all siblings
On the Victory Tour, all six Jackson siblings appeared on stage
The final act of “Michael” revolves around Joseph’s desperate attempts to persuade Michael to tour with his brothers after the success of “Thriller.” As the film shows, Don King was there as a promoter and brought Pepsi on board as a sponsor. Jermaine also returned for the tour. In reality, all six siblings were there. You only see five in the film because Randy simply doesn’t appear in the plot. However, the film ends with a clear hint of a sequel. Things get tricky when they get into the 1990s – with the first allegation of abuse in 1993. If that happens, one can expect a much longer list of factual corrections than this one.
