On 9.27.18 Barbra Streisand said she was a fan of Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga‘s A Star Is Born. “It’s very good,” Streisand told Billboard. “Every time that film is made it’s a success. I loved Judy Garland‘s version, I like this one a lot, and I liked mine.”
But couple of days ago she told an interviewer with Australia’s The Sunday Project that she’s changed her mind. Or that she wasn’t being honest in the first place.
“At first, when I heard it was going to be done again, it was supposed to be Will Smith and Beyoncé, and I thought, that’s interesting. Really make it different again, different kind of music, integrated actors. I thought that was a great idea,” Streisand said.
“So I was surprised when I saw how alike [the Bradley-Gaga version] was to the version that I did in 1976. I thought it was the wrong idea. I can’t argue with success but I don’t care so much about success as I do originality.”
Two interpretations: (a) Streisand wasn’t being honest three years ago or (b) she saw it again and thought about it and decided she had been too generous in her initial assessment. This happens. Showbiz people are always reluctant to diss a new film — it’s easer to just say “it’s good” and get out of the way. And people sometimes re-think things and change their minds.
More interesting to me: At the 4:34 mark in the Sunday Project interview, Streisand pronounces the word “singers” as “sing-GURS.” That’s a Brooklyn thing, a Long Island thing. You know…the way some people pronounce Long Island as “Long-GYLAND“?