The film-makers did get some access, including the former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue and NFL executive Jim Steeg, who reveals that of the halftime show roster that year – Jackson, Diddy, rapper Nelly and Kid Rock (Timberlake was a surprise guest) – NFL brass were least concerned by Jackson. Handwringing by lawmakers and the disappearance of Jackson from radio, in particular, underscores the absurdity and unfairness of the whole episode, even if there’s not much new to see. Like Framing Britney Spears, Malfunction finds its punch in the power of a simple timeline, a chronological cataloging of Jackson’s trailblazing career (with scant mention of the Jackson family) and the blow-up after the Super Bowl. The answer is: not much, at least in terms of new information. With participation from NFL and Halftime Show insiders, reporters and critics – though, crucially, not Jackson herself, nor Justin Timberlake, her co-performer who ripped off part of her bodice in the final seconds of the performance – the immediate question is: what did we learn here?
Whereas the Spears films operated as part journalistic investigation into a confusing, shrouded and by all reports predatory legal situation, Malfunction, directed by Jodi Gomes, has a looser objective: resubmit the episode to national consciousness, present the available facts and restore Jackson’s reputation. The 70-minute film follows a similar format to its predecessors – archival footage (including plenty of gag-worthy early 2000s fashion) synthesized with first-person interviews and commentary from cultural critics.
Malfunction: The Dressing Down of Janet Jackson, the latest New York Times documentary for FX on Hulu, aims for the same type of cathartic reframing through an infamous episode of early 2000s pop culture: the baring of Janet Jackson’s breast for nine-sixteenths of a second at the 2004 Super Bowl, and the subsequent cultural firestorm.