simply titled Janet, the documentary series on Janet Jackson will cause a lot of ink to flow. This is what we sense after watching the first two episodes, which do not even address the most stormy chapter of the career of the artist: the Super Bowl of 2004.
Posted at 7:00 a.m.
The first two hours of the crisp (and surprisingly touching) documentary will be presented this Friday on A&E in the United States. Its conclusion will be broadcast on Saturday. In the country, viewers will have to wait until February 26 before accessing it legally, on Lifetime Canada.
This discrepancy is frankly a shame, since this miniseries-truth will certainly inspire many chronicles and debates in the land of Uncle Sam over the coming weeks. Avoiding any spoilers for four weeks seems virtually impossible. Especially since Janet Jackson, now 55, confides in it like never before.
Anyone who follows the American icon’s career even slightly knows how fiercely she protects her privacy. Unlike Celine Dion, the interpreter of successes Nasty, Miss You Much, That’s the Way Love Goes and Together Again has never been an open book in an interview.
But in front of director Ben Hirsch’s lens, she lets down her barriers. The proof: she abandons herself to emotion a few times, especially at the opening, when she sees a huge mural of the Jackson 5 in Gary, Indiana, her hometown.
Later, she sheds a few tears while talking about the drinking problems of singer James DeBarge, her first husband. This stormy (and abusive?) relationship has visibly marked the winner of five Grammy awards. After describing their most violent argument, she implores the director to change the subject. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” she sobbed, like a wounded little girl.
The scene is shocking.
In the position of control
Since Janet Jackson is co-producing this documentary series with Randy Jackson, her younger brother, observers will question the objectivity of the final cut. Of course, each of the personalities interviewed (Whoopi Goldberg, Paula Abdul, Mariah Carey, Debbie Allen, Lee Daniels, Samuel L. Jackson, Janelle Monáe, Regina King…) praise the main interested party. But if Janet had to take charge to agree to share her personal archives and bring down the fortress she used to build as soon as the spotlights were turned on, it’s a compromise that we can accept.
According to Martine St-Victor, communications strategist, this is a way for Janet Jackson to “take back control of the narrative”, after having been the subject of countless rumors.
“She’s such a discreet woman,” said the general manager of Edelman’s Montreal office, in an interview with The Press.
She never gave many interviews. It’s not something she likes to do. With this documentary, she tells her own story. She gives her version of the facts. And it’s a reminder of the legacy she leaves.
Martine St-Victor, communications strategist
It remains to be seen how the show will address the child molestation charges against Michael Jackson in the heart of the 1990s and 2000s. ) will be devoted to the scandal. In her trailer, Janet can be heard huffing, “Guilty by association, that’s what they say, right? »
Speaking of Michael Jackson, his shadow hangs over the entire series. We understand that he meant a lot to Janet, and that they were very close when they were children. But when the album Thriller came out in 1982, her younger sister says she “felt a change”. Suddenly, their connection was gone.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY A&E TELEVISION NETWORKS
Janet Jackson with her brother Michael
Another important figure in the artist’s first 20 years, his father, Joe Jackson, also receives nuanced treatment. Janet describes him as a protector, a good man, ready to do anything to see his children lead a prosperous life… even if it means becoming intransigent. He was strict, authoritarian and severe. When she was 7 years old, he sent her to join his brothers on stage in Las Vegas. At 10, she was lining up roles on the small screen. As a teenager, Janet wanted to go to university to study business law, but Joe refused.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY A&E TELEVISION NETWORKS
Janet with her father, Joe Jackson
“It is thanks to my father that I had the career that I had, she relativizes on the screen. We owe him a lot, especially when you see where we come from and how far we’ve come. »
The Super Bowl
It is probably in the fourth episode that Janet Jackson will revisit the famous “Nipplegate” of 38and Super Bowl, when her semi-bare right breast appeared (for a split second) on full TV during her number with Justin Timberlake. After this event, his career, which was already beating a little wing, took a nosedive, while that of Timberlake exploded.
This episode arouses a lot of curiosity in the industry. Almost 20 years later, host Mike Gauthier is curious to hear Janet Jackson speak about the event. “For the duration of the accident, and especially for its nature, she paid dearly for it,” said the host on the phone. Luckily there were no social networks back then. It would have been appalling. »
PHOTO PROVIDED BY A&E TELEVISION NETWORKS
Janet Jackson performing
Mike Gauthier, who describes Janet Jackson as a heavy hitter from the 1980s, believes she was the victim of racism.
If we reversed the roles and Usher [le chanteur R & B] had been in Justin Timberlake’s place, and Jennifer Lopez, in Janet Jackson’s place, Usher would have eaten the volley. The racial map played a huge part in this. This is my impression.
Mike Gauthier, animator
According to Martine St-Victor, the distribution of Janet a few weeks from Super Bowl 2022 is not insignificant. Not only because over time, the annual sporting event has become, in the eyes of thousands of Janet Jackson fans, an opportunity to celebrate their idol, but also because last April, we learned that the team behind Framing Britney Spears was preparing his own documentary about the 2004 Super Bowl adventure.
“The channels snap up this kind of documentary. For them, it’s gold. People love when you tell them a story they thought they knew. »
Lifetime Canada will present the four episodes of the documentary Janet Saturday and Sunday February 26 and 27 at 8 p.m.