The Jackson family and estate have joined forces to give us another biopic of Michael Jackson's life. Michael doesn't tell us anything new about the King of Pop, but it has had the biggest opening weekend of a music biopic ever. From Whitney Houston to Freddie Mercury, why do these posthumous biopics always seem to fall flat, and what do decades of Jackson family drama say about how we reckon with the complicated figures in pop culture and our own lives? Brittany talks with Aisha Harris, critic and co-host of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour, to find out. Want more deep dives on the legacies of pop culture icons? Check out these episodes:<a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/03/06/nx-s1-5738465/jesse-jackson-the-end-of-the-civil-rights-superhero"target="_blank" >Jesse Jackson & the end of the civil rights superhero</a><a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/03/07/1161629864/marilyn-monroe-was-more-than-just-blonde"target="_blank" >Marilyn Monroe was more than just 'Blonde'</a> Support Public Media. <a href="https://plus.npr.org/"target="_blank" >Join NPR Plus.</a> Follow Brittany on Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bmluse/?hl=en"target="_blank" >@bmluse</a> For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at <a href="http://npr.org/podclub"target="_blank" >npr.org/podclub</a>. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. <a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

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Inside the Michael Jackson legacy industrial complex

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