Wednesday, July 18, 2018
Donna Summer on Broadway
Thursday, July 12, 2018
Whitney 2018
I saw Whitney 2018 and was
disappointed. It was excruciatingly painful. I expected to see a film
that shed light on her talent and creative spirit. The movie in tabloidian
style dug up new dirt and family secrets we did not need to know. Her powerful
voice which still gives me goose bumps when I hear it is incredible
and was the only light in the film.
I would have loved to see Cissy
Houston telling the secrets of how she nurtured Whitney’s talents. It would
have been great to hear her siblings and colleagues speak of the methods
Whitney used when she practiced her craft. I would have
enjoyed it if her cousin Dionne spoke of the tips she must have given Whitney
regarding improving her techniques or what she told Whitney about how to best
rise to the top of the mountain amidst the obstacles. I would have been happy
to hear a conversation about Whitney’s humanitarianism. It would have felt good
if the public learned that through her pain, she was a successful film producer
as well as actress. The audience should have been reminded that though she had
personal challenges, her films as well as her records were always successful.
Her story is one of pain, but she made tremendous gains in an industry in which
it is not easy for any artist, especially an African American female.
Throughout Whitney’s life, she tried to hold on to her faith and her Bible. I
remember her saying this in her last Oprah Winfrey interview. I do not
remember this being mentioned in the film. There was only a clip of how she
loved going to church in her early days. The demons may have been
following her, but she beat the odds and kept trying to rise again until her
last days.
Whitney has a great legacy and
the public narrative should not always center upon her marriage or her on-going
challenges. It is time to see a film which focuses on her phenomenal gifts, the
woman who helped to nurture it -Cissy Houston, the impact Whitney made as an
artist, and the foundation she had as a member of the Drinkard family. That is
the film I want to see.
It was shocking to read the July
23, 2018 People magazine article in which Cissy Houston and her niece Dionne
Warwick gave a joint statement regarding the film. The film marketed as
authorized by the estate is tainted by unconscionable practices. Whitney 2018
was shown to Cissy Houston only two days before its release to the Cannes Film
Festival. How can the filmmakers wait to tell an elder only days before the
film’s release that the film reports her deceased daughter was allegedly
molested as a child, knowing that this is the first time she has been notified
of this horrific crime against her little girl? How could this heart -breaking
news been kept from Dionne who is the sister of the alleged perpetrator? This smells like guile. This is not to
suggest the revelations are false; only Whitney and Dee Dee know the truth. It
seems that a” friend” or a personal assistant
whom Whitney “trusted” would have let Whitney’s mother know what she had
revealed because revelations of this nature would most likely be used in the
final footage. It, also, seems that the production of a credible narrative
would have included commentary from Cissy Houston or Dionne Warwick regarding
their knowledge or comments, if any, of the allegations.
I am not naïve enough to believe
in the 21st century that the film would be devoid of tabloidian trinkets.
However, I was expecting to see a film in the nature of what Spike Lee produced
for the Jackson estate. Lee could have drawn from the tons of data available on
Jackson’s personal life or found new allegations to texture the film; yet, he
chose to focus on the artistry and the legacy of Jackson, not his painful, over-reported personal life. Whitney was first and foremost
an artist, an American Master, a daughter of an American master: Cissy Houston,
the cousin of an American master: Dionne Warwick; born into a family of
talented American artists; raised in the presence of America’s greatest artists;
and married to a talented though controversial artist. When will this legacy be
explored? Is Whitney Elizabeth Houston, an American Master, whose
voice makes me want to stand up and
salute the flag when she sings the Star
Spangled Banner, not worthy of a film which documents her fine artistry, her
pursuit of excellence, and her still unsurpassable
achievements??
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