Biopic is trashed online, network offends by romanticizing illegal relationship between R. Kelly and minor Aaliyah

Nov 17, 2014 10:04 GMT  ·  By
Alexandra Shipp as late singer Aaliyah in poorly received Lifetime biopic
6 photos
   Alexandra Shipp as late singer Aaliyah in poorly received Lifetime biopic

“Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B” had a very rocky start: when Lifetime announced plans to make it, the late singer’s family reacted by refusing to let them use her music in the film, and the hits just kept coming.

The film premiered over the weekend and is on the way of becoming the most watched release ever on the network, but that’s where the good news stops. The bad news is that it’s also the most disputed, hated, and controversial project to date.

And for once, it doesn’t look like controversial is synonymous with popular.

The casting was horrible

The Aaliyah biopic became a trending topic on social media over the weekend, and people are still talking about it right now: most of them to say how much it sucked. It wasn’t just that the film was of inferior quality, because that could have probably been overlooked, but that it also managed to be offensive.

In short, the film was disrespectful to Aaliyah and her family and it should have never been made.  

The casting was bad, to begin with. Alexandra Shipp did have a few solid moments as Aaliyah, but that’s not saying much for a film that was riddled with clichés and cringe-worthy dialog.

Cle Bennett played R. Kelly, and in addition to the fact that the script made it sound as if it was OK for a 25-year-old to get romantic with a 15-year-old, he also rocked the most unconvincing bald plastic cap in the history of TV. Instead of getting him to actually shave his head, producers went for cheap prosthetics – and it showed.    

Izaak Smith and Chattrise Dolabaille were skinnier and lighter versions of Timbaland and Missy Elliot, and though their performance in the film was nothing but a short cameo, fans were profoundly displeased.

The conclusion was that none of the actors looked even remotely like the real-life characters they were playing. When you’re making a biopic, this is essential, useless to say.

The story, the dialog, the controversy

To make matters even worse, right and during the premiere, Lifetime kept tweeting about the “chemistry” between the two protagonists. In 1994, a 15-year-old Aaliyah lied about her age, saying she was 18, and married 25-year-old R. Kelly.

The marriage was annulled a short while later, when her parents found out and had it dissolved. For some reason, Lifetime thought it would be a good idea to play the star-crossed lovers card and tweeted about how amazing the characters’ “chemistry” was, how they were meant for each other and asking viewers to say whether Aaliyah’s parents were ruining her happiness or not by intervening.

When upset viewers duly pointed out that they were basically condoning pedophilia, most of those tweets were deleted – but not before bloggers got snaps. You can find them in the gallery below.

As for everything else wrong with the production, you can get a better idea about that by the tweets included below. Timbaland actually led the way to criticism, with videos and photos speaking against the biopic. He too believed that the film was an act of disrespect for the late singer.

It doesn’t happen that often, but even critics agreed with fans on this one: the biopic has been billed a flash in the pan that tried to milk good ratings with controversy, an unforgettable film that doesn’t honor the woman who inspired it.

By the way, the film was produced by Wendy Williams who, back in October, promised the fans and Aaliyah’s family that they would be “proud” of the film they were making. So much for that, right?

 
Een foto die is geplaatst door Timbo the King (@timbaland) op Nov 11, 2014 at 7:54 PST
A photo posted by Timbo the King (@timbaland) on Nov 11, 2014 at 11:04am PST
Een foto die is geplaatst door Timbo the King (@timbaland) op Nov 11, 2014 at 11:11 PST
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A photo posted by Timbo the King (@timbaland) on Nov 11, 2014 at 11:07pm PST

Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B biopic (6 Images)

Alexandra Shipp as late singer Aaliyah in poorly received Lifetime biopic
Lifetime offended with tweets about Aaliyah, R. Kelly illegal relationshipFans considered this an attempt to romanticize an illegal relationship
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