Film
Francine Stock
Whitney: Can I Be Me
Released on 16th June
Whitney Houston, who died in 2012, might seem to have lived too much in the spotlight for fresh revelations. Documentary- maker Nick Broomfield and Austrian music producer Rudi Dolezal identify the complex interplay of causes that might have led to her demise. Her middleincome background in New Jersey was no shield against drugs or exploitation. The early success, the pressures to be less (or more) black, marriage to Bobby Brown and tensions between him and her close friend and personal assistant, Robyn Crawford all play out. It’s frustrating to have only a clip of Whitney’s two older brothers and to see her mother stonewall even Oprah. But the footage is fascinating and the narrative allows its subject dignity.