Raymond Harris, 14, of Providence, shows his Michael Jackson moves while dancing in the lobby of the Showcase at Providence Place mall Wednesday. He and his friends, including Nisha Kellam, right, also 14, were planning to go to the new Jackson movie.

The Providence Journal / Mary Murphy

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — As a kid growing up in Warwick, Michelle Desrosiers had a mad crush on Michael Jackson. She cut out hundreds of pictures of him from magazines and pasted them all over her room. She brought glasses and a jacket like the ones he wore. When Jackson’s “Thriller” video was coming out, she remembered the excruciating wait to finally see it.

Wednesday, after all the hype and trailers, Desrosiers, now 36, said she felt that same kind of anxiety as she waited at Providence Place Cinemas to see Jackson in Michael Jackson: “This Is It,” a movie about his preparation for 50 concerts he planned in London before he died unexpectedly at age 50.

Desrosiers, who as a child used to fall asleep every night listening to Jackson’s Thriller album, said that seeing the movie made her nostalgic.

“Seeing him do ‘Billie Jean,’ I think it’s sad to see the way he became. He looked almost unreal, kind of freaky. My best memory of him is in 1983 doing ‘Billie Jean.’ It reminded me that this is the same person as 1983. Seeing him do ‘Billie Jean’ convinced me that it is the same person.”

In the movie, Jackson looks rail-thin and pale, sometimes like a ghost or a rock star when he wears his sunglasses. He wears skinny jeans and blazers, or long flowing shirts, which offers a stark contrast to his younger, athletic, male dancers who are often seen in baggy pants and T-shirts.

Desrosiers said she loved the movie. “I forgot how much a big part of my childhood he was,” she said. “This kind of brought it all back. I was having the same feeling I had as a kid.”

Desrosiers was 1 of the 21 people who attended the 11:35 a.m. showing of the movie Wednesday.

Mary Kenahan, 47, of East Providence, said she doesn’t remember when her daughter, Sheena Costa, 27, started her obsession with Jackson, but said she figured it was only a matter of time, given that Costa spent all her waking hours listening to music.

Costa said that while her friends were digging rock, she was jamming to Jackson’s “Billie Jean” and that “Black and White” was one of her favorite songs.

She said she loved the movie. “I loved that you saw him as a person, not so much as an entertainer. It supported my belief that he is a gentle soul. He has a very good heart. I liked when he told the guitarist it was her turn to shine. He is putting her before him. I loved that part.”

Costa said she planned to see the movie again this weekend with eight people, but this time would be dressed like her idol. “I’ll be wearing the high waters and the white socks. I’ll have my hair back and the glove,” she declared.

Marisol Carrera, 37, and Jasmin Gomes, 18, said they liked the movie, but Carrera said she was disappointed.

“I thought it was going to be his life story,” she said. “I wanted to see what his life story really was versus what everybody used to say.”

Gomes said she liked the dancing and the special effects. “Even though it was a rehearsal, it was a show.”

When the movie ended a young woman sitting with her friend in the front of the theater shot out of her seat and yelled, “I love you, Michael!”