'The Clark Sisters: The First Ladies of Gospel' draws flak for its portrayal of estranged sister Denise Clark
'The Clark Sisters: The First Ladies of Gospel' is being praised across the board for telling a story that needs to be told. The Clark Sisters, who redefined gospel music as well as paved the way for a lot of modern music, are finally getting their due.
One fan tweeted, "I enjoyed the #ClarkSisters movie. It was a great one to watch with the family. I especially enjoyed the fact that they 'kept it real' and didn't try to sanitize all the ugly parts. Families fight, tragedy happens, but love wins in the end."
Unfortunately, it appears that this may not be entirely true as the film may have taken some creative license with the story of an estranged sister, Denise Clark Bradford, who was portrayed in part as an antagonist in the film, in addition to omitting certain important events from the stories of the other sisters as well.
Viewers were not too happy with that.
The film tells the same story that fans had already heard — that Denise left the group after disagreements and arguments stemmed from her choice to have children out of wedlock. However, fans point out the movie paints her in a bad light, when in reality, she may have been a victim in some ways.
"@BET Can we get a #DeniseClarkBradford Story... we need three episodes and her truth... #ClarkSisters #MattieMossClark #larryclark," tweeted one fan. Denise herself has not commented on how she was portrayed in the film but has given plenty of interviews, such as this one with Larry Reid, where she tells some parts of her own story.
Other fans pointed out important details concerning the other sisters that were missed, stating, "I could’ve used a two-part Clark Sisters special. There was too much ground to cover like Karen's near-death medical episode or Dorinda’s almost suicide bridge episode."
One fan tweeted, "So Lifetime edited out Twinkie's nervous breakdown scene and Karen's coma scene. I ended up watching those scenes online."
It appears the movie may have cut down quite a bit of the story, either to keep to a shorter runtime or perhaps out of respect for the family.
Or maybe, it was an attempt to stay away from certain topics altogether, particularly ones that may not have sat well with the movie's largest audience — devout religious church-going folks. Denise, sadly, was not afforded the same protection.
One scene in particular which sees Denise come to pay her respects at her mother Dr Mattie Moss Clark's funeral has become a talking point among fans.
The movie makes it appear as if Denise was an unwanted guest who caused a stir, ranting on stage when she wasn't asked to, and being forced off and made to sit down. As one fan stated, "Ohhh Chile this a mess at the funeral."
In reality, however, Denise was listed as one of the speakers and was not dragged off stage, which can be seen in bits of footage from the funeral. One fan tweeted, "Whew! They did Denise wrong! #ClarkSisters" and another said, "It's 2020 and the #ClarkSisters still hate Denise and that's sad."
Denise's son later confirmed the scene was mostly accurate and that his mother did speak on stage for a long time, adding that there were intense fights that happened at the funeral between Denise and her husband and several other family members, nearly turning physical.
He does add, however, that Denise was simply venting and was never disrespectful towards anyone while on stage and her sons were not lined up the way the movie showed.
Denise was allegedly asked by producers to participate in Lifetime's biopic but the extent of her supposed involvement has never been confirmed. The 'Official Denise Clark Bradford' Instagram account, however, denies any such communication occurred via a statement posted to the profile.
And with that, the truth of 'The Clark Sisters' remains unknown. But, as fans have done for decades, many are simply asking for the whole story because they want the family to find their way back to each other and reconcile.
One stated, "It doesn't matter whose side you believe. The only side that matters is 'Who's on the Lord's side?' Pray for the family that there will be complete reconciliation and that their gifts shall glorify God. There are no perfect people. Thank God for the blood. #ClarkSisters."