You Do It....

[Ollie9]

I'm trying to figure out who are all these people Mary slammed in Dreamgirl. She did not paint the most flattering picture of Diana, and to some extent Berry, although she never failed to compliment Diana's talent and work ethic. She didn't paint the most flattering picture of Flo after a certain point either, but she also managed to make her a sympathetic "character", so everything kind of balanced out where Flo was concerned. Am I missing something? I've read that book a billion times and I'm hard pressed to remember all the horrible Marvelettes and Vandellas and Temptations and Tops and Marvin and Stevie and Miracle stories that apparently line every other page.

I don't know that a Flo autobio would've been any less criticized, or considered more balanced if she decided to "dish" on her experience with Diana Ross. Her words in the PB bio do paint a more balanced picture of her view of Diana as opposed to the way some fans and sympathizers want to believe she felt, which was not that Diana was a total bitch, but that she did have her moments. I think for those who worship at the feet of Ross [[not to be confused with those of us who love the hell out of the lady's music but refuse to exalt her to deity level) any criticism beyond a sentence or two is going to amount to a full on attack. Cindy's book might have escaped that. Flo's book would've sat right alongside Mary's in the "trash bin" of some fans' book sections...if they kept the books at all.

Good points Ran. I personally haven’t read the book since it was published, but really don’t remember Mary being highly critical of people she had worked with in the music industry. I have actually met people in the industry who have told me Diana was a total bitch. Like Mary’s book and anything else in life, it all comes down to personal experience.

[RanRan79]

Good points Ran. I personally haven’t read the book since it was published, but really don’t remember Mary being highly critical of people she had worked with in the music industry. I have actually met people in the industry who have told me Diana was a total bitch. Like Mary’s book and anything else in life, it all comes down to personal experience.

My issues with Mary's first book was the exaggerations, and sometimes the outright lies, of things that we now know for a fact were just not true, such as Mary's account of Flo's last Tonight Show appearance, or "People" being taken away from Flo at the Copa gig, being given to Diana, and Flo never singing it again. Those cannot be "mistakes". And the last one is so painful because Mary even sometimes sang the only solo verse in "People" long after the Copa gig. Those are big statements and I don't believe Mary was ever asked to address these kinds of things. She's gone now, so it has to be chucked into the "it is what it is" bin and move on.

The other problem I had was Mary writing about Diana's personal life. The Diana/Berry relationship had a huge impact on the Supremes that it was unavoidable. Likewise, the Flo/Tommy relationship affected the group as well, so Mary writing about these things was necessary in order to paint an accurate picture of what was going on behind the scenes and the changes within the group. But we didn't need to know about Diana and Brian Holland or Diana and the white dude she was calling collect. That wasn't Mary's business to tell. Those things alone, I've always felt Diana had a right to decide that Mary was a part of her past and she should stay there. I shudder to think of anyone putting my love life [[or lack thereof) in the pages of a book that isn't mine.

As far as Diana being a bitch of any sort, I say where there's smoke, there's fire. If enough people have enough stories about your bad behavior, all them folks aint lying. The sad thing is that the bitch stories dominate everything when in fact there are also a lot of stories out there about Diana's kindness and generosity. But it's a good case in point of why you should be careful how you treat people. People may not always remember the nice things you did, but they damn sure don't forget when you're nasty.

[sup_fan]

My issues with Mary's first book was the exaggerations, and sometimes the outright lies, of things that we now know for a fact were just not true, such as Mary's account of Flo's last Tonight Show appearance, or "People" being taken away from Flo at the Copa gig, being given to Diana, and Flo never singing it again. Those cannot be "mistakes". And the last one is so painful because Mary even sometimes sang the only solo verse in "People" long after the Copa gig. Those are big statements and I don't believe Mary was ever asked to address these kinds of things. She's gone now, so it has to be chucked into the "it is what it is" bin and move on.

The other problem I had was Mary writing about Diana's personal life. The Diana/Berry relationship had a huge impact on the Supremes that it was unavoidable. Likewise, the Flo/Tommy relationship affected the group as well, so Mary writing about these things was necessary in order to paint an accurate picture of what was going on behind the scenes and the changes within the group. But we didn't need to know about Diana and Brian Holland or Diana and the white dude she was calling collect. That wasn't Mary's business to tell. Those things alone, I've always felt Diana had a right to decide that Mary was a part of her past and she should stay there. I shudder to think of anyone putting my love life [[or lack thereof) in the pages of a book that isn't mine.

As far as Diana being a bitch of any sort, I say where there's smoke, there's fire. If enough people have enough stories about your bad behavior, all them folks aint lying. The sad thing is that the bitch stories dominate everything when in fact there are also a lot of stories out there about Diana's kindness and generosity. But it's a good case in point of why you should be careful how you treat people. People may not always remember the nice things you did, but they damn sure don't forget when you're nasty.

all very well said Ran!!!!