#Whitney Review

Whitney Houston's debut album: Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston’s powerful voice came into my world when I was a young girl. My childhood friend, Sean Porter, gifted me with the cassette tape to her debut album, Whitney Houston, when we were in elementary school. I studied that tape like it was a classroom subject. I knew every word, every pause and every beat to every track… and I still do. It goes without saying I was a huge fan of the late singer, who passed nearly three years ago on Feb. 11, 2012.

When I first got wind that Angela Bassett was going to make her directorial debut by directing the biopic of Whitney, I was a bit hesitant of tuning in. My curiosity got the best of me and I tuned into Lifetime on Demand and watched. I was disappointed. 

Why would the movie start with Bobby Brown? Why not start the movie off with Whitney’s childhood in Newark, N.J. and highlight her time singing in the choir? Why not share how she almost lost her ability to sing because of a wire hanger that almost destroyed her vocal chords? What about how she got passed over for best new artist because she already did a track with Teddy Pendergrass in the early 1980s? And what about who introduced her to drugs? We all know it wasn’t Bobby Brown like the media speculated.

The love story of Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston was done well. Bassett got me hooked on the dynamics of the duo's love story. For a moment, Yaya DeCosta, had me believing I was watching Whitney in the flesh. “Bobbieeee!” 

Arlen Escarpeta's performance of Bad Boy Bobby Brown pulled me in a different direction. Escarpeta played a sweet, charming and romantic gentleman. However, I remembered the coverage of Brown’s behavior as being extremely repulsive.  

Maybe the press and paparazzi actually did get Bobby’s personality wrong after all. ... It's their prerogative, they can do what they want to do. Right?

I would have liked to have seen behind the scenes of the 20/20 special with Whitney that aired in 2002. You know the one I’m talking about. The interview that sparked the infamous quote which circled around the airwaves for years, “First of all, let's get one thing straight. Crack is cheap. I make too much money to ever smoke crack. Let's get that straight. OK? We don't do crack. We don't do that. Crack is whack.” (Here's the interview.)

Do you remember the reality show, Being Bobby Brown? Some of you probably didn’t even know there was a reality show. Well Whitney really played her role for the cameras. “Bobbieeee!” I actually renamed it Whitney & Bobbie.

To be honest, I was hoping to see how Whitney coped after the

reality show, the breakup and being a mother. Speaking of motherhood, where was the part of Bobbi Kristina in the movie!? 

OK, so I know that I can’t expect to get everything in a Lifetime movie, but I still felt cheated. From what I understand, the Houston family didn’t give their blessings for the biopic anyway. So why do it in the first place?

Could it be that the movie went into production too soon after Whitney’s death? It hasn't even been a solid three years since she's been laid to rest. Why the rush to get it out? Couldn’t Angela Bassett team up with another director to create a well-thought out movie? 

This movie of my favorite singer of all time left me with nothing but a bunch of questions. I guess I’ll just have to wait to see what Whitney Pt.2 will bring. Wait ... is there really going to be a second part to #Whitney?

What did you think of the Whitney movie? Leave your comments below or e-mail your views to TCsViews@gmail.com. 

– @TCsViews

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25 to Life: Take 3

William Brawner, the main character in the documentary 25 to Life, built up the courage to share his HIV status on a local radio program after keeping it hidden for 25 years. The documentary showed how friends, family members and female sex partners felt betrayed. 

William Brawner & his wife

To Brawner’s benefit, he has a solid support system from some dear friends and family members, which includes his mother, as well as his loving and supportive wife, who is not infected with the virus. 

Some people who are HIV positive are not as fortunate as Brawner, especially when it comes to a place to lay their heads in a home of their own. 

Summer Discoveries

This summer I spent some time at Point Pleasant Beach along the coast of the New Jersey shore. I also spent a few days in Boston, Mass., to attend the National Association of Black Journalists Annual Conference. During my time away from my day job and Arts of Cultures I found a few cultural topics hiding out in the not so obvious places and I'm surprised more people aren't having these conversations.

First topic: Where do people of color take their vacation?

25 to Life: Take 2

The documentary 25 to Life, which made my list of ‘Films of Color’ to see, tackles the importance of keeping the conversation of HIV and AIDS on the table. 

There are still misconceptions surrounding HIV/AIDS. People young and old seem to believe that there is a cure for the virus and that it is a Gay man’s disease. Society forgot that the virus can be contracted through unprotected sex, intravenous needles, and in William Brawner’s case - who is the star of 25 to Life -  a blood transfusion, which he received back in the 1980s.

Surprisingly the film wasn’t just about Brawner dealing with life after revealing his HIV status to friends, family and casual sex partners after 25 years of keeping his diagnosis a secret. At some point of the movie the HIV story was overshadowed by several issues that plagues Black American culture. Fatherless sons, how to be a man, promiscuity and denial were the main topics that stuck out to me. 

Films of Color

Black films continue to have a hard time tapping into the mainstream movie scene. The ones that actually make it to local theaters near you are usually subject to ridicule and bad critiques.

Take this past weekend for example; Think Like a Man Too hit theaters and generated roughly $30 million during its opening weekend, which placed the film at No.1 in the box office, according to Entertainment Weekly.

Movie critics were harsh prior to the release. US Metro, film and tech editor, Matt Prigge’s headline read, "The second 'Think Like a Man' ditches the self-help and the laughs,” Kate Erbland of Film.com wrote, “It’s all, quite strangely, boring,” and Anita Gates of the New York Times thought that, “Things turn loud and desperate and stay that way.” The critiques on Meta Critic goes on and on but none of the negative critics made any comments once the numbers rolled out Monday morning.