The 2018 death of R&B singer and "Queen of Soul" Aretha Franklin has prompted several biographical films (opens in new tab) about her legendary career. Aretha led an epic life, becoming the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as well as an activist who toured with Martin Luther King, Jr. at age 16. National Geographic's Genius: Aretha, the first film released under this project, has received critical acclaim for Cynthia Erivo's portrayal of Aretha. Aretha's family, however, is not satisfied with this four-part film. Her children and grandchildren have condemned the series in recent interviews and have called for a boycott of "Genius": Aretha. Nevertheless, they have approved of another project, the film "Respect," to be released later this year, with Jennifer Hudson playing Aretha.

So why did Aretha's family approve one project and bash another?

Aretha's family claims that the production team of "Genius" did not involve them: Aretha's family claims that the production team of "Genius: Aretha" did not involve them in the production. Aretha's granddaughter, Grace Franklin, posted a TikTok on March 13 showing herself protesting the series with her parents, siblings, and friends, saying, "This film must end. This film must end." She chanted. She then explains that she feels that the family should be involved in a biopic of Aretha's life to ensure that it presents an accurate portrayal of the singer

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"During the process of writing, directing, and filming the film, we contacted Genius several times as a family, where we were disrespected and told we would never work together. As immediate family - emphasis on immediate family - we do not support this film and we ask that you do not support this film either. We feel very disrespected and feel there are many inaccuracies about my grandmother's life," Grace said.

National Geographic said it has received permission from Aretha's estate organization to make the film. In a statement, National Geographic said: We can say that everyone involved in the production of Genius was committed to telling Aretha's story: Aretha was a part of every aspect of this series and every decision we made, and Ms. Franklin We were committed to telling her story with the intention of honoring her."

Suzan-Lori Parks, screenwriter of the biopic, stated in an interview with the Detroit Free Press: (Open in new tab) "As a showrunner for 'Genius: Aretha: Genius' As runners, through every day (and twice on Sundays), through COVID, social unrest, and all the other challenges we faced, in every aspect of our show, and in every decision we made, our intention was to respect Ms. Franklin"

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The family has not seen Genius and has no plans to. Kekerf Franklin, Grace's father and Aretha's son, spoke at length about the communication between the Genius team and the family in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine. He stated that he was unaware of any song licensing agreement between production and Aretha's estate.

"This is about general and decent respect for our family. If I were to make a film about your family, I would try to talk to you, your sons, your daughters, your grandchildren, people like that. And we didn't feel we had the opportunity to speak sincerely and freely about our family members," he said.

Genius: Aretha was announced in February 2019, months after the singer's death, but Aretha herself consulted on the production of "Respect" until her death; according to Variety, the film had been decades in the making and was realized "at her behest and under her complete control."

Aretha also personally chose Jennifer Hudson, who had her eye on the Oscar winner for years, to play her. Hudson told Entertainment Weekly that she met Aretha when she was 25 years old and had just won an Oscar for her role as Effie White in the musical Dreamgirls.

"We met in New York, and one of the first things she said to me was, 'You're going to play me and win another Oscar, right? Imagine Aretha Franklin said that to your face," Hudson said. I was like, "Yeah, yeah... I was like, 'I'll try it.'"

In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Kedren Franklin said his family was more comfortable working with the Respect team. He said, "We actually work with MGM and . They are trying to negotiate and work with them on their film. We're still in negotiations with them, so I can't really talk about that," he said.

The fact that Aretha is reportedly directing "Respect" makes sense given the legal battle she waged against the concert film "Amazing Grace." The film was shot in 1972 at the Baptist Church in Watts, South Los Angeles, while Aretha was recording the album of the same name, although the film had been in storage for decades until producer Alan Elliott completed it in the mid-2000s, When the trailer was released in 2010, Aretha sued to stop its release, claiming that her likeness was being used without her permission. After years of unsuccessful negotiations until her death, her family reached an agreement to release the film, which was released on April 5, 2019 to widespread acclaim.

Would Aretha have fought to close Genius: If she had lived, Aretha' has no way of knowing, but it's worth thinking about before watching. In any case, both "Genius" and "Respect" will be judged by their interpretations of Aretha's legacy and wishes.