BougieMom and I sat in wide-eyed thrall as we watched the two-part interview between Whitney Houston and Oprah Winfrey. It was a never-ending circus of WDDDA (Where Dey Do Dat At?)
Whitney dropped horrific revelations about her life with Bobby one after the other like boxing punches: "He spit in my face." Bam! "He used my credit cards to go out with other women." Uppercut! "We smoked marijuana laced with rock cocaine." Headshot! "My mother came to get me with the sheriffs in tow." Knockout!
By the time we wrapped up Hour One, I felt bruised and… a little skeptical. I didn't necessarily buy everything Whitney was selling. A lot of it seemed glossy and Oprah can go a little soft with her questions. [As a sidenote, Ms. Winfrey has gone back to her own head of hair and it looked quite marvelous however she was dressed very plainly in white shirt and black pants, content for Whitney to look like the star - which she did, the dress and heels were slamming. Moving on...] Luckily, Whitney was in a talking mood and whether or not she was being completely straight with us, it was a compelling look at what happens when obsessive love, uber-rich Jersey girl, fading alcoholic R&B star, drugs and a big dose of crazy all the way around mix together.
What shone through was how much she loved (and in my opinion still loves) Bobby Brown. She described him as her drug. She talked of days and days when they did nothing but watch TV and do drugs together. I don't know about you but when I dream of fabulous celebrity lifestyles… that's not what I dream of. The oddest moment came when she described Bobby painting evil eyes on the walls of the bedroom. BougieMom turned to me and asked, "How far gone do you have to be to stay in that room, in that house, with that nonsense going on?" Pretty far gone.
Ms. Houston went on to explain that she was so rich and successful, felt that she had reached the pinnacle and had nothing more to achieve that she felt that she was free to just live a life out of the spotlight. (Didn't really know who she married?) She always said that she didn't really understand how intrusive the Being Bobby Brown show would be. Both BougieMom and I gave her the side-eye on that one. It's a reality show with cameras in your face 24/7; unfortunately they didn't need to script in their brand of crazy.
At any rate, on day two of the interview Whitney breaks down her escape from BobbyLand and speaks on how she began to rebuild herself. She took a very spiritual turn and BougieMom (who stays biblical) said, "I hope she means it and isn't just playing to the cameras. You can't mess with the Lord like that." Uh yeah Whitney, what she said. We took a moment for Oprah to ask Whitney about Michael Jackson's passing and I thought both of them would dissolve into tears. That moment when Whitney recognized how far gone he was and how far gone she was (the 30th anniversary concert) struck me as the first purely true moment she and Oprah shared. Again, I'm a skeptic but that moment resonated.
They wrapped the show with Whitney singing (I gave it a B+ but the six-octave powerful pure voice from I Will Always You appears to be gone) a track from her new album: I Didn't Know My Own Strength (everyone teared up a little, very redemptive moment) and then getting video dap from Celine Dion, Dionne Warwick, Jennifer Hudson and Christina Aguilera.
She stated that she will "not be talking about this stuff again" content to "unload it all" with Oprah. She also said that what she had shared was not even the "worst of it" and "some things just don't need to be shared." Whoa if this is the watered down version, I don't need to hear full throttle.
Then Bobbie Kristina (who has grown out of looking her dad and more like her mom – whew!) said how proud and full of love she was for her mom; who was really more like a sister to her. BougieMom and I swapped looks and arched brows before concluding that the child has probably seen more in her sixteen years than any of us will experience in a lifetime. If she and her Mom are best friends and it works for them… so be it.
Let's face it, everyone loves a comeback. And though I felt there were some awkward moments of superficiality during the interview; overall I thought it was a well done (if not deeply probing) interview posed as a "Baby, I'm Back!" moment for Whitney. I wish her renewed success and continued sobriety. I wish her a future free of Bobby. I wish her well. Did anyone else see the interview and have thoughts?
4 comments:
I watched both parts of the interview. I agree with you that she looked amazing. I loved her dress & shoes.
I thought the interview was a good one. I think she opened up more to Oprah than she would have opened up to anyone else. I think there were times when she downplayed her part in some of the craziness but there was also times where she took ownership and 'fessed up to her part. There's always more than one side to every story so I'm sure she left a lot of details that would cast herself in a worse light out. I appreciated the statement about her refusing to answer the same questions again.
Regarding Bobbi Kristina, is that what she said? That Whitney is like her sister? I misheard this statement...I thought she said "She's my best friend, besides my sister."
The thing that I loved most about the interview is that she consistently and constantly referred to God as the source of her help & strength. I think that statement alone spoke volumes; a lot of people think they can fix things, resolve issues and heal broken spirits without Him. I'm happy that what she was taught as a child remained with or returned back to her. I loved that she acknowledged that she knew people were praying for her when she didn't have sense enough to pray for herself and remove herself from the situation. I also loved when she said she depends on prayer & ger faith to get her through the temptation to turn back to drugs. A lot of people will see her comeback only in album sales but I see it in her testimony.
I've never been a big Whitney Houston fan, but there is no denying the beautiful pure singing talent that she was gifted with. I'm grateful that Whitney has come through a very difficult period in her life and lived to talk about it. And perhaps her story will be the inspiration and motivation for someone else battling with drug abuse or a destructive relationship.
I'm usually pretty skeptical with stuff like this, but for the most part, I feel like Whitney was open and honest. Far more open than I was expecting, for sure.
In talking about it with a friend, I said, "I don't blame the crack for Whitney's downfall, I blame the love. Misplaced, misdirected and misunderstood love can make you do some CA-RAZAY ish..." and I think she hit the nail on the head when she said Bobby was her drug. I totally understand.
Didn't get to see the interview, but the wife and I are looking forward to sitting down and watching. We will never know what foolishness took place between the two of them. However, there is one thing we may be sure of; it was perhaps foolishness the likes of which the world has never seen before.
Through it all, I was concerned about little Bobbie Christina. Grown folk can take care of themselves. I guess it is too early to see what will become of her, but I certainly hope that she will grow to be an outstanding young lady, free from the baggage that might come from growing up in a household of fools.
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