The Department of American Thought and Language will end this semesters film series tonight with Sam OSteens Sparkle.
The 1976 film, about three sisters who become Motown-like pop stars, features music by Curtis Mayfield with vocals by Aretha Franklin.
Its a story of growing up and how, for many young people, the entertainment industry is a way to fame and fortune, said Diana Malouf, MSU visiting assistant professor of American Thought and Language. However, it has its own perils that beset one along the way.
Malouf, wholl be introducing the film, said Sparkle mirrors the problems of young performers in the public eye today.
Ill be looking at the entertainment industry and the differences in our singing groups at the time, she said. That was a more structured time - they had a more structured presentation, and its taken a different turn thats affected society.
Starring Irene Cara in the lead role, with Miami Vice alumnus Philip Michael Thomas thrown in, Sparkle tells the story of a girl from poverty making it good despite adversity, such as drug problems within her family.
And while it was made during the time period, Sparkle is not a product of blaxploitation, a 1970s style of film that played up black stereotypes.
It doesnt have anybody acting like a fool, for one thing, said Kay Rout, professor of American Thought and Language and chairperson of its media committee.
If this was close to anything, it would be Diana Ross in Mahogany or Judy Garland in A Star is Born.
In fact, Rout said the film is heavily influenced by Ross story, just as it could be compared to Jennifer Lopezs today.
Sparkle is the spring semesters final presentation in the departments African American Film Classics series, which followed films from the 1940s through the 1970s.
The series will resume in the fall, bringing in selections from the late 1970s to the late 1990s. Some possibilities for the fall include Spike Lees School Daze and Norman Jewisons A Soldiers Story.
Sparkle, though, seems to be in a decade all its own.
Theres Curtis Mayfield music, Rout said. It has a real 60s sound, despite (that) it was made in the 70s.