Why “The Rose” Missed Great

I really don’t like fictionalizing. I well know all the reasons (excuses) for doing it. Still against it.

Seeing it in 1979 as a kid, I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with it.
Something felt off. It felt like Bette was trying to do Janis Joplin ... yet not.
What was wrong was that Fox wanted to do Janis Joplin’s story but her family got cold feet over the rights — maybe afraid their dearly departed wouldn’t come out smelling like a rose. So they made up a new character that kinda sorta was Janis but not really. And ended up with a big movie that kinda sorta was good. But not really.

If you want the impact of the truth, you have to actually tell that truth.
Cut-and-pasting a fake truth doesn’t cut it.