10 Craziest Things We Learned From the Aaliyah Lifetime Movie
Is there a better way to honor a talented, still rising star who was taken from us too soon than an unauthorized Lifetime biopic? Yes, there are absolutely countless ways to pay tribute the late, great Aaliyah than a messy “biographical” movie that merely pulls a few names, dates and locations from her life story. Heavily protested by her family and closest friends and collaborators, Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B barely scratches the surface of how she changed the course for pop, hip-hop and R&B in the Nineties and why her death at age 22 on August 25, 2001 was such a huge loss for music fans.
Based off of Christopher John Farley’s 2001 biography Aaliyah: More Than a Woman, the film reeks of disapproval from those who actually knew her or engaged with her art. But Princess did teach us some things, though most of those lessons should’ve been learned by the film’s team long before they even began to put together this train-wreck of a biopic. Here are 10 takeaways:
1. You need original music for a biopic on a singer.
That’s a shocker, right? A film about a famous pop star needs more than just the covers she did of other people’s famous songs to survive. Who knew? The introduction to Aaliyah’s hearty repertoire of favorite songs to cover live and on record happens in the first scene, where we’re introduced to the actual baby version of Baby Girl (her nickname) as a 10-year-old on Star Search performing “My Funny Valentine.” It’s a taste of what’s in store — all the film offers is an Aaliyah Covers 101 course, thanks to an embargo on Aaliyah’s original music placed by her family. So instead of the hits that made a bona fide pop-star sensation, we get her takes on Marvin Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up” and the Isley Brothers’ “At Your Best”; meanwhile, we’re supposed to forget that revolutionary songs like “Are You That Somebody?” “Try Again,” and “One in a Million” were what made her canon-worthy.
2. Actors should maybe look a little bit like the person they’re portraying.
A biopic rule of thumb: If the performances are going to be as weak and uncomfortable to watch as the ones in this film, someone should at least find actors who vaguely resemble the real-life characters they’re portraying. The less said about the portrayals of Missy Elliott and Timbaland, the better; Alexandra Shipp’s performance as the princess herself only had fleeting moments of capturing the essence of Aaliyah, whether it was the way she smirked and how she wore those street-fashion clothes. Never mind that she couldn’t quite master the subtle brilliance behind that soft falsetto large enough to fill a room; overall, Shipp barely has a chance to skim the surface of who this young artist was.
3. The actor playing Young Aaliyah is the only one who even remotely studied her character.
Seriously, give it up for Kamaia Fairburn-Grant, the little girl playing 10-year-old Aaliyah. She mastered every last gesture from the Star Search clip in a way that gave us just enough hope that the film wouldn’t be a total mess. It was all downhill from here.