Glitter (film)
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Glitter is a 2001 drama film produced by Twentieth Century Fox (see 2001 in film), starring Mariah Carey, centering on the life and times of a struggling singer from the early club music scene. Largely panned by critics and audiences alike, it performed poorly in theatres after being labelled a vanity project and being an almost autobiographical account of Carey's life (despite claims in various interviews that the film was not autobiographical). Various sources, including Carey herself, believe that the film and its accompanying soundtrack were commercial disappointments due to being released in close proximity to the September 11 terrorist attacks.[[Citing sources citation needed]] The film received five nominations (and one win: Carey, for Worst Actress) at the 2001 Golden Raspberry Awards, and has been considered one of the worst films ever made.
History
Carey has said about the film, "It's in the early '80s, in the club scene of that time. I play a singer, Billie, who's half-breed, from a white father and a black mother. Billie grows up in a foster home, because her mother abandoned her. Later on she meets a DJ and becomes a star in just one night. The point is, that all this time she waits for her mother to return. As you can see, this is far away from my reality, because I couldn't have a closer relationship with my own mother. When she's not with me, she calls like every five minutes."
The reviews Glitter received were devastating and the film did very poorly in theaters. In most countries it wasn't even released. In the U.S. it premiered only in 1,196 theaters and was the eleventh highest-grossing movie over its opening weekend, taking in $5 million. It was originally scheduled to open over Labor Day weekend, but the film was pushed back three weeks when Carey checked into a hospital for exaustion (and not a "nervous breakdown" as the media had claimed).
Carey said she looked back at that period "as something that had to happen in my life. That time period was so blown out of proportion. That movie and that soundtrack — which had some really good songs that hopefully one day I'll get to redo — the fact it came out on September 11, people need to remember. How can we expect anything from that? I was a scapegoat in a lot of ways for talk show hosts who wanted to get away from the real stuff going on in the world. We all have to go through our tests to see how strong we are and come out on the other side."
The accompanying soundtrack, Glitter, became Carey's worst showing on the charts, and the lowest selling of her career to date. The record label Virgin/EMI later ended their record deal with Carey, giving her a $28 million pay-off. Although the film has been generally panned, it has made a cultural impact and reached infamous levels of notoriety. New slang has been invented with a negative connotation of "pulling a Glitter" to indicate performing horribly.
Plot
The story of Billie Frank starts out several years in the past as Billie and her mother, Lillian, are seen at a nightclub, where Lillian is a performer. After a rousing performance met with little applause, Lillian tries to get the crowd excited by singing her signature tune, "Lillian's Blues", with young Billie accompanying her on vocals. Unfortunately, the ploy fails and Lillian is fired.
As she is now unemployed, to get more money to survive, Lillian visits her ex-lover, Billie's father. At first, he is turned off by the sight of Lillian, but after pulling ploys of pity from Billie, he finally relents and gives some money to Lillian. That night, Lillian, depressed and tired, carelessly falls asleep before putting out her cigarettes. A fire soon ensues, and the entire apartment complex has to be evacuated. Due to her actions, Billie is taken away to foster care, but Lillian promises she will get her soon.
Lillian's promises never materialize, as years later, Billie Frank has grown up and is now a dancer at a club with her friends, Louise and Roxanne. Their actions catch the attention of Timothy Walker and he offers a contact to the three girls as backup singers/dancers to the artist known only as Sylk. Initially, Billie is unparsed by the offer and refuses it, wanting to achieve her dreams of stardom on her own terms. However, after pestering from her friends, Billie relents, and the three are contracted to Timothy Walker.
Among the first tasks of being background singers for Sylk is the recording of the hit single, "All My Life". At first Sylk seems to deliver a solid vocal performance, but it soon becomes apparent that she is way out of tune and that her voice is generally unpleasant. In a ploy to capitalize on the sex appeal of Sylk, but with powerful vocals, Timothy Walker then asks Billie to resing Sylk's part. At first a notion is made that Billie is unaware of what is transpiring, but is it later stated that Billie doesn't care. Sylk, for her own part, seems to be happy that she is being "ghosted", but remains a bit uneasy with this notion.
Later at an exclusive nightclub DJed by Julian "Dice" Black, Sylk debuts her hit single "All My Life". Dice is at first shocked, because he had previously believed that Sylk sounded different, but nevertheless goes backstage after her performance to congratulate her. It is at this moment that Sylk makes the fatal error of insulting her background singers in front of photographer. Billie, not wanting to take the verbal abuse, but not wanting cause to drama either, then exposes Sylk as a fraud by singing "All My Life" a capella in front of Dice.
Dice, impressed with what he has heard, tries to convince Billie to let him produce tracks for her, but she initially turns him down. When she finally relents, she raises concerns about her contact with Timothy Walker. Dice assures her that it will be no problem and goes to speak to Timothy Walker. At first, Timothy Walker and Dice act chummy like old friends, but attitudes soon turn harsh when Dice threatens to not play any more artists from Timothy Walker in his nightclub, unless Timothy surrenders the contact of Billie Frank and her friends. Timothy eventually relents, but on the provision that he be provided $100,0000.
Billie and Dice soon start working on songs with the first being the hit underground single, "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On". After performing the song at various club venues, Billie is eventually offered a recording contract by a small record label. Billie wants to accept the offer, but Dice refuses in her name. At first, Billie is miffed, but Dice assures her that they should wait until they get offers from better labels. The move is well thought out, as Billie Frank is soon offered a record contract from Guy Richardson of a major label.
With success in their hands, Dice asks Billie out to have dinner with him. Billie's friends tease her and state that she is going on a date, which Billie denies. Billie and Dice then go to a first class restaurant, and dine on elegant food as they get to know each other a bit better. After dinner, Dice asks Billie to come up to his apartment for a bit. Billie at first refuses, knowing that he just wants to sleep with her, but she is finally convinced to come up for a few minutes. Dice then begins to explain his life story and his musical dreams to Billie. Billie is so touched by his dreams, that she makes the first move, and starts kissing him. They eventually end up sleeping together.
Work is soon started on her first major single, "Loverboy". The single is originally recorded with a bombastic overproduced feel before Julian "Dice" Black harshly orders studio technicians to cut it down to a suitable medium. Eventually, the song is heard all over the radio, and in one scene, Billie and Dice can be seen stopping a taxi to celebrate. A music video is eventually ordered to be made, and originally features Bille and her friends, Louise (played by Da Brat) and Roxanne (played by Tia Texada) dancing in bliss amidst glitter.
However, the director of the music video is unsatisfied with the results and orders Billie's friends to be replaced with a legion of professional semi-nude male dancers. He also orders Billie to wear more revealing clothing, a notion she is not comfortable with. The legion of professional semi-nude male dancers is then ordered to dance closely to Billie, a notion that frightens her to the point, where Dice intervenes on Billie's behalf, and the two leave the set before the music video can be finished.
Things begin to go downhill as more drama ensues including Dice being denied permission to produce songs on Billie's debt, and also denial of "Reflections", a song Billie has written about her mother. Billie is soon called to perform at the USA Music Awards, where she meets singer-songwriter, Rafael, for the first time. Later at the after party, Rafael meets up with Billie again, and suggests that they write a song together. Dice, furious with being denied permission to produce and miffed by Rafael, orders Billie and her friends to leave the after party. Apparently, he is slightly drunk, and accuses Rafael of sexual advances towards Billie.
At this point, Roxanne intervenes, but is told by Dice to shut up. Louise intervenes and states that Dice is just upset because he has been denied permission to produce. At this point, Dice calls Louise "fatass", prompting Louise and Roxanne to leave the limo. In a heartbreaking moment, Louise and Roxanne force Billie to make a choice between her and Dice. Before, Billie can make a decision, the two of them decided to leave anyway. Dice tries to comfort her, but she pushes him away. Billie breaks down in tears later, but she is comforted by Dice as she laments "If you didn't believe in me, none of this would have ever happened".
The reconciliation is short lived as Billie Frank soon receives a threat from her former boss, Timothy Walker, concerning the debt that Dice has failed to pay. Eventually, Dice returns to the apartment and Billie is furious at Dice as she thought he had handled her contact properly before. Dice, not handling the situation well, goes near the living quarters of Timothy Walker and ambushes him to the point of hospitalization. For his actions, Dice is held in police custody, prompting Billie to cancel a scheduled appearance on Saturday Night Live. Billie is furious as she had not asked for him to attack Timothy. Dice then screams at Billie comparing her to her absentee mother. Billie, deeply insulted slaps Dice, who in turn, almost slaps Billie back. Billie taken aback by the drama, decides to leave Dice, staying with her estranged friends.
At first, Billie tries to deal with the pain by finally getting a chance to write with singer/songwriter, Rafael. They create the single "Want You", which goes onto become a major hit single. However, eventually, Billie can't deal with breakup and deals with her emotional pain by writing a song. Dice, also misses Billie, and also begins writing a song. Later, Billie sneaks into Dice's apartment in an attempt to reconcile. He is not home, but the music he has written is. In a touching moment, Billie realizes that they wrote the same song (which came to be known as "Never Too Far"). She kisses the sheet music leaving a lipstick imprint of her lips, which Dice later discovers.
Dice then plans to reconcile with Billie, even with the intention of seeing her sold out performance of Madison Square Garden, but it never comes to be, as he is soon shot to death by Timothy Walker in revenge. The news soon reaches Billie's management and support crew who then see a report of on it television. As they wonder how to break the news to Billie, she walks in and is duly shocked. As her concert is sold out, and fans have been waiting eagerly, Billie cannot cancel the concert. She somberly walks onto the crowd, who have been festively grooving along to an instrumental track of "Loverboy" performed by Billie's dancers. Billie is in no mood for lighthearted songs, and commands the band to stop playing "Loverboy" when she reaches the stage. Billie then warns the crowd never to take life for granted, before launching into her performance of "Never Too Far".
After her concert has ended, Billie can be seen in a limo reading a note that Dice had left her before his death. In it, he tells he loves her, that he had planned to see her perform, and that he has located Billie's mother. Without rest, the limo drives Billie to a secluded location where she is reunited with her mother, and they both duly cry into each other's arms. Here the, the film is open ended, as it is not known of the current relationship of Billie and her mother, or if Billie has begun seeing other men after the death of Dice.
Cast
| Role | Actor |
|---|---|
| Billie Frank | Mariah Carey |
| Julian "Dice" Black | Max Beesley |
| Timothy Walker | Terrence Howard |
| Louise | Da Brat |
| Roxanne | Tia Texada |
| Rafael | Eric Benét |
| Sylk | Padma Lakshmi |
Comparisons between Carey and Billie Frank
Although Carey has publicly denied similarities between the character, Billie Frank, and her real life and times, many similarities and differences have been pointed out by the public:Similarities
- Carey and Billie both had troubled childhoods.
- Carey and Billie both are biracial.
- Carey and Billie both had emotionally abusive and controlling lovers.
- Carey and Billie both started out in the music industry as backup singers for already established artists.
- Carey and Billie both are fond of cats.[[Citing sources citation needed]]
- Carey and Billie are both best friends with Da Brat (known in the movie as Louise).[[Citing sources citation needed]]
Differences
- Although Carey and Billie both are biracial, in real life Carey's mother is white (Irish), and her father is afro-latino (Afro-Venezuelan). In the film, Billie's mother is afro-latino, and her father is white (in other words, the heritages of Billie's parents are reversed from Carey's).
- Although Carey and Billie both had emotionally abusive and controlling lovers, Carey's lover was a record executive (namely Tommy Mottola, who is still alive today), while Billie's lover was a record producer (namelyDice, who was shot to death).
See also
External links
- [}}}] at Rotten Tomatoes
- [}}}] at Box Office Mojo
- [Adudathuda DVD podBLAST alternate DVD commentary for Glitter]
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