Line #15 Film/ManInTheMirrorTheMichaelJacksonStory


1	[[quoteright:299:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mitm_the_michael_jackson_story.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:299:The price of fame is often a hard one to pay...]]
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4	''Man in the Mirror: The Michael Jackson Story'' is a 2004 MadeForTVMovie about the life of pop superstar Music/MichaelJackson, produced for {{Creator/VH1}}. Made to capitalize on the media circus surrounding Jackson's 2004 child molestation trial, [=VH1=] released it ''a month'' before it began.
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6	A SpiritualSuccessor to the 1992 miniseries ''Series/TheJacksonsAnAmericanDream'', the movie picks up where the miniseries left off and focuses on Jackson (portrayed by Flex Alexander) from his peak during the ''{{Music/Thriller}}'' era to the 2004 "People V. Jackson" trial that had just begun when the film originally aired.
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8	While the film had good intentions, critics and fans alike panned the film for its unflattering depiction of the King of Pop, and the man himself released a statement denouncing it. Conversely, Flex Alexander's portrayal as Jackson was mostly praised, and earned him an NAACP Image award nomination.
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10	!!This film contains examples of:
11	* ArtisticLicenseHistory:
12	** The movie shows the infamous baby dangling incident happening in 2003 around the same time as the ''Living With Michael Jackson'' documentary. Said incident actually happened in 2002, a year earlier.
13	** Michael remains black for the majority of the movie until he gets married to Debbie Rowe in 1996, despite being diagnosed with vitiligo early on. In reality, Jackson's lightening skin tone first became noticeable in the mid-80s and he had lost virtually all his pigment by 1992.
14	* {{Biopic}}: But unlike ''An American Dream'', it did not receive Michael Jackson's blessing or authorization.
15	* ForegoneConclusion: It's common knowledge that Michael Jackson eventually went to court over his child molestation accusations. What ''wasn't'' known at the time of filming was what the verdict would be.
16	* FriendToAllChildren: Michael often opened up Neverland to let children stay over with him. Unfortunately, this comes around to bite him twice in the span of a decade.
17	* {{Jerkass}} Joe Jackson.
18	* MadeForTVMovie
19	* ManChild: Michael is portrayed as a careless, eccentric man who is living in his own fantasy world trying to relive a childhood he never had, virtually incapable of dealing with the adult world.
20	* RomanAClef: The names of the Jackson family and a few other celebrities aren't changed for obvious reasons, but the names of Jordan Chandler and Gavin Arvizo - the boys Michael Jackson was accused of molesting - were changed to Manny and David, respectively, to avoid legal issues. Same goes for their parents and some of Jackson's aides that were depicted in the film.
21	* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Series/TheJacksonsAnAmericanDream''.
22	* StockFootage: Used infamously during a scene that showed [=LaToya=] Jackson's notorious interview in Israel where she claimed her brother was a paedophile, and another that used actual footage of the baby dangling incident in 2002.
23	* WritingAroundTrademarks: Since the film was not authorized by Jackson, Creator/VH1 couldn't use his music or likeness save for some stock footage. As a result, album covers and various types of memorabilia were re-shot with Flex Alexander standing in, with anything from ''Music/{{Bad}}'' and onward depicting him in whiteface. And reenactments of live performances only had Flex dancing to music that didn't sound even remotely close to any of Jackson's hits.

Context Film / ManInTheMirrorTheMichaelJacksonStory