Cher To Star In Flint Water Crisis Movie

The water crisis in Flint, MI — where residents still can’t drink unfiltered tap water — is coming soon to a television near you.

Movie executives are planning a Lifetime original movie about the water crisis under the title “Flint.” Deadline reported last week that it will star Cher, an Oscar-winner, as a Flint resident whose family is deeply affected by the water crisis — which elevated the blood lead levels of local children and brought national scrutiny to state and federal oversight of water.

Moviemakers are hoping to create a “hard-hitting fact-based drama” based on a Time article about the crisis, according to Deadline.

The decision to cast Cher in the leading role drew criticism. “Once again, Hollywood is taking a tragedy that is negatively impacting mostly people of color and centering it in whiteness. Why do you keep doing this, Hollywood?” reporter Monique Judge wrote on The Root.

She continued: “Really, Hollywood? Really, Lifetime? A city with a population of 99,000, nearly 57 percent of whom are black, and Cher is the star of the movie? My eyes can only roll so far to the left.”

Cher seemed to address criticism of the movie plans on Twitter, referring to Flint Mayor Karen Weaver: “Was Upset Last Nite&Txtd My Friend Karen.She Said Ppl of Flint Were Happy Their TRUTH Would [be] Told &They’d Not [be] 4gotten.KAREN IS MAYOR OF FLINT”

The Detroit News reported that Cher “was among the first celebrities to speak up about the water crisis.” Deadline detailed her activism efforts:

She has been active in raising awareness about the water crisis. She’s been vocal on social media and has donated hundreds of thousands of bottles of water to the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan for distribution to residents … It was Cher who, after reading an announcement about the movie, reached out to the producers, expressing her interest in participating in the project. With Cher on board, the script was written with a plum role for her.

A documentary about the Flint crisis, produced by “Crash” director Paul Haggis, is also underway, according to The Guardian.

Water problems persist in Flint even as media attention on the struggling city begins to waver.

“A year ago, Flint, MI, Mayor Karen Weaver declared a state of emergency because of lead-contaminated drinking water, attracting national outrage and sympathy, and millions of gallons of donated water. But a year later donations have slowed to a trickle, and little has changed — unfiltered water here is still unsafe to drink,” NPR reported last month.