Sean Fennessy and Amanda Dobbins are joined by Yassi Salik from Band Splain to discuss two music-related films: the Michael Jackson biopic Michael directed by Antoine Fuqua and starring Jackson's nephew Jafar, and David Lowery's gothic fantasy Mother Mary featuring Anne Hathaway as a fictional pop star and Michaela Cole as her costume designer.

The episode explores how both films grapple with fame, creativity, and the complex psychology of pop stardom. The Michael discussion examines the film's sanitized portrayal of Jackson's life, while the Mother Mary segment delves into the creative partnerships behind iconic performers. The episode concludes with a live conversation with David Lowery recorded at Videots after a Mother Mary screening.

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Michael Jackson's Cultural Impact and Biopic Challenges

Michael Jackson represented an unprecedented level of global fame that 'nobody's like that anymore' - a cultural dominance impossible in today's fragmented media landscape

The film successfully recreates Jackson's iconic performances but fails to explore his psychology beyond surface-level recreation of existing footage

Peter Pan imagery appears repeatedly throughout the film with 'many cutaways to the book' and specific pages about Neverland, connecting to Jackson's psychology

The movie reduces Jackson's complex personality to three repeated themes: 'You're either a winner or you're a loser,' 'You got to be perfect,' and 'I want to cut my own path'

Legal Constraints and Missing Third Act

The film originally included a third hour addressing allegations and settlements, but legal clauses prevented any dramatized scenarios involving those settlements

What remains is 'effectively like a two-hour prequel for the trials of Michael Jackson' with the ending stating 'his story will continue'

The documentary Leaving Neverland was praised for handling allegations with nuance, leaving viewers with complex feelings rather than simple answers

The film's Easter eggs and scenes with children feel 'like the movie was almost taunting us with the things that we know about Michael Jackson'

Performance Excellence Amid Narrative Flaws

Jafar Jackson's performance is 'uncanny how close he is to what I remember in my head' of Michael Jackson during his Thriller era

The film excels at recreating music videos and performances but lacks exploration of Jackson's creative process or the origins of songs like 'Billie Jean'

Coleman Domingo and the two actors playing Michael Jackson are the only performers given real depth, while other characters lack agency

The victory tour receives 'way more time spent on the victory tour in this movie than I ever would have guessed' as a pivotal moment in Jackson's young adult life

Mother Mary's All-Female Creative Universe

Mother Mary features no male characters, making it 'a rare film that completely passes the Bechdel test' - 'I don't think I've ever seen a film in my life that doesn't have one single man in it' - Yassi

The film explores creative partnerships through Anne Hathaway's pop star and Michaela Cole's costume designer, examining 'ownership and the creative partnership'

David Lowery researched the film through documentaries including McQueen about Alexander McQueen and Homecoming A Film by Beyoncé

The casting includes 'FK Twiggs, Hunter Schaefer, Kaya Gerber' in what was described as 'extremely cunty' supporting roles

David Lowery's Seven-Year Creative Process

Lowery began writing Mother Mary seven years ago while sick on The Green Knight set, initially as 'a dialogue between just me having a conversation with myself'

The film's gothic elements were inspired by Rebecca, with Lowery 'definitely thinking about Rebecca when she pulls up to the house'

Taylor Swift Reputation Stadium Tour served as visual inspiration for concert sequences, which Lowery praised as 'a cinematic spectacle'

The phantasmagoric ghost sequences required 'five days with a VFX unit just filming fabric in the breeze' using custom air tables and wind sculptures

Anne Hathaway's Pop Star Transformation

Hathaway underwent 'pop star boot camp' with three months of pre-production choreography training and a year of additional work for concert sequences

The hand gesture choreography was inspired by Anna Karenina, though Lowery noted it was 'a long story' about how he incorporated elements from Tolstoy's work

During intense emotional scenes, Hathaway told Lowery 'I'm afraid to speak the words right now because there's something inside of me that might come out'

The film required putting on 'five nights of Mother Mary' concerts in Bonn, Germany, with 500 background performers giving 'their all every single night'