Beyond the Lights

A family member was reduced to tears when she described the plot of Beyond the Lights to me, she was so moved by the message of the story. Since she was someone for whom I had zero respect, I wasn't motivated by her recommendation. However, I ended up renting it later with the sole purpose of laughing at my relative; I wasn't disappointed. Beyond the Lights is just a regular ol' cheap, obvious, lousy tv-movie about a singer - except it isn't a tv-movie. It was actually released in theaters and drew Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Minnie Driver, and Danny Glover to the cast. The opening scene that was so emotional for my relative was stereotypical and trite: a little girl wins second place in a singing competition, and her perfectionist mother scolds her for failing then makes her destroy her trophy. Anyone over the age of fifteen should be mature enough to see that scene for what it is. Let alone a woman in her forties with young children of her own (whom she took to the theaters to see this movie, despite its sexual themes) who had years of therapy and self-help workshops under her belt. The bulk of the movie shows the young girl all grown up. She's a popular singer but still has an inferiority complex because of her mother. It's a case of the old blame-game, where she can put all the fault onto her mom rather than maturing, getting over her past, and taking responsibility for her own actions. Instead, the moral of the story is that she needs to "find herself" by writing a new type of song and defy her mom by her choice of romantic partner. I really can't imagine anyone who's graduated from high school enjoying this movie. I can't imagine anyone besides teenaged boys "appreciating" the sexually titillating on-stage performances of the protagonist. The choreography was not symbolic (she was forced to be a sexual object for the masses because of her mother); it was just exploitation of the lead actress's nice figure and a way to get ticket sales. Save your time, unless you're a high school girl who burst into tears by the mere recap of my synopsis. You won't like it. Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to sexual content, I wouldn't let my kids watch it.

I must say....this movie is just perfect, actually my first time of me watching a movie and wanting to share my opinions so bad. it's just the "perfect romantic drama"