Greater than a ‘glow up’: Fantasia reminds us that sometimes you’ve got to ‘lose to win’
Having overcome tremendous personal obstacles, Fantasia's portrayal of Celie in "The Color Purple" reflects real-life resilience we can all learn from.
“Notes on faith” is theGrio’s inspirational, interdenominational series featuring Black thought leaders across faiths.
You know, sometimes we actually do look like what we’ve been through. As we watch the Grammy-winning vocalist Fantasia Barrino-Taylor — known to fans simply as “Fantasia” (or fondly, “Fanny”), it’s not the “glow up” that a well-selected wardrobe stylist can design, but rather the radiance of a woman who has taken charge of her life, prioritizing self-love over public approval. That radiance could not come at a better time, as she returns to what many believed was a lost opportunity — portraying Celie in the upcoming musical film adaptation of Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple.”
For those of us anticipating the film’s release, we know two things for certain: We deeply appreciate the legacy of “The Color Purple,” and we are thrilled that Fantasia will once again embody this iconic role. Her return to the role of Celie can be seen as an unvanquished comeback, a testament to her ability to overcome adversity. Since her 2009 Broadway debut in the musical theater production, her experiences, both professionally and personally, imbued her portrayal of Celie with a profound authenticity, vulnerability and depth. Accordingly, recent news of Fantasia’s 2024 Golden Globe nomination was not just another professional accolade but a triumphant recognition of her journey.
Like her 2013 song “Lose to Win,” Fantasia’s life story reflects themes of reckoning, healing, and the significance of emerging stronger from life’s inevitable battles. In both the song and the now-iconic role of Celie, she portrays a woman’s perspective, cycling through feelings of being “ugly” to move beyond needing her lover’s validation. Moving beyond external and internal opposition, this parallel between Fantasia’s life and art exemplifies the nuanced insight she brings to Celie’s story, making her nomination a deeply personal victory.
“I know how it feels to think you’re nothing or ugly, so I put myself back into the time when I felt that way,” said Fantasia in a 2005 interview with OK! Weekly. “Sometimes I don’t want to do that, but it makes it easier to play her.”
As we now observe the film’s rollout via premieres nationwide, Fantasia’s luminousness reminds us that her life journey to date has been marked by remarkable resilience. In the face of considerable personal and professional tests, her ability to defy the odds toward stardom is more striking than any red carpet look. Her story includes overcoming illiteracy, navigating single motherhood and subsequent fertility issues, traversing intimate turmoils that played out in the public eye and even reported self-harm. It also seemed all was lost when, due to tumors on her vocal cords, she missed a reported 60 shows during her first Broadway run.
Amid that turbulent voyage, Fantasia’s musical narrative, from battling health issues, navigating personal scandals, and achieving critical acclaim, mirrors the transformative journey of Celie in “The Color Purple.” To her credit, Fantasia has been vocal over the years about the ways her fanbase has been prayerfully present for her. During her widely distributed 2009 performance for BET’s “Bobby Jones Gospel,” she illustrated the significance of “Total Praise,” preaching that despite a doctor’s diagnosis that she would never sing again, she was singing praise to God to convey the extent to which she traversed physical, mental and spiritual opposition. Watching that moment on television, I, along with my social media friends, basked in the afterglow of that worship experience for the rest of the week.
Recommended Stories
Fantasia’s navigation of all of the precarity in her life — experienced amid the culture shock of skyrocketing success — underscores the personal homework of healing and maturity she brings to her portrayal of Celie.
However, despite her acclaim in the role, she almost didn’t return.
Fantasia’s decision to revisit Celie included even more never-before-disclosed private struggles, ones that required a strong sense of self-regard and maturation from underlying issues that had previously triggered undertreated trauma. Initially, she did not want to return to the mental space required to portray Celie because the storyline too closely resembled her own history of sexual assault. The emotional labor required for her to do the part might cost too much.
Having just started trauma therapy when the film revival emerged, Fantasia was coincidentally already doing the work to develop language a survivor would need to see in the new musical film. In a recent interview on the Today Show, Fantasia divulged the needs that were met in the character’s newest incarnation; a crucial revision that informed her eventual decision was Celie’s use of imagination to tap into her own interiority as a creative healing process.
“In the movie, Blitz (Bazawule), our amazing director, he gives Celie an imagination,” Fantasia explained. “She didn’t have that on Broadway, so you don’t get to see how she processes through. It’s just being told (she’s) ugly, she’s getting beat on, she’s taking care of all these kids — and then here’s [the song] ‘I’m Here,’ and the audience is excited because you want to see her win, but how did she get there? And that’s why I was very proud that he was showing that.”
Throughout her real-life hardships, it has been Fantasia’s own imagination that has triumphed. She managed to find strength in her role as a mother, focusing on the well-being of her children and learning to prioritize self-love and care. She even took another chance on love, embarking upon a whirlwind romance and marriage to Kendall Taylor, allowing fans to observe their growth together. Having started her career as an employer of many of her family members, she began reorganizing her business structure, delegating roles on her terms and in forward-thinking ways. This period of self-reflection and recovery was crucial in Fantasia’s journey towards healing and growth.
How many of us can identify with some parts of Fantasia’s story of trial and terror? Whether concealing a shortcoming, dealing with personal trauma, or the ability to be resilient in the face of it all, we can identify with some of the ways her journey can resonate.
Marked by personal struggles, overwhelming strides, and debilitating setbacks, Fantasia’s experiences mirror the trials faced by many in the Black community. Yet, in the prophetic voices of the church, we can emerge with a message of resilience and hope found in 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, which states: “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”
Many of us get stuck in the overwhelm of fast success — and it stops us in our tracks. But what does the process look like when we persevere and have an opportunity to demonstrate the lessons we have learned along the way?
Sometimes, the lessons are learned when we can find the strength to embrace the ugliness that life inevitably reveals, the moments when we face vulnerability, judgment, or coming undone in the public eye in ways from which it seems there is no return. It is then that we are invited to love ourselves radically, to put our needs first, and to teach those we encounter on the journey how to treat us well.
Let this article be a sign to you this holiday season that you are due to win again — now and in 2024.
May we find hope in this text as we consider our own stories alongside Fantasia’s. Her experiences of facing immense challenges, both in her personal life and professional career, yet not being defeated by them, align closely with the message of this scripture. Just as the verse speaks to enduring hardships without being overcome, Fantasia’s journey from personal crises to critical acclaim — as she reclaims her role as Celie — showcases a resilience and ability we can all access to rise above.
Rev. Dr. Alisha Lola Jones is a faith leader helping people find their groove in a fast-paced world, as a consultant for various arts and faith organizations and professor of music in contemporary societies at the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. She is an award-winning author of Flaming? The Peculiar Theopolitics of Fire and Desire in Black Male Gospel Performance (Oxford University Press). For more information, please visit DrAlisha.com.
Never miss a beat: Get our daily stories straight to your inbox with theGrio’s newsletter.
