The Janet Jackson Documentary

What We Already Knew

           Like many other people my age who grew up listening to Janet Jackson and the rest of the Jackson clan, I was glued to the edge of my seat for the premiere of Lifetime’s and A&E’s docuseries of Janet Jackson’s life. The documentary was produced by Janet and the youngest of the Jackson brothers, Randy. It included never seen before home videos of Janet that were being recorded by her then husband Rene Elizondo. It also included interviews about the icon from other famous celebrities such as, Missy Elliott, Jermaine Dupri and Whoopie Goldberg to name a few. It was exciting to learn that this was an actual documentary being done by Janet herself and not some terrible actress trying to portray her like in so many other life stories Lifetime is famous for. But in the end, the movie left me wondering what it was all for.

 

            In the first half of the show, “Miss Jackson if you’re Nasty,” traveled with her brother Randy to Gary, Indiana to their childhood home. There, they reminisced about their humble beginnings growing up in the 2 bedroom home and how their father spent most of his paychecks buying different instruments and equipment. They spoke of how the brothers first auditioned for Berry Gordy, the big move to California and the rise to stardom.

 

            Also in the first half of the show Janet spoke about her brief marriage to James DeBarge and all the controversy surrounding that choice in her life. Yes, we already knew that they secretly eloped at just eighteen years of age and that the marriage was annulled just a short time afterwards. Just as we thought things were about to get juicy when she addressed the pregnancy rumors and if she in fact gave birth to a child from that union, Janet quickly diverted back to her private ways and dispelled the rumors.

 

            The next part of the show focused on Janet’s own rise to fame outside of her brothers but of course with little tidbits of Michael sprinkled throughout. We watched as she talked about firing her father as her manager and how she grew into this beautiful butterfly who was finally in control of who she wanted to be but the series does suggest some controlling tendencies coming from husband Rene. The two ended up divorcing in 2020.

 

            The only other love interest who was mentioned was Jermaine Dupri who dated Jackson during her famous Superbowl performance better known as “Nipplegate.” One interesting fact I learned that Dupri actually sat on the Grammy committee and resigned because of their treatment of Jackson after that performance. The rest of that segment ended just as quickly as it started by giving just a little glimpse into the industry’s treatment of Janet after that unfortunate incident.

 

            The rest of the movie was a blur with highlights of Michael’s child abuse allegations and his death. When I returned from the restroom, Whoopie Goldberg was talking about Janet giving birth after the age of fifty and then we see her practicing for tour while holding a baby bottle. We did not get to see her son Eissa or did they mention anything about his father or her relationship with him.

            Like many of you I wanted to see more about what Janet Jackson was doing now. In my opinion the documentary did not satisfy the appetite that all the promoting created.