Jackson family trashes portrayal of white Michael
LONDON A British broadcaster said Friday it was cancelling a TV comedy starring Joseph Fiennes as Michael Jackson after the program was condemned by the late musician’s family.
Sky Arts said it has decided not to broadcast the program “in light of the concerns expressed by Michael Jackson’s immediate family.” It said Fiennes “fully supports our decision.”
Sky had been criticized for casting the white Shakespeare in Love star as the King of Pop in Elizabeth, Michael and Marlon.
The program also features Stockard Channing as Elizabeth Taylor and British actor Brian Cox as Marlon Brando.
Jackson’s daughter Paris tweeted that she felt angry after watching a trailer for the show, which was due to be broadcast next week.
“I’m so incredibly offended by it, as I’m sure plenty of people are as well, and it honestly makes me want to vomit,” she wrote.
“It angers me to see how obviously intentional it was for them to be this insulting, not just towards my father, but my godmother Liz as well.”
I’m so incredibly offended by it, as I’m sure plenty of people are as well, and it honestly makes me want to vomit.
Meanwhile, Jackson’s nephew Taj Jackson tweeted, “Unfortunately this is what my family has to deal with. No words could express the blatant disrespect.”
The show is an episode in the Urban Myths series, which Sky says looks at “remarkable stories from well-known historical, artistic and cultural figures, which may or may not have happened in real life.”
The episode explores a fictional account of a road trip between Jackson, Taylor and Brando, based on a disputed report published in Vanity Fair in 2011, that the three drove out of New York City together after the 9/11 attacks.
Sky said it was intended as “a lighthearted look at reportedly true events and never intended to cause any offence.”
Fiennes defended his casting last year on Entertainment Tonight, saying “Jackson definitely had an issue — a pigmentation issue — and that’s something I do believe. He was probably closer to my colour than his original colour.”
Fiennes also supported the idea of casting actors in roles without paying heed to skin colour:
“We’re looking for imagination and interpretation, and it doesn’t steal anything away from the true identity of that person. It might offer something new and fresh and funny; as long as it doesn’t become disenfranchising, racial or rude or stereotypical, then it’s the wrong place. But if it’s offering something else that’s positive in discussion, we have to entertain colour-blind casting at all levels.”
While there is a much maligned history of white actors portraying people of colour, the situation is even more complicated in Jackson’s case — his skin did lighten over the course of his life, but not by his own choice.
As The Washington Post’s Justin Wm. Moyer wrote when the controversy first reared its head, “Though stricken with vitiligo, a skin condition that lightened his complexion in patches, the singer who idolized James Brown was still black and proud.”
When speaking to Oprah about a rumour that he wanted a white child to portray him in a Pepsi commercial, Jackson responded: “Why would I want a white child to play me? I’m a black American. I’m proud to be a black American. I am proud of my race. I am proud of who I am. I have a lot of pride in who I am and dignity ... So please people stop believing these horrifying stories ... When people make up stories that I don’t want to be who I am, it hurts me.”