‘WHITNEY’
Documentary depicts heady rise and tragic fall of a star-spangled princess
Whitney Houston hailed from a — if not “the” — royal family of AfricanAmerican singers. Its queen mother was bigtime gospel singer Cissy Houston of the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, N.J. Among Whitney’s first cousins were Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick and the legendary opera star Leontyne Price. Her godmother was Darlene Love. Aretha Franklin was her honorary aunt.
Whitney would become that family’s greatest princess, but, as we all know, the fairy tale would not have a happy ending. What we didn’t all know was the full, fascinating, behind-thescenes story cogently chronicled in director Kevin Macdonald’s top-notch new documentary.
“Devil’s tryin’ to get me!” she said of an early nightmare, although montages of her childhood paint a largely upbeat portrait of singing and dancing under the watchful eye of strong mama Cissy, who recognized a voice unlike any other and taught her the three traditional places to sing from — abdomen, chest, head — but stressed the two other places — heart and mind — that were even more important.
News-clip flashes of the Newark race riots, Vietnam, Ronald Reagan, Princess Di and O.J. Simpson put her life in the context of world events, while Cissy carefully cultivates and manages her career: Whitney is sent away to a Catholic girls school, where she meets Robyn Crawford, who becomes her best friend and creative force (or just “a wicked opportunistic lesbian”?).
Signed by Clive Davis at Arista, her first album tops the Billboard chart for
14 weeks in 1986. Her next “Greatest Love [of All] Tour” album sells 30 million copies worldwide. Her gorgeous rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Super Bowl XXV in 1991 produces as many goosebumps today as it did then — never mind the subsequent mini controversy that it was lip-synced.
Her first film, “The Bodyguard” (1992) with Kevin Costner, yielded what would become her signature song, “I Will Always Love You” (written by Dolly Parton) — and the best-selling single of all time by a female artist. But her domestic life is tumultuous. That same year, she marries singer Bobby Brown — just the type of guy from the ‘hood that her mother worked so hard to keep her away from.
Excruciating footage of their ill-fated daughter Bobbi Kristina, clinging and singing to her on stage at age 4, is followed by exhilarating scenes of her 1994 Nelson Mandela concerts in South Africa. But the good girl with the perfect image in the ‘80s and early 1990s changes radically by 2000, often hours late for interviews and rehearsals, canceling concerts and talk-show appearances at the last minute. Mr. Macdonald shows us the grim, painful wasting away process — including a harrowing freak out scene on a couch with her mother — while her greedy father, John Houston, and clueless brothers make hay on her payroll and supply all the drugs she (and they) couldever want.
“She seemed like an ATM,” one of them says.
Says Whitney to Diane Sawyer, in a tragically weak moment: “Crack is cheap. I make too much money to smoke crack. … Crack is wack!” — even while acknowledging heavy use of booze, marijuana, cocaine and pills. Why don’t you stop? “Because I like it,” she guilelessly replies.
Bobby Brown, in a chilling interview with director Macdonald, says he doesn’t want to talk about the drugs.
For good reason. After multiple rehab attempts, Whitney died on Feb. 11, 2012, at48, in what was determined to be an accidental bathtub drowning due to coronary artery disease and cocaine intoxication — plus Benadryl, Xanaxand cannabis.
There are many different forms and degrees of substance abuse, of course, especially when when accessibility is ubiquitous and money isno object. Medicinal vs. recreational? Judy Garland, Janis Joplin, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Michael Jackson, Prince, Amy Winehouse — all different, but all the same in that the media-public feeding frenzy only turns to sympathywhen it’s too late.
Mr. Macdonald earned an Oscar for best feature doc with “One Day in September” (1999). His “Marley” (2012) was superb. He also directed Forest Whitaker’s Oscar-winning performance in “The Last King of Scotland” (2006).
This effort is as good, or better — absorbing even for those not among her fan base. The stratospheric rise and shooting-star fall, the combined forces that did her in, connect her to the bigger picture of black America, the effort to pull up her family members.
“Devil’s tryin’ to get me” — and finally got her.
See it and weep.