Glitter

Writing about it afterwards without showing premeditative prejudice is even harder.

But I will try.

Superficially "Glitter" is the Mariah Carey Story. In short, a biopic. Which is fine, if you happen to like Mariah Carey and don't require much when it comes to bona fide entertainment.

Now. If you don't go for biopics and you actually expect something entertainment-wise for your buck then "Glitter", superficially, is not acceptable.

Which, may, somewhichway, go to explain the approach taken by the creators of this movie: Yes, it is her life story. No, it isn't her life story. But it could be. If that is what you want.

Do you?

Such waffling, of course, begs a question: What is "Glitter" about? Honestly, I haven't a clue. The acting, so bad and poor, is so distracting I had trouble following the story, which was equally wretched.

Anyway, let's try to figure out what "Glitter" is about and, perhaps, doing so, will figure why anyone with any amount of taste for entertainment would want to see this movie.

The central character of "Glitter" is named Billie (Isabel Gomes). We first encounter her in a stereotypical dive where supposed talent the likes of Mariah Carey come from. She is, predictability, invited onto the stage to join her mother, Lillian (Valarie Pettiford), in a duet. Of course she is a much better singer than mama, and she holds much promise as a singer.

But is this to be so? Yes, and no. Lillian later falls asleep while smoking something and burns the house down. Of course Billie is sent off to an orphanage because of this tragedy (yes, mama was a junkie; how'd you know?). There she becomes the strong-willed woman she must be. There she makes friends, conveniently, with a black, a white, a Puerto Rican (I guess the Hollywood Machine was fresh out of Indians, Asians, Italians and other Politically Correct minorities just this week), who help her to recognize her heritage and who help her to pursue her certain destiny.

Then onto the future: Billie is grown up, and is played now by the aforementioned Carey, who is making a living as a backup singer behind the protege apparent of a would-be producer (Terrence Howard).

Oh, yes: the would-be protege is untalented (comparitively-speaking), so of course Billie shines and stands out from the pack of pop-culture possibilities. So much so she is spotted by a disc jockey named Dice (Max Beesley) who buys out her contract from the would-be producer for a mere $100,000, and sets her on a course of fame and fortune.

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