My Review of VH1's TLC Movie

Thank You VH1, for having the good sense to know this was a story that needed to be told. I for one appreciated the efforts to shed light on this story. We were all privy to Lisa's beautiful documentary on her journey and I have been waiting for a fusion of the two. This hasn't happened yet, but this was quite a nice start in that direction. By the way you go girls! Keep your heads of Tionne and Rozonda. Pebbles, shame on you! If that's how you treat your kids!

I loved the sisterhood theme in the movie. I thought some of the cast could have been better casted such as the characters of Chili and T-boz. I thought that they could have found actresses that looked a lot more similar to the artists. In my casting I would have casted Tatyiana Ali as Chili she has the a more similar look and the pipes and moves. I would have casted Syleena Johnson as T-boz (maybe). Now, while the look of Lil Mama was doable, I thought the speech was way off. There needed to be more of a diction study, because the accent was way off not Left Eye at all.

You see that was my era and I was the fourth member of TLC that you never saw. I alongside my cousins danced and sang our heads off to my first cassette tape, Ohhhh on the TLC Tip. When also jammed to my first CD, Crazy Sexy Cool. So, as I watched the docudrama I was taken back a bite to my youth.

I will admit I did the dances, which came back to me in an instant. I remember loving the group and not being able to decide which member I was, because they were all so cool to me. I loved the coolness of Tionne, the beauty of Chili, and the creative/crazy that was Lisa. I thought I was a mixture of all three. Maybe i was a stage hog, but I wanted to sing all parts and rap Lisa's part too!

I think it gave us a great backdrop into the behind the scenes. It was also a lesson to all wannabes on how you can get taken advantage of if your ducks are not all in a row. I felt we got a better sense of Tionne and Rozonda's back stories. I however, would have wanted them to give a little bit more backdrop. The flashback scenes were cute.

Although, Lisa is no longer hear I wanted more of her story to be represented. I think they should have merged more from Lisa's documentary into. I never saw Lisa's Mom or sister, and they were very important to her.

I loved the song at the end of the documentary, however, I thought it was missing something that little rap part. Lisa Lopez was definitely an irreplaceable and remarkable creative member and will be talked about for along as the music lives. I did love TLC for their positive messages that reached generations songs like, What About Your Friends (loyalty), Ain't too Proud to Beg (Safe Sex), Unpretty (Self-esteem and Empowerment), No Scrubs ( Never be with a Man you have to take care of!), Baby, Baby, Baby (First loves), Waterfalls (awesome story messages) etc.

The list is endless and I could go on, but I digress. I think what made these three young women so powerful is that they dared to be them. They were crazy, sexy, and cool. They personified what it was to go from adolescence to adulthood. They were honest, raw, creative, and their stories resonated with people from all walks of life.

We have all had first loves, and had our hearts broken. We have all felt unattractive for one reason or another and these women tapped into that and said its OK to be you. Maybe you were a tomboy, you could be cool. Maybe you were didn't have a dad, but you had inner light you were beautiful, then you were sexy. What if you were creative, the loud one, the artsy one, you were daring and fearless, then you were crazy. And it was OK for you to be that way, because each role was beautiful, empowering, and important. TLC said, it's OK to be you, now let's have fun!

The wonderful ride lasted 10 plus years and after the docudrama I for one hope the ride never ends. I'm going to hunt down that TLC's greatest hits to pump in my car.