英文原稿终极版 Living with Michael Jackson (ultimate edition)

wangpr

个人最喜欢的关于MJ的视频是2003年的Living with Michael Jackson，虽然记者Martin Bashir歪曲了MJ同意拍摄该记录片的本意，但在一定程度上我们可以中窥见真实的MJ。

这次将该记录片的英文对白全部整理出来，是想给自己一个挑战，也给广大爱好英语的迈迷提供一点资料。

我在去年的时候已经粗略将稿件整理了出来，由于听力水平不够，有很多内容都听不出来，后来便一直搁置。
（见帖子 http://www.mjjcn.com/mjjcnforum/thread-34446-1-1.html   ）

最近上网，看见keen发了类似的帖子，已经有人将稿件给整理出来了
（见帖子 http://www.mjjcn.com/mjjcnforum/thread-41610-1-1.html  ）。

我很高兴，对照着又看了几遍，发现里面有不少细节不够准确。为了将这项工作做到尽善尽美，我将稿子从新整理了一遍，将很多小错误给改正了，并且对稿件进行了美化，方便阅读。

现在发出来，如果有错误还请希望英语高手指出。


PS：终于发完了，突然发现MB,MJ或[Narrating]如果换行的话下面没有应有的空格，影响阅读。

我WORD文档上的稿件是这样：
MJ: ..."I'm gonna ask you something"... [Changes to an English accent] "Gonna ASK you something. I
            like it! [laughs]

[Narrating]: Eight months ago, I put a proposal to Michael Jackson. Show me the real man, but
                       show me everything. Make nothing off-limits. He thought about it, then he said, "Yes, come
                       to Neverland."


不知道能不能改进？


注册论坛也有5年时间了，总是没有用心烧一块砖，这次好好发个帖子，希望版主加精哦，也不枉一片苦心~~:gongxi

wangpr

[Martin Bashir(MB) and Michael Jackson(MJ) in a recording studio]

[Laughter between Michael Jackson and Martin Bashir]

MB: Why are you laughing?
MJ: Ok, come on...
MB: Come on, come on. What have I done? Come on, tell me, what have I done?
MJ: No, well, I like your accent. I was laughing when you said...
MB: You like my accent?
MJ: ..."I'm gonna ask you something"... [Changes to an English accent] "Gonna ASK you something." I like it! [laughs]
MB: Can you do an English accent?
MJ: [pauses] [Strong English accent] A bit. Nice to meet you.
MB: [laughs] Well, it's nice to meet you.
MJ: [Continuing British accent] Nice, beautiful interview...
MB: [laughs hysterically]

[Scene ends/Cuts to Introduction to show with Billie Jean with Jackson making beat box noises to the song and short clips of the video]

[Billie Jean ends/Classical music begins]

[Narrating]: Eight months ago, I put a proposal to Michael Jackson. Show me the real man, but show me everything. Make nothing off-limits. He thought about it, then he said, "Yes, come to Neverland."

[Clip finished/Cuts to Michael Jackson and Martin Bashir in Neverland's theme-park area at night]

MB: Do you come out here on your own?
MJ: Yeah!
MB: How often?
MJ: All the time. [laughs]
MB: You just come out here on your own?
MJ: Yes.
MB: And, go on a ride?
MJ: Yep. You see the carousel out playing music. I love playing classical music on the carousel. 'Cause I love, um, like um...Something like 'Childhood' or 'Smile.' You know? Or uh, 'People' by Barbra Streisand. Something beautiful, you know?
MB: Right. Now what about the Ferris Wheel?
MJ: I like the Ferris Wheel. It's the traditional, um, very old amusement exhibit. It's soothing, it’s not, you know, anything that's dangerous. It's just comfortable. Makes you wish and dream.
MB: Can we go on it?
MJ: Sure!
MB: Let's go on it.

[Narrating]: We began a journey together; Across continents, through his past, and rapidly into the disturbing reality of his life today.

[Bashir and Jackson getting into Go-Kart cars to race on a Go-Kart area]

MB: The battle commences. Michael Jackson versus Martin Bashir in the Go-Kart Land of Neverland.
MJ: [laughs] You got a head-whooping coming! Oh, whoop your head.

[Bashir starts before Jackson is ready]

MJ: Hey! He's cheating! He's cheating!

[Bashir can be heard "Woo-Hoo"ing as he drives away/Jackson follows him]

[Narrating]: This is Michael Jackson as you've never seen him before -- From the inside. His music, his money, his children, his sex life, his face. Quite simply, his world.

[Both continue to race, Bashir beats Jackson]
[laughter]
MJ: He's good!
MB: Nice win for Britain, though, against the U.S.A.

[Clip ends/New clip with Jackson and Bashir back in the studio]

MB: How do you write a song?
MJ: How do I write a song? [pauses] Well, if I sat down at this piano [Interrupted by Bashir, but it's incomprehensible] -- If I sat here and played some chords, whatever, and say I'm gonna write the best song I've ever written -- Nothing happens. Something in the heaven just has to say, "This is the time that this is gonna be let on you, and this is when I want you to have it." Now I remember when I wrote Billie Jean, I was riding in my car down Venture Boulevard, all I said to myself, "Beforehand, I want to write a song with a great bass hook." I just let it go, really. Seven days later, [beat boxing the beginning of Billie Jean] -- You know, the whole thing [continues to beat box].
MB: Where did it come from?
MJ: [shrugs] From above.
MB: So you were singing the bass line, sing that again, and then what happened? How did you get the other instrumentation and the composition? How did they work?
MJ: See, the thing is, artists seem to get in the way of the music. Get out of the way of the music. You know, don't write the music; Let the music write itself.
MB: The dance as well?
MJ: Yes, same thing.
MB: How do you do it? Can you show me how you do it?
MJ: Oh boy, I'm shy!
MB: Oh come on, just get up and show me! Teach me!
MJ: You're putting me on the spot now...See, now people are discovering something about me. I'm really shy, I'm embarrassed.
MB: Ok, you're shy -- Just get up and show me.

[Instrumental and slower version of Billie Jean starts/Michael Jackson starts dancing]

MB: What's going through your mind right now?
MJ: Not thinking. Thinking is the biggest mistake a dancer could make. You have to feel [pauses] You become the bass, you become the fanfare, you become the clarinet, the flute, and the strings, and the drums.
MB: So you're almost a physical embodiment of the music?
MJ: Yeah, absolutely.

[Jackson motions for Bashir to get up and dance with him]

MB: You want me to do it? What do you want me to do?
MJ: Like, stand here. [Starts moonwalking] mainly one foot down, and really using the other foot to push. It's merely pushing. Use your heel to slide back, slide back on your heels, heels…
MB: That is not easy. That is not easy...
MJ: Really? You know, it's very hard to explain how to do it.
MB: When you said...
MJ: Let's do it one more time. Use that heel, don’t slide back on your toe, slide back on your heel. You want to go in toe, but don’t go in toe. Go on the heel, not on the toe when you go back, always on the heel, heel, heel…
MB: That's pretty unnatural, because normally you lift your foot as you walk.
MJ: I know, that's part of the illusion.
MB: Right. Ok, so I slide back...[Messes up]
MJ: No, that's very good. That's the idea.
MB: You're a very kind man.



[ 本帖最后由 wangpr 于 2008-6-7 12:49 编辑 ]

wangpr

[End scene/Cuts to Bashir driving in a black, small, car with a Batman logo on it]

[Narrating]: Michael Jackson's home, Neverland, is a 3,000 acre ranch, three hours north of Los Angeles. As with most of his life, it has to be seen to be believed. Inspired by the children's fairy-tale, Peter Pan, about the little boy who never grew up, it's a multi-million dollar man-made slice of 'make believe.' As well as the full sized fun fair, there's a zoo with giraffes, elephants, tigers, and a couple of orangutans. Bubbles the chimp, has been moved out to an animal sanctuary. It's literally paradise, for a ten-year-old child. But Michael Jackson is now 44.

MB: The inspiration for Neverland, Peter Pan. Why is Peter Pan a figure of such interest and inspiration to you?
MJ: Because Peter Pan, to me, represents something that’s very special in my heart. It represents youth, childhood, never growing up, magic, flying, everything I think that children and wonderment and magic, what it's all about. To me, I just have never grown out of loving that or thinking that it's very special.
MB: You identify with him?
MJ: Totally.
MB: You don't want to grow up.
MJ: No, I am Peter Pan.
MB: But you're Michael Jackson.
MJ: I' Peter Pan in my heart.

[Bashir Narrating back out in Neverland's fields]

[Narrating]: The climate is a problem for Jackson. He says the color changing skin condition, vitiligo, has made him allergic to the sun. So shielded by his umbrella, he took me to his most secret place.

MJ: I call it my giving tree, because it inspires me. I love climbing trees in general, but this tree I love the most, because I climb up high and I look down on it's branches, and it gives me -- I just love it! So many ideas! I've written so many of my songs in this tree. I wrote the Heal the World in this tree, Will You Be There, Black or White, Childhood.
MB: You're actually saying that you climb that tree?
MJ: Yeah.
MB: How far do you climb up there?
MJ: All the way to that [points] kind of spot up there kind of like a deck, or is like a bed.
MB: Do you want to climb it now?
MJ: Yeah!
MB: Let me hold that umbrella. You go and climb it, and when you climb it, we'll see how inspiring it is.
[Jackson climbs the tree]
MJ: Aren't you coming?
MB: No way.
MJ: This is a big secret, I've never shown anyone my giving tree.
MB: Ok, I'll try. I'm slightly worried about my shoes slipping.
MJ: Come on!
MB: Is it safe?
MJ: Of course!
MB: I'm frightened! Ok, I think I'm going to stop here.
MJ: You don’t climb trees?
MB: No, I do not.
MJ: You're missing out.
MB: I'll leave you to it.

[Close-ups of Jackson in the tree/Cuts to Jackson down from the tree]

MJ: I love climbing trees. I think it's my favorite thing, having water balloon fights and climbing trees. I think those two are my favorite.
MB: Don't you prefer making love or going to a concert or -- You really mean that you prefer climbing trees and having a balloon fight?
MJ: Water-balloon fights.
MB: You prefer that to anything else?
MJ: Well, as my past-time fun, you know, can't compare it to performing. Other people play football, basketball -- I like to climb trees.

[Scene ends/Cuts to various places in Jackson's house]

[Narrating]: So how had this singing and dancing genius arrived in the surreal place that is his life today? I started to look for answers back at the beginning.

[Cuts to Jackson and Bashir back in what appears to be the studio]

MB: Do you remember when you first discovered that you had a special musical talent?
MJ: My mother caught me making my bed one day and I was singing. She said to my father that I could sing, and he didn't want to hear of it. He said, "Jermaine's the lead singer, not Michael." My mother said, "Joe, you really should hear him sing, he can sing." He goes, "No, Jermaine's the lead singer in the group and that's it." She forced him to listen to me. Once he listened to me, from that moment on, I was the lead singer in the group.

[Cuts to Jackson and Bashir in a theater-like place, watching the Jackson 5 perform on The Ed Sullivan Show]

MJ: My entire childhood, I remember people always saying to me, "He's a 42-year-old midget." At first I didn't understand, but what they meant was the way I, you know, moved on stage and the way I sang, the inflections or whatever.
MB: Did someone teach you to do that?
MJ: No, you can't teach that. You can't teach it, it has to come from inside. It's a gift, you know.

[Jackson 5 clip continues]

MJ: I remember precisely going to Motown's studios to record, and right across the street from the studios was a park. I could hear the roar of the Little League team, and their playing soccer and football and volleyball. They were playing baseball. I remember a lot of the times looking back and really hiding my face crying. I wanted to play sometime and I couldn't.
MB: Why couldn't you?
MJ: I had to go to the studio.

wangpr

[Jackson 5 clip continues/Fades out as Bashir start to talk]

MB: When you would be practicing, you were very heavily disciplined by your father. What was that like?
MJ: Well, I didn't have it that hard cause he used me as the example. It was like, "Do it like Michael." He practiced us with a belt in his hand. If you missed a step, expect to be [makes whipping noises]
MB: Just let me go back. You just said that you would practice the dance steps and your father would be holding a belt in his hand. Is that what you just said?
MJ: Yes, and he would tear you up if you missed. So not only were we practicing, we were nervous rehearsing, because he sat in the chair, and he had this belt in his hand and if you didn't do it the right way, he'd tear you up, really get you. I got it a lot of times, but I think my brother Marlon got it the most, because he had a hard time at first. He tried so hard. It was always, "Do it like Michael! Do it like Michael!" The others were very nervous, and I was nervous, too. Because, he was tough.
MB: How often would he beat you?
MJ: Mmm, too much.
MB: Would he only use a belt?
MJ: [Holding back tears] Why do you do this to me? ...No, more than a belt.
MB: What else would he use to hit you with?
MJ: Ironing cords, whatever was around. Throw you up against the wall, hard as he could. See, it's one thing to --
MB: But you were only a child, you were a baby.
MJ: I know. It's one thing to discipline.
MB: And you were producing successful records.
MJ: I know. He would lose his temper. I just remember hearing my mother scream, "Joe! You're gonna kill him! You're gonna kill him! Stop! You’re gonna kill him!" I was so fast he couldn't catch me half the time, but when he would catch me. Oh my God...It was bad, it was really bad.

[End clip/Cuts to Bashir and Jackson watching the Jackson 5 perform ABC]

[Narrating]: I looked up at the screen and couldn't help wondering what effect this violence had on young Michael.

MJ: We were terrified of him. Terrified. I can't tell you. I don't think he realizes to this day, how scared...Scared...I mean SCARED. So scared I would regurgitate.
MB: You would vomit?
MJ: Yes.
MB: when would you vomit? What produced that sort of reaction in you?
MJ: His presence, just seeing him. Sometimes I'd faint and my bodyguards would have to hold me up.
MB: When he was beating you, did you hate him?
MJ: Yeah. Strong hate. That's why to this day I don't lay a finger on my children. I don't want them to ever feel that way about me, ever! He didn't even allow us to call him daddy. I wanted to call him daddy so bad. He said, "I'm not daddy, I'm Joseph to you." I’ve forgiven him for all of it. You have to. But I don't allow my children to call me Michael. I say, “I’m daddy”. It's just the opposite. So when people say they’re abused. That's not true. That's not true at all.

[Cuts to Jackson and Bashir watching ABC again/Cuts to Bashir driving]

[Narrating]: 30 years on, the memories seemed as raw as ever. But there was little time now for reflection. It was late summer and Michael Jackson was leaving Neverland. He called me on my mobile to say he was off to spend a few weeks in Las Vegas and I could join him. In Las Vegas, he would reveal his bizarre experiences of love and sex. His obsession with his face, and most extraordinarily of all, I get to meet his children.

[Cuts to various shots of Las Vegas]

[Narrating]: In the summer, Michael Jackson set up temporary home in the gambling capital of the world, Las Vegas.

[Cuts to Bashir walking in a hotel hallway]

[Narrating]: I went to see him at the Four Seasons Hotel, where he had taken out no fewer than seven suites. I wanted to know why he would leave Neverland to spend months on his own in a hotel room. Especially as it would become quickly apparent that Jackson was deeply bored and isolated. In fact, he was delighted to have some company other than the bizarre collection of mannequins and gadgets that I found in his room.

MB: This is your suite. What do you like about Las Vegas?
MJ: I like the entertainment.
MB: The entertainment?
MJ: Yeah. It's a fun place to visit.
MB: What's this? [points to an electronic machine primarily used for the disabled to get around]
MJ: When I'm bored, I ride in the hallways of the hotel on this. I cruise in to look [makes a whiz sound] the hallways late at night sometimes. [laughs]
MB: You are joking.
MJ: No, I'm serious.

[End of scene/New scene with Jackson playing on an arcade skateboarding game]

MJ: This is a game that I like.
MB: It's got a skateboard, isn’t it?
MJ: Yeah.
MB: Oh that must have been unfortunate to crash into a car.
MJ: Yeah, I got hit.
MB: There they are.

MJ: You make points -- There comes a car! Whoop! When I'm in my room and I'm bored, in-between writing music, I play with this thing. Woah! [Makes breaking sounds] Woah! Almost got hit with that.
MB: I wouldn't like to see you drive a car.

[Cuts to Bashir and Jackson passing a "Green Giant" statue]

MB: Is it the Incredible Hulk?
MJ: No, the Green Giant!
MB: The Jolly Green Giant.
MJ: It was an old commercial to make kids eat peas. [Singing] "Ho, ho, ho, green giant!"

wangpr

[Narrating]: I soon learned that Las Vegas was full of uneasy memories for Jackson.

MJ: I had to share bedrooms with one of my brothers on the tours. There was some action going on in my room every night. I could hear it. My job was to play sleep. I was told by one of my brothers, "No matter what don't get up. Don't open your eyes." and I went, "I promise, I won't!" I would hear these girls come in and I'd hear them say, "Is that little Michael?" and my brother would say, "Yeah." I'd hear them say like, "Oh he's so cute!" -- I heard everything.
MB: What did you hear?
MJ: With the girls?
MB: You heard them having sex?
MJ: Yeah.
MB: In the same bedroom as you?
MJ: Umm, let me see... Sometimes, sometimes not.
MB: So on some occasions you're lying down pretending to be asleep and your brother is having sex with someone in the same room.
MJ: En.
MB: Did you have many girlfriends through your adolescence?
MJ: Not a lot. My first girlfriend, who I really loved a lot, was Tatum O'Neal.
MB: Was it a typically romantic, adolescent love affair?
MJ: Yes, it was, but I don't think I was ready for some of the things she was talking about. [laughs] I was pretty naive, I'm not joking. I hope she forgives me for telling this story. Ok, Tatum, please forgive me. I remember her telling me to come over to her house -- They were Beverley Hills House, too -- and what she's gonna do to me when I come. You know, all the...
MB: Well, what did she say?
MJ: All the sexual stuff. So I'm scared to death.
MB: So she rings you, and says, "Michael, come to my house, I'm going to make love to you."
MJ: Yeah.
MB: And you're really scared.
MJ: I'm scared, because I had never done anything like that. I came over there trying to be Mr. Big Shot and brave. I remember she cut out all the lights in her bedroom, opened the curtains. You could see the whole skyline of the city over the cliff It was beautiful. She told me to go over and lie on the bed, and I did. I laid on the bed. She slowly walked over, and she touched the button on my shirt to open it and I took my hands like this [Michael covers his face with his hands] and wouldn’t let them down. She just walked away; she knew I was too shy for it. That's what happened.
MB: Did you not feel tempted at all? You were just frightened?
MJ: I was just frightened. I don't think I was ready for that.

[Martin Bashir and Michael Jackson in a limo/Billie Jean playing in the background]

MB: Now we're going shopping to this spectacular place. Do you like shopping?
MJ: Love it.
MB: What do you love about shopping?
MJ: Not so much the buying [clears throat] and I'm not cheap. I love to see how people make things. I love the craftsmanship; What people can do with their hands, their imagination.
MB: Have you always been good with your money?
MJ: With my money? Yes. I remember getting $200,000 checks in the mail when I was like 12 or 13-years-old. I used to get these monthly. My father would say, "Well, what do you want to do with them?" I'd say, "Well, of course we should put it away."
MB: You were 12-years-old?
MJ: Yeah, but he would give me a certain amount to buy things that I wanted to buy. [clears throat] But what I would buy was some bubble-gum, some candy, stuff like that.
MB: How much do you think you're worth?
MJ: [pauses] It's way up there, but I don’t…
MB: Go on, just, how much?
MJ: Come on, Martin. I've done really well.
MB: A billion dollars?
MJ: Yeah, it's over there.
MB: It's over a billion dollars?
MJ: Yes.

[Jackson and Bashir get out of the limo with some staff and bodyguards, to go into the mall]
MB: Ok, let's go.

[Narrating]: We headed straight for Jackson's favorite shopping mall. He told me he wanted to spend some serious money, and he wasn't joking.

MJ: This is the Benisha [spelling? -- Probably talking about the mall]

[Narrating]: And when Michael Jackson goes out, every step of the way, there's a fan waiting to greet him.

Steve [Male Fan]: I loved your song Ben.
MJ: Thank you.
Steve [Male Fan]: I bought your CD. I like to play the guitar and I play it all the time.
MJ: Yeah?
Steve [Male Fan]: Yeah. My name is Steve from Houston.
MJ: How long ago? I love Ben. Thank you. God bless you.
Steve [Male Fan]: When it first came out. That’s my favorite song.
MJ: I was 12 when I first sang it.
Steve [Male Fan]: Give me a hug.
Woman: Oh my gosh.
MJ: Where you from?
Steve [Male Fan]: Houston, Texas.
MJ: Aww, cool.
Steve [Male Fan]: And her sister is your biggest fan. If she was here she'd be crying like a baby.
Woman: She's in her fifties!
MJ: [mild laughter] Nice. Okay, bye.

MB: You must get that all the time, don't you?
MJ: Yeah.
MB: People coming up to you. Isn't that lovely? Say, somebody said they loved your music; they learned to play it on the guitar.
MJ: Yeah, it's sweet. These ceilings are amazing.
MB: It's extraordinary, isn’t it?
MJ: Yeah, it's incredible.
MB: Don't you think it's a bit tacky?
MJ: Tacky? Are you silly?
MB: Do you like to buy jewelry?
MJ: No. For my mother, or Elizabeth Taylor, yes, because Elizabeth loves jewelry, my mother loves jewelry.
MB: Did you hear that Elizabeth Taylor was --
MJ: If there's a girl I like at the moment I'll buy her jewelry.
MB: Oh yeah? Who's that?
MJ: If there is one I like at the moment.
MB: [laughs] Is there?
MJ: At the moment, no. Not right now, I haven't found one yet.
MB: Oh well, who knows, there's time. You're still a young boy.

wangpr

[Bashir and Jackson walking into an antique store/Jackson pointing at random objects]

MJ: Oh that's beautiful.
MB: It's a bit expensive, as well.
MJ: See, this is the shop I like. I bought so much stuff here. Wait till you see the stuff I bought. I'm gonna show you.

[Narrating]: This is Michael Jackson's favorite shop in Las Vegas, with the luckiest manager in the world.

MJ: I bought that. [points to a globe]
MB: You bought that? A globe?
MJ: Yeah. Wait till you go upstairs. I’ll take you upstairs.
Group of fans: Hi, Michael!
MJ: Hi!

[People applaud. Jackson, Bashir, and the store manager walking around an area filled with expensive antiques]

MJ: I bought these, these....I bought this one. This one...I bought this table...This chess set, isn't it beautiful this set?
MB: Your chess set in your library?
MJ: No, this is bigger.
MB: Wow. And it's sold, look.
MJ: I bought this one, right? [points to a vase]
Store manager: Uh-huh.
MB: Is this yours? [looking at the chess set]
MJ: Yeah, that's the sold sign, means it's for me.
MB: Okay, how much is that one? [looks at price tag] It's only $89,000.
MJ: Did we ever get this one? These ones?
Store manager: No.
MJ: Can you put that on the list?
Store Manager: Sure.
MJ: Get your pen, just so you can mark and not forget?
Store Manager: I'm getting the list now.
MJ: Okay. Did we get those?
Store Manager: I don't believe so.
MJ: I like those. Why don't we order those? Yeah, I like those.
MB: You got enough space for all of this?
MJ: Yeah, I do.
MB: You've got space?
MJ: I like these.
MB: In your house, in Neverland?
MJ: No, this will be for another house.
MB: For another one? Okay.
MJ: We bought these, right?
Store Manager: Yes.
MJ: And these...And these...And these?
MB: You like your owns don't you?
MJ: Yes. These we bought...This table...These...These...Right?
Store Manager: Yes.
MJ: Look at these big blue ones, how beautiful these are. These, right?
MB: Oh my goodness. Let's have a look at these ones. [looks at price tag of vases] Oh, that's only $275,000 each. So that's half a million dollars for those two.
MJ: Well he's gonna give us a good deal.
MB: He's gonna give you a good deal? He needs to give you a good deal!
MJ: He loves to bargain. Celebrities like bargains, too. Let me show you.
Store Manager: We're happy to give them to you.

[Camera zooms in on Store Manager's hands, which he's rubbing together]

MB: How much has Mr. Jackson spent?
Store Manager: Uhh...
MB: Out of interest, just a round figure.
MJ: He used to put a bargain at the end of this.
Store Manager: I don't really put things together.
MB: I mean, based on the price of things, couple a million?
Store Manager: I'm not at liberty to say.
MJ: These things are mine, right?
MB: It's like you surround yourself with stuff that's like an emperor's house, isn’t it? It's like Louis the XIV.
MJ: It's my taste. Yoo hoo! [Calling store manager over]
MB: You could probably retire after just having just one client.
Store Manager: Yeah. [camera zooms in on store manager smiling, mischievously]
MB: Are we going to go down and out?
MJ: Yes.
MB: Great.

[Bashir and Jackson going down a stairway to the exit of the store, with paintings on the wall]

MB: What about pictures, Michael? You love your furnishings --
MJ: Can we do these?
MB: You want these, as well?
MJ: Yoo hoo! Yoo Hoo! We got these right?
MB: Wow. [Examines two vases] What about pictures, Michael? You love your furnishings, but what about pictures?
MJ: Paintings?
MB: Yes, paintings.
MJ: I like this one because they're bathing Apollo. This one's like Apollo, and the girls are bathing him. Excuse me? I want that one there, and this one. Because, I bought the statue, the whole marble -- Bigger than life sized. That's the bathing of Apollo, right?
Store Manager: Right. Michael definitely knows his art.
MB: Obviously. [pauses] So I suppose about 80% percent of the shop's been bought by you?
MJ: Well, if you want to look at it that way.
MB: Ok, let's go to the next shop.

[Narrating]: As news spread, crowds gathered to catch a glimpse of Michael Jackson. It's been the same since he was a boy. What happened then sparked a lifelong obsession with his face.

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[Clip ends/Cuts to Jackson sitting in a chair in the Las Vegas hotel room]

MJ: I would never look at myself in the mirror, ever. I'd turn off all the lights and, 'cause I had pimples really badly and it was just difficult to face the public. One time we were in an airport, I remember, I think it was somewhere like Virginia or something. Some lady recognized my brothers and all of us and she goes, "Oh my God! It's the Jackson 5! Where's little Michael? Where's little Michael?" She's looking around, looking down, "Where's little Michael?" Another person goes, "There he is!" She goes, "Eww! What happened?" Just like that, and God, I just could have died right there. That's exactly what that lady said to me.
MB: Did your father and your brothers tease you about your appearance as an adolescent?
MJ: My father did, and some cousins did.
MB: What did your father say?
MJ: Oh God. [hesitates] It was pretty embarrassing. Used to tease me real bad about it.
MB: It’s cruel isn't it?
MJ: Yeah, it used to hurt me. I don't think he realized how much he was hurting me.
MB: What sort of thing did he say?
MJ: [hesitates] He'd tease me about how I looked. He would say, "Well you didn't get it from my side of the family, must have been on Kate's” --You know, Kate, we’d always say, meaning my mother-- “You didn't get that from me." I said, "Thanks, for making me feel better." I don't think how badly -- He didn't even laugh. I don't think, people don't stop to think what they're saying sometimes and the effect it can have on a person, you know. One cousin would always [puts fists together, making a little popping sound], do this to me whenever he'd see me, like he wanted to pop my pimples. I would just go to the bedroom and cry, you know.
MB: Is it true your father used to say you had a fat nose?
MJ: Yeah.
MB: What would he say? What did he actually say?
MJ: "God, your nose is big. You didn't get it from me."
MB: What does that do to someone who's going through adolescence?
MJ: You wanna die. On top of it, you gotta go on stage, in the spotlight in front of hundreds of thousands of people who just...God, it's just hard. I would have been happier wearing a mask.

[Scene ends/Cuts to Jackson and Bashir in a mask store]

MJ: Let's see how it looks on you.
Bashir [Holding up a mask]: Is it an improvement?
[Jackson laughs]
MB: Thank you.
[Jackson hands Bashir a mask]
MJ: That's fun.
MB: That’s been better, I think.

[Narrating]: So had these adolescent experiences in the spotlight led Michael Jackson to remake his face to create his own mask. I had to ask him.

[Scene ends/Cuts to Jackson back in the hotel room in Las Vegas]

MB: What do you say to people who say, "Well, when Michael Jackson was a boy, he was a black kid, and now as an adult he looks like a white man."
MJ: Well, you gotta ask God that. That has nothing to do with me, Okay? That's ignorance.
MB: What do you mean it’s got nothing to do with you?
MJ: I don’t’ control puberty. I don't control the fact that I have vitiligo. Well, how many white people, when they're little kids, they look white. Now they look very -- They sit out in the sun all the day to look black. The suntan lotion business is a multi-billion dollar business. Nobody says nothing about that. They do. They’re trying to be other than what they are. But that's ok, I guess, right?
MB: Are you trying to be other than what you are?
MJ: No.
MB: So when they say things like, you've had implants in your cheeks, you've had a dimple made in your chin, you've had your lips enlarged, you've had your eyelids reconstructed.
MJ: Oh God, no, it's stupid! Oh please, that's stupid!
MB: None of it's true?
MJ:: None of it’s true. It’s BS. They made it up, they lied! They don't want to give me credit for anything. One paper said I was growing a beard, “He had each little hair transplanted into my face with a laser. Lasered in”. How ignorant is that? I can't even grow a beard now? Ignorant fool who wrote such a thing. Don't believe that stupidity. Don't waste your money on it, because when you're buying it, you're not buying something based on what's true. It's not the truth, it's garbage.

[Scene ends/Cuts to various shots of Las Vegas/Cuts to Jackson and Bashir walking through the hotel hallway]

[Narrating]: I wasn't convinced by Jackson's explanation and felt that he wasn't being entirely honest. I knew I'd have to return to the subject of his face before we were through. Suddenly, Jackson suggested a filming opportunity that I couldn't turn down. The following day, I'd be going out on the town with the Jackson children.

MB: Left? Okay thank you. [Bashir and the camera man go into another hallway, while Jackson goes to make sure the children are ready, with their masks on]

[Narrating]: I was about to meet Michael's children: Prince Michael the first, and Paris. They're rarely seen in public.

[Jackson's children run down the hallway towards Jackson]

MB: Are you all set? That's really a great mask.
Prince: It's a butterfly.
MB: It's a really great mask. It's a butterfly? Let me see. Come here. What's it made of?
Prince: I don't know! [laughter between Jackson and Bashir] It’s Inside is hot. It’s black.
MB: Wow.

[Bodyguards, Jackson, Bashir, and Jackson's children walk down a hallway towards the elevator]

Prince: Dad, can I run?
MJ: If you want, sure.
MB: Should we run? No, no, he’s wearing nice shoes, he ain't running anywhere.
MJ: Paris, do you want to run?
Paris: No, I want to hold your hand.
MJ: Okay.

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[Narrating]: Jackson told me he'd never allow his children out without masks, to conceal their identities. The children were the result of Jackson's brief marriage to his dermatology nurse, Debbie Rowe. Paris is now four, Prince is almost six.

[All of them in the elevator now]

MB: I see you've got the Star Wars shoes.
Prince: Not part two.
MB: Not part two.
Prince: Daddy got these for me. He got me Spider-Man shoes, too.
MB: What he’s been telling you about? "Not part two"? Why don't you like Star Wars part two?
Prince: Because it's boring and slow.
MB: Right. [laughter] And what makes you think you're qualified for such a strong judgment?
MJ: What makes you think you're right about that? You sure you're right?
[Prince nods yes]
Jackson and MB: He has a good point.

[All of them outside of the hotel, walking to a limo. Jackson is singing, but it's inaudible]
MB: I think there are some people here who might just want to have a word with you.
[There are two women from Spain]

Spanish Woman: Hello Michael. Good morning!
MJ: Oh hi! You don't know how happy those pictures make me. Those banners you guys made.
Spanish Woman: Thank you. You know actually we're running out of babies pictures. We're from Spain.
MJ: You can never run out of baby pictures!
MB: You're from Spain?
Spanish women: Yes.
MJ: Sunny Spain.
MB: You're big fans of Michael?
Spanish woman: Sunny Spain! Its' been a long long time… [inaudible]
MJ: The Spanish are so sweet, and beautiful people too. Ooh! Stunning to look at.

[Jackson, Bashir, and the children go into the SUV]

MB: Take care.
Spanish women: Bye!
Prince: I love you!

[Scene ends/Jackson is back in the hotel room with various shots of them in the car]

MB: Did you cry when Prince was born?
MJ: Yes.
MB: Can you just tell me what happened? Can you remember how it happened?
MJ: Of course. He came out with his really big head and as soon as I saw his head, I thought of my grandfather and my brother Randy, cause his head was shaped just like theirs. I said, "Oh my God." The rest, they let me pull, pull him out, and I cut the umbilical cord with scissors that were shaped like a stork. They cleaned him off and everything. I was ready to take him home. They said, "Nope, you can't take him home." I go, "Why?" They said, "We think there are some serious problems." I go, "What?" “We got to take him to intensive care. He's not breathing correctly." I go, "Oh no!" I said, "Please God, don't let me have a sick child, please." So I waited an hour, two hours, three hours, four hours, so scared. After about five hours, this nurse comes in. She goes, "Okay, you can go home now." I was so happy.
MB: Paris was born soon after. Your daughter.
MJ: Yes.
MB: How was that? Were you there for her birth?
MJ: Of course. It was just, magic. She came out the wrong way, her face was facing the wrong way, and she was being kind of choked by the umbilical cord. So I was kind of worried. It took her longer. I was so anxious to get her home that I clear the cord --I hate to say this-- I snatched her and just went home, with all the placenta all over her.
MB: You -- You are kidding.
MJ: Yeah, I'm not kidding. I got her in a towel and ran. They said it was fine. They said everything was okay with that. I got her home and washed her all off.
MB: She was just born.
MJ: I know.
MB: Why did you want to do that?
MJ: Because I felt that it was okay, they told me that it was okay. Debbie said it was okay. We got the permission of the doctor. I think I was so frightened that they would give me some bad news. I was so scared, but there was no bad news to be gotten. So I started reliving, and I was afraid. I said, "I just don't want to hear anything bad, just go, go go."
MB: Presumably, Debbie had to stay in the hospital cause she just gave a birth. Was she okay about losing the baby as it were in the first few minutes?
MJ: No, she told me to.
MB: She told you to take the baby?
MJ: Yeah, she said, "Go right ahead. I know it's what you want. I’m totally fine with this." I said, "You fine with this?" She said, "Yes, of course."
MB: How long was it before she was united with her baby. How long?
MJ: Oh, I don't know technically. After getting out of that...I don't know exactly, I kind of forget.

[Clip cuts to Jackson, Bashir, and Jackson's children in an Egyptian museum-like place]

MJ: Have you been in here?
MB: No, I haven't.
MJ: Look at this!
MB: It's extraordinary. Is this the store you were talking about?
MJ: I think it's coming up, we should be there real soon.
MB: This is actually the tomb you were talking about? The tomb you bought?
MJ: Yes, isn't it gorgeous?

[Jackson, Bashir, and Jackson's children reach the store Jackson was talking about previously]

MB: Ah, this must be it. Let's go in and have a look.

[Jackson, Bashir, and Jackson's children reach the tomb Jackson bought]

MB: Is this it?
MJ: That's it.
MB: Wow!
MJ: Isn't it gorgeous? Look at the face! Come on, it's beautiful.
MB: This is the actual coffin?
MJ: Yeah.
MB: A replica...Anthroport [spelling? I have no clue what he means] coffin of Tutankhamen.
MJ: Yeah, and look this one's gold.
MB: So you’ve bought this? Why have you bought it?
MJ: Cause I love it, look at the art. Yeah, it's phenomenal. It's a work of art.
MB: Would you like to be buried in something like this?
MJ: [laughs] No, I don't ever want to be buried.
MB: Really?
MJ: No.
MB: Then what would you like to happen to you?
MJ: I would like to live forever.

[End scene/Cuts to Jackson sitting in the Las Vegas hotel room]

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MB: Do you try to give your children a normal upbringing?
MJ: Yes. Of course.
MB: What about things like schooling and education? Do they go to school?
MJ: Yes, they have school.
MB: Do they go to a normal school?
MJ: Never.
MB: Why not?
MJ: It wouldn’t work.
MB: Why?
MJ: 'Cause we'd get chased by paparazzi everywhere we go. I don't want press all over them at school, in the bushes and in the trees. I saw how it would happen to me. You know? They're doing the same and worse to them. I don't feel like the jealousy and the teachers saying, "Just because you're Michael Jackson's children, don't think I'm gonna treat you any different from anyone else around here." Well, they don't want to be treated differently. It's just that, I don't want them to go through all of that.
MB: So the truth is that they can't really have a very normal life, can they?
MJ: No, no.

[Clip ends/Jackson, Bashir, and Jackson's children leaving the museum with a crowd blocked off by bodyguards and staff]

Bashir [Talking to Prince]: You hold my hand. You hold daddy's hand and my hand. Thank you.
Jackson [To nanny]: Tell her when I tell her to let go, to let go. [Paris won't let go of Jackson's hand] See, she's doing "Pull." It's her act, "Pull, pull!" [Is handed an autograph] Tell her I gotta sign autographs sometime.

[Clip ends/Jackson is back in the Las Vegas hotel room]

MB: Do you worry about the affect of your life on them? The fact that you're the star that you are, and therefore they by default have to be part of that. They don't have a choice.
MJ: That's the way it is and it's worked successfully in the past many times. It's all in how you shape and sculpt and mold their world. Many people have been very successful at it.

[Clip ends/Jackson, Bashir, and Jackson's children back in the museum]

[Narrating]: Jackson obviously liked being a father, and he had a surprise for me. Prince and Paris had recently been joined by a new baby brother. He was back at the hotel with his nanny.

MB: So we're not to Virgin?
MJ: No, no, no, we can't.
MB: Ugh, it's crazy out here.

[Clip ends/Jackson talking in the hotel room in Las Vegas]

MB: You recently had your third child. Were you present for his birth?
MJ: Yes.
MB: Now, what's he like? What's his name?
MJ: Prince Michael II, but we call him Blanket.
MB: You call him Blanket?
MJ: Yeah.
MB: Why do you call him Blanket?
MJ: Because it's an expression I use with my family and my employees. I say, "You should blanket me," or "You should blanket her with something." A blanket is a blessing; It's a way of showing love and caring.
MB: Who is Blanket's mother?
MJ: Blanket's mother, I can't say, because she'll be **rded with...You know. We have an agreement that we can't -- Contractual agreement -- talk about who she is and everything. That's how we worked that out.
MB: Was she someone that you had a relationship with?
MJ: Yes.
MB: But you've kept it secret.
MJ: Yes.
MB: That's because she doesn't want anybody to know?
MJ: Yes, I don't want anybody to -- She doesn't want to be in papers and tabloids. She doesn't want it, and I don't blame her. She knows how scumbag their comments can be. You know?
MB: Does -- Do any of the mothers live with you now?
MJ: Live with me now? No.
MB: Is that difficult for you and the children?
MJ: No, no, why would it be difficult?
MB: Are the children not looking for their mother?
MJ: No, they're fine. How many babies live with their mothers and they don't have a father around. Nobody say nothing. They have a good time.
MB: So, with you it's the other way around; They live with their dad.
MJ: Yeah, They have a good time. They have enough women in their lives, they're everywhere.
[Bashir laughs]
MJ: Women are everywhere in my house I mean, they're with them all day long.
MB: What would you say to somebody who says that's a bit strange that none of your children have their mother?
MJ: People can always have a judgment about anything you do, so it doesn't bother me. Everything can be strange to someone; This interview is strange to some people out there. So who cares, right?

[Scene ends/Bashir is riding alone in a taxi cab in Berlin - There are various shots of fans below Jackson's hotel in Berlin]

[Narrating]: But thousands of miles away, Jackson's behavior as a father was about to come under serious scrutiny. A few weeks later, I went to meet him in Berlin, and just as I was arriving, this happened.

[Shows the Jackson "baby dangling" incident]

[Narrating]: Michael Jackson had just dangled his new baby out of the window of a Berlin hotel. His fans outside were going crazy. When I got up to his room, I was worried. There was a manic quality about him that I had never seen before. He was loving the attention of the screaming fans outside the hotel.


[Bashir and Jackson in the hotel room - Jackson is writing on a pillow]

MB: What does it say? "I love you with all my heart -- Michael Jackson" That's the hotel pillow?
MJ: Yep. [Throws pillow down from hotel room - The fans get louder]
MB: What were they singing earlier?
MJ: "F the press, Michael you're the best."
MB: Can you say that again?
MJ: "F, (as in F-U-C-K) the press, Michael you're the best." But I'm not gonna say the word.

[Jackson and Bashir walking down the hotel hallway to an elevator]

[Narrating]: He had arrived in Berlin after a week of appearances in a Los Angeles court room. Media coverage of the court case said his face was disintegrating.

[Jackson makes a 'funny face' to the camera as he enters the elevator]

MJ: [inaudible] ...I made the worst face.
MB: What do you think of Berlin?
MJ: I love Berlin.

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[Crowd screams, "Michael!" repeatedly]

[Narrating]: As fans waited for another glimpse of their idol at the hotel, his motorcade sped off. I wanted to know if the articles about his face had hurt him.

MB: What did you think of the press coverage of the court case?
MJ: Oh, I didn't see any of that.
MB: So you were --
MJ: I don't talk about -- I don't watch TV. I don't look at tabloids; I hate tabloids. I think we should have a tabloid burning -- Just make mountains out of them, burn it all. People should be more aware that it's completely not the truth. It's sensationalism. It's ignorance, it really is. Ignorance... I mean look at poor Lady Diana, it was sick! She was being hunted by those people.
MB: What did you think of the way they seemed to make such a fuss about your appearance in court? That seemed to be the big story.
MJ: Ehh, don't get into that...
MB: Look! Film this guy, man! Look, look!

[A man dances like Michael Jackson in front of the car until the police pull him away – Michael roars with laughter]

MB: The police pulled him out! What was he doing? Was he doing the Jackson dance?
MJ: He was doing all my -- Every time he starts the police pull him out, every time! He can never get on a roll! Poor guy, I guess. Aw, he does the leg kick, the spin, he grabs his crotch, after that they take him out.

[Narrating]: We were headed for a restaurant, but Jackson's army of devotees had got there first. They included his number one fan, who finally got to perform his dance.

[Shows the 'Dancing Fan' dancing in front of the cameras]

MB: How long have you been doing that for?
Dancing Fan: Since I was little.

[Shows Jackson and Bashir fighting through a crowd to get back into their car]

[Narrating]: By the time we left, the atmosphere was becoming frenzied.

MJ: I want some more posters, come on. More posters. [Is getting handed posters by bodyguards from the fans] Give me that one, please? Come on! Babies! I want more. Please?

[Fans are poking their heads into open windows/doors trying to speak to Jackson]

Male Fan: May I come to your hotel room, Mikey? I come all the way from Israel!
Female Fan [Trying to squeeze into the closing SUV door]: Can I give a hug? Let me in please.
Bodyguards: No, no hugs.
MJ: No! Let her, let her! She won't hurt me.

[Female Fan comes in to the SUV giving Jackson posters and lots of hugs until she is pulled out by bodyguards]

Female Fan: I want to give you a hug, can I?
MJ: Of course! I'll give you more than a hug.
Female Fan: Oh my God! Oh my God! I love you! You mean the world to me!
MJ: I love you. I love you, too. I love you more.

[Bodyguards pull the fan out of the car and close the door]

[Clip ends/Cuts to the next day with crowds calmly around Jackson's hotel]

[Narrating]: As Jackson headed back to the hotel, a storm was brewing about the Blanket incident. The next morning, he was keen to show me how he cared for his children.

[Clip ends/Bashir is with Jackson who has Blanket on his lap, with a transparent sheet over his head -- Jackson is trying to feed him without removing the sheet -- Jackson seems slightly nervous]

MJ: I love you! I love you! [slightly laughs]
MB: There he is...
MJ: Yes! [continues laughing] You want the bottle! [Random excited noises, followed with a mildly loud "Aah!"] Here's the bottle, here.
MB: Let's just try to get this off here. [Attempts to take off the sheet]
MJ: Ah! Oh no! [Blanket starts to cry] Blanket please don't cry. Aboo! Aboo! Yes, aboo! Blanket, blanket! Blanket! I love you! Yes, yes, yes. I love you! I love my children, very much. I don't want him to cry.
MB: Does he like his food?
MJ: Yes!
MB: Have you been hearing about what people have been saying?
MJ: That's totally ignorant; I would never do that to my children or any child. Try to kill them? Come on, that's stupid. Why would I put a scarf over the baby's face if I was trying to [aggressive voice] throw him off the balcony? [normal voice again] We were waving to thousands of fans down below. They were chanting that they wanted to see my child. So I was kind enough to let them see. I was doing something out of innocence. [Continues to feed Blanket -- Covers Blanket's face even more with the rest of the sheet]
MB: He's hungry, isn't he?
MJ: Uh, he loves the milk, this kind. It is good. [Gets up to leave room with Blanket] Thank you.

[Clip ends/Cuts to Bashir and Jackson riding in separate vans to the Berlin Zoo]

[Narrating]: Jackson's behavior was beginning to alarm me. Later that day, he took Prince and Paris to Berlin Zoo. It was supposed to be a family outing, but the press were out in force. Somebody had helpfully tipped them off. Michael was here to see the gorillas, but he seemed completely oblivious to the fact that the trip had descended into total chaos.
MB: I got you. I got Prince. I got Prince.
[Narrating]: Concerned for the safety of the children, I was caught with them in the middle of a paparazzi struck.
MB: I've got Prince, that's it Grace. You stay there.

[Fans are screaming "F*ck the press! Michael, you're the best!" -- While people are getting knocked into in the frenzy -- Eventually one of Bashir's cameramen gets knocked down entirely]

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[End clip/Cuts to Jackson and Bashir going to a charity auction]

[Narrating]: It was no kind of trip for two young children, and everybody could see it, but Jackson himself. It was hard to believe Jackson was the same man I had met in Neverland. The first opportunity to talk about his bizarre behavior was later evening at a charity auction.

MB: What about the trip to the zoo today?
MJ: I love going to the zoo even though it was difficult, almost like pandemonium. But as long as I get to see the gorillas I'm satisfied. I love the gorillas.
MB: Didn't Prince get poked in the eye?
MJ: Did Prince get poked in the eye? No.
MB: He's ok?
MJ: Yes, he's ok.
MB: The children were under enormous pressure with people around.
MJ: Yeah, I know it’s sad but they were -- The first day of birth, we covered them, there were helicopters flying around the hospitals with satellites, people blocked down the street.
MB: Wouldn't it be easier for the bodyguards and for your nanny just to take the children to the zoo on their own, rather than have to go through what they went through today?
MJ: No, because I can't take that chance of – It’d rather be my fault if something happens.
MB: Really?
MJ: Yes.
MB: So you wouldn't allow them to go with your bodyguards unless you were with them?
MJ: If it's with security... There's a lot of, well, I don't want to say the word, but it'd be hard on me, like really walking the line, very delicate. [Unsure about this line, basically Jackson might be talking about the security being too rough with the children]
MB: You've had a tough week this week, haven't you? Because, the media have been accusing you of being irresponsible with your children.
MJ: The media's wrong. I love my children, I was holding my son, tight and strong. I didn't want -- Why would I throw a baby over the balcony? That's the dumbest, stupidest, story I've ever heard. I love my children, and they knew I love him. Two minutes before they saw the baby, Prince did the same thing, I had him in my arms.
MB: I saw that.
MJ: I've done it, I mean. I've got them strong in my arms.
MB: Were you just over-excited?
MJ: No!
MB: What was it?
MJ: They were chanting that they wanted to see the baby, so I wanted to show them the baby. I'm not gonna let him fall.
MB: But you didn't really show them the baby, 'cause the face was covered.
MJ: Yes they did. They got to feel his spirit. That’s good enough. He was responding. He started like, singing. [Jackson makes a high pitched noise while pointing to his ear]

[Scene ends/Cuts to Jackson ducking behind bodyguards to get to a secret passage, waiting to go on stage]

[Narrating]: The consumer performer since childhood, Jackson was entirely unphased by the day and so the show went on.

Announcer on stage: [Speaking in German, but mentions Jackson's name]

[Narrating]: He had donated one of his jackets, it was auctioned for 16,000 pounds.

[Scene ends/Cuts to Jackson and Bashir arriving in the hotel garage -- A few fans are there]

[Narrating]: Still, the fans tried desperately hard to get near him.

Female Fan: I love you Michael. May I have a hug please? Please, may I hug?
MJ: Sure.

[The female fan and Jackson hug -- She starts crying hysterically with her friends]

Female Fan 2: Germany loves you, Michael.
MJ: I love Germany.
Female Fan 2: Oh, and we love you, too! Thank you.

[Bashir and Jackson in Berlin, going to the Bambi Award Show]

[Narrating]: It was the final night in Berlin, and Jackson was the main drawer at Germany's Bambi Awards. He was to be honored for a lifetime of musical achievements. Yet again, Jackson seemed extremely agitated and for the first time, he didn't want our cameras focused on him. [Shows Jackson trying to push the camera towards the fans] He only wanted us to capture the agitation of his fans.

[Scene ends/Cuts to inside of the Bambi Awards Show, backstage -- "What More Can I Give" video is playing for the show]

[Narrating]: While his security carried out last minute checks backstage, the build-up to his award began. An elaborate series of introductions had been organized. But Jackson's disastrous trip to Berlin still held one last humiliation for him.

Announcer: Michael Jackson! [inaudible/German]

[Jackson starts to go on the stage, when he ducks on the stairs after being told it wasn't his turn, yet]

[Narrating]: With the ceremony entirely in German, Jackson took to the stage too early. The confusion was excruciating for all of us. The first name check was not for him, but for the presenter of the award, Oris Becker.

Oris Becker: [German/Inaudible]... Bambi Pop Star of the Millennium, Michael Jackson.

[Thriller plays/Jackson gets on stage to accept the award.]

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[Narrating]: The award was supposed to seal his position as the King of Pop, but by the end of this trip, it had done nothing of the kind. There was something else that was bothering me. Back in Neverland, I met one of his good friends, a 12-year-old boy.

[Scene ends/Cuts to various shots of Neverland and children visiting Neverland]

[Narrating]: In the time I had known Michael Jackson, we touched on most aspects of his life. Say for one: His relationship with children. For me, perhaps the most disturbing aspect of his life's story. As he often does, he invited a group of disadvantaged children to Neverland. They couldn't believe their luck.

[Jackson and Bashir are on a train with many children]

MJ: See where that big machine is inside? That's where I play all my games. That's the tennis court. Oh hold on! Tell them to hold on! Don't fall out.
Boy: Will you dance for us?
MJ: Oh my God, if you dance, too. I'll dance with you guys.
Girl: I dance, too.
MJ: I'm kind of shy.
Boy: So you're gonna dance for us? Please, dance for us!
MJ: You gotta dance with me.
Boy: You gonna teach us how to do the moonwalk?
MJ: Aww, you know how to do the moonwalk. I learned it from you guys.

Girl: Nooo! You gotta teach us!

[Jackson tries to stand up as the train starts to stop, but sits back down quickly as he realizes other children will imitate him]

MJ: Don't stand up, yet, hold on. I'm pretty bad. Don't stand up, it's gonna jerk, wait. Okay, now you can get off. But don't run, whatever you do, don't run.

[Jackson gets off the train with the kids, running around and laughing]

[Narrating]: He was evidently enjoying the company of the children; And they liked being there, too.

MJ: How about a snow cone? [A child asks him something but it is inaudible] Oh, I buy those from companies all around the world. I'm getting a roller coaster next to go over there.
Boys: You got a roller coaster? Do you have a water ride?
MJ: I’m gonna do that. I'm going to build a water park on the other side of this mountain.
Boy: You've got a water park?
MJ: No, no, we're going to build it. So when you come, bring your swimsuit.
Girl: Michael, Can we go on any ride?
MJ: Yeah, sure.

[Narrating]: What the children wanted, they got, and everything was free. For a day, Jackson got to be one of them.

Jackson [Talking to the snow cone employee]: Can I have one, too?

Employee: She called it first, then you called it.
MJ: Oh me, me, me! [giggles] Sorry.

[Narrating]: The problem was, I, like everyone, knew that 10 years ago, children were being invited to sleep over at Neverland. One of them, a 13-year-old boy, accused Jackson of sexual abuse. A claim that cost him millions of dollars. I'd assumed that he'd be more cautious, but to my utter astonishment, I discovered that children were still sleeping over. Sometimes in his house, sometimes in his bedroom...

[End scene/Cuts to Jackson, Gavin Arvizo, Starr Arvizo (Brother of Gavin), and Davellin Arvizo (Sister of Gavin) in the Neverland kitchen dancing]

[Narrating]: And then, I met 12-year-old Gavin, and his brother and sister. Gavin met Jackson two years ago, after he had been told he was dying of cancer.

[End scene/Jackson and Gavin are sitting together on a couch]

MB: What is it, Gavin, about Michael, that makes him connect so well with children? What is it?
Gavin: 'Cause he's really a child at heart. He acts just like a child, he knows how a child is, he knows what a child thinks. I think that you don't necessarily have to be a child just because society says, "18 and up, you're an adult." It doesn't really matter; You're an adult when you want to be one.

[End scene/Jackson, Gavin, and his siblings are in the kitchen]

MJ: Isn't that great? Not sick at all, no more cancer. All gone.
Davellin: [Spanish/Inaudible] He's taller than me now.
MJ: They told him he was gonna die, isn't that great?
Davellin: They told my parents to plan for his funeral, 'cause there was no chance.
MJ: They told your parents to plan for his funeral?
Davellin: Yeah, they told him he wasn't gonna grow; he wasn't gonna be able to have kids --
Gavin: I had a growth spurt.
Davellin: He had growth spurts during chemotherapy!
Gavin: I went from 4'10 to 5'4.
MJ: See? Medicine don't know it all, do they?

[Narrating]: According to Gavin, it was Michael's friendship and support that helped him beat the cancer. They've remained close friends ever since.

[End scene/Jackson and Gavin are on the couch again]

MB: When you stay here, do you stay in the house? Does Michael let you enjoy the whole premises?
Gavin: There was one night I stood [inaudible] ... And asked him if I could stay in his bedroom, and he let me stay in the bedroom. I was like, "Michael, you can sleep on the bed." He was like, "No, no, no, you sleep on the bed." I was like, "No, no, no, you sleep on the bed." Then he finally said, "Okay, if you love me, you'll sleep on the bed." I was like, "Aww, man!" So I finally slept on the bed, but it was fun that night.
MJ: I slept on the floor. I wasn't sleeping in the bed?
Gavin: No, you packed the whole mess of the blankets over the floor.
[Jackson laughs]
MB: But, Michael, you're a 44-year-old man, now. What do you get out of this? Why do you do it?
MJ: Uhh...
Gavin: He's four.
MJ: Yeah, I'm four. Uh, I love -- I feel -- See, I think what they get from me, I get from them. I've said it many times, my greatest inspiration comes from kids. Every song I write, every dance I do, all the poetry I write. It's all inspired from that level of innocence, that consciousness of purity and children have that. I see God in the face of children. Man, I just love being around that all the time.

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[End clip/Jackson, Gavin, and his siblings are in the kitchen again]

MJ: So you guys still stay up late? Sometimes I call your house, SO late. But you tell me to call that late!
Boys: Oh yeah! That was one time. One time!

[End clip/Jackson and Gavin on the couch again -- Gavin and Jackson are holding hands]

MB: When people hear that children from other families have come and they've stayed in your house. They've stayed in your bedroom.
MJ: Well, very few.
MB: Well, some have. They say, "Is that really appropriate for a man, a grown man, to be doing that?" How do you respond to that?
MJ: I feel sorry for them because that's judging someone who just wants to really help people. Why can't you share your bed? The most loving thing to do is to share your bed with someone. You know?
MB: You really think that?
MJ: Yes, of course.
Gavin: You're taking a position that you use every single night, that you go into, you sleep and you're sharing it with another.
MJ: See? You can have my bed if you want, sleep in it, I'll sleep on the floor. It's yours, always give the beds to the company, you know. Like to him, I said, if he was gonna sleep on the floor I said, "No, you sleep in the bed, I'll sleep on the floor."
MB: Haven't you got a spare room? Or a spare house here where he could have stayed?
Gavin: Yes, we have guest units, but whenever kids come here they always want to stay with me. [laughs] They never want to stay in the guest room. I have never invited them into my room; They always just want to stay. They say, "Can I stay with you tonight?" I go, "If it's ok with your parents, then yes you can."
Bashir [Talking to Gavin]: Were your parents happy that you were here with Michael?
Gavin: Yeah, my mom was very, very happy. I know they were happy 'cause I was happy.
MB: Did they come with you?
Gavin: Yeah, most of the time. When I wasn't busy with my parents, I was busy with Michael.
MB: But they were happy that you were here?
Gavin: Yeah.

[End scene/Cuts to various shots of Neverland, Miami Beach, Florida, and where the last interview would take place]

[Narrating]: I felt very uneasy after this conversation. I knew I had to confront Jackson about what I thought was an obsession with children. It just couldn't be avoided. Early in the near year, Jackson agreed to what would be our final meeting. This time, in Miami, Florida. There were unanswered questions, lots of them, areas of his life, about which I felt he had been less than honest. His face, his denials about plastic surgery, his relationship with Blanket's mother, and of course I also wanted to return to the Neverland sleepovers. Confronting him wouldn't be easy, but now it had to happen.

[End scene/Cuts to the studio where the last interview take place ]


[Narrating]: As we prepared for the interview, the atmosphere was unusually tense. This time, Jackson had flown in his own lighting expert. Maybe there was a reason for that. Cosmetic surgery was to be the focus of some difficult questions.

MB: When we were talking sometime ago, you talked about how when you went through adolescence, you had a terrible time. In fact, I had a look at some pictures of you during that period. You did have a lot of spots.
MJ: Yeah... Yeah...
MB: One of the things you've clearly used to overcome this is changing your appearance. You've kind of -- Well, you've physically changed, haven't you? The photographs of you, if I look at them --
MJ: No, that's called adolescence, it's called growing and changing.
MB: Yeah, but even the shape of your face has changed.
MJ: No, it has not. I have had no plastic surgery on my face, just my nose. It helped me breathe better so I could hit higher notes.
MB: But Michael, are you honestly saying that you've only ever had one operation?
MJ: Two.
MB: You've had two?
MJ: As I can remember, yeah. Just two.
MB: If I look at some of the photographs of you in your adolescence --
MJ: Yeah, I changed, people change.
MB: But even after, when you did the Thriller album, your lips are very different now to what they were then.
MJ: Nope. Nope. Nope.
MB: But they do look different.
MJ: Nope. Sorry, same ol' lips.
MB: You don't think so?
MJ: Nope!
[slight laughter]
MB: But, you know, on a serious point. In some ways I can understand it, because --
MJ: I'm happy with my lips.
MB: No, no but, forget the lips. It’s specifically… [Laughs]
MJ: Everybody in Hollywood get plastic surgery; Plastic surgery wasn't invented for Michael Jackson. Everybody gets it.
MB: No, I'm not suggesting it was invented for Michael Jackson. But what I'm saying is, sometimes, people go too far. Sometimes, if they've got a lot of money, and they have an opportunity, sometimes they can think, "Oh, I'll do things," -- Especially given your childhood. I mean while we've talked, I've begun to understand how difficult that was for you. How unhappy you were as a child, as an adolescent, how unhappy you were about your appearance. You told me in Neverland that your father used to insult you. You told me in Las Vegas your father used to talk about your nose. So I can understand why you'd want to change your appearance, it makes sense. I wouldn't want --
MJ: Just that though, not the whole face, just the nose. They try to say, "Why does he keep changing?" It's not true, it's just the nose.
MB: Even though the shape of the face is different.
MJ: 'Cause I'm -- I've changed!
MB: How have you changed?
MJ: I was a little kid! My face is squared out.
MB: No, but I'm talking about pictures of you when you were in your 20s.
MJ: Nope. I'm still -- I was changing. I was changing. I'm telling you the honest truth. I don't do anything to my face.
MB: Honestly?
MJ: Honestly!

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[End clip/Michael Jackson stops to have his makeup artists apply more makeup]

[Narrating]: We broke off, but not for long. Next stop, were my worries about the children.

MB: When I was talking to Prince one day, he said to me that he didn't have a mother.
MJ: He said he didn't have a mother...
MB: Yeah, I said, "Prince, where's your mummy?" He said, "I haven't got a mumma."
MJ: That's right.
MB: Did you tell him to say that?
MJ: No.
MB: What do you think he means when he says, "I haven't got a mother"?
MJ: Like he said, he didn't have a mother.
MB: Do you not think, though, that your children would benefit from contact with their mother?
MJ: No, 'cause she doesn't [hesitates] -- It's private information, she doesn't [hesitates] -- She can't handle it.
MB: She can't handle her own children?
MJ: She'd prefer them being with me than with her.
MB: Did you know that she didn't want to have relationships with the children when you married her?
MJ: Yeah, she did it for me. She did it for me...
MB: So just so I understand this correctly --
MJ: She's a wonderful person.
MB: She knew that Michael Jackson loves children and she knew that Michael Jackson wanted children.
MJ: Yeah, that’s right. She said, "You need to be a daddy."
MB: Right, she said you needed to be a daddy -- More than she needed to be a mother?
MJ: Yeah, she wanted to do that for me as a present.
MB: [pauses] As a present?
MJ: Yeah, yeah.
MB: What do you mean?
MJ: It's a gift. I used to walk around holding baby dolls.
MB: Really?
MJ: Yeah! 'Cause I wanted children so badly.
MB: So what you've just said is that your wife gave you two children as a present because she knew you wanted to be a father?
MJ: Yeah, that's a lovly gesture.
MB: Well, that's an incredible gesture.
MJ: Yeah, there are surrogate mothers who do that every day. That happens every day in the world. It’s happening right now.
MB: Is that how Blanket was born as well?
MJ: I used a surrogate mother, with my own sperm cells. I had sperm cells in my other two children, they're all my children, but I used a surrogate mother. She doesn't know me and I don't know her. That's how he was born.
MB: How did you select the mother out of interest?
MJ: It didn't matter to me, as long as she was healthy. I didn't care what race. I said, "As long as she's healthy, and she doesn't have eye -- Her vision's good, and her intellect, I want to know how intelligent she is."
MB: Would you have conceived a child with a black woman as a surrogate mother?
MJ: Of course.
MB: But, I've seen Blanket and I think it's safe to say his mother's probably white.
MJ: No, you're wrong.
MB: I'm wrong?
MJ: Yeah.
MB: Oh really? So Blanket's mother is black?
MJ: Yeah.
MB: But Blanket's so light.
MJ: Black people were called colored people because we come in all colors. From very white, as white as my hand, to very dark, as the dark of your shirt. My father has blue eyes. When they see Paris, they always think Debbie, and that could easily be my father's genes, you know.
MB: Really?
MJ: Of course.
MB: So when do you think you're going to have your next child?
MJ: I wish I could have it today. I was thinking about adopting two kids from each continent around the world.
MB: Really?
MJ: A boy and a girl from every continent. That's my dream.

[End scene/A clip of Jackson talking to Bashir with Gavin is shown on a small screen]

[Narrating]: And so it was that we came back to our meeting at Neverland with 12-year-old Gavin. I had found this easily the most disturbing moment of the past eight months.

[Bashir on a TV screen: You know some have, and they say, "Is that really appropriate....]

[Scene fades out/Jackson and Bashir are talking again]

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MB: When you were talking about children, we met Gavin. It was a great privilege to meet Gavin, because he's had a lot of suffering in his life. When Gavin was there, he talked about the fact that he shares your bedroom.
MJ: Yes...
MB: Can you understand why people would worry about that?
MJ: Because they're ignorant.
MB: But is it really appropriate for a 44-year-old man to share a bedroom with a child, who is not related to him at all?
MJ: That's a beautiful thing.
MB: That's not a worrying thing?
MJ: Why should it be worrying? Who's the criminal? Who's Jack the Ripper in the room? Here's some guy trying to help heal a child. I'm sleeping on a sleeping bag on the floor, I gave him the bed, 'cause he has a brother named Starr. So, him and Starr took the bed, and I'm on the floor in the sleeping bag.
MB: Did you ever sleep in the bed with them?
MJ: No, but I have slept in a bed with many children. I sleep in the bed with all of them. When Macaulay Culkin were little, Kieran Culkin would sleep on this side [motions his hand to the right], Macaulay would sleep on this side [motions his hand to the left], his sister's in there -- We're all just jammed in the bed. Then we'd wake up like, dawn, and go in the hot air balloon. You know, we have the footage. We have all the footage.
MB: Is that right, Michael?
MJ: It's very right. It's very loving. That's what the world needs now, more love. More --
MB: The world needs a --
MJ: The world needs a heart.
MB: The world needs a man who's 44 sleeping in the bed with children?
MJ: No, you're making it -- No, no, you're making it all wrong.
MB: Well, then tell me, help me.
MJ: Because, what's wrong with sharing the love? You don't sleep with your kids or some other kid who needs love that didn't have a childhood?
MB: No, I don't. I would never dream of something like that.
MJ: I would, I would.
MB: I would never dream of --
MJ: Because you haven't been where I've been, mentally. Alright?
MB: What do you think people would say if I said, "Well, I've invited some of my daughter's friends around, or my son's friends around and they're gonna sleep in the bed with me tonight."
MJ: That's fine!
MB: What do you think their parents would say?
MJ: If they're wacky, they would say, "You can't," but if they're close family, like your family and you know them well, and --
MB: But Michael, I wouldn't like my children to sleep in anybody else's bed.
MJ: Well, I wouldn't mind if I knew the person well, and I like could -- I'm very close to Barry Gibb, Paris and Prince could stay with him anytime. My children sleep with other people all the time.
MB: And you're happy with that?
MJ: Fine with it, they're honest, they're sweet people. They're not Jack the Ripper.
MB: I suppose the problem for many people is what happened in 1993, or what didn't happen.
MJ: What didn't happen.
MB: Just cast your mind back, what was that like when you first heard the allegations that were being made against you.
MJ: It was shocking, and I'm not allowed to talk about this by way of law. So...
MB: But how did you feel about what was being said? I'm not asking you to talk about what was said.
MJ: I was shocked because -- God knows in my heart how much I adore children.
MB: Isn't that precisely the problem, though? When you actually invite children into your bed, you never know what's gonna happen.
MJ: See, when you say bed, you're thinking sexual. They make that sexual, it's not sexual. We're going to sleep. I tuck them in, I put little music on, and do a little story time, I read a book. It's very sweet, I put the fireplace on, I give them hot milk, we have little cookies -- It's very charming, very sweet. It's what the whole world should do.
MB: The reason that's been given for why you didn't go to jail was because you reached a financial settlement with the family.
MJ: Yeah, yeah. I don't want to do a long drawn out thing on T.V. like with O.J. and all that stupid stuff. It wouldn't look right. I just said, "Look, get this over with, I want to go on with my life. This is ridiculous, I've had enough. Go."

[End clip/Shows Jackson and a lighting expert talking as the lighting expert readjusts the lighting]

[Narrating]: I questioned him much further, but the confidentiality agreement he signed means we cannot show that part of the interview. My questions had upset him deeply.

[End clip/Shows Jackson crying/holding back tears as he continues to be interviewed]

MJ: They don't even eat with their fathers anymore [pauses] or their mothers! The family bond has been broken. It's an outcry for attention why kids are going to school with guns. They want love, they want to be touched, they want to be held. But they're busy off on their day job, you know and they leave them at home on the computer and they just, doing all kinds of crazy stuff. It's destroying our world. We need to bond again. That's very important, Martin.
MB: Why does it mean so much to you?
MJ: I'm just very sensitive to their pain, and I'm very sensitive to the family, the human condition, on that subject. It means a lot to me and I wanna help people with whatever I can to help that. You know? It's, like I said before, and I'll say it a million times, I'm not afraid to say it, if there were no children on this Earth, and that somebody announced all kids were dead, I would jump off the balcony immediately. I'm done. I'm done.

[End clip/Shows Bashir riding in a car]

[Narrating]: And so I left Michael Jackson, as he prepared to go back to Neverland. What I had come to realize, was that Neverland wasn't just a home near Los Angeles -- It was Michael Jackson's world, wherever he happened to be. A place where his enormous wealth allowed him to do what he wanted, when he wanted, how he wanted. It's a place that he'd created, he'd live there since he was a child, and it was clear that he would never leave. But for me, it was time to say goodbye to Neverland.


[The end]