Re-Assessing Glitter in 2012

I will begin by disclosing that I am a fan of Mariah's music and have been for quite some time. I will continue by saying that I have always been fascinated by this film - not only by its content but also the personal and professional turmoil that Mariah was going through during its conception and, later, production.

This film was in development as early as 1997, but it kept being delayed because of Mariah's souring relationship with Sony Records and ex-husband/record exec Tommy Mottola. So from the start, this film had a lot working against it. After their divorce, Mottola no longer gave Mariah the support she wanted as an artist and was also very un-supportive of this project and her integration of hip-hop into her musical repertory, which began in 1995 with the Fantasy remix with ODB.

The film was supposed to start production in 1998/99, as we know, from various interviews Mariah did, that her 1999 album "Rainbow" was largely comprised of songs that she wrote and produced for the "All That Glitters" soundtrack. So then Mariah was continuing to receive less than stellar support from Sony and Mottola for that 1999 musical project - fans know the story regarding the promotional failure for the 2000 single "Can't Take that Away."

I also want to foreground the fact that Carey was working basically non-stop during the 1990s, but shifted into overdrive after 1997's "Butterfly" up until 2001. She toured twice during that time (two small tours but tours nonetheless), released 3 musical projects, 3 film projects (1 minor role in "The Bachelor"; two major roles in "Glitter" and "Wisegirls") and one compilation album that contained new material. Plus, we should also keep in mind the substantial work and effort she puts into the remixes/re-recordings of every commercially released single.

So fast-forward to 2000/2001 - the filming for the movie was complete, but she had switched labels (Sony to Virgin) to get away from her ex-husband. But Mottola still had access to the Glitter soundtrack and film project, as Columbia Pictures, a division of Sony, was distributing the film. There has been a lot of talk of Mottola utilizing Sony's promotional push of Jennifer Lopez's recording career as a means of sabotaging Mariah's first starring film role and her first new music on her new label. Carey had received clearance to use a sample of ELO's song "Firecracker" for Glitter's first single "Loverboy," but Sony managed to release Lopez's "Firecracker"-sampling "I'm Real" single before Mariah had finished producing the "Glitter" soundtrack. So Mariah ended up having to re-record that song with a sample of Cameo's "Candy." There really is a lot to be investigated here regarding a sabotage of the soundtrack because that was a major setback to the project.

Keep in mind that Mariah was working overtime (reports are 20 hours days) for most of mid-2001 - finishing the soundtrack album, promoting the first single "Loverboy" - and dealing with, in my opinion, some unaddressed mental illness. And as a result, she ended up spending two stints in the hospital - one in July and one in September, which further delayed the soundtrack and the film. When all was said and done, the soundtrack came out on the unluckiest of dates - September 11, 2001 - and the film dropped 10 days later on September 21, 2001. And, of course, she was unable to properly promote either because of her hospitalizations.

So after all of that, I would like to foreground that the "Glitter" project was plagued by a lot of terrible, terrible luck.

And seeing the final cut of the film really made me sad. Sad, because it did not deserve the resounding denigration that it received. Mariah's portrayal was earnest and genuine - even if it wasn't a great performance. It wasn't an amazing film, though I think it COULD have been. When I view the finished product, I see the skeleton of a much grittier project - closer to Mariah's original vision for the project and more akin to Diana Ross' turn in "Lady Sings the Blues." I wish writer Kate Lanier and director Vondie Curtis Hall had come up with something that explored Billie's relationship with her mother more because, really, the best moments of the film were the ones in which that relationship was foregrounded.

I think the other unspoken barrier to this project were the politics of racism/racialization surrounding Mariah Carey's mixed race identity. I cannot tell you how many racist reviews I have read of this film where a reviewer refers to the lead character's mother as a "coke monkey" or refers to Mariah as a "wannabe hood girl." The film was also directed by a black man, and the soundtrack was produced in collaboration with mostly black musicians. There is a huge politics of respectability/whiteness in Hollywood, and Carey does not seem to fit in with that nor does she seem to be willing to pander to it.

In closing, my main reaction to "Glitter" as a film is: What could have been? Was the film that ended shooting in late 2000 a different project than the watered-down PG-13 project distributed by Columbia Pictures? Also, I highly recommend the soundtrack album - Carey wrote and produced some great songs for it.