Whitney: Can I Be Me
Dir: Nick Broomfield, Rudi Dolezal
2017
***
Celebrated documentary filmmaker Nick Broomfield wisely takes himself out of the story here which deals with the life and death of soul singer Whitney Houston. It's an incredibly sad story but it isn't without its frustrations. From the very beginning, Whitney's career was mapped out for her. Her mother was well known in the church and headed one of America's best known choirs. Her cousin was Dionne Warwick and she inherited the family talent, although she arguably had the most powerful voice. She was signed to Arista Records in the early 80s but what the documentary skips over is the many years her mother had her singing in seedy nightclubs. The opening of the film plays audio of her friends and colleagues stating that she had god voice and that god chose her path, indeed, many of the people in her life hid behind god. Her ex-bodyguard talks of how he sent a report stating how bad things were getting (which had him sacked) stating that no one person was responsible for Whitney's death at the young age of 48. However, it seems clear that everyone played a part in some way, particularly Whitney herself. It's an old story; teenage singer, swept off her feet and given stardom, fame and success at too young an age, doesn't deal with it well, gets into drugs and an unhealthy relationship and dies young. The real problem, as so often it is, is that her family were also her managers. Her mother might have made her finish high school, but her control was the instigator behind her downfall. It is amazing that her family let it happen, as they knew the business better than most. Like I said, there was a lot of talk about god but really it was all about the money. To be fair her parents clearly didn't know how to help Whitney with her drug dependency, other than to show their disappointment. Her father, whom she was very close to, actually sued her for emotional damages just three months before he died. It seems that Whitney might have been a lesbian, having a long-term relationship with old friend Robyn Crawford. Robyn did everything she could to save Whitney but Whitney's parents and husband Bobbi Brown eventually saw her off. Whitney's voice was strong but she wasn't, after years of control, she had very little strength left it seems. I have sympathy but when you know that her young daughter, who grew up among the addiction and unhappiness, followed in her mother's footsteps, dying of an overdose just three years later after being in a coma for six months, that sympathy is replaced by anger. No one seems to want to take responsibility, instead they talk about god. It's all rather despicable and heartbreaking. Everyone around her believes her voice was given to her by god, but if they truly believe that, known what they know now, wasn't it a curse? Like I said, an incredibly sad and frustrating story, one so old that it really shouldn't be happening anymore.