Go see Florence Foster Jenkins.
As a music educator, I was so moved by the loving portrait of this singular woman.
I had long known her for her terrible singing, of course, but this movie goes far beyond the comedy of unintentionally bad singing to her passionate, musical, tender heart.
Early in the movie, Meryl Streep as Jenkins says, “When I was sixteen years-old my father told me that if I didn’t give up music he’d cut me off, of course he didn’t understand, music is my life.”
Near the end, Streep delivers a direct quote of the actual Jenkins when she says, “People may say I can’t sing, but no one can ever say I didn’t sing!”
Teachers of singing make it their mission to encourage singers with a wide range of ability as well as a wide range of passion. While Florence Foster Jenkins may have fallen at the bottom end of the ability scale, I can imagine precious few with more passion. This beautiful story honors the great good her passion brought into the world.
Go see this movie: whether a good singer or bad, passionate about music or ambivalent, music educator or layperson: you will find something to inspire you.