The New York Times Presents: Malfunction: The Dressing Down of Janet Jackson

What’s more illuminating, however, is the way this documentary connects the dots from so-called Nipplegate all the way back to the beginning of Jackson’s career. ... Like everything in The New York Times Presents series, the evidence of the uproar is presented straightforwardly, letting its ridiculousness speak for itself.

Like Framing Britney Spears, it is most successful as a speed-read, an almost bullet-pointed rundown of the controversy at hand. ... Malfunction presents a timeline and an engaging reconsideration of a cultural discourse. But the most pressing voices—Jackson’s and Timberlake’s—are missing. That said, there’s an immense amount of gratification to be had from the rewriting of history to how it should have been.

If you don’t know much about this story, “Malfunction” would be a great place to start. If you DO, there’s no compelling reason to tune in.

Throughout, “Malfunction” is absorbing. But it can’t crack that question. As such, it often lends the sense that there’s surprisingly little to be learned from Jackson’s story. ... By story’s end, when Jackson is triumphantly thanking her fans for sticking by her until her latest triumph, viewers could be forgiven for wondering the point of relitigating her lowest moment.

What is notably missing is an account from Jackson herself. ... While some moments offer enlightening context, Malfunction still leaves the viewer with shards of a story that only the artist can reasonably glue together. It ends up serving as more of a platform for Timberlake’s potential redemption (yes, even with the inclusion of some apt criticism), which feels like an especially egregious outcome that raises questions about who this documentary is for.

What it shows us, what it leaves out and which important opportunities it misses are more concerning, all of which are why this hour disappoints more than it enlightens or activate the viewer.