This  Really  Is  It !

By Hubert  Williams
Boston, Massachusetts, Nov 7, 2009 – – HAD Michael Jackson lived beyond the time of his sudden death on June 25, fans would have lost the best of him, for the true genius of the man so spectacularly demonstrated in the feature film “This Is It!” would have been masked within a harshly edited, professionally refined and theatrically finished production for presentation as 50 concerts in London’s massive O2 Arena (27 concerts between July 13 and September 29; a three-month break; then resuming January 7, 2010, for a 23-concert run to March 6).

Thus, forced by his death into a reversal of intent, the producers of “This Is It!” have brought to the screen an enthralling two hours of the world’s foremost entertainer still at the top of his art – singing, dancing, choreographing, directing, advising, embracing, always asking more of the cast, seeking perfection: indeed, liberally sharing his genius, and his humanity, creating greater harmony in the highly talented multi-ethnic group that made up his singers and dancers with frequent assurances that “I love you.”
And he spared not himself, for throughout “This Is It!” Jackson was movement personified. He was tireless, athletic, sleek and seemed physically fit – in excellent condition for two-score-and-ten.

His movements were like creations from out of space, and no wonder, for this ultimate professional had spent much of his teenage years studying and improving upon the classic dance movements of such Hollywood maestros as Fred Astaire and Gene Kelley, as well as Black tap-dancers.
What turned out to be his final night of rehearsals in California was extremely energetic and full of action. No one could have thought that death lurked so very closely.

But as much as “This Is It!” presents during its fascinating two-hour run, the producers have said that its contents were but a small portion of an available 100 hours of video-taped rehearsals for the planned series of concerts for which the organisers reported ticket sales had already assured sold-out audiences.
Britain had expected a billion-pound boost to its economy directly related to the Jackson concerts.

I attended a screening of the film in a Boston cinema, and to me, an almost everlasting fan of Michael Jackson (who always mesmerized with his poetry — for that was what many of his songs were — amazing music, his singing, dazzling dance moves and colourful costumes) the Fall season was the perfect period for release of this film.
At this time, Boston is a magnificent landscape of colour, as the Maple, Oak, Cherry and so many other large trees and shrubbery go through nature’s preparation to conserve energy and food during winter for ensuring abundant rebirth at springtime… much as Michael Jackson’s death in June led the great minds behind “This Is It!” to produce a masterpiece for release in November.

The city, nay, New England entirely, is aglow in vibrant colour – reds, greens, yellows, pinks, and others, with each gust of wind adding countless thousands more dying leaves to the browning carpet on the ground, continually deteriorating to mulch the new growth of next spring.

Even now, as chipmunks feast excitedly, while also collecting and carefully storing their winter ration of acorns from the giant oak trees, unexpected additional colour has come from the rose bushes in our garden. They have been fooled by unseasonal good days (70-plus degree Fahrenheit), and have begun budding again, producing new many-splendoured blooms.
As we sat transfixed in the cinema by the energy from the screen, I did not see anyone rise for a ‘restroom call’ the entire two hours; and my grandson Mark Leon Anderson, just 3 and already conversant in English and Spanish, also never wavered in his focus on what was unfolding on the screen.

When the film ended, I said to myself:  “Thank you Michael… This really was “IT.”
The cast had been assembled from across the world, each member superb in his/her own art, and personally selected by Michael Jackson from among thousands who had been flown to London for auditions.
The result was surreal. Imagine lead guitarist Orianthi Panagaris and rhythm guitarist Thomas Organ playing together, with Alfred Dunbar’s bass and keyboardists Michael Bearden and Morris Pleasure.

I had heard Judith Hill sing beautifully during the television presentation of Michael Jackson’s funeral, but in the film her tones were so much more strident… richer. There is much of the film to which superlatives could apply, but especially in his re-creation of the “Thriller” graveyard video sequence Michael Jackson exceeded its original brilliance.
As intimated earlier, this film will likely help the world towards a deeper appreciation of the true measure of the man – his genius — rather than a continued embrace of the media idiocy of ‘Wacko Jacko’… understanding his sincere love of people and deeply expressed concern for the environment, the continuing degradation of which we are all now witnessing.

When he debuted as a sensitive writer with “Moon Walk” in 1988, outstanding admirer Jackie Kennedy Onassis had called Michael Jackson an innovative and exciting songwriter, whose dancing seemed to defy gravity. She had thought that his public might have been unaware of the extent of his dedication to his craft…”restless, seldom satisfied, he is a perfectionist who is constantly challenging himself.”

Michael Jackson kept alive the child in us; and his interaction with, and impact on, children everywhere was almost legendary (though media-distorted) and one of the most memorable demonstrations of his considerable outreach came with the tragedy in Liverpool, England, in 1993, when two-year-old James Bulger was abducted from a supermarket (where his mother was shopping), murdered by two boys aged 10 and 11 and left on the railway tracks where a passing train cut the body in two.
Even as young as he was, James loved music, his favourite song being Michael Jackson’s “Heal The World”;  and when, at the request of his parents, it was played as part of the funeral service, the church wept.

It was to me both a privilege and a disaster to have possessed the fantastic 25th anniversary pictorial publication of the Jackson Five along with 82 songs on four CDs, the four having subsequently disappeared in a mystery that I have never been able to fathom.
Anyhow, back to Michael Jackson’s place as a 20th Century/21st Century phenomenon:  In time to come, I think, historians will contend over which single event in the United States during 2009 commanded greater global attention and generated wider poignancy – the inauguration of Barack Obama as the first ‘Black’ in the Presidency or the death of Michael Jackson.

Despite the intentions of his rabid media, Michael Jackson’s fan base was hugely spread across geographical, political, religious, ethnic, generational and other cultural boundaries.
He was surely the world’s greatest ever mega-star, multi-talented as was no other. And when he died, many who had long acknowledged his supremacy in the art of music and dancing, but who had also exulted over the Obama victory, came to recognise a significant difference in the two events.

Millions cried unabashedly as cameras captured the shock responses everywhere; and there were others who would have wept for him, without intending to weep.
Melancholic and in silence, they had heard the news; stood still with their thoughts. As I did. Our sense of ‘feeling’ then came into play as a questing forefinger moved upward to test the territory of the cheek, and found it moist; because, silently, the eyes were regretting what a monumental loss the world had suffered.

Anyone who knew me well, knew me hardly if they did not know how deeply I would be touched by Michael Jackson’s death.
It may well be that Michael Jackson (when his true contribution, and impact on the entire world, has been accurately evaluated), will be nominated for a posthumous award of the Nobel Peace Prize. I would expect that to be much less a surprise, indeed much more widely acclaimed, than the 2009 award to President Barack Hussein Obama.