Art Smitten: Reviews - 2017

This documentary wasn’t just your normal superstar backstory, this was a story about a woman's journey through self-doubt, a controlling family, addiction and racism. Nick Broomfield’s documentary of Whitney Houston is truly riveting and captivating, unlike any documentary I’ve ever seen. There were a number of never before seen home videos of Whitney starting out singing with her mum, Cissy Houston, in church, Whitney’s early interviews and of her backstage. There were also a number of interviews from people close to her where it was really interesting to hear what they saw and how she spiralled out of control. She paved the way for African Americans. We wouldn’t have people like Beyonce if it wasn’t for Whitney, but back when she was starting out she was hated by her African American community because they thought white Amercia had basically taken her away and moulded her into a white American popstar singing pop as opposed to what African Americans wanted to hear: RNB. S