Smokey Robinson Slams 'Dreamgirls' — Page 2

Where on anything does it say "Loosely based?"

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He kind of looks like a whiney bitch, too.

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Thanks, morosco.

Where on anything does it say "Loosely based?"

For starters...

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Updated On: 2/5/07 at 07:42 PM

It's clear that Gordy was a template (just like the supremes were a template) and the writes took creative license from that point.

""What is Lorrell's first line?"

LORRELL- Deena! We made it!! It's so unbelievable. We're gonna be famous...like the Chiffons, the Marvelettes, the Supremes..."

And Deena's line (that was subsequently cut) was in response to a reporter asking her what she plans to do next:

DEENA- Like any other American girl I want to be a star. Wake up every morning and say, "Driver, driver get me the car. I can't walk I'm a movie star." Movies are my new ambition and Diana needs some competition. "


So, if this is what they are saying, the Supremes already exist. How can they be playing a group that already exists?

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soulman: The entire time I was skimming this thread I was thinking the same thing.

Diva: They're not playing the Supremes.

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Wow let's show some respect. Smokey Robinson was one of the most integral parts of Motown Records (A Vice President actually). He's not a "whiney bitch". He has every right to be pissed at how the movie portrayed his boss and friend. It's too bad the movie went "there" with its comparisons as opposed to the stage show that didn't quite ram it down the audiences' throats.

EDIT: To day that Berry Gordy did work with cars before he founded Motown, and also to clear up that fact that I know Dreamgirls are not the Supremes...

Updated On: 2/5/07 at 11:17 PM

There would have been something very similar. DREAMGIRLS wasn't conceived to tell the story of the Supremes.

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Listing all the ways the Dreams and the Supremes are different is kind of irrelevant. No one has claimed this is the story of the Supremes, but to keep ignoring the word "loosely" in loosely based is getting a little ridiculous.

In the movie Curtis pops outside Rainbow Records and asks if anyone in the crowd can type. He's also seen winning some payola money in a prize fight. Neither of these things happen in the stage version and both can be found in the history of Gordy and Motown.

In the stage version, the Dreams are from Chicago. In the movie, their from Detroit, the birthplace of Motown and the Supremes.

Exact Supremes album covers (some actually listing Supremes songs) were recreated for the film, as were exact Supremes costumes. This also doesn't happen in the stage version.

In the film, there's a character clearly based on Michael Jackson for whom Deena has affinity. Granted, this goes absolutely nowhere in the film (and is found nowhere in the stage version) and can be included for no other reason than to reinforce the Supremes parallel once more.

Yes, Dreamgirls isn't an exact retelling of the Supremes story, but it's silly (and frankly, a tad deluded) to act like Condon did not make them his point of reference for the film. The people who lived through that era (like Robinson) probably see even more of the deliberate parallels that Condon added for the film. I can certainly understand why a couple of noses would be out of joint.

Yes, the stage version makes a good case for the Dreams being based on any number of girl groups from that era, but the filmmakers made a conscious choice to beef up the Supremes parallels.

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Updated On: 2/6/07 at 09:25 AM

ON: Any projects in mind already that might throw you out?

BC: I am actually going to start on something new. I am going to direct this time. It's called "Dream Girls" and it is based on a show the played in New York in the 80ies. A story on the rise of the Supremes I just have to find a new Jennifer Holliday.

Emphasis mine.

Interview With Bill Condon

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