Amy Winehouse’s Biopic Was Criticized For Capitalizing On Trauma And Exploitation Of Legacy
Can we just let Amy Winehouse rest?
Many fans of the singer are not too happy with the making of the singer’s biopic. The Back to Black biopic about Amy’s short life has commenced filming.
And as early as now, it has been criticized for taking advantage of the singer’s legacy and making Amy’s trauma a money-making venture. Plenty of fans are calling for the end of the project on the principle of just allowing the singer to rest in peace.
The project stars Marisa Abela as the late Amy, who passed away at the young age of 27. The singer died of alcohol poisoning in 2011. The filming began in some parts of London last week.
There have been some images released from the filming. This is to give viewers an idea of how the project is progressing. One of the snaps showed Marisa sobbing hysterically, transformed into her Amy character. This was part of recreating the arrest of her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil.
This sparked many mixed reactions, with the majority not agreeing with the project. As usual, fans took to social media to share their thoughts about the biopic, with one posting on Twitter, “This is not a great start. Can we please leave the deceased alone? More often than not, these biopics are a mess and exploitative.”
Another fan wrote, “I feel very protective over Amy Winehouse’s memory, and my gut instinct is to rebuke this biopic. Most of her fans want her to rest in peace without anyone sensationalizing or exploiting her legacy. The Amy doc is all we need.”
Another shared how confused and frustrated she was about why a biopic about Amy Winehouse was needed. After all, her afflictions had already been made public while she was still alive. The same user asked if the judgment and criticism that Amy received while alive was not enough, and whether it was necessary to make a ruckus again about her suffering. The user challenged the film team to ask why they couldn’t make a documentary to remember her for her music.
Many fans have already expressed that they won’t be supporting the movie because, despite the success and excellence of Amy as a singer, the film will definitely highlight the singer’s battles and pain. Amy is one of the most renowned singers of her time. That fact remains, but that won’t lead to profits. It is her trauma that will bring in the revenue.
All this hostile reception comes despite Mitch, Amy’s father, giving his blessing. He even said that Marisa was a great choice to depict his daughter, even if she doesn’t resemble Amy.
During Mitch’s interview with TMZ, he said, “Marisa is Marisa, and Amy is Amy, and it’s not a big deal if they aren’t mirror images.”
Many of Amy’s friends expressed disappointment because they felt they should have been consulted about the biopic, even if the filmmakers did approve the project. They are worried that the story about Amy and the people around her will be told inaccurately because they were not asked about their memories of the star.
Whether the biopic is appropriate or is being done too soon, the filmmakers have a lot of work to do because the last thing everybody needs is to disrespect the dead merely for money.
