Integrity and the Work Ethic

Have to bring up MJ here. The fourth anniversary of his death today, chatter about his integrity circled throughout his long career. His personal demons are not what I'm talking about. Those will always be a topic for debate by people who did and didn't know him (and I question their integrity). 

This image borrowed from the
documentary, MJ came to work each day
dressed like the rock star he was.

What I am talking about is the consummate integrity he had toward his work. The DVD of the pre-production of his unrealized "This Is It" tour says it all. It was no secret that MJ was a workaholic. However what shines through in the video is the depth of his belief in himself as an entertainer. The film contains scenes of dedicated staff at all levels of production, and every detail is visited by the KoP.

The rehearsals take place in an empty concert hall in front of his crew of directors sitting at consoles or on cargo trunks. The dozen or so dancers, five or six singers and a score of musicians are there, in their comfy gear, set to follow MJ's instructions that he gives with the flick of a finger, note by note, inch by inch. At times barely able to breathe himself due to illness and everything else that was plaguing his system, he nonetheless battled singing during the takes with conserving his voice for the tour.

Impeccably dressed in every scene as he glided across the stage,  he was turned on as he would have been at the first show, at every show. Six minutes in, he directed a musician to hold the syncopation of the music with "it's all for love". Fascinating. 

Is ego wrapped up in this? It might be, but I'm not so sure. The 90-minute-plus film defines what goes into performing for the audience, not the self, and I believe this fervor would have been present with or without the team of people trying to understand MJ's perfectionism. Don't get me wrong: he had the best working with him. But they were there because of Michael. Michael was there because of his audience.