Militant said:

Absolutely terrible.

Reductive, weaving a false narrative that kept banging on about his "demons" every 10 seconds, got basic facts wrong and the acting was hilariously bad. Plus, the poor taste of recreating the elevator scene.

Absolute rubbish.

Oh god, agreed. I grimaced so hard at that.

fen said:

Exactly the kind of rubbish that I expected, but some of those performances were unimaginably awful (almost laughably so). I'm really tired of Prince being cast as some kind of tragic figure. His death was certainly tragic, but for me his life and art was triumphant. The mediocre seem to relish misinterpreting brilliance. “He was an creative genius, but what's it worth if you're alone?”. Really? Prince deserves a serious and thoughtful documentary by a decent director that explores his cultural and artistic impact (something along the lines of Scorsese's “No Direction Home” ). A director like Steve Mcqueen maybe? (“Hunger”, “12 Years A Slave”, intelligent, also a fan). In any case, hopefully someone with talent and taste will tackle it eventually.

AMEN! Prince lived his life to the fullest, using every waking moment of his life to write, record, sing, arrange and compose music for himself and the many artists he mentored. He had some of the world's most gorgeous women as lovers and wives this world has ever seen and believed fervently in his Creator for spiritual strength that carried him in good times and bad times. Too many of these talking heads ascribe things about Prince's problems that even Prince didnt think was a big deal. Prince liked working alone and he has worked alone in the studio all his life. I was thinking every great artist has a biography in this vein that sensationalizes the worst of a celebrity's personality. When Eminem goes, it will happen to him. Nobody of even average intelligence should take this program seriously. Also, it should be pointed out that many of the associates interviewed haven't spoken to Prince in decades, so the way the way they remember Prince will be different from how Prince was in the last 15 years. Jokingly, if any associate hasn't had significant contact with Prince he grew his afro, can't honestly give great insight into Prince in the final years.

The "highlight" for me was the Unchain My Heart rehearsal. Shocking band, Mark Anthony was awful - I've heard a bunch of 8 year olds sound better playing together.

It was like taking a shit on his urn.

Oh no - now I'm in a dilema! I recorded it because I hate the amount of ads on Channel 5. To watch it and get pissed off at how bad it is or just delete and pretend it never happened?

maplenpg said:

maplenpg said:

And not to forget the very succesful Musicology Tour in 2004, alle the Montreux Shows, the whole 3rdeygirl era, and on and on and on ....

I also thought the first part was not too bad but the second part and the impersonator were awful.

Militant said:

Absolutely terrible.

Reductive, weaving a false narrative that kept banging on about his "demons" every 10 seconds, got basic facts wrong and the acting was hilariously bad. Plus, the poor taste of recreating the elevator scene.

Absolute rubbish.

I feared as much. Sad, really, that they can get away with this kind of crap.

So glad i did not watch this mess.

It was a depressing "version" of the Prince, we as fans knew. It felt like they needed to portray every second of his life as tragic..with him as a lonely, sad, insecure, insular, broken recluse of a man-at all times. It was a channel 5 doc(using the term lightly, me I prefer fabrication).

Inclusion of accounts from figures in his life from decades ago was interesting but should have been balanced with those in his life in recent years. Yes, I can't imagine why anyone of them wouldn't have wanted to be interviewed for this programme either:)

Ultimately; badly portrayed drama, factually inept and a dishonour to the man himself. Prince was used to this kind of re-writing of his life, I guess I had just hoped(clearly unwisely) that they would show respect to him now he was gone. Lies and tragedy sell, recognition and celebration of an icon, of Prince, not so much it seems.

Leeds?

If he had so many demons and personal issues, how could he create over a thousand songs, master many different instruments, tour constantly, mentor and develop dozens of musicians? The relationship with his father drove him probably but we all have motors that drive us.

He found a transcedence through his music that he perhaps couldn't find in other people, but lots of people feel like that, but there's only one Prince.

Hmmmm. That description sounds uncannily similar to how this very site could be described! Don't you think?

Sounds like we didn't miss much Stateside, that we can't get ri'chere on prince.org ;د)

rdhull said:

Leeds?

..came across as a petty sniping tit.

phatphuk said:

TheDigitalGardener said:

A lot of amateur psychology going on, hilariously bad drama scenes, and badly researched tabloid type "info." Classic Channel 5.

Hmmmm. That description sounds uncannily similar to how this very site could be described! Don't you think?

I couldn't post what I really think about this site without being banned.

TheDigitalGardener said:

phatphuk said:

TheDigitalGardener said:

A lot of amateur psychology going on, hilariously bad drama scenes, and badly researched tabloid type "info." Classic Channel 5.

Hmmmm. That description sounds uncannily similar to how this very site could be described! Don't you think?

I couldn't post what I really think about this site without being banned.

Oh, come on. Pretty please? For me?

Genesia said:

TheDigitalGardener said:

I couldn't post what I really think about this site without being banned.

Oh, come on. Pretty please? For me?

Haha, not even for you my friend.

TheDigitalGardener said:

Genesia said:

Oh, come on. Pretty please? For me?

Haha, not even for you my friend.

bergowitz said:

If he had so many demons and personal issues, how could he create over a thousand songs, master many different instruments, tour constantly, mentor and develop dozens of musicians? The relationship with his father drove him probably but we all have motors that drive us.

He found a transcedence through his music that he perhaps couldn't find in other people, but lots of people feel like that, but there's only one Prince.

Yes, I agree. My fundamental issue with that kind of approach is that it gives no indication of the colour, joy, creativity and humour that Prince brought into the world. If you take any great artist and subtract the work itself from the retelling of the story, it’s often going to sound rather bleak. The work IS Prince, everything else is secondary in my view (as it was in his, I’m sure).

As you say, at his very best he approached genuine transcendence, not just for himself but for his audience also. Of all the footage floating around, the one that seems to upset me the most is his joyful performance of “All The Critics Love You In Montreux” (2009). Apart from the searing, euphoria inducing guitar work, the moment that really gets to me is when the camera briefly cuts to the audience, all jumping in perfect unison, to a young girl sitting on someone’s shoulders, beaming with delight. Very few people are capable of imparting that kind of experience to others, and the only tragedy as far as I’m concerned is that he is no longer here to share his gift.

lust said:

maplenpg said:

Oh no - now I'm in a dilema! I recorded it because I hate the amount of ads on Channel 5. To watch it and get pissed off at how bad it is or just delete and pretend it never happened?

No good can come of watching it. I vote delete and never speak of this again.

Oh how I wish I'd listened! I've just watched half of this shit, I am now going to delete. This is possibly the worst piece of television about Prince that I've ever seen. Awful, stomach-churningly awful.

maplenpg said: