Gary, Indiana, is the Jackson family’s original home shown in Michael before their move to California.
The film presents the Jackson family’s early life in Gary, where Joe Jackson organizes his sons into the Jackson 5. The group rehearses and performs locally before Suzanne de Passe discovers them in Chicago in 1968. Their later success allows the family to move to Hayvenhurst in Encino, California, in 1971.
Gary and Chicago are both important locations in the film, but they serve different purposes. Gary is the family’s home and the setting for the group’s early development, while Chicago is where the Jackson 5 are discovered. Hayvenhurst then represents the family’s California home after the group becomes successful.