talking about the need for racial equality.Īrguably too little and too late, a bittersweet, sentimental ending perhaps indicates that each main character (with the exception of Taylor) has realized that friendship and loyalty are more important than fame and fortune.Īt the beginning of their singing careers, the three stars are depicted as young and virginal-and at least temporarily, they value that purity.
#Dreamgirls effie tv#
Talking to Deena’s mother, Taylor says of his star singer, “She has quality.” Deena’s mom is leery of Taylor’s motives, and she takes issue with the way he talks about her daughter, saying, “You make her sound like a product.” A short TV clip pictures Martin Luther King Jr. One track advises a devastated Effie, “Patience, little sister/Patience, if you want to see a brighter day.” Effie herself exhibits hope and humility when she croons, “I am changing/I’ll be better than I am/I’m hoping to work it out/And I know that I can/I need you/I need a hand.” Another singer recognizes the importance of family (even if the film rarely does), saying, “If you get afraid, I’ll be there/We are family/More than you and I/… We are growing free.” Several songs that characters sing express their deepest feelings and have positive themes. Whatever his other (many) shortcomings may be, Taylor helps the Dreamettes overcome the institutionalized racism they encounter.
When Early replaces Marty with Taylor, Marty tells him, “I love you Jimmy, but you can’t have it all.” And when Effie’s determination to go it alone lapses into prideful stubbornness, Marty convinces her that she needs his assistance and helps her get a second chance. Jimmy Early’s manager, Marty Madison, exhibits character and integrity on several occasions. tries to make things right by writing a song especially for Effie after having sided with Taylor and the Dreams most of the film. She confronts Taylor directly, asking, “Am I ugly to you, Curtis?” and insisting, “I’ve got the voice.” She’s poor and struggling once she returns to Detroit, but she continues to believe in herself and knows that she still has something to offer. Unjustly kicked out of the group she once led, Effie refuses to go quietly into the night. Along the way, these young women meet a host of characters who obviously parallel real-life Motown Records stars from the ’60s and ’70s-and endure a season of tumultuous societal and racial upheaval as well. But Deena and Lorrell discover that superstardom comes with its own price to pay as they struggle to live under Taylor’s increasingly tyrannical rule. So Taylor maneuvers her offstage and moves the beautiful Deena into the spotlight, where she leads a new group known as the Dreams.Īs Deena and the Dreams’ star skyrockets into the stratosphere in the years that follow, Effie struggles to make sense of her own cruelly shattered dreams while she raises her young daughter, Magic. Though she has the strongest lungs, Effie lacks Deena’s and Lorrell’s looks. And he’ll sacrifice anything and everything (or everyone) necessary to get to the top-including Effie. Taylor is ruthlessly determined to see his girls succeed. Under Taylor’s mentorship, Effie and fellow singers Deena Jones and Lorrell Robinson are soon backing up R&B legend James “Thunder” Early while continuing to work on their own songs (written by Effie’s brother, C.C.). Taylor recognizes the girls’ obvious talent, especially that of their feisty, no-nonsense leader, Effie White. It all begins at a Motor City talent show where a trio of late-teen girls known as the Dreamettes captures the attention of one Curtis Taylor Jr., a car salesman by day who aspires to music production by night. Nevertheless, this tale of three young singers from Detroit deliberately mirrors many aspects of the Supremes’ rise to superstardom.
Its storyline (adapted from the Tony Award-winning 1981 Broadway musical of the same name) is purely fictional. If you’ve ever pondered what it might have been like to be one of the Supremes, Dreamgirls offers a hypothetical answer.
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