I had been listening to Nina Simone recurrently on YouTube for a while, when Netflix suggested I watched "What Happened, Miss Simone?" and after watching the trailer, I was intrigued, to say the least. I hadn't been very much aware of the complexities intertwined in the tumultuous life of Eunice Kathleen Waymon, who changed her name to Nina Simone so that her family members would not find out what kind of music she was playing. The black star had wanted to become a concert pianist and had trained in classical music. She couldn't be admitted to the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia and she suspected that it was because of her skin color. She would still become famous, but with jazz. She struggled, faced many difficulties, professionally and also in her private life, and yet she made it. She lived next to Malcolm X in Mount Vernon and was very adamant about her political views, which somehow hindered her career at some point. It would become quite tough to match her artistic aspirations to her political views and commitments. A poignant portrait of a woman who grew up in racist America, cut her way through despite all difficulties and ended up exiling herself willingly to Liberia. A highly recommended entertaining watch.
