Let's Talk About Dreamgirls


Turn the wigs around! 

Dreamgirls and Colleen 

Growing up I never got the hype around this movie. A staple in the black community for sure, but outside of that and it being a breakthrough role for Beyonce and Jennifer Hudson, I never really understood why it was so popular. My older sisters watched this movie nonstop when I was a child and I never got why - that was until the harsh reality of life got its chance with me.
What a masterpiece of a film. Themes that have been explored in so many other movies seemed to hit so much deeper in Dreamgirls. Each rewatch as an adult, which has been oh so many times, resulted in a fulfilling feeling of growth and transformation. I feel brand new every single time! Then I realized why I never got the hype, a child should stay in a child's place. So let's talk about it! 


Deena 

Incredibly misunderstood. From the beginning you could tell - much like the actress that portrayed her - that she wanted to be successful. Deena saw singing and performing as a career, and she knew who she wanted to be regardless of how she could get there. When Effie and Lorell were consumed with thoughts of men or vanity she was focused on making it. A very sensible and career driven woman, which is why we saw her venture into other areas such as acting and modelling. Wrong as hell for marrying her friend's man, but born to be successful nevertheless. She receives criticism and hate for being the lead despite her less-than singing abilities but this movie was made in 2006 and as a society we still choose the prettiest apples over the juiciest in every single entertainment sector. How was it her fault that she was the most marketable of the other girls? Leave my girl alone.



Effie

Whereas Deena saw singing as a means to be successful/famous, Effie saw singing as her passion and all she wanted was to be appreciated and recognized for it. Unfortunately for her, once you begin making money from something it becomes a job no matter how naturally good you are at it, and therefore, you have to treat it as such. Effie didn't understand or care much about any reason you gave her as to why she couldn't be the lead. We see that with singing backup for Jimmy as well, not just when Deena became lead. She wanted to start on top. Her anger and frustration towards everyone was justified though, because it wasn't fair to her that she had to shrink herself because she wasn't skinny or conventionally attractive for the larger audience (mainly whites) to digest. It wasn't fair and the people closest to her didn't empathize with her enough to soften the blow. But Effie was selfish, she didn't like the concept of being in a group and working her way up from the bottom. She did eventually, and only then was she truly able to shine. 


Lorell

Lorell loves Jimmy!

I liken Lorell's character to that of Ricky from New Edition. Incredibly talented singers who just wanted to sing. It doesn't matter if they were lead or not as long as they were able to get on stage and do the thing they're good at and make money from that thing. There was no need to fight for first place or cause chaos, truly just there for the vibes. A great intermediary to the fire between Deena’s and Effie's personality. She was a breath of fresh air in every scene she was in. 
A very apt representation of how vulnerable young women are in the industry as well. Taken advantage of before she was even an adult by a popular married musician, then wasted her 20s tied to him until his death hit her painfully. But I like to think that Lorrell's life went uphill following Jimmy's death and the end of the group, two things that were no doubt holding her back mentally.





The Men 

Curtis

A money hungry, literal fraud who became the exact thing whose criticism he used to start his career. Learned the hard way that nobody cared about who's behind the records. 
Unfortunately sang one of the best songs in a film that already has a top tier soundtrack.

Jimmy

A mess who couldn't get himself together, unable to handle the requirements of success. Like I said, you have to be able to treat any money making situation like a job and he couldn't. A very common occurrence in the music industry when talent isn’t trained to handle everything else that comes with fame. 'I Want You Baby' is one of my favourite songs from the movie though!

CC

A poor example of a brother. Him and Effie came into the game together and made promises together. No matter how much she acted up, he should've stood by his sister. Sending her money instead of actually reaching out to her to see how she was doing after tossing her to the curb was disgusting. Her being "difficult" was just her being human and nothing warranted her being abandoned by her blood brother. Also I just know he could never be the one that wrote Heavy????


FAMILY 

I think it was this song that made me realize I'm now perceiving this show completely differently than I did as a child. I remember thinking they were all ganging up on Effie and diminishing her dreams, also feeling so bad for her because of the reasons they were giving Deena the lead. But everything they said was valid, Effie was never a solo artist and this is the opportunity they had to break into the mainstream and bring a different level of success to everyone involved. There was no reason they should have stayed stagnant to feed Effie's dreams, that was never the agreement. Everybody had to eat, not just her. 

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