We don't like friction. Like we are actively as a society, and I just mean this very loosely and obviously not everyone, but I do think as a general rule, we are trying to avoid friction at all costs. It's not just in our art, but it's also in the way we move about the world. It's about the way we interact with our loved ones. It's the way we avoid having tough conversations and calling things out as they are.

And I know this is just a movie. I know it's just a biopic. I know it's just like it's

entertainment, but all of those things flow in and out of the way we move in the real world and our reactions

to the way things work in the real world.

A warning to listeners, this episode contains discussion of child sexual abuse.

I recently saw Michael, the feature film directed by Antoine Fukuwa, with editorial guidance from the Jackson family.

And like a lot of celebrity biopics blessed by a family trying to protect its legacy, the film is hagiographic, entertaining, and somewhat perplexing.

It opens with the Jackson brothers practicing a song

and dance routine at their home in Gary, Indiana in 1966. You see the rise of the Jackson

five, alongside the abuse Michael faced at the hands of his strict father, Joe Jackson. Then, as a

childlike, stunted adult, Michael attempts to break free from his father's control,

while Joe keeps trying to guilt him back into the family band.

The movie ends in 1988, skirting the allegations of child sexual abuse that Michael Jackson later faced,

as three bold words appear on the screen.

His story continues.

I watched this film soon after rereading Margo Jefferson's on Michael Jackson. In it, she describes the quote, perverse appeal of

child stardom and the lonely divided self that emerges as child stars become adults. That tension

was laid bare and Michael, even if that wasn't what the filmmakers intended.

To get into this, I'm here with Aisha Harris, NPR critic and co-host of Pop Culture Happy Hour.

Welcome back to the show, Aisha.

Hello, Brittany.

Hello, hello. I'm Brittany Luce, and you're listening to It's Been a Minute from NPR, a show about what's going on in culture and why it doesn't happen by accident.

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