Respect (2021)

The most important thing to know first off is that Jennifer Hudson does an outstanding job of inhabiting Aretha Franklin and belting out the songs that we know and love. This biopic does follow the path of others that have preceeded it. Starting with her childhood growing up with a controlling preacherman father in 1950s Detroit, through the personal turmoils and civil rights struggles that came to a head in the 60s (she was a friend and supporter of Dr King and sang at his memorial service), to the triumphant recording of a bestselling gospel album in the early 70's, there is a lot that we know or could guess about the queen of soul's life story. The controling men in her life--starting with her father, who's iron clad lock on her song repertoir was holding her back, but she escaped into the arms of a man who mistreated her in every way but torpedoing his career, are also perhaps par for the course. The acting throughout is good and the music is better. The thing that is skated over almost completely is Franklin's being a survivor of child abuse. Her mother left her father because of his incessant infidelity, but he did little to protect his child from predatory men. I did not realize this, but she was likely abused by a relative as a young girl, and had children as a 13 and a 14 year old, almost certainly products of sexual abuse. There is no way to come back from that unharmed without help. There is no hint that it was acknowledged, much less addressed, and some of what follows might have had an altered path if she had been protected or aided in her recovery.