It was Monday, August 31, 1987, and it was the night before the first day of school for me and my brother. My family had just moved from Connecticut to Potomac, MD, and of course I was nervous as hell about starting a new school in an unfamiliar city. Usually on the night before the first day of school, my parents made my brother and I go to bed insanely early, and I don't know about my brother, but I'd never go to sleep. I'd toss and turn for hours thinking about what was to come. But on THIS particular night before school, my parents didn't make us go to bed, because there was a special event coming on tv. That event? The debut of Michael Jackson's Bad video

If I remember correctly the video debuted on Fox, and it was a HUGE deal to me, because this was MJ's first offering since the groundbreaking Thriller. And even though I was only 12 years old, I still could appreciate the enormous amount of pressure MJ had to be under to duplicate and/or surpass that album. The debut of the video was the first step towards accomplishing that goal, and it didn't disappoint. Sure MJ was a bit effeminate in the video at times, and yes his outfit looked like some S&M experiment gone wrong, but none of that mattered. MJ was back on television and he was dancing, spinning, singing, etc. I remember not being able to sleep once I finally went to bed, and that next first day of school EVERYONE was talking about what they had seen--some folks even feebly attempted to imitate MJ's moves. It was like Motown 25 all over again, and it totally ease any first-day-of-school fears I would normally have.

I mention this long winded story, because I have that same type of excitement and anticipation about the release of Michael Jackson's "This Is It" movie. I'm mad there are people in the fine nation of ours who get to see it before I do on Wednesday night. But I'm exciting that I will be able to see something new from MJ, after a long 8 year wait. I am even more excited that we get to see some behind-the-scenes MJ for the first time really since the "The Making of Thriller". During the last 8 years of MJ's life, so much was made of his appearance and his odd behavior, that people forgot about the genius and the music, and I'm hoping this movie kind of places the focus back on that where it belongs. I sound like a crazy fanatic here, but I am. I have been since '82 really.

And I swear if I go to the theater, and some is loud or talking over the good parts, I will strike down upon those with great vengeance and with furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my experience.

Michael Jackson - Bad (Full Version)
by love_sofia