Mia Brooks
MC 301 Contributor/Staff
“Before there was a Beyoncé or Rihanna there was an Aaliyah,” said talk show host Wendy Williams, whose biopic “Aaliyah, The Princess of R&B”, which aired on Lifetime Nov. 15. however, left many fans angered and disappointed.
An Aaliyah biopic has been highly anticipated by fans as rumors spilled that Vh1 would be creating the movie like they did with 90’s group TLC.
The film was written by Michael Elliott and directed by Bradley Walsh, and starred Nickelodeon actress Alexandra Shipp.
Known for her “street but sweet” style, smooth vocals and distinct dance moves, Aaliyah Dana Haughton shocked the world and became a star at the tender age of 15 with her debut album “Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number” which went triple platinum in the United States.
Aaliyah was poised to become a global icon with top-selling albums, a hot movie career and an adoring fan base. The film follows the beautiful and talented performer’s inspirational journey; from her debut on “Star Search” at the age of ten to the challenges she faced during her rise to become the Princess of R&B.
On Aug. 25, 2001, at the height of her popularity, her life was tragically cut short when a plane carrying the singer and some of her video crew crashed after takeoff from a Bahamian runway. Although just 22-years-old at the time of her death, Aaliyah continues to lead a legacy as Billboard’s tenth most famous R&B artists of the past 25 years and one of the recording industry’s most successful artists in history, according to mylifetime.com
Although an Aaliyah biopic was anticipated, Lifetime just did not do a good job of honoring the iconic superstar. I felt that the film never went into detail about who the singer really was and the timeline was all over the place.
The worse parts of the film had to be the casting and the music. None of Aaliyah’s original music was used in the film due to her family not giving Lifetime permission to use it.
The voice used to portray her sounded nothing like the sweet sounds of Aaliyah, making the film corny and unbelievable.
The casting was also off. Who can really believe a skinny Missy Elliott in the 90’s? The actors didn’t look anything like the characters they portrayed.
The lead actress, Shipp, also wasn’t a very convincing Aaliyah. She didn’t capture the style, attitude and mannerisms that made everyone love the singer. It seemed as if she was trying to be who she thought was Aaliyah, instead of eating, sleeping, and breathing everything about Aaliyah to portray her accurately.
Many fans took their criticisms to Twitter the night of the premier calling the movie trash. There were so many negative comments that #LifetimeDisrespectsAaliyah began to trend.
One viewer wrote on Twitter, “Rest in peace Aaliyah. I’m sorry Wendy Williams and Lifetime tried to ruin your legacy.”
Jerrica Smith, a senior math major from Vicksburg, Miss said she didn’t enjoy the biopic at all.
“The movie just wasn’t good. It was boring and the casting was horrible. It wasn’t what I was expecting,” said Smith.
Some students felt Lifetime didn’t give its best for this biopic.
“It seemed like Lifetime didn’t put as much money or effort as they did into this as they did the Fantasia Barrino story. They could have done better,” said Tiara Perkins, a senior social work major from Moore haven, Fla.
Some believe the biopic focused too much on R. Kelly in the film.
“It was a horrible depiction of her life. It mainly focused on her relationship with R. Kelly. It was a rushed project that didn’t meet the approval of her family and should not have been made period. I do feel like people should back off of Alexandra Shipp because she’s not a bad actress it just wasn’t the right movie,” said Stacie Hopkins, a senior social work major from Chicago, Ill.
The story of Aaliyah is definitely a story that the public wants to see. I believe there is a producer and an all start cast out there that can make a biopic comparable to those of Selena, Tina Turner, Ray Charles and TLC, but this was not it!
Ashton Nash Contributed.
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