'Fantasia Barrino's Story' brings singer's struggles to TV

Who doesn't love a fairy tale? Audiences sure do. Remember how J K Rowling's rags to riches story became as popular as her Harry Potter series? Now, another such story will hit the boob tube tonight on Lifetime. The Fantasia Barrino Story: Life Is Not a Fairy Tale, a screen adaptation of the memoirs penned by American Idol's season three winner Fantasia Barrino, has all the elements we prefer leaving to a Hollywood drama – rape, a bad relationship, single motherhood, unemployment, and subsequently, fame and fortune. Adding the icing on the cake is the fact that she's an African American. Is there any way we can not root for this one? But the truth is, we don't really feel like rooting for this, even though the memoirs in their book version went on to become a bestseller.

Perhaps the biggest mistake that the makers of the film have made is to cast Fantasia as herself. Singers can't necessarily act, and making someone revisit painful details of their own lives is sadistic. Even if Fantasia stays unaffected, it's hard for the audiences to see the reality of a young girl's struggle against circumstances when the victim looms large on the screen herself.

Based on the book, the film opens with Fantasia's childhood and school days, with Jamia Simone Nash playing the young Fantasia. Playing her undependable and selfish gospel singer father Joe Barrino is Kadeem Hardison and slipping into the role of her hardworking mother Diane is Viola Davis. Fantasia's grandmother Addie, who proved to be the pillar of strength in her life, is played by Loretta Devine. Though Fantasia was brought up in North Carolina, her screen home was shot in New Orleans. Director Debbie Allen has an explanation.

“I quickly recognized when I went to scout locations that not only did New Orleans translate as Fantasia's home in North Carolina but also by going there, the industry could help get them out of the mud, pull them out of the water to dry land. They need as much of a jump as they can. We used a lot of local actors and crew. We uplifted a lot of people,” says Allen. Given the thought behind the film, this does make sense.

Unfortunately, the director's good intentions aren't matched by talent. The film's direction leaves a lot to be desired. The editing is bad and the narrative suffers as well. Nevertheless, it has its stellar moments, most being the ones shot during American Idol and Fantasia's heartfelt rendition of Summertime.

One secret that the film has revealed is that American Idol officials tried to discourage Fantasia into dropping out of the contest when stories of her unhappy childhood and single motherhood started doing the rounds of the internet. The contest's officials, unsurprisingly, have denied this.

The high school dropout refused to give in. “I sure ain't quitting. Nope, I'm tired of that. I'm not quitting this time. So let them talk,” Fantasia said. The rest, we all know, is history.
In November 2004, the singer released an album, Free Yourself, which debuted at number eight on the Billboard 200 pop album chart, sending out a whopping 240,000 copies in the first week itself. The album went platinum in two months, having sold two million copies in the United States alone so far. In the process it shot up on a number of music charts and even broke a couple of records. Free Yourself and the Summertime won Fantasia four Grammy nominations.

The story is fascinating and inspiring. But the way it has been told is unfortunately not. All the same, it is a tribute to Fantasia's never-say-die spirit and deserves respect if only for that.

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