Michael Jackson’s biopic and what it leaves out

About this episode

The episode discusses the new biopic 'Michael' and the narratives it omits regarding Michael Jackson's life and legacy.

A new estate-backed film, Michael, tells the story of Michael Jackson’s rise from Gary, Indiana to global fame, highlighting hits like Thriller and his record-breaking success. But it ends before major scandals, and it leaves out the US musician's race and politics, including his solidarity with Palestine. What story is being told, and what is being erased? In this episode:  Sherry Zane, Historian Episode credits: This episode was produced by David Enders and Sarí el-Khalili, with Spencer Cline, Catherine Nouhan and our host, Malika Bilal. It was edited by Noor Wazwaz and Tamara Khandaker.  Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad al-Melhem. Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer.  Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on X , Instagram , Facebook , and YouTube

People in this episode

Host: Malika Bilal

Guest: Sherry Zane

Topics covered

• Michael Jackson
• biopic
• scandals
• race
• politics
• music history

Keywords

• Michael Jackson
• biopic
• scandals
• race
• politics
• music
• history
• Palestine

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Al Jazeera

Books & works: Michael, Thriller

Places: Gary, Indiana, Palestine

More episodes of The Take

• Why Mo Amer jokes to survive · June 12, 2026 · 24 min
• Why Lebanon remains caught up in the Israel-Iran conflict · June 10, 2026 · 21 min
• FIFA World Cup: the politics and profits of the beautiful game · June 8, 2026 · 23 min
• Brief: Israel attacks Gaza tent camp . 100 days since US-Israel launched Iran war · June 7, 2026 · 8 min
• Another Take: How activists are fighting homelessness in Los Angeles · June 6, 2026 · 23 min
• The Ebola outbreak the world isn’t paying attention to · June 3, 2026 · 21 min