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Ariana Baio
Jan 23, 2023
Music Documentaries to Watch: Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, Beyoncé, Amy Winehouse & …
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If there’s one thing mainstream Hollywood loves right now, it’s using a famous deceased person's life for a tragic biopic.
So it’s no surprise the latest person to get the biopic treatment is musician Amy Winehouse who died in 2011 at 27 years old after suffering from a substance use disorder.
And in the same way people expressed outrage for the “distasteful” depiction of Marilyn Monroe’s death inBlonde, people are not happy with Winehouse’s portrayal.
Last week, videos and photos from the production of Back to Black, directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, were released much to the chagrin of audiences.
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In the photos, actress Marisa Abela, who plays Winehouse, is shown dressed in the musician’s likeness.
But wearing a jet-black beehive wig and slouchy purse isn’t enough to convince fans the movie is worth doing.
\u201cWhy does the actress playing Amy Winehouse look like Anna Farris filming a scene for Scary Movie 32??\u201d— Ben Carney (@Ben Carney) 1673896307
Online, people accused those making the film of exploiting Winehouse's life to make money.
Given how the media treated Winehouse in the mid-2000s as she was battling drug and alcohol addiction, people do not feel it is appropriate for the same industry to be profiting from her life.
Some called on others to boycott the film in honor of Winehouse.
\u201cPlease don't support the Amy Winehouse movie. It's an horrible attempt to win money by the same people who put her down in the past. His father abandoned her, stuck to her fame, now is building a false image with this film, after the 2015 doc.\n\nLet Amy rest in peace.\u201d— Artemis (@Artemis) 1674062185
\u201ccan we actually stop making biopics of late celebrities? let them rest. y\u2019all fucking bullied amy winehouse for being a \u2018druggie\u2019 and now you wanna make money from making movies from her? LET HER REST!!!!!\u201d— L \u2022 tlou spoilers!! \ud83c\udf3f (@L \u2022 tlou spoilers!! \ud83c\udf3f) 1673684673
\u201cThat Amy Winehouse movie they\u2019re making? Gonna be a hard pass for me. It should be a hard pass for everyone else too.\u201d— Nerd Girl Says (@Nerd Girl Says) 1674403368
\u201cthis is fucking revolting.\u201d— sid \u2625 (@sid \u2625) 1674268389
Those behind the project told theHollywood Reporter that the film, “will focus on Amy’s extraordinary genius, creativity, and honesty that infused everything she did."
"A journey that took her from the craziness and color of 90’s Camden High Street to global adoration — and back again, Back to Black crashes through the looking glass of celebrity to watch this journey from behind the mirror, to see what Amy saw, to feel what she felt.”
Director Taylor-Johnson, who also directed Fifty Shades of Grey, said in the same press release that she felt connected to Winehouse because they both spent time in Camden, a borough of London.
"I first saw her perform at a talent show at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in Soho and it was immediately obvious she wasn’t just ’talent’… she was genius. As a filmmaker you can’t really ask for more," Taylor-Johnson said.
Whether or not the movie holds up to accurately portray Winehouse will be revealed when it is released.
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