Sunday, August 29, 2021

the Best

I'm going out on a limb that anyone who reads my blog is of a certain age and intelligence level and knows who Tina Turner is. 

Let's assume, and that way I don't have to go into a lot exposition when I say we saw the HBO documentary on her, Tina a few days back. 

Of course, I knew her background - at least to a fairly good degree. And that is without reading her autobiography, I, Tina, or seeing the movie of her life, What's Love Got to Do With It. 

Truth be told, I've never purchased one of her disks. I mean, who needed to - for 5-7 years, she was EVERYWHERE.  Not in a bad way, but she and her manager really worked the circuit and you couldn't turn on TV or MTV and not see her. 

At 81, she agreed to this documentary, as her parting gift to the public. For years, she has been a private citizen, all but retiring from recording and performing. She gave up her U.S. citizenship about a decade ago and has rarely been back to this country. 

The (re)telling of her story for this doc is, of course, ironic, though I believe that was lost on the creator, director and even on the subject herself. 

They go into great detail on her rise with Ike Turner and the subsequent abuse and divorce. Much of her post Ike years has been on the explanation end of anything about Ike. Clips of Turner semi-masterfully answering / deflecting these constant barrages did nothing to lessen the talk during interviews. The juxtaposition of Ike answering similar questions is more like tap dancing in a minefield. 

She claimed to write her autobiography so it would address / answer all those past issues. It didn't work (though honestly, a good PR person would have pulled the plug on any interviewer asking questions from which they were told to stay away). And now Turner is doing this doc explaining the same media issues and the issues stemming from the original one. It's a rehash of the rehash. 

That all said - Tina is very well done. 

Almost all from Turner's perspective from her current age - so that she can look back with even a different mindset, though I doubt it was. I think the most poignant thing was a line - and I'll paraphrase - all the success she's had and the happy time have never and could never outweigh the bad. 

The idea that money cannot buy happiness stands here. A woman, who was abandoned by her parents, and who left a physically and mentally abusive marriage with nothing but her name and all the cancellation fees from the Ike & Tina Review (when she walked out) is worth something close to $250MM.  Yet her perception remains: those good times are still less than - and overshadowed by - the bad ones. 

I think they miss some things - even when they mention Ike being in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Both were inducted together, yet I'm 94% sure she's never mentioned.  That omission once again gives Ike that notoriety and diminishes her contribution - which is what Ike did all their years together. And Tina will be only the second two-time female inductee after Stevie Nicks. .....but this documentary was made before that announcement. 

It's a solid two hours. 



.....they never even mentioning that the blog title song of this post is featured in Schitt's Creek. It would have been worth asking if she's ever seen it. 


2021 Movie Count / Goal: 13 of 15 


Song by: Tina Turner

1 comment:

James Dwight Williamson said...

I know she was born in Nutbush , Tennessee and I have bought at least one of her cd’s. I love everything she does and her legs. Sad she feels a heavy weight , because she certainly lifts mine. Ike, Pffft! I MHO