Photos courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
The new Aretha Franklin biopic “RESPECT” is intentionally stylized with capital letters. The subtle emphasis is a nod to the single that finally helped Aretha Franklin break the top of the charts. But it is also a salute to Franklin’s driving desire to be respected. By her father, her husbands, her musical peers and label heads, and at times to even respect herself.
The film, which stars Jennifer Hudson, had a long road to the box office. It wrapped production on February 15, 2020, just weeks before the coronavirus pandemic officially began in the U.S.
The pandemic caused the release date for the film to be pushed back for months. During which time, Genius: Aretha—a six-part biopic starring Cynthia Erivo, aired on National Geographic, setting up a rivalry and constant comparisons between her portrayal and Hudson’s.
But, in actuality, both films are very different.
At just over two hours and with an exclusive in-theater release, RESPECT quickly breezes through the early years of Franklin’s life, pausing here and there to explore her tenuous relationship with her father. But, most notably is how the film ties much of Franklin’s life to the three cities that defined her life and career: Detroit, New York, and Los Angeles.
In the film, Detroit is a lodestone for Franklin. As her home base, it is the place that she returns to time and time again. Most significantly, the film illustrates that Detroit is where she goes when things aren’t going well in her life and career. It is home and the people there who constantly pull her back. Actress Jennifer Hudson tied some of that pull to Franklin’s faith and upbringing at Greater New Bethel Baptist Church, pastored by her father, Rev. C.L. Franklin (portrayed by Forest Whitaker).
“Faith was the most important factor in this whole thing,” Hudson says in an interview provided by the production company. “Her faith was important to have in the film, and it was MY faith that got me through this whole thing.”
After every challenging situation, director Liesl Tommy would always send Franklin back to Detroit. The film made Franklin’s hometown (and ours) the place of transition where Franklin’s feet would touch before and after many of life’s major events. That fact was apparent in the Queen’s real life as despite her vast fortune—she lived and died in Detroit.
Liesl Tommy, the film’s director, has a background in theatre. The Tony Award-winning director positioned New York as she saw it—a big city of dreams. In the film, Franklin moves to New York City when she signs with Columbia Records, and she records and performs there. She recorded nine albums with her label without a big hit on any of them.
In New York, Franklin lives with her first husband, Ted White (deftly portrayed by Marlon Wayans), and ultimately begins to grow into superstardom.
The city acts as a character that epitomizes Franklin’s “stick-to-itiveness.” It also embodies her insecurity. It is where she leans on yet another man to make decisions for her life and career. But, when Franklin does declare her independence after attaining a hit single, it is to New York where she briefly returns triumphant in a necessary bit of closure.
Fittingly, Tommy ends the film in Los Angeles.
In RESPECT, in Los Angeles, Franklin most succumbs to the drinking habit she battled for much of her younger life. Again, the nature of the city where passion meets purpose and stars are born is a backdrop for Franklin’s challenges and how she overcomes them.
She finds a new love in her tour manager Ken Cunningham—with whom she has another son. In Los Angeles, now managed by her brother, Franklin experiences the darkest moments of the film. The increasing pressures of her career, providing for her family, and her growing alcohol addiction eventually overwhelm her. During a performance, she drunkenly falls off the stage—breaking her arm.
It is also in Los Angeles where Franklin returns to the underlying theme of the film: faith.
After learning of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, whom she was close to for much of her youth, she begins to journey toward sobriety and decides to record a gospel album. She declares that recording the album is an essential part of her journey to wellness. Upon the advice of James Cleveland (portrayed by Tituss Burgess), she records her gospel masterwork album, Amazing Grace.
The album goes on to become the highest-selling album of Aretha’s career and is still the highest-selling gospel live album of all time.
RESPECT is a beautiful film shot primarily in Atlanta, GA—a city that has become a mecca of the movie industry due to its generous tax credits. For a Detroiter, the fact that none of the film was shot in the city that Franklin called home is a subtle reminder of how the state of Michigan let that industry slip through our fingers and inspired hope that one day the state will once again reclaim its legendary place in the entertainment industry.
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Biba Adams is a regular contributor and project editor for Model D. Formally Model D's Editor at Large, she is a longtime journalist whose work is fueled by her passion for people and her native Detroit. Find her on all social channels @BibatheDiva.