Egypt News

Fans often sat outside his Encino estate fruitlessly hoping to catch a glimpse of the pop icon. In the newly released This Is It documentary directed by Kenny Ortega, Jackson's enthusiastic and humanistic approach to his preparation for his imminent tour seems tragic in light of his recent untimely death. It seemed as though Jackson was affecting his fans with tragic emotion both at his zenith and in death.

The demise of the King of Pop parallels the “other King”, Elvis' death, uncannily. Jackson officially died of cardiac arrest, though there is speculation prescription medication he was taking for insomnia may have been a factor. The film, however, centers around footage shot at the Staples Center and Forum in Los Angeles as Jackson and his crew prepared for the This Is It tour which included a record sold-out, 50 night stand at the O2 Arena in London. Jackson told British fans it would be his last tour.

The film demonstrates how professional Jackson was in his approach to preparing an elaborate, large-scale production like This Is It with it's hydraulic stage mechanics that launched dancers out of the stage floor and into the air. Jackson's gentle insistence on making the show as he imagined was reminiscent of a benevolent film director who although friendly, is still firm and focused when dealing with the cast. One could see the drive which fueled Jackson's intensity during the rehearsals while he still maintained his gentle, loving persona with the crew. It was hard to imagine this person doing some of the things he was publicly accused of.

Even in rehearsal, Jackson appeared to lose himself in his performing. He genuinely loved the stage, dancing and foremost, music. Ortega's direction translated Michael's love of his art with a transparency that made simple scenes of This Is It rehearsals into raw, emotional moments (in the context of his death) for the viewer. There's an innocence (yes, I said innocent & MJ in the same sentence) to his childlike playfulness on stage. The way Kevin Masur's camera managed to catch his shy, pleased smile at the end of a particularly good take conveyed a boyishness and honesty that fans obviously gravitated towards

There are several takes of various crew members and performers talking excitedly about working with Michael. These scenes are edited with tact, so the audience gets a sense of what it was like to work with Michael from a co-worker's perspective without being too gushy. There were scenes of the dancers cheering on Michael as he danced solo through a song, but that is about necessarily corny as this film got.

This Is It predictably portrays Jackson as a well-meaning, world-reknown performer equally concerned with the environment and people as with making great music but it does so without being overtly sentimental. Relying on the lyrics to Man in the Mirror to speak Michael's final words to posterity was a wise choice. They're powerful words by themselves, sung by Jackson to his music speaks the listener's emotional and morally intellectual side:

I'm starting with the man in the mirror
I'm asking him to change his ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you want to make the world a better place
then take a look at yourself and make a change
Couldn't have said it any better. Awww jeez, now we're all emotional again Michael . . .here's video . . .

EGYPT NEWS

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