Cannonball with Wesley Morris ‘Michael’ Is Pure Propaganda
11 snips
Apr 30, 2026 
Eric Hynes, film curator and director of programming at the Jacob Burns Film Center, weighs in on the new Michael Jackson biopic. He argues the film sanitizes memory and flattens family complexity. They debate its crowd-pleasing nostalgia, the erasure of controversies, and a few bold scenes that briefly spark life amid the propaganda.
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Project Serves Estate's Financial Interests
- The movie functions primarily as IP consolidation for the Michael Jackson estate.
- Eric Hynes says the film's purpose is to promote and lock down a profitable asset rather than to risk difficult truths.
Child Scenes Function As Preemptive Defense
- The film repeatedly shows Michael with sick or supervised children as a defensive strategy.
- Eric Hynes suggests these scenes were likely inserted to preempt accusations by portraying wholesome interactions.
Family Members Are Erased For Mythmaking
- The film erases or minimizes key relatives like Janet Jackson to keep focus on Michael's myth.
- Morris and Hynes note Janet and many siblings are essentially absent or indistinguishable in the narrative.
