When Whitney Houston died tragically this February at the age of 48, along with great sadness, the world lamented the lack of a proper goodbye.
Here was music’s most enigmatic pop star, gone without even a whisper and marred by public scrutiny over her personal life. Now, six months later, she will have the chance to take her final Hollywood bow with the opening of Sparkle, the last project before her passing and what many are calling her utmost “labor of love.”
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Hitting theaters Friday, the movie brings Houston back into spotlight as both an actress and chanteuse, two roles that made her a legend in entertainment and earned her six Grammys, two Emmys, and 30 Billboard Music Awards. In Sparkle, the iconic singer plays Emma, a single mother struggling to lead her daughter, a musical prodigy played by Jordin Sparks, to success in Motown era Detroit without succumbing to the social struggles around her. Inspired by The Supremes and executive-produced by Houston, the film is a remake of the original 1976 edition, set in Harlem during the 1950s.
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“She always loved the movie,” co-executive producer and writer Howard Rosenman tells theGrio. “When she was a little girl, just 13 or 14, she would go to the matinee and watch it all day long, and it kind of inspired her to become a singer and it gave her hope.”
Rosenman met Houston during her younger years, when he was invited by industry legend Ahmet Ertegun to hear The Sweet Inspirations, her mother Cissy’s gospel group, perform. A young Whitney made a guest appearance on stage, and, as Rosenman remembers, her talent was beyond striking. He befriended her backstage, and soon became witness to the early growth of her career.
In 1971, Rosenman wrote the script for Sparkle with Joel Schumacher, and says, for Houston, when the movie eventually came out, the story was not only aspirational to her as an emerging singer, but as an African-American woman.
“In those days, they were making movies that depicted African-Americans as drug dealers, pushers, or pimps and prostitutes, and this is a movie about girls from the ghetto who get over their problems to become big successes,” he explains.
Houston signed on to remake the film in the early ‘90s along with producer Debra Martin Chase, but as often happens in Hollywood, the project was delayed throughout the system for years. It was two years ago when DeVon Franklin, vice president of production for Columbia Pictures, got on board to help spearhead the process, and the film was finally brought to fruition.
“What we wanted to do, originally, was set it in the present day, but we really felt that present day wasn’t going to capture the essence of the movie,” Franklin remembers about the 21st century adaptation of the screenplay. “But in 1968, it was a very transitional moment in the genesis of Motown music, so it was rich from a backdrop standpoint…And a lot of great songs came from that era, but people weren’t as aware of the drama and the scenes that went behind making the songs, so it was good creatively.”
Like Rosenman, Franklin can attest to Houston’s devotion to the project, describing it as a film the singer felt, “captures imagination and represents everything that was possible in the world.” Because of her deep-rooted emotional attachment, the movie seemed to be more than a mere artistic endeavor, but a testament to her enigma.
In many ways, it reflected her life.
“The part she played was a cautionary tale to herself, and that’s what surprised me,” Rosenman says.
For the great musical wonderment that Houston embodied, Sparkle marks a more appropriate denouement than what may have been offered at the time of her death. Following her passing, the singer’s notorious drug and alcohol abuses were blasted by the media, and her life became the subject of national scrutiny.
Like Michael Jackson, some saw Houston’s death as predictable and self-prompted; the result of a life lived to the extreme. Drugs were found in her system during her death, contributing to her sudden passing, and her erratic behavior leading up to that day suggested she was setting herself up for demise. Her family was stalked, her personal affairs ridiculed and mocked, and all the while, her tremendous career still honored. One weighed against the other, yet now, in light of a big-screen finish, her soul may finally have the chance to rest in peace.
“Unfortunately, we all have our struggles, and we should not be defined by our struggles, but by our triumphs and who we are,” Franklin adds. “I hope this movie will help solidify the integrity of her legacy. This is what she was about, this is what she wanted to put in the world – to inspire, bring hope – that’s what her music did. I think it is an appropriate addition to her legacy.”