My opinion on VH1’s made for TV movie on TLC:
This month marks the start of filming for VH1’s made for TV movie on the super star R&B group TLC and of course there is controversy surrounding the movie already. In case you don’t know who or what TLC is (and have been living under a rock your entire life) they are one of the most successful female signing groups… ever. However, the group hasn’t been too active musically, or successful period, since their third member, Lisa “Left eye” Lopez, died tragically in a car crash in 2002. The news of this movie, which has apparently been in the works for a while now, is the most promising news about the group we have had in a while. You don’t even have to be a die-hard TLC fan to be excited about their legacy being brought back to life. But let’s face it, this could get ugly. If VH1 doesn’t do their story justice the people will not be happy.
VH1 is no stranger to this type of production; after all they give us Movies That Rock and Behind the Music. T-Boz and Chilli are thrilled about the movie and are working closely with the directors and producers to make sure the story is kept true to life. They have even brought in a credible screen writer to write and script, so what’s the fuss about?
The controversy behind this story comes in with the announcement of the cast. In early February it was leaked that VH1 had cast Keke Palmer (Akeelah and the Bee) as Chilli, Drew Sidora (The Game) as T-Boz and rapper Lil Mama, (you know her from the one hit wonder ‘Lip Gloss’) as Left Eye. The general reaction from the blogs and Twitter-verse has been disgust and disappointment. In general the whole cast seems subpar but most of the criticism from fans is over the casting of Lil Mama as Left eye and in all honestly, the complaints are well deserved. They have cast someone with no real acting experience to portray a larger than life artist. They couldn’t find anyone else?!!
If we choose to be optimistic, the movie might not be a disaster. Keke Palmer did a great job in Akeelah and the Bee, Drew Sidora pulled off her role as herself on The Game and maybe, just maybe, Lil Mama won’t be terrible, but I think VH1 should have just left this alone. The Jacksons Five, an American Dream was a very successful biopic about a larger than life music group so who’s to say this movie won’t be as good as that one? Maybe since the actual members of TLC are supportive of this project we should just trust that and give these girls a chance…
I want to be optimistic but I can’t help but be a little skeptical. Either way I’m sure we will all be watching, tweeting and criticizing. I can’t wait!
Sources:
TLC pic 1:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TLC_(group)
http://sofurious.com/2013/02/19/vh1-announces-cast-of-tlc-biopic-and-girl/
TLC pic 2:
http://www.vh1insider.com/tag/tlc-movie/
TLC pic 5