If anyone around the world still had hopes that the Lifetime production “Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B” wouldn’t be a complete disaster, they were all shredded to pieces Saturday night, when the movie finally had its premiere.
Directed by Howard Braunstein, Wendy Williams and Debra Martin, the movie was based on Christopher John Farley’s bestseller “Aaliyah, More Than a Woman”. However, those who have read the book claim that the movie did not rise up to standards and, unfortunately, those who did not get the chance to read it state they don’t plan on buying it anytime soon.
The Prediction Came True
Even if there have been a few fans hoping the film would be a success and an homage to the rising R&B icon, predictions have not been favorable from the beginning of the project. The main cause has been that Aaliyah’s family has denied Lifetime the request to use her music, refusing to sell the authorship rights. Because of this, the company had to go around the fence and use not-so-popular productions of the young artist, public appearances or early songs that had not fallen under the laws of copyright, lacking “Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B” of the most popular songs which have made her famous.
Timbaland’s Reaction on “Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B”
Along her rising journey as an R&B star, Aaliyah was mentored, among others, by Timbaland and Missy Elliot, who worked closely with her, especially on her second album, “One in a Million” who sold more than 8 million copies around the world. It was only natural that at least one of these two will show a reaction to the Lifetime production.
Timbaland took the matter into his own hands, on Instagram, where he uploaded a series of videos, shaming the production company and the producers at the same time. He later continued by stating: “they will feel my wrath tomorrow morning”, a statement fulfilled by uploading memes, one of them being directed towards Wendy Williams, one of the movie’s producers and, at the same time, the host of the well-known “The Wendy Williams Show”
The Casting Disappointment
Another reason for which “Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B” has been shamed about was the choice made by the producers on the cast members. Even if no one has blamed any of the actors for their performance, most people believe there could have been better choices, especially regarding the physical resemblances to the real persons involved in Aaliyah’s life.
Alexandra Shipp was the “lucky” one to fill Aaliyah’s shoes after Lifetime’s first choice, former Disney star Zendaya dropped out the project in June, claiming the movie did not go all the way through. However, even if no one argues with Ms.Shipp’s vocal performance in general, when it comes to “Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B”, everyone agreed that she doesn’t have what it takes to make her performance be anywhere near the one of the late R&B star.
The third in a series of biopic productions created by Lifetime has been yet another reminder that the company should stop trying to make these movies, as none (the ones based on Whitney Houston and TLC member, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes) has proven to be successful. Hopefully, in the future, the ones who claim they know better than the families and friend of those lost to the world in tragedy, will learn from history and respect the legacy. Fans will be fans and art will always survive, with or without anyone trying to make more money out of it.
