Comments on Profile Post by DigMe

Promotes achievement and fame at the expense of others. Jordan himself had editorial oversight on this “documentary”/love letter.

When Ken Burns uses your documentary as an example of the problem with modern documentary work then you know something is askew.

It isn't really a documentary. Looking at it as such is missing the point. For many people, it's just a closer look at an era and a person that captured their minds as kids/adults.

ESPN bills it as a documentary. Thats what they actually call it on their network and website.

That would also be saying that Ken Burns is unclear about what a documentary is.

I guess I just don't see all TV and film neatly fitting into one of 10-20 genre categories on Netflix, ESPN and what have you. It's probably a best fit deal.

That said, if I do apply that purist criteria of classic documentary/historical journalism, yeah, it sucked.

I thought the narcissistic prick side of his personality came through pretty loud and clear. It seemed to be addressed pretty bluntly to me. *shrug*

Must heroes be nice guys? Jordan was about as successful at basketball as anyone has ever been at anything. Not sure why he shouldn't be a hero because he rode his teammates hard (and got them rings).

Not really about how he wasn’t “nice” so much as he is a guy who put winning above everything including human beings and the glorification of such. They’re gonna talk about Carmen Electra and not even MENTION Juanita and the waste that Jordan laid to her life?

Oh, he had this relationship with a security guard. What a guy! Oh yeah, also he beat up the smallest guy on the team but hey, it helped them win so.. cool! I’ll take two pairs!

I just think it was a huge mistake on ESPN’s part to give Michael editorial control over the whole thing. “Trading objectivity for access”

This is sports. It's entertainment - they're not trying to win a Pulitzer.

Funny, when I read your post the first time, I thought you were talking about The Last Waltz. However, I think your criticisms also apply to that documentary. It’s basically a vanity project for Robertson and you can tell the rest of the band is over it.

IME, not many at his level in any field that are not.

The doc makes perfectly clear that all MJ cares about is winning at the expense of all else. He knows it and says as much on camera and so does everyone else that he played with. I don't think the limited look at his family life does anything to detract from this point.

It's about as honest and unflattering a portrait of someone at MJs level of fame/success/wealth that I can ever remember seeing. The doc does reinforce his GOAT status, but that never should have been in doubt ;-) (sorry Lebron)

How do you get to be GOAT? easy! Not give a shit about anyone else, ever. How is that surprising? Unadulterated selfishness is an interesting mistress to keep.

Personally I find that the current buddy ball, if you can't beat em join em mindset in the NBA has made it less enjoyable (looking at you LBJ). The bottom line in sports is competition. I want guys who want to beat each other so badly that 25 years later they still hold grudges. That's MJ.

I've only seen whatever clips r/nba felt like upvoting on any given day, but yeah - its not exactly searching for truth. That would be less of an issue if searching for truth wasn't such a rarity in media at the moment (or for quite a while now) - and if the average person was willing/able to deal with nuance and conflicting ideas

I would like to think that one could be a non- narcissist, but still a fierce competitor. Here's Jean Beliveau - 10 Stanley Cups. https://thehockeywriters.com/jean-beliveau/

Just finished watching. Gotta admit, I was initally so hyped, but enjoyed it less and less as it progressed. Otherwise, I'm sure the success of this "documentary" will lead to a few "unauthorized" versions that will be much less flattering, if not more true.