MAHOGANY vs. DREAMGIRLS -- by naudy

Who do you think you're kidding??

Mahogany was made in 1975 and it features tripped out white folks, Diana's roller-rink-kabuki fashions, and a lot of the scrawny Miss Ross herself. The overall message of the film is, ostensibly, "Success doesn't mean anything w/out someone to love." The real message is "you may be talented and have big dreams but you should give up everything for your man, no matter how annoying he is." It's aggravating. I personally don't think it's a good idea to work your entire life to be a fashion designer and give it up right when you finally get what you've sacrificed everything for but, I'm not sleeping with Billy Dee Williams, am I?

DREAMGIRLS is kinda about Diana Ross and The Supremes. Diana says it's not true (as does her slavishly devoted biographer) and I actually kinda believe her. DREAMGIRLS is actually a life story of Miss Beyonce set forty years earlier.(The sudden personnel changes w/in Destiny's Child and Beyonce's solo work reflect the truth of this.) However, there is a little Diana Ross in the movie. The attitude of one of the characters in DREAMGIRLS, Curtis Taylor, Jr. (Jamie Foxx) exactly reflects the entire life philosophy of "Brian" (Billy Dee Williams) in MAHOGANY. One could attribute this to the times or you could just decide that many of the people in Diana Ross' life were manipulative control freaks. I know I did.

So, that sucks. As for the music in both films, it's really good. Eddy Murphy is pretty much the best thing ever invented, and while I REALLY don't think Jennifer Hudson deserved an Oscar, the girl's got some pipes.