Brian Gibson
Tina: What's Love Got To Do With It?

«The lotus is a beautiful flower that grows in the mud. The deeper the mud, the more beautiful the flower».

This is one of the many meanings of the Buddhist mantra Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. And this film is about a Lotus Flower that roots itself in the mud and murkiest slime, only to become a beautiful flower. It's about Tina Turner. Annamae is a black child from Natbush, Tennessee. Her life is miserable: when she is not at school, she picks cotton in the white people's plantations and sings in the gospel choir of her town's black church. Then one day, her mother Zelma, tired of her husband's mistreatment, takes her eldest daughter Aileen and leaves. She seeks fortune in St. Louis, Missouri, abandoning little Annamae. Upon her grandmother's death, who had taken care of her until that moment, the eighteen-year-old Annamae leaves Natbush to join her mother and sister in St. Louis. This is where her adventure begins. She has always had a passion for singing, but never thought she could make this passion something more important than a hobby until Aileen, who works at a club, introduces Annamae to the singer of the Kings Of Rhythm band performing there. His name is Ike Turner. He is a local idol, driving the girls (even the white ones!) crazy, with charm, money, and talent. Annamae is captivated by the show, finally hearing good live blues music and is stunned when Ike invites the girls to sing on stage. He is looking for a vocalist. Annamae overcomes her shyness, gets on stage, and amazes everyone: a small, skinny girl unleashes a voice that's more of a roar. Ike is enthralled. Enthusiastic. He wants her in his band. He does everything to have her, despite Zelma's objections, who is convinced by some dollars.

Thus begins the adventure of little Annamae. She and Ike get married, and he gives her the stage name Tina («Tina, like Sheena of the jungle: a stunning sexy woman in God's green land!» he says to convince her to accept the name) and they immediately embark on the Ike Turner Revue: a non-stop, grueling tour that quickly brings them success. However, Ike immediately shows no sensitivity to his wife's and the other band girls' needs: when Tina has just given birth, he forces her to sing despite being weak and anemic. The first single from Ike & Tina Turner is released: the legendary «A Fool In Love» and it is an enormous success that propels them into the American star system. It's the Sixties: it's the era of Sonny & Cher; bands formed by husband and wife are all the rage, and Sonny & Cher and Ike & Tina are the undisputed rulers of the American music scene. Everything seems perfect. But appearances deceive. Annamae/Tina is a victim of all kinds of abuse by Ike. He beats, rapes, and insults her. She is the lowest of the living beings. But she can't leave him. She knows how it feels to be abandoned, understands how much one suffers and how it affects self-esteem, and doesn't want to do to Ike what her mother did to her when she was little. And then there are the children: two sons from Ike and his first wife, and two more with Tina. So she endures. She doesn't have the strength to react. She hopes things will change, tries her best to avoid his beatings. In vain. Ike is a cocaine addict, hysterical, violent. Things get worse. He ends up assaulting Jackie, Tina's friend and chorister, in a public place because she tried to defend her. Jackie leaves the band, disappears from the scene. And Tina is left alone again to suffer. There is a limit to human endurance and one day Tina attempts suicide.

Admitted to the hospital urgently, she receives a visit from Jackie. It's been a long time since the two have seen each other, and Jackie explains to Tina that she became a Buddhist. She follows Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism, recites the 'daimoku' mantra (Nam Myoho Renge Kyo), believes in the Law of Cause and Effect, and follows the Gosho (Daishonin’s writings). Tina is skeptical at first but what does she have to lose? She clings to the Buddhist practice with the tenacity of despair: she recites many hours of daimoku every day, and something changes in her life. She starts to feel her worth, her 'buddhahood'. She understands the principle of 'esho-funi', or 'the non-duality of self and environment'. If I change, my environment changes. Tina undergoes her 'human revolution'. She stops considering herself unworthy and thinking that she deserves the beatings from her husband, and above all, she feels her worth as a human being and as a Buddha. We are all Buddhas, we are all worthy of the utmost respect. And if the environment is a reflection of what we have inside, Ike’s attitude towards her shows how low Tina’s self-esteem is, how little she respects herself. Starting the change from within, Tina manages to change her environment. At Ike's umpteenth physical aggression, she reacts. She returns blow for blow: she gives Ike a good lesson. After that, she escapes. Now aware of herself and her worth, Annamae divorces Ike. She leaves him all his movable and immovable assets, the royalties, and everything else, provided she can keep her stage name. Always supporting herself with the recitation of daimoku, Annamae/Tina goes through a difficult time: she is no longer a young girl, she is alone and has to adapt to singing in clubs and hotels to entertain the public. She is certainly not satisfied.

But finally, her Bodhisattva of the Earth arrives, the one who rediscovers her and gives her the opportunity to recover and take flight again. She meets her current manager, who has her record new pieces. She changes genre. No more blues, now Tina turns to rock and roll. She is still energetic, full of grit and sexy. She records new pieces, has success again. However, Ike does not accept it. He goes looking for her, threatens her, trying to scare her. But Tina has changed now. She is no longer afraid of Ike. She has defeated her 'demon' and welcomes threats with total indifference, leaving Ike with nothing to say.

A 1994 film, remains one of my all-time favorites. Angela Bassett as Tina Turner is nothing short of amazing: the performance is dramatic, intense. She fits perfectly into the character, involving the audience and moving them. Fiery, passionate, wild, and sweet, she deserved the Oscar for which she was nominated. Laurence Fishburne makes Ike Turner definitely more physically imposing but no less loathsome with an equally intense and masterful performance. The soundtrack is also admirable, filled with great pieces from the past like the aforementioned «A Fool In Love», and then the various «It's Gonna Work Out Fine», «Rock Me Baby», «River Deep, Mountain High», «Nutbush City Limits», «Disco Inferno» and the timeless «Proud Mary». The film takes us on a journey through three decades: Sixties, Seventies, and Eighties, faithfully reconstructing each physical and stylistic change of the characters and fairly accurately narrating the protagonists’ lives. The scene where Jackie 'does shakubuku' to Annamae, meaning introduces her to Buddhism, is intense. Annamae is desperate, she can't stop crying, yet Jackie manages to penetrate her heart, offering not only her friend’s support but (more importantly) a way to change herself and her environment. We can have all the support in the world, but if we don't make the effort ourselves, if we don't have the courage to really want to see our life and change it, friends, the Bodhisattvas (those who offer us the opportunities to change), and the Shoten Zenjin (those who somehow provide us with support and protection) can do little.

Nichiren Daishonin says «The daimoku of the Lotus Sutra is like a sharp sword. But a sword, although sharp, is useless in the hands of a coward». Annamae/Tina is anything but a coward. And her daimoku is like the roar of the Lion King: thanks to Buddhism, the recitation of daimoku and gongyo, she managed to rise from the mud and become that beautiful flower that is the Lotus.

[here is a video where Tina Turner recites "daimoku" and "Gongyo"]