Aretha Franklin expresses frustration with Hollywood

The singer said she doesn’t believe it’s getting any better for black entertainers.

By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY

AP MUSIC WRITER

NEW YORK — Aretha Franklin recounts working with greats like Frank Sinatra, Luther Vandross and Whitney Houston on her latest CD with such nonchalance you might think she was discussing the weather.

It’s not for lack of interest — the Queen of Soul calls “Jewels of the Crown: All-Star Duets With The Queen,” a “brilliant” album, and stresses: “I don’t say that a lot about a lot of things.”

It’s just that unlike her raw performances, the legend rarely betrays much emotion in interviews, speaking in a matter-of-fact manner even when discussing some of her extraordinary collaborations.

Still, she can get animated, and when she does, it’s a surprising subject that draws her ire: Hollywood. Though Franklin had bit parts in the “Blues Brothers” movies and is trying to put together a biopic on her own life, she wishes that she had had a larger presence in that medium.

“Unfortunately, I have not gotten the offers from Hollywood that I would have liked to have gotten,” Franklin, 65, said during a recent phone interview with The Associated Press. “I don’t understand why it’s so hard for longtime artists in the music industry who have numerous awards and citations and things like that to even get a pittance of an offer from Hollywood. It just doesn’t happen. What is the problem?”

Franklin already believes she knows the answer: a color barrier. And she believes many of her peers have fallen victim to the same problem.

“I look at other artists who came along at the same time I did, certainly other celebrated women like Dionne [Warwick] and Natalie [Cole] and Roberta Flack ... people like that, they weren’t offered anything either. It’s just so unfair.”

Franklin doesn’t believe it’s getting any better for black entertainers either, despite recent Oscar wins by the likes of Halle Berry and Jennifer Hudson.

“It’s a little disappointing to see in 2007 that that kind of thing still happens, and you’ve got a huge set of double standards there,” she says. “Halle Berry is only one person — please!”

Franklin says opportunities in Hollywood for blacks tend to come only when they create opportunities for themselves. To that end, she’s working with producers to create a film about her own life, in which she’d like to see Berry, Hudson or even Fantasia (who is featured on the new duets CD) portray her. Plans for a feature film fell through, but Franklin is in talks with a network to do a two-part series, and a play is also in the works.

But, of course, her primary focus remains music. Though she has been working on an album of new material for her own label, Aretha Records, she decided to release “Jewels of the Crown” at the urging of record mogul Clive Davis, who produced the record. It has a couple of new tracks on it, including a duet with John Legend and another with Fantasia. But mostly it’s previously heard collaborations with some of pop’s greatest voices.