It’s hard to fathom that it’s been five years since the music world lost Whitney Houston, and almost two years since daughter Bobbi Kristina died, and while there have been rumors and allegations surrounding the seven-time Grammy award winning artist a new documentary hopes to paint a different, more humane picture of Houston.
In the forthcoming Showtime documentary “Can I Be Me?’ performance footage and interviews from those who worked closely with Houston, as well as the singer herself are all featured. In the trailer released Wednesday (June 14) a narrator expresses the intentional marketing that was used to make the New Jersey native a star.
“There was this emphasis on being the perfect girl. Her music was deliberately pop. Anything that was too black sounding was sent back to the studio. Whitney insisted they cross her back over to black music. Her favorite saying was ‘Can I be me?’ ”
Houston, who worked closely with mentor Clive Davis ,wed R&B bad boy Bobby Brown in 1992 and while they stayed married for 15 years, in the trailer Brown’s philandering along with Houston’s rising star power is said to be what led to her death.
“Bobby, messing around with somebody else was real painful for her. Whitney Houston died from a broken heart.” Can I Be Me? which received warm reviews at the Tribecca Film Festival will air Aug. 26 on Showtime. Watch the trailer below.