Sasha Weiss

I mean, he's a Mozart of American pop. And with a mind that was teeming with music and ideas, he was also... controlling he could be abusive towards his lovers he was deeply vulnerable he was a person who crossed boundaries and contained multiplicities and edelman is asking us to sit with that for nine hours

I mean, he's a Mozart of American pop. And with a mind that was teeming with music and ideas, he was also... controlling he could be abusive towards his lovers he was deeply vulnerable he was a person who crossed boundaries and contained multiplicities and edelman is asking us to sit with that for nine hours

and take it all in and allow ourselves to pity him sometimes, allow ourselves to adore him and worship him, and allow ourselves to criticize him and to sit with the wild brew of who Prince was. And also to make the argument that knowing this enriches our understanding of the art he made. It deepens our understanding of the art he made.

and take it all in and allow ourselves to pity him sometimes, allow ourselves to adore him and worship him, and allow ourselves to criticize him and to sit with the wild brew of who Prince was. And also to make the argument that knowing this enriches our understanding of the art he made. It deepens our understanding of the art he made.

It deepens our love of it because we know where it comes from or we know something about where it comes from and how he transforms the raw material of his selfhood into something transcendent.

It deepens our love of it because we know where it comes from or we know something about where it comes from and how he transforms the raw material of his selfhood into something transcendent.

So, as part of the original agreement that Netflix struck with the Prince estate for access to the vault, the estate was going to have an opportunity to review the film for factual accuracy.

So, as part of the original agreement that Netflix struck with the Prince estate for access to the vault, the estate was going to have an opportunity to review the film for factual accuracy.

Ezra Edelman welcomed this. He's a journalist. Nobody wants to get anything wrong. Nobody wants to get anything wrong. You can review the film for factual error. Now, in the years that Ezra spent working on the film, there were these ongoing complicated legal battles over Prince's estate, in part because Prince left no will. So the estate changed hands.

Ezra Edelman welcomed this. He's a journalist. Nobody wants to get anything wrong. Nobody wants to get anything wrong. You can review the film for factual error. Now, in the years that Ezra spent working on the film, there were these ongoing complicated legal battles over Prince's estate, in part because Prince left no will. So the estate changed hands.

It changes from being overseen by a bank and courts in Minnesota to now being overseen by a lawyer who used to work for Prince in the 90s, members of his family, and a music company. And the new people in charge watch the film. And they submit this list that's 17 pages long with all kinds of quibbles and queries and objections. almost none of which have to do with facts.

It changes from being overseen by a bank and courts in Minnesota to now being overseen by a lawyer who used to work for Prince in the 90s, members of his family, and a music company. And the new people in charge watch the film. And they submit this list that's 17 pages long with all kinds of quibbles and queries and objections. almost none of which have to do with facts.

They have to do with things about Prince that they don't want included in this documentary. And Edelman, you know, makes a few changes to try to kind of compromise with them, but he's not going to change, for instance, one of Prince's collaborators talking about how when he became devout and extremely religious, he asked her to renounce her homosexuality before he would collaborate with her again.

They have to do with things about Prince that they don't want included in this documentary. And Edelman, you know, makes a few changes to try to kind of compromise with them, but he's not going to change, for instance, one of Prince's collaborators talking about how when he became devout and extremely religious, he asked her to renounce her homosexuality before he would collaborate with her again.

He's not going to take out an assessment of his album, The Rainbow Children, which was kind of widely shared at the time that there were anti-Semitic lyrics. He's not going to take out elements of the story that are sad or unfortunate or portray Prince in a negative light because they're part of the story and they're part of the arc.

He's not going to take out an assessment of his album, The Rainbow Children, which was kind of widely shared at the time that there were anti-Semitic lyrics. He's not going to take out elements of the story that are sad or unfortunate or portray Prince in a negative light because they're part of the story and they're part of the arc.

And he's not going to allow extra journalistic facts to determine the shape of his film. So this back and forth continues for many months, and the estate manages to hold up the film on questions of length. They claim that they had agreed to license music for a six-hour film and no more. And this was no simple thing.

And he's not going to allow extra journalistic facts to determine the shape of his film. So this back and forth continues for many months, and the estate manages to hold up the film on questions of length. They claim that they had agreed to license music for a six-hour film and no more. And this was no simple thing.

Like, to cut this film by three hours would be... Like, the metaphor that I keep thinking of is like... unknotting a hand-woven Persian carpet. Extremely difficult to disassemble. It would be like starting all over. But also, it wasn't ever clear that this would satisfy the estate anyway, because they had made their strong objections to the project very clear.

Like, to cut this film by three hours would be... Like, the metaphor that I keep thinking of is like... unknotting a hand-woven Persian carpet. Extremely difficult to disassemble. It would be like starting all over. But also, it wasn't ever clear that this would satisfy the estate anyway, because they had made their strong objections to the project very clear.