20 questions I still have after watching the Tina Turner documentary on HBO

I, along with countless others, have sat down to watch and listen to the beloved Tina Turner’s final goodbye.

We finally get the exiting hoorah from the Queen of Rock n’ Roll, said to be in her words and on her terms.

HBO’s “Tina” is a documentary with remarkable footage told through stunning visuals.

It is also an intricate retelling of “What’s Love Got to Do with It. ”

… And that’s about it.

A rehash of the 1993 hit bio-drama starring Angela Bassett is exactly what viewers watched in 2021.

The true kicker here lies in the fact that through and through, we hear from those who were close to Tina, and even Tina herself, saying how much she hated and dreaded to continue talking about Ike. Her abusive past with Ike. The person she had been with Ike. How every interviewer always brings up Ike. How its been (literal decades later) since she split from Ike.

Ike… Ike, Ike, Ike, Ike, IKE.

All the while telling us the 81-year-old Tina did not want to talk about Ike anymore, the documentary somehow still revolved around Ike. Almost in it’s entirety.

I left the documentary with more questions for Tina than I had before starting it.

Here’s about 20 of them.

1. What’s it like living in Switzerland?
2. As a dual citizen, how do you feel about the current state of politics in America?
3. Who’re you listening to now?
4. How do you feel about the genre of Rock in 2021?
5. What was it like to work with Mel Gibson in “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome?”
6. What does it mean to be both Anna Mae Bullock and Tina Turner?
7. What’s retirement look like for you?
8. The lack of friends during the 80s was mentioned frequently in Tina, how is that front now?
9. You are radiant at 81. What is your skin care routine like?
10. What was your favorite song to perform?
11. Do you keep up with Mick Jagger?
12. Do you still practice Buddhism?
13. Who did your husband marry — Anna or Tina?
14. Are you close with your sons?
15. How was it saying goodbye to your mother?
16. Would you say your life is now joyous?
17. Was it an easy decision to leave the states?
18. How did it feel to be successful in the UK before being as successful in the states?
19. They say you can take the girl out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the girl — is this true for you?
20. Which concert was the most memorable for you?

Besides the retelling of a long drawn out part of Tina’s life, the documentary does do other things impeccably right (as HBO docuseries typically do).

It shortly shares with us her rise post — Lord, must I say his name — Ike, what it meant to battle the foisted genre of R&B because she was Black, and what it was like to be a Black woman in the early world of Rock.

Tina is iconic. Tina is so much more than who she was and the horrendous, abusive relationship she was in. That relationship ended in 1976, and, personally, I think to continue talking about it like it happened yesterday more than four decades later is overkill.

I think it’s important for Tina to know that she has fans who no longer want to dwell on her past with Ike. Who, rather, care about who she is now and has been since.

Not only that, it must be said she also has fans who are around my age, a younger millennial, who listened to her music and learned to love Tina Turner, and just Tina Turner, well before we had even learned of an Ike. And I’m sure the same goes for older millennials.

If I may: You are more than pre, post, and mid-Ike, Tina.

Tell us who you have been for the past 20 years and who you are now.

That — respectfully — is your final bow.

Signed,

Your fans Iesha and Shakkira