Put Whitney Houston far out of your mind...if you can.
A fantastic 90 minute film about the dynamics of a late 70's/early 80's working middle class Black family & how everyone in this family tries to find their way forward riding on the coattails as well as depending on the future success of their youngest child, Beauty, who seems to have it all, stunning beauty as well as drop dead in your tracks singing abilities. We never hear her sing & the creative team made a wise choice here because the story is very clearly based on Whitney Houston and...well, you cannot find anyone on earth to be able to match that voice. Take note there are no names for the principal characters. The mother who is immensely talented but who was denied a successful singing career & is both wary of the business and a little jealous at what her daughter is about to step into. She demands credit that Beauty only exists because of her. She also demands her children be on their best behavior, when she herself is clearly no saint (there's an excellent very subtle scene that has the minister of the family's church giving Mother the "look if lust " & she gives it right back...all while Father is silently noticing this exchange. The father, a domineering overbearing "man of the house" who often pits his 2 children with his wife's first child by another man. He's all front as he is as sleazy and as greedy as any hustler. A narcissist whose word is law and is the king of his castle lording over his subjects, his family. Then we have Jazz "Jazmine" Beauty's best friend & lover, her 'safe space' where she can be herself, which she doesn't even know what (or who) she is yet. By the end of the film Beauty is ready to explore her sexuality and sensually and Jazz is left waiting on the lonely sidelines. Finally we have perfectly cast Sharon Stone as the Colonizer, a powerful White record exec who can get Beauty on her label fast enough and only on her terms...meaning she wants her to be the next Diana Ross, but bigger. A Black female singer who appeals to everyone, meaning the Black community come second.
Everything was a feast to the eyes. The sets & decor, the cars and the clothing were gorgeous and sumptuous.
A fantastic representation of so many POC as well as Black lesbians, who, in this world being a Black woman is hard enough but to be a Black lesbian is, as we hear many times in the film "evil".
A fantastic 90 minute film about the dynamics of a late 70's/early 80's working middle class Black family & how everyone in this family tries to find their way forward riding on the coattails as well as depending on the future success of their youngest child, Beauty, who seems to have it all, stunning beauty as well as drop dead in your tracks singing abilities. We never hear her sing & the creative team made a wise choice here because the story is very clearly based on Whitney Houston and...well, you cannot find anyone on earth to be able to match that voice. Take note there are no names for the principal characters. The mother who is immensely talented but who was denied a successful singing career & is both wary of the business and a little jealous at what her daughter is about to step into. She demands credit that Beauty only exists because of her. She also demands her children be on their best behavior, when she herself is clearly no saint (there's an excellent very subtle scene that has the minister of the family's church giving Mother the "look if lust " & she gives it right back...all while Father is silently noticing this exchange. The father, a domineering overbearing "man of the house" who often pits his 2 children with his wife's first child by another man. He's all front as he is as sleazy and as greedy as any hustler. A narcissist whose word is law and is the king of his castle lording over his subjects, his family. Then we have Jazz "Jazmine" Beauty's best friend & lover, her 'safe space' where she can be herself, which she doesn't even know what (or who) she is yet. By the end of the film Beauty is ready to explore her sexuality and sensually and Jazz is left waiting on the lonely sidelines. Finally we have perfectly cast Sharon Stone as the Colonizer, a powerful White record exec who can get Beauty on her label fast enough and only on her terms...meaning she wants her to be the next Diana Ross, but bigger. A Black female singer who appeals to everyone, meaning the Black community come second.
Everything was a feast to the eyes. The sets & decor, the cars and the clothing were gorgeous and sumptuous.
A fantastic representation of so many POC as well as Black lesbians, who, in this world being a Black woman is hard enough but to be a Black lesbian is, as we hear many times in the film "evil".