Recently, Charles Thomson published a review of Usher’s O2 Arena concert. In that article, Charles describes how Usher does more than simply pay homage to Michael Jackson.
One part in particular bothered me – the section where Usher alludes to filling Michael’s shoes.
Now, I could go on and on about my thoughts on this matter but I prefer to let these clever MJ fans say it for me. First, here is a Macro-manic’s take on the situation:
Hee Hee!
And then here Chili from TLC lets George Lopez and all of us know where she stands on that question!
(Opening scene – Michael with Prince, Paris, Nanny Grace and Mr. Bashir are leaving the Las Vegas shopping mall and getting back into their vehicle.)
BASHIR COMMENTARY: “…recently been joined by a new baby brother and he was back at the hotel with his nanny.”
April 24th 2002 - Proud papa Michael introduces 2 month old Blanket to President Clinton
BASHIR: “…so we’re not going to Virgin?”
MICHAEL: “No, no we can’t…”
BASHIR: “It’s crazy out here…”
BASHIR (off camera): “You’ve recently had your third child.”
MICHAEL (off camera): “Yes.”
BASHIR (off camera): Were you present for his birth?”
MICHAEL (off camera): “Yes.” (Cut to Michael sitting in his suite at the Four Seasons Hotel as Mr. Bashir asks the next question)
BASHIR (off camera): “And what’s he like…and what’s his name?”
MICHAEL: “Prince Michael…uh…the second - but we call him Blanket.”
BASHIR (off camera): “You call him Blanket?”
MICHAEL: “Yeah.”
BASHIR (off camera): “Why do you call him Blanket?”
MICHAEL: “Cause…um…it’s an expression I use with my family and…my employees…I say: ‘You should blanket me…I mean, you should blanket…her with something, meaning…like a…A blanket is a blessing… (00:00:40. Cut to a shot of a baby’s crib then a close of up of the blanket lining that crib where the words “Best friends” is visible) …it’s a way of showing love and caring.”
BASHIR (off camera): “Who is Blanket’s mother?”
(00:00:47. Cut back to Michael) MICHAEL: “Blanket’s mother? I can’t say…because she will be bombarded with…uh…you know…we have an agreement that we can’t uh…a contractual agreement…talk about…who she is and everything…that’s how we worked that out.”
BASHIR (off camera): “And…was she someone that you had a relationship with?”
MICHAEL: “Yes.”
BASHIR (off camera): “But you’ve kept it secret?”
MICHAEL: “Yes.”
BASHIR (off camera): “And…that’s because she doesn’t want anybody…to know?”
MICHAEL: “Yes and I don’t want anybody to know. I don’t think…She doesn’t want to be like…in papers and tabloids...and she doesn’t want it and I don’t blame her. Cause she knows how scum… (Michael pauses and grimaces apologetically) bag their comments can be, you know?”
BASHIR (off camera): “Does…do any of the mothers live with you now?”
MICHAEL: “Live with me now?”
BASHIR (off camera): “Yeah.”
MICHAEL: “No.”
BASHIR (off camera): “And… is that difficult…for you and the children?”
MICHAEL: “No. No, why would it be difficult?”
BASHIR (off camera): “Are the children not looking for their mother?”
MICHAEL: “No, they’re fine. How many babies live with their mothers and they don’t have a father around? Nobody say nothing, you know…No, they’re having a good time…”
BASHIR (off camera): “So with you, it’s the other way round?”
MICHAEL: “Yeah”
BASHIR (off camera): “They live with their Dad?”
MICHAEL: “They’re having a great time…they have enough women in their lives…they’re everywhere. (Off camera Bashir laughs) Women are everywhere in my house. I mean they…they’re with them all day long.
BASHIR (off camera): “What would you say to somebody who says that’s a bit strange…that none of your children have their mother?”
MICHAEL: “People can always have a judgment about anything you do so it doesn’t bother me. Everything can be strange to someone. This interview is strange to some people out there so who cares, right?”
♫ Introduction to “Smooth Criminal” from the 1987 album Bad starts to play
(00:02:28. Cut to a night scene depicting a taxi driving through the streets of Berlin. Inside the cab is Mr. Bashir. The streets are lined with cheering fans and the sound editor has captured the noise of the crowd.)
BASHIR COMMENTARY: “But thousands of miles away Jackson’s behavior as a father was about to come under serious scrutiny. A few weeks later, I went to meet him in Berlin and just as I was arriving this happened:”
(00:02:45. Cuts to interior shot and a close up of a television screen that has footage of Michael Jackson briefly walking out onto his hotel balcony to show his veiled baby to the fans waiting below him. The title credit comes up – for an in built commercial break – then the balcony scene is repeated again)
♫ Introduction to “Smooth Criminal” from the 1987 album Badstarts to play again
BASHIR COMMENTARY: (00:03:07. Cut to a shot taken from Michael’s hotel suite looking down to the excited fans below). “Michael Jackson had just dangled his new baby out of the window of a Berlin hotel. (00:03:12. Cut to Michael drawing back a curtain, before opening the door and stepping out onto the balcony to greet his fans) His fans outside were going crazy.” (00:03:19. Cut to footage taken from street level looking up to see Michael waving to his fans)
♪ “Came up to the window Sound of a crescendo”
“When I got up to his room I was worried – there was a manic quality(00:03:22. Cut back to interior shot. A delighted Michael is pointing out something below to the camera man) about him that I had never seen before - and he was loving the attention (00:03:29. Cut back to street level again where one of the fans is holding an ‘Invincible’ poster. The camera pans up to show Michael on the balcony) of the screaming fans outside the hotel.”
(00:03:34. Cut to a shot of a fan wearing an orange beanie blowing a bazooka and being twirled around by a fellow fan.)
♪ “Annie, are you okay, are you okay, are you okay Annie?”
(00:03:38. Cuts to a close up of a pillow Michael is autographing.)
BASHIR (off camera): “What does it say? (Bashir reads aloud :) ‘I love you with all my heart ~ Michael Jackson’ …that’s the hotel pillow?”
(Meanwhile his fans can be heard chanting in the background. 00:03:47. Cut to fans outside who become even more excited when Michael reappears on the balcony)
MICHAEL (off camera): “Yep!”
(00:03:50. Michael throws the autographed pillow down to the fans who all clamor to catch it)
♪ “Annie, are you okay, are you okay, are you okay Annie?
Annie, are you okay, will you tell us you’re okay
Your apartment…the blood stays on the carpet…”
(00:04:04. Cut to inside the hotel suite. Michael is coming in from the balcony and closes the door behind him)
BASHIR (off camera): “What were they singing earlier?”
MICHAEL: “F the Press – Michael you’re the best!”
BASHIR (off camera): “Say that again?”
MICHAEL: “F…that’s F.U.C.K.”
BASHIR (off camera): “F the Press…?”
MICHAEL: “F.U.C.K the Press – Michael you’re the best – but I’m not going to say the word…”
(00:04:18. Cut to a shot of the hotel corridor where a number of Michael’s security team are visible. Meanwhile, ‘Smooth Criminal’ is still playing…)
BASHIR COMMENTARY: “He’d arrived in Berlin after a week of appearances in a Los Angeles courtroom. (00:04:25. Cut to a shot of Michael [talking on a cell phone] walking down the hotel corridor with Mr. Bashir.) Media coverage of the court case said his face was disintegrating.” (Michael ends his call saying “Bye-bye!” and pulls a funny face at the camera before stepping into an elevator.)
♪ “outrage it was Sunday what a black day…”
MICHAEL: “Wasn’t that silly?
BASHIR:“Gonna be a tight fit!”
MICHAEL: “Wasn’t that silly?I make the worst faces!”
♪ “Annie, are you okay, are you okay, are you okay Annie?”
BASHIR:“What do you think of Berlin?”
MICHAEL: “I love Berlin!”
(00:04:44. Cut to a shot of a group of fans outside the hotel chanting “Michael, Michael, Michael”.)
BASHIR COMMENTARY: “As fans waited for another glimpse of their idol at the hotel, his motorcade sped off. I wanted to know if the articles about his face had hurt him.”
(00:04:52. Cut to a shot of Michael laughing inside his limousine.)
BASHIR (off camera): “What did you think of the press coverage of the court case?”
MICHAEL: “I haven’t seen any of that.”
BASHIR (off camera): “Because they were…”
MICHAEL: “I don’t talk about…I don’t watch TV…”
BASHIR (off camera): “No…”
MICHAEL: “I don’t look at tabloids. I hate tabloids. I think we should have a tabloid burning, just make mountains out of them…just burn it all! People should be more aware that it’s…completely not the truth. Its sensationalism…it’s uh…its ignorance, it really is.”
(00:05:22. Cut to a shot of the people/fans running alongside the moving vehicle with sirens blaring in the background. A female voice can be heard calling out “Michael!”)
MICHAEL (off camera): “Ignorance! Like what they did to poor Lady Diana. You know it was like…sick. She was being hunted by those people.”
BASHIR (off camera): “What did you think of the way they seemed to make such a fuss about your appearance in court - that seemed to be the big story?”
MICHAEL (off camera): “Awh…don’t pay attention to that.”
UNIDENTIFIED BRITISH MALE VOICE: “Film this guy man, film this guy!
(00:05:40. Cut to Michael who is pointing to something happening in front of the vehicle.)
MICHAEL: “Look, look, look, look!”
(The camera pans abruptly from Michael to what Michael is looking at. A man wearing white jeans and a black top is in front of the car and is pushed off the road by another person. The camera pans back to Michael who is laughing uproariously.)
UNIDENTIFIED BRITISH MALE VOICE: “The police pulled him out of here!”
BASHIR (off camera): “What was he doing?”
MICHAEL: “He was doing…”
BASHIR (off camera): “He was doing a Jackson dance!”
MICHAEL: “He was doing all my…Every time he starts the police pull him out…Every time! He can never get on a roll…Poor guy! (Michael laughs) Oh, he does the leg kick, the spin…he grabs his crotch…after that they take him out!”
♪ “the blood stays on the carpet…ADD LYRICS”
BASHIR COMMENTARY: “We were headed for a restaurant but Jackson’s army of devotees had got there first. They included his number one fan, who finally got to perform his dance.”
♪ “Annie, are you okay, are you okay, are you okay Annie?
Annie, are you okay, so Annie, are you okay…you’ve been hit by…
You’ve been hit by a Smooth Criminal”
(A man wearing white jeans, a black top and a black leather coat is filmed doing his impersonation dance.)
BASHIR (off camera addressing the No.1 fan): “How long you been doing that for?”
No. 1 FAN: “Uh….Since I was little.”
(00:06:36. Cut to a shot of Michael leaving the restaurant and being funneled into the vehicle by his security. Camera flashes are going off and the crowd is all vying for Michael’s attention.)
BASHIR COMMENTARY: “By the time we left, the atmosphere was becoming frenzied.”
(In the limo, there is Michael’s manager Dieter Weisner, Michael and Mr. Bashir)
MICHAEL: “No! I want some more posters. C’mon! More posters…”
DIETER: “Okay, okay, okay…”
MICHAEL: “Give me that one please…I want that one. C’mon! The babies…I want more!”
BASHIR (Off camera): “You want more? What is this?”
(Michael holds up one of the posters he has collected: it is a photo of a small boy, a toddler, with two yellow roses)
MALE MJ FAN (at the limo window): “Michael, can I come to your hotel maybe? I come all the way from Israel.”
(00:07:12. Cut to the crowd outside the limo. A male voice says “I’ll take care of it, okay? Relax” and a female responds “Thank you so much”)
BASHIR: “…jump in the car. Be careful!”
FEMALE MJ FAN (at the limo window): “Michael, can I get a hug?”
MICHAEL: “Let her. Let her. Let her…”
FEMALE MJ FAN (to security guard): “Let me in please.”
MICHAEL: “Let her. Let her. Let her…She won’t hurt me.”
(00:07:25.She is let in with her large poster. She then asks Michael :) I want to give you a hug, can I?”
MICHAEL: “Of course…I’ll give you more than a hug!”
(Michael hugs the fan. We hear someone say: “Sorry?”)
FEMALE MJ FAN: “Oh God, I love you!” MICHAEL: “I love you more.”
(The camera pans in for a close up of Michael holding the fan’s hand. Then they cut briefly to the scene outside the limo. When they cut back to the interior of the limo we hear someone say: “Careful…careful. Okay, close…close” as the fan is helped out of the limo.)
BASHIR COMMENTARY: “As Jackson headed back to the hotel a storm was brewing about the Blanket incident. (00:08:05. Switch from night time to day time – a shot of the media gathered outside Michael’s hotel.) The next morninghe was keen to show me how he cared for his children.”
(00:08:11. Cut to hotel room. Michael is about to feed baby Blanket as Mr. Bashir watches.)
MICHAEL (to Blanket): “I love you.” BASHIR: “Here he is.”
MICHAEL (to Blanket): “I have to give you the bottle...”
(Michael laughs nervously as he tries to place the bottle in Blanket’s mouth. To do so he has to lift the sheer scarf covering Blanket’s face – a smiling Mr. Bashir lifts the scarf. Michael utters a frightened “Wait, wait…Ah!” and “Here’s the bottle!” Blanket begins to cry at 00:08:18. )
BASHIR: “It’s okay. Just give yourself….”
MICHAEL (to Blanket): “Oh, please don’t cry, Blanket...okay…here we go…Abu! Abu! (Blanket stops crying at 00:08:28.) Yes….Abu! Blankets…Blankets…Blanket…Blanket…Blanket. I love you, Blanket! Yes…yes…yes… (The camera goes in for a close up of Blanket’s face. You can see Blanket look up at Michael as Michael says “I love you Blanket” Blanket then seems to be looking directly at the camera at 00:08:35. Michael switches the hand that is holding the bottle so he can move his hair off his face. He directs the next comment to Mr. Bashir :) I love my children…very much! (The camera pans to a head shot of Michael.) Yes…I don’t want him to cry.”
BASHIR (off camera): “Does he like his feed?”
MICHAEL: “Yes!”
(00:08:46.The editor has repeated the sequence where Blanket appears to be looking at the camera and Michael switches the hand holding the bottle. 00:08:50. Camera cuts to Michael’s lower legs which are twitching as he bounces Blanket on his lap before panning up to a full length shot.)
BASHIR (off camera): “Have you been hearing about what people have been saying?”
MICHAEL: “That’s totally ignorant. I would never do that to my children…or any child. Trying to kill them? C’mon, that’s stupid! And why would I put a scarf over the baby’s face if I was trying to throw(Michael growls the word ‘throw’) him off the balcony? (Michael looks directly at the camera as he says the next bit.)
“We were waving to thousands of fans down below and they were chanting they wanted to see my child…and I was kind enough to let them see. I was doing something out of innocence.”
(00:09:13. Cut to a close up of Blanket’s face. Michael, perhaps sensing this close up is being done, rearranges the scarf to better obscure Blanket’s features.)
BASHIR (off camera): “He’s hungry, isn’t he?”
(00:09:20. Cut to a head shot of Mr. Bashir smiling as he watches Michael feed Blanket.)
MICHAEL (off camera): “He loves milk this guy…It is good! (00:09:25. Cut to Michael who rises out of his chair, says “Thank you” and exits the room carrying Blanket.)
BASHIR COMMENTARY: “Jackson’s behaviour was beginning to alarm me. (00:09:34. Cut to footage of a black car driving along the road.) Later that day he took Prince & Paris to Berlin Zoo. (00:09:40. Cut to a shot of people running to follow Michael’s car.) It was supposed to be a family outing, but the press were out in force. (00:09:44. Cut to a shot of the car park. Prince wearing a sheer red scarf is standing outside the car; Michael’s arm is the only part of him that is visible and he seems to be exiting the car. Mr. Bashir is standing in front of Michael.) Somebody had helpfully tipped them off. (00:09:48. Cut to footage of security guards trying to fend off the paparazzi.) Michael was here to see the gorillas (00:09:52. Cut to Michael walking through the zoo. His security team is in front of him and the children and Security are using large open black umbrellas to shield the Jackson family from view.) but he seemed completely oblivious to the fact that the trip had descended...”
END OF PART 6 – NOW FOR SOME ANALYSIS/COMMENTARY of my own.
1. BASHIR COMMENTARY: “…recently been joined by a new baby brother and he was back at the hotel with his nanny.”
From the mjjtimeline.blogspot.com the Las Vegas shopping trip occurred sometime in September 2002, which would have made Blanket at least 6 months old at the time. Michael was able to keep the news of Blanket’s arrival a secret – his existence only became known to the public in early August after Michael visited with Siegfrid & Roy at The Mirage in Las Vegas.
Interestingly enough the film makers don’t show Blanket until Berlin, which was November 20. From his commentary, Mr Bashir implies he meets Blanket in Las Vegas, and perhaps he did. They may have chosen to not show any earlier footage because they want to maximise the impact of introducing him via the controversial Berlin visit. But given the disregard they have shown for Michael’s wishes in regards to filming his children, I suspect the footage they do show is the only film of Blanket they were able to obtain.
2. MICHAEL: “People can always have a judgment about anything you do so it doesn’t bother me. Everything can be strange to someone. This interview is strange to some people out there so who cares, right?”
I’ve deliberately not going to delve too much into the question of who Blanket’s mother is. I know Raven from Allforloveblog has her theories about this, and I look forward to reading them when she shares them with us. For me, I plan to discuss my thoughts on the matter of the children’s mothers in Part 8 and 9 of this series.
‘This interview is strange’ – oh, how right you are Michael! With the benefit of hindsight we can all see that Michael should never have agreed to do this interview with Mr. Bashir. As a fellow admirer of Princess Diana though, I can see how the 1995 interview with her would have lent credence to Mr. Bashir that he didn’t necessarily deserve. Anyone who got to interview a member of the royal family would seem to have passed the tests as to whether they were a professional journalist or not. 'Not' being the operative word in Mr. Bashir's case judging by his conduct.
3. (00:02:28. Cut to a night scene depicting a taxi driving through the streets of Berlin. Inside the cab is Mr. Bashir. The streets are lined with cheering fans and the sound editor has captured the noise of the crowd.)
To me, this is another ego boost, I think Mr. Bashir likes to imagine the adoring crowds are for him!
4. (00:02:45. Cuts to interior shot and a close up of a television screen that has footage of Michael Jackson briefly walking out onto his hotel balcony to show his veiled baby to the fans waiting below him. The title credit comes up – for an in built commercial break – then the balcony scene is repeated again)
Milking this incident for all it was worth...
5. ♫ Introduction to “Smooth Criminal” from the 1987 album Badstarts to play again
Unlike all the preceding Parts, only one song is featured in this 10 minute segment – Smooth Criminal. The fan in me says, so what – it’s a great song with a superb short film. But I doubt the film makers have chosen to feature this song on its merits. Rather, they intend to instil a negative frenetic atmosphere.
(Sorry I will have to come back and finish this later!)
