Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody Page #4

Synopsis: Discovered by record executive Clive Davis, Whitney Houston rises from obscurity to international fame in the 1980s and 1990s to become one of the greatest singers of her generation.
Genre: Biography
Original Story by: Kasi Lemmons
Year:
2022
42 Views


Leviticus-- You know, we can go

to hell for this kind of sh*t.

I don't want to go to hell.

Yeah, I'm not

in such a hurry myself.

Yeah, well, look it up.

Look that up.

[ROBYN BREATHING SHAKILY]

Hey.

I love you.

In perpetuity,

throughout the universe.

I need my best friend.

Rob, please.

Please.

[PEOPLE CHATTERING INDISTINCTLY]

[OVER SPEAKERS]

It's the light of day

That shows me how

'Cause when the night falls

Loneliness calls

Oh, I wanna dance

With somebody

Somebody

I wanna feel the heat

With somebody

Somebody

Yeah, I wanna dance

With somebody

With somebody who loves me

Oh, I wanna dance

With somebody

Somebody

Yeah. Yeah, I want it.

You want it?

Yes. It's about--

It's about wanting to dance

with somebody really bad.

Yeah.

I mean, really...

...really, really, really,

really bad.

And for whatever reason...

...for whatever reason,

you can't.

Okay. Good.

Mm-hm.

CLIVE:

Well, I can't wait

to see what you do with it.

[WHITNEY HOUSTON'S "I WANNA

DANCE WITH SOMEBODY" PLAYING]

[CROWD CHEERING AND CLAPPING]

Oh, I wanna dance

With somebody

I wanna feel the heat

With somebody

Yeah, I wanna dance

With somebody

With somebody who loves me

Ooh, yeah

Ooh, yeah

Uh-huh

Yeah, come on

Don't you wanna dance?

The clock strikes

Upon the hour

And the sun begins to fade

There's still enough time

To figure out

How to chase my blues away

I've done all right

Up till now

It's the light of day

That shows me how

And when the night falls

My loneliness calls

Oh, I wanna dance

With somebody

I wanna feel the heat

With somebody

Yeah, I wanna dance

With somebody

Oh, yeah

With somebody who loves me

Oh, I wanna dance...

You also get a bottle

of Dom Prignon from me

every time one of your

singles...

Clive?

...reaches number one

on the charts.

Number one?

Congratulations.

[SQUEALING]

Number one!

I've been in love, y'all

And lost my senses

Spinning through the town

Well

REPORTER:
:

Her debut album

was the most successful

debut solo album in history,

sweeping the American Music

Awards, winning a Grammy.

Her eagerly awaited second

album is about to be released.

Will she be able to live up

to the world's expectations?

...hot enough to last

So when the night falls

My lonely heart calls

WHITNEY:

I wanna make a toast

to my brothers

Gary and Michael,

Gary's new girlfriend Pat,

and my best friend Robyn.

Mwah. Love you, girl.

Girl, I love you.

To Italy!

ALL:
To Italy!

Gary, take a picture of us!

Okay. Come on.

Cheese!

Oh, my God!

Wow! That is crazy!

Oh, somebody

Who

Lord, somebody

Who

To hold me in his arms, oh

REPORTER 1:

It's incredible, Susan.

The name on everyone's lips

is Whitney Houston.

ROBYN:
Go, Nip, go!

Whitney Houston transcends

age, race, lifestyle.

REPORTER 2:

That show sold out,

so this one had to be added.

At 23, she is

the true heartbeat of America.

Oh, I wanna dance

With somebody

Come on

Don't you wanna

Dance with me?

I wanna feel the heat

Heat!

Yeah, I wanna dance

With somebody

Yeah. Somebody, somebody

With somebody who loves me

Oh, I wanna dance

With somebody

I know you wanna

Dance with me

I wanna feel the heat

With somebody

Yeah, yeah

Yeah, I wanna dance

With somebody

Said don't you

Whoa

With somebody who loves me

Are you pinching yourself yet?

One more, and you'll

have beat the Beatles

for the most consecutive

number ones in history.

I wanna dance with somebody

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

With somebody who loves me

Come on, come on

I wanna dance

[CROWD CHEERING AND CLAPPING]

Thank you much!

And good night!

DJ:

Well, it's a criticism I

increasingly hear from callers.

WHITNEY:

That I'm not Black enough?

No, your music.

Your music isn't Black enough.

What would you like me to say?

The truth.

Aren't you selling out?

Whew.

WHITNEY:

You've got a lot of nerve

asking me that.

That's what my mother tells me.

It's a valid question.

A common criticism of you

and your music.

That you're a sellout.

That you're not

a real Black artist.

You're about to walk out,

aren't you?

No.

You'll be walking out

before I will.

How do you respond?

If I'm not a Black artist,

what am I?

You tell me.

Look, I don't know

how to sing Black,

and I don't know how

to sing white either.

I know how to sing.

Music is not a color to me.

It has no boundaries.

Why somebody gotta say

something dumbass like that?

I mean, who said that?

That's just bull.

And it makes me angry, actually.

It's hateful and uninformed.

Why I gotta be what someone

wants me to be anyway?

Sing what I want to sing.

Be how I want to be.

Reach as big an audience

as I can.

Isn't that what art's

meant to do?

My whole life,

"She ain't Black enough.

She ain't white enough."

Well, how about,

"She's not obedient enough"?

How about,

"She ain't fearful enough"?

Hm.

Hm.

Well, you heard it from Whitney

herself, ladies and gentlemen.

Was that too much?

Hell no.

All right.

[]

[MOVERS CHATTERING INDISTINCTLY]

Morning, Max.

Mr. Houston.

[CHUCKLES]

Look at this.

Here you are. Good morning.

Thank you.

Use it wisely.

Anna.

INTERVIEWER:

Are you a businesswoman?

Yes, I think so.

What does

a businesswoman do?

Well, what does

a businesswoman do?

She says what she doesn't want.

Good morning.

WHITNEY:
And she knows,

primarily, what she wants.

That's a pretty tough thing

to have to determine sometimes,

you know?

Most of the people

that work with me,

the people I have known

for many years,

you know, they're people,

competent people

I can trust to look out for me

and to do their job well.

But it's hard sometimes

to make the transition

from being the friend

to the boss

or from the boss

to the friend.

Or from the daughter to the boss

or the boss to the daughter.

You know, you have to wear

different hats at times.

So, you are a tough cookie?

Sometimes.

Always?

Not always, no. Sometimes.

That means sometimes.

Daddy, what is it?

I want you to fire her.

Robyn is a nobody.

The Bible tells us,

"Do not be misled.

Bad company corrupts

good character.

Walk with God, not the devil."

Daddy...

I need her gone.

Daddy, there is nothing

going on.

She is a bad influence.

And the press

is talking too much trash.

It's damaging the brand.

Do you understand?

Since when--

[DOOR CLOSES]

Since when did your little girl

become "the brand"?

I missed that.

Your mama would have k*lled

to become a brand.

We just couldn't get her there.

I'm not firing Robyn.

I need her. I need somebody

I can trust 100%.

You can trust me 100%.

Or you better damn do.

Now you go do as I tell you.

I'm the manager here.

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Anthony McCarten

Anthony McCarten (born 1961) is a New Zealand-born novelist, filmmaker, and playwright. He is best known for producing and writing the screenplays for The Theory of Everything (2014), which earned him Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, and Darkest Hour (2017), which earned him another Best Picture nomination. He divides his time between London and Los Angeles. more…

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