Living with Michael Jackson (2003)
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Journalist Martin Bashir spends months with pop icon Michael Jackson to explore his personal life, childhood, and controversial relationships.
The story
Journalist Martin Bashir interviews American singer Michael Jackson over several months, beginning with a tour of Jackson's Neverland Ranch. During the documentary, Jackson discusses his family, his unhappy childhood, and his history of plastic surgery. The film follows Jackson to various locations, including a hotel in Las Vegas and a trip to Berlin. Throughout the process, Bashir explores Jackson's personal life, his relationships with children, and his motivations for changing his physical appearance, while Jackson attempts to explain his actions and his role as a father.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
The documentary begins at Neverland Ranch, where Michael Jackson and Martin Bashir tour the grounds and engage in a go-kart race. Jackson discusses his songwriting process and recalls memories of abusive treatment by his father, Joe. The film moves to the Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas, where Jackson speaks about his love life and children, Prince and Paris (who wear masks). Jackson then travels to Berlin, visiting the zoo and a charity auction where he receives a humanitarian award. Back at Neverland, Jackson discusses his support for Gavin Arvizo and explains that his greatest inspiration comes from children. In the final interview in Miami, Jackson addresses his plastic surgery, claiming it was to facilitate his singing. Bashir repeatedly questions Jackson about allowing children into his room; Jackson defends this as natural for close friends and family, citing Macaulay and Kieran Culkin as examples of children who have slept in his bed, strongly denying any sexual motivation. Following the broadcast, Jackson felt betrayed, claiming the film presented a distorted view of his behavior.
- First release year
- 2003
- Runtime (minutes)
- 110
- Production countries
- United Kingdom
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Julie Shaw
- Cast and characters
- Michael Jackson · Michael Jackson; Martin Bashir · Martin Bashir
- Genres
- Documentary
- Themes
- Childhood trauma; Public image vs. private life; Parenting; Plastic surgery
- Tone and mood
- Controversial; Intimate; Investigative
- Premise and plot tags
- Documentary; Biography; Celebrity; Interview
- Reception
- The documentary was highly controversial, leading to Jackson feeling betrayed and releasing a rebuttal. It received mixed reactions, with some critics slamming it as typical British journalism and others defending Jackson's character.
- Awards and nominations
- Bambi Awards · humanitarian award · win
- Production trivia
- The BBC produced a special spoof parody of the documentary titled 'Lying to Michael Jackson'.; The documentary was parodied in the British sketch comedy series Bo Selecta.; Jackson sold the rebuttal footage to Fox for £1.6 million despite an NBC bid of US$5 million.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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