User Reviews

Comprehensive? Yes, the career highlights are covered. Revealing? Just a little more than expected as she remains a cipher by design. There's some cool archival footage like the Rhythm Nation recording session where she reveals a short fuse with producers Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis. My takeaway from the four hours of this documentary is that the men in her life really disappointed her, and somehow she managed to avoid being bitter. For that, she deserves a lifetime achievement award.

Loved watching all the old footage of her family when they were young. Have always loved Janet, she is my Favorite Jackson. I still remember her on Good Times as Penny.

Was interesting to see her talk more openly and candidly about her father and her past marriages and her decision to move her career forward without her Father. Best Decision she could have MADE!!

Pissed me off to see that dummy MTV VJ interviewing her and asking her stupid questions about Michael. The interview was supposed to be about her and her New Album and her Amazing Break through with her career. You could see she was annoyed, but Janet is always so sweet in her interviews despite the idiots who ask her stupid questions. Good God, these people made it 100 times harder for her to climb out of her Brother's Shadow. :(

She's a lovely and Amazing talent and I can't wait to watch the next 2 episodes.

Truly one of the biggest icons in our history. Seeing and hearing her tell her own story is brilliant. She I'd one strong M For that's for sure. This is a must see!

I just finished part 1-2 and I'm enjoying how open Janet is about sharing her life story with us. I'm glad she is being so candid because her story is relatable. I even got emotional as she discussed how her first marriage ended. Moreover, she addresses all the questions I ever had about her in this documentary. You rock Janet!

She revealed a lot. The outrageous contrast between the men in her life and Michael in his favor, was not surprisingly astounding. She put her dad in a more understanding light. He managed to not raise children to be normal but to be extraordinary. Fortunately, it caught on. Revealing that it was a moralistically based deterrent to the strife if the civil rights era (which is still today in malleable form) with love, was important.

This is a nice and very informative documentary that I saw in one episode. We see an amazing number of Janet's family and friends being interviewed. Which I guess indicates she had a heavy say in the making of this very complimentary biography piece. However, she does have a real talent, she is very smart and level-headed, and you have to admire her courage and persistence in breaking away from her brother Michael's shadow, and becoming a huge success in her own right. She comes across as a nice person, and very soft spoken and quite shy, which is a welcome change from the cliche of the loud, extrovert rock star. And she's fortunate in having an amazing number of close supporters. Her friends and family do genuinely love and respect her. She's not at all the cliche wasted, bedraggled has-been rock star. It must be said however, that she is incredibly rich, so any claims of hardship have to be put in perspective.

So full disclosure I'm a huge fan so she can do no wrong by me. I really hope this doco brings to lights how interesting and resilient this woman is. One thing I love about Janet is the fact that she flies under the radar at times and marches to her own drum and you see it here. I wish there were some more meat for fans to sink their teeth into.

You get a sense of struggle she has gone through and how she keeps her sweet nature.

We tend to forget the artist that are around today wouldn't be here if it wasn't for likes of Janet and Madonna. What makes the two wildly different is Janet never sold her sexuality. She let her lyrics and melodies do the work. You see the growth from her being a baby to a mother and an icon. Loved it. Wish it was even longer.

You don't have to be a "Janet Jackson fan" to appreciate this documentary. I've reviews where people complain that they didn't learn anything new or that Janet didn't address certain rumors in a specific way.

First, keep in mind this is 1 person telling their life story their own way. Just because they are in the public eye, it doesn't mean they owe the audience anything.

Second, because she has decided to share more of her private world she does have the right to decide how much. She also doesn't have to be ready to talk in depth about anything. Growing up in the public eye and in a controling household there is a certain level of trauma associated with those things. Paris Jackson did an interview on Red Table talk where she talks about the PTSD associated with growing up surrounded by Paparazzi. There are moments where you can tell it's hard for Janet to talk about certain things. I think this is nicely mirrored when she asks her own mother about being comfortable talking about something and her mom is visibly upset. Janet moves on. As the viewer, we get to see when Janet is clearly upset about something from her pasts and as the audience we need to give her the space to move on talk about something else. This is what years of therapy has taught me. Not everything has to be dealt with at that moment or right when someone else wants to deal with it.

Did I learn some new things about Janet Jackson? Yes.

Is this going to be a great bombshell dropping, gossip column fueling, turn of the century event? No. It's not supposed to be.

It is stated multiple times that she is a private person and no one may really know her. If you've never spent a day with her in person then I don't think it's fair to ask for more than she's given you just because you like her music.

This documentary is not about her tours or her music. It covers her process a bit. It covers her as a person navigating the arts. It's covering a person's life not preparing for just 1 tour or performance.

What many reviewers from the big publications seem to miss is that this documentary isn't just Janet talking about Janet. That's like saying Rhythm Nation was just a catchy beat. Look deeper. This documentary is a discussion about the struggle of fame-- privacy, control, abuse, trust, boundaries are all common themes. I gave this 10 stars not because I felt like I got a tour of her home, I gave this 10 stars because it really invites the viewer to ask larger questions many of which she has wrestled with herself. Is strict parenting justifiable? Why do we get married and why do we separate? How do we create boundaries? How do you establish trust when there are more reasons not to trusts people who may gain financially from you.

This is a fairly typical American biography.

Overly humble, talented star looks over her life with a lot of child-like wonder and a small amount of wisdom. Other players are introduced and they all bang on about how she was a force, a talent to be reckoned with, a true artist hungry for it and all that. Add to this mix a few standard angles about being a queen, owning the stage and working hard and you have a bio like this one.

The main problem is that it doesn't really give away anything that most fans don't already know or have seen online. Archival footage is always fascinating and while there's some unseen footage here, it's pretty everyday stuff and certainly not particularly revealing. Janet is never painted as anything more than a sweet, talented woman with a saintly nature.

So far, it's like a souped-up episode of Intimate Portrait and that's not a bad thing. It's not terrible by any means, but if you're looking for something new, you're not going to get it here - so far, anyway.

The clips that they show takes you back and it's so enjoyable to see how it was done to become successful in the 70's.

It's crazy that I remember as a child, watching her play Penny on Good times.

It absolutely blows my mind looking back at at it all!

To me, one of the most astonishing part is how Janet handled and/or spoke about certain situations she encountered. This documentary had plenty of opportunities to be bitter or lash out about what happened in her life, yet she has taken a road many of us would not be able to take. She told her story without judgment on anyone or anything. In fact at times she put a positive spin on it. I totally understand that others may argue, she should have, could have, but she didn't, for this she earned more than my respect. It was wonderful to see all this unseen footage, how she evolved and how creative she is and was. Time travel just became real...yes, I am not the biggest fan of our current world so I am grateful to see a documentary with an artist that was (and is) part of my life, with footage that hasn't been shown before. A story told genuine and humble with no agenda. Peace.

I am glued to the television set. I have waited for this for a long time. It is so well done and tasteful.

The way it is presented takes you back to the beiginning. I love the cameos of the family members. You can see their closeness.

This doc is so thrilling that i ate all four episodes and forgot to drink and eat my candy.

God My respect to Janet is huge, she is the real rolemodel for everyone. Not just Black womens All!

I knew a lot of the things, but seing this is another story. I Hope i'm getting the chance to see her perform live, and tomorrow only Janet on My playlist.

Shows how incredible this woman is. Just phenomenal. Last episode in particular is really touching and makes you want to tear up.

Can't wait to see what else she does.

Joe Jackson apology tour out in full force. They let all the physical and emotional abuse go. It's all ok because their father loved them. Terrible message.

Very insightful and poignant documentary. Janet's telling of her story is raw, authentic and sometimes shocking. I love her honesty. Intriguing, even if you aren't a fan of her music.

I knew Michael and was privy to much of this story. Janet is brutally honest here and you should watch this. It's also a trip down memory lane for any Jackson fan.

It was just really good. We live in UK. I've been a Janet Jackson fan since i was a boy. One of my first albums was Control. I loved Rhythm nation, but i kind of tuned out around velvet rope album era, and the NFL opening show thing.

This docuseries covers so much i didn't know about Janet and she tells Her Story. I found it really insightful both by what is said, and what is not. I always enjoyed Janet's work and always saw her as independent from "The Jacksons" as a product. This docuseries shows me how difficult it was for her to do that.

I'm really pleased they put this show together.

Worth a watch.

I just happened to stumble upon this mini-story of Janet Jackson last night and have always wondered about this beautiful, mysterious "Jackson" talent. I'm glad I did because I certainly understood more of what she went through and how it all started. The film history was outstanding of her associations, family, career. Her personal words in the interview were filled with nostalgia, true regret and some real unhappiness as she lives with the "scars", obviously. She is most sensitive, caring, empathetic and? FORGIVING! Joe Jackson was a quiet, deliberate manipulator whether he recognized that in himself, or not. The desire to have his children succeed at the highest performance level trumped his love and care for these children...ALL of them. I guess there are no family sins that aren't forgivable for some, but I think when your childhood is literally "stolen" from you for ANY reason? You have a true right to be somewhat bitter. I did not see that in Janet because of the woman she is - the person she is. Truly enigmatic and loving if not somewhat forgiving beyond words.

I love Janet Jackson so I was really looking forward to seeing this. But I came away disappointed in the sterile storytelling and lack of music.

Rene's home videos were interesting to see and I enjoyed the brief interview with Paula Abdul. But where's the music?! The lack of concert footage is astonishing, to the point where you never really get a feeling for Janet as a performer on stage, nor a renewed appreciation for her music. On top of that, the unbelievable number of commercial breaks ensures the story never gets to "breathe" (this would have been better suited for HBO).

By the end, I still couldn't say I really knew or understood who Janet is as a person other than someone who is shy and likes her privacy.

At four episodes, over-punctuated by an absurd amount of commercial breaks, this is a super-bloated version of BEHIND THE MUSIC, except very curated/controlled by the brand it is documenting. There is nothing risky or interesting or new here. All parties come off as affected, phony show business types, exaggerating and handing out platitudes by the truckload. One instance is the hagiographic treatment of Joe Jackson as if he were a saint, when he beat those kids mercilessly. And the fact that the nip slip is discussed for more than ten seconds falsely supposes that it is interesting at all and that is what was the real reason this Jackson fell out of favor.

I can honestly say this documentary made Janet seem fake, boring, and desperate for her brother Michael's fame. Nothing new was learned about her. When asked about the child she had, she deflected to talking about Michael and his allegations. It was just gross.