Nearly 17 years after his death, a new biopic about singer Michael Jackson's life (that has been in development for nearly as long) hit cinemas this week.
At the heart of the new film, starring Jaafar Jackson – Michael's real-life, 29-year-old nephew – is the “Bad” hitmaker's rise to fame in his family's band, The Jackson 5. While the story then continues to follow Michael's astronomical solo career, its main focus is on how the young star and his siblings were affected by their overbearing father, Joe Jackson.
That said, as Guardian critic Peter Bradshaw put it in his less-than-glowing review, the movie is “a frustratingly shallow, inert picture, a kind of cruise-ship entertainment, which can't quite bring itself to show that Michael was an abuse victim, brutalised by his father and robbed of his childhood.”
It also avoids the allegations of sexual abuse made against Michael Jackson completely, after an NDA agreement led to certain footage being scrapped from the movie.
Actor Colman Domingo, who plays Joe Jackson in the film, has since defended the movie from accusations of “whitewashing” the pop star's life, because of how its narrative ends in 1988. During an appearance on US talk show Today, Domingo said, "The film takes place from the '60s to 1988, so it does not go into the first allegations in, what, 2005," Domingo said. "So basically we centre it on the makings of Michael, so it's an intimate portrait of who Michael is."
"So that's what it is. That's what this film is," he added. “And there's a possibility of a part two that may deal with some other things that happened afterwards. This is about the making of Michael, how he was raised and then how he was trying to find his voice as an artist and be a solo artist. And then, the movie. . . That's what I have to say about that.”
Given that the film was financially backed by the Michael Jackson estate, it is not hard to see why the film perhaps feels quite surface-level. Just as recent “documentaries” about the Beckhams and Meghan and Harry have been scrutinised by viewers for their impartiality, we should look at any “true stories” being told by those close to the subject matter through a critical lens.
Still, the film does somewhat touch on the superstar's dad. Here's what has been said about their turbulent relationship.
Who was Joe Jackson?
Born in Fountain Hill, Arkansas in 1928, the talent manager and Jackson family patriarch was a complicated figure. Responsible for fostering some of the most successful music careers of all-time, Joe's talent for show business was not without cost.
At the time of Michael's death in 2009, the pair had been estranged for some time. The father of 11 then died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 89 in 2018.
“We want to thank you all for the support you have shown us as we grieve for the patriarch of our family. We mourn the loss of our father and celebrate the life of a man who sacrificed so much to give us the life and success we have today. Thank you for respecting our privacy during this time,” the family said in a statement to People at the time.
He had been battling the terminal disease for a while before his death, and despite his turbulent relationships with his kids, family members such as his grandsons Randy Jackson Jr. and Taj Jackson, as well as Prince Michael Jackson, Michael's son, paid tribute to “the king that made everything possible.”
Joe's wife and Michael's mother, Katherine, met in 1947 in Chicago. They married two years later, in 1949, and went on to have three daughters and seven sons between 1950-1966 (Joe having another daughter, Joh'Vonnie Jackson, from an extramarital affair).
Although Katherine filed for divorce on two separate occasions, she remained married to Joe until his death.
What allegations did Michael and Janet Jackson make about their father?
Over the years, both Michael and Janet Jackson had spoken about their father, detailing how his behaviour towards them was disproportionate to how he treated their other siblings, but still inflicted fear.
In the 2003 documentary Living with Michael Jackson with journalist Martin Bashir (known for his Panorama interview with Princess Diana), Michael admitted that he “didn’t have it as hard” as the rest of the members of The Jackson 5. Rather, he said his dad would use him “as the example” to pit him against his other siblings. “If you didn’t do it the right way, he would tear you up. Really get you […] It was always, ‘Do it like Michael, do it like Michael.’ I was nervous,” he said.
Janet, on the other hand, said she only experienced her father's temper like this once. “I was very young, I remember being younger than 8,” she recalled. “I can’t remember what it was that I did. I can’t remember if I truly deserved it […] My father never touched me aside from that time.”
Speaking to Piers Morgan before his death, the patriarch himself confessed to “whipping” his children. “Parents, they are too soft on their kids,” he commented. “There’s no such thing as beating a kid. You whip them and push them over something they did, and they remember that in a way that they will never do it again” (Via People).
In a 2003 interview with Louis Theroux for BBC documentary Louis, Martin & Michael, Joe admitted to whipping Michael with a switch and belt, claiming, “I never beat him. You beat someone with a stick.”
He was also said to verbally berate his children and threaten them by telling them he'd end their careers. Speaking during a taped conversation with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, which was published in a 2009 book on the pop star, Michael said, “And one day – I hate to repeat it – but one day he said, ‘If you guys ever stop singing I will drop you like a hot potato,’” Michael once recalled.
He added: “It hurt me. You would think he would think, ‘These kids have a heart and feelings.’ Wouldn’t he think that would hurt us? If I said something like that to [my kids] that would hurt. You don’t say something like that to children and I never forgot it” (via Today).
Michael confirmed this to Bashir, stating, “He didn’t want us to call him ‘Daddy,’ and I wanted to call him ‘Daddy’ so bad. He said, ‘I’m not Daddy, I’m Joseph to you.’ ”
Jermaine Jackson, their older brother, additionally commented on how “none of us can remember him [Joe] holding us or cuddling us or telling us ‘I love you’."
In his sit-down with Bashir, Michael described how his fear of his father ran deep – to the point he would faint and get sick in his presence.
He said he would get “so scared I would regurgitate. His presence – just seeing him. Sometime I’d faint and my bodyguards would have to hold me up."
During his conversation with Rabbi Shumley Boteach, Michael added: “I have fainted in his presence many times. I have thrown up in his presence because when he comes in the room and this aura comes and my stomach starts hurting and I know I am in trouble.”
Michael is out in cinemas now.
