George Michael Freedom Uncut offers a compelling narrative

It is rare for a celebrity to make a documentary film about their own life. The work of interviewing professional associates, sourcing archival footage, and telling untold stories seems cut out for journalists and scholars. English singer-songwriter George Michael (1963-2016) thought differently, so he teamed up with his best friend David Austin to make George Michael: Freedom Uncut – a documentary that is currently playing in Indian cinemas.

George Michael understood the power of storytelling, so he wanted to tell his story on his own terms. Whether the documentary is truthful or biased, self-congratulatory or balanced, is debatable. It certainly offers a compelling narrative not only for fans but also for people who are new to Michael’s work. It features some of his most popular songs from a dazzling three-decade career that gave the world albums such as Faith (1987), Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 (1990), Older (1996), Songs from the Last Century (1999) and Patience (2004).

The timing of the release is excellent. Michael’s birthday was on June 25, and we are nearing the end of Pride Month. Michael was a gay man, who participated actively in fundraisers for AIDS research and awareness. Shortly after Michael found love with fashion designer Anselmo Feleppa, his partner died of AIDS. Freddie Mercury, the bisexual singer-songwriter whom Michael idolized, also died of AIDS-related complications. Those who are not familiar with the history of the AIDS epidemic might find it useful to watch the series Pose (2018-2021) on Disney+Hotstar. It was created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Steven Canals.

An earlier version of George Michael: Freedom Uncut was aired on television in 2017, after Michael passed away. The new version has additional material, including an interview shot in 1998 after Michael was arrested for being sexually intimate with a man in a public toilet. This incident took place five years after Feleppa died. Michael was lonely, and he was grieving.

The man that Michael met in the toilet in a park in Los Angeles happened to be an undercover police officer, pretending to be gay. This strategy of entrapment has been reported in India as well, where gay men cruising for sex have been targeted by cops feigning sexual interest and then pouncing to arrest their prey. This is followed by arrest or threatened arrest, accompanied with emotional blackmail and a demand for money to keep the secret.

It is difficult to gather data to prove whether or not the practice continues even after the Supreme Court read down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code but anecdotal testimonies suggest that officers in charge of law enforcement haven’t stopped harassing the vulnerable.

If Michael were alive, he would have been aghast to hear this. In the documentary, he talks about the incident in a confident, light-hearted manner that takes the power back from the policeman who represents a homophobic state. The documentary conveys that Michael was not ashamed of being a gay man. He lived in a heteronormative society, and worked in an industry that wanted to project a certain image of him to make him desirable and saleable.

In the documentary, Michael opens up about how fame was stifling his artistic development. He was being compelled to churn out music. He did not want to do that because music was sacred to him. It was Feleppa’s illness that hastened Michael’s decision to get out of his contract with Sony. His relationship with the record label was akin to “professional slavery”.

This documentary builds on Michael’s confession in Bare (1990), the autobiography that he wrote in collaboration with Tony Parsons. Michael’s birth name was Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou. He was born to a Greek father and an English mother. For him, the name George Michael was only an image or a persona that he had created because he wanted to be recognized and loved. He was overwhelmed by all the attention he got. It was hard to handle.

After Feleppa died, Michael was so devastated that he was unable to write or sing but he found the courage to come out to his parents. His mother Lesley was supportive, and felt terrible about the fact that her son had to go through a year of terror without her support. She wanted to be there for Michael when he was looking after Feleppa during his time of illness.

This is especially moving because many parents across the world chose to abandon their gay children during the AIDS epidemic instead of stepping up and taking care, mainly due to the massive stigma around homosexuality and because the church saw gay men as sinners.

While the documentary makes a brief mention of Lesley, her significance in Michael’s life stands out even though the screen shows one celebrity after another – Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Ricky Gervais, Naomi Campbell, Mark Ronson, Liam Gallagher, Mary J. Blige, Jean Paul Gaultier, James Corden and Tony Bennett – speaking eloquently about Michael.

Those who go to cinemas hoping to learn more about singer and songwriter Andrew Ridgeley – the man who formed a musical duo called Wham with Michael – might come away disappointed. The documentary focuses on Michael’s brilliance as a solo artiste. It does not really examine Ridgeley’s role as a collaborator before Michael became a huge sensation. Fortunately, this gap is filled by Ridgeley’s memoir Wham! George Michael & Me (2019).

While Ridgeley is mentioned in passing, there are two striking absences in the film – Kenny Goss and Fadi Fawaz. Michael’s relationships with these men were not hidden. Perhaps it was easier for him to speak of Feleppa who had gone away, and lived in him as a memory.

What might make up for these absences is the fact that the documentary tries to have an honest conversation about the tension between creativity and commerce, mental health, and self-destruction. This is done in a manner that is far from didactic. The documentary also responds to the criticism that Michael was “stealing Black heritage”. It acknowledges that people are complicated, and we can never arrive at the definitive understanding of a person. So much of this personhood exists in the realm of what we project on to someone else.

Chintan Girish Modi is a Mumbai-based journalist.

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