What's Going On: The Life & Death of Marvin Gaye and Greatest Hits: Live in '76 (2-DVD set collector's edition) is one of the most emotional presentations I have seen in years. I learned so much about Marvin Gaye during What's Going On: The Life & Death of Marvin Gaye that I had to sit and cry for a full five minutes before I could play the Greatest Hits: Live in '76 DVD.
Most people know the basics facts about the story of Marvin Gaye. Marvin struggled for his preacher-father's love for his entire adult life. In the end, Marvin's father shot him with the very gun Marvin had bought for his father's protection.
What the average person might not know is that Marvin Sr. had a long-standing history of abusive behavior. In addition, he enjoyed playing mind games with his children by intentionally prolonging the pre-beating anticipation. Marvin never felt loved and supported by his father, and yet constantly tried to please him. Some said his father was filled with envy, especially when "What's Going On" was a better sermon than his father ever preached.
Nevertheless, it seems Marvin's entire life was a dichotomy between goodness and evil. His father was an effeminate transvestite in addition to being a preacher. Marvin changed his last name to "Gaye" from "Gay" to avoid the speculation that he was homosexual. Marvin desperately wanted to be loved, but could never accept the love offered freely to him by the women in his life. Marvin, in turn, distanced himself from his father and then ran home to the same man for nurturance. His life was filled with drama, most of it his own creation.
He accepted Berry Gordy as his substitute father when he signed on with Motown. To further solidify that bond, he married Berry's sister, a woman 17 years his senior. However, even those bonds became too constricting and he had to flee, first to Los Angeles, then to Europe. He had many of the same struggles with his second wife, Janice. In this documentary, it is finally revealed why Here, My Dear was such a flop. The quiet desperation that Marvin Gaye felt throughout his successful yet dysphoric life is very poignantly portrayed in What's Going On: The Life & Death of Marvin Gaye. Interviewees include many of his friends, his sister, both wives, and Berry Gordy. It uses archival footage of Marvin at home and in the recording studio.
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