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Malfunction: The Dressing Down of Janet Jackson

2021

Documentary, Self: Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake

Documentary In 2004, a culture war was brewing when the Super Bowl halftime show audience saw a white man expose a black woman's breast. The woman was Janet Jackson, and her career was never the same. The man was Justin Timberlake; his stardom only grew. The New York Times examines the racial and cultural currents that collided on the Super Bowl stage, and explores how the incident impacted one of the most successful pop musicians in history.

	Media	Author	Review
		Kristen Lopez IndieWire	"Another essential episode of The New York Times Presents (...) It’s impossible not to think (...) where her career could have gone had it not been destroyed that night in 2004."
		Nina Metz Chicago Tribune	"A predictable mix of archival footage and present day interviews, they boast strong research skills but weaker storytelling and filmmaking instincts, repackaging information that’s already been reported elsewhere."
		Jen Chaney Vulture	"[It] illustrates the truly minor nature of an episode that got blown up into a media controversy (...) Thematically, Malfunction is a continuation of the Britney installments"
		Daniel D'Addario Variety	"Throughout, “Malfunction” is absorbing. But (...) it often lends the sense that there’s surprisingly little to be learned from Jackson’s story"
		Richard Roeper Chicago Sun-Times	"While solidly reported, the FX and Hulu report on the Super Bowl shocker comes across as an uninspiring academic lecture (...) Rating: ★★½ (out of 4)"
		Shannon Miller AV Club	"Malfunction gives everyone a voice but Janet Jackson (...) while some moments offer enlightening context, Malfunction still leaves the viewer with shards of a story that only the artist can reasonably glue together"
		Judy Berman Time	"The documentary could’ve been saved by a tighter, more purposeful structure and a more expansive understanding of the way Nipplegate speaks to the present."

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