No shit, this is one of my favorite movies of all time. But nearly everybody in this movie was an asshole.
-Billy Dee Williams’ character was a guy trying to get into politics (he rises from alderman to a senator-type by the end), but he was an asshole because he shit all over Diana Ross’ characters dreams of being a fashion designer.
-Anthony Perkins was definitely an asshole because once he found his muse, he became all obsessive and controlling and weird. The scene with the Iso Grifo is the culmination of him trying to destroy her, figuratively and physically.
-Diana Ross’ character, Tracy, is surprisingly the biggest asshole. “Mahogany” admittedly drags on a bit, but if you’ve made it from beginning to end like I have several (*cough*) times, she’s the worst. A lot of people shit on her on the way to the top. She’s mentally abused by a nutcase and almost fucking dies. She’s already got it tough because she’s a woman, twice as tough because she’s black. And what’s the first thing she does when she makes it to the top? Immediately becomes the asshole that everyone else is by treating everybody beneath her like shit. This is the part of the story that’s always, always overlooked because it ends with her reuniting with Billy Dee Williams’ character (and even this part of the plot is dubious), but yeah.
-On a side note, there’s always been this rumor that this movie was kind of a shitshow for Motown, Diana Ross and Berry Gordy. Supposedly Diana didn’t want to make this movie, and only agreed to it (at Berry’s request) if she could do all the costume design. This reluctance to do this film is sort of hinted at in the movie “Dreamgirls.” And while the soundtrack did well (the theme song was a No. 1 that year), the movie didn’t do much for Motown financially.