As her biopic of Whitney Houston sits ready to air tonight on Lifetime, Angela Bassett is talking about the themes of the film and what she hopes the audience gets out of it all.

“If you walk through life and your children walk through life and think it’s all about unicorns and rainbows, or sunsets and sunrises, or stars and cotton candy and are ignorant of pitfalls, then you can fall into one unaware,” Angela Bassett said. “We make choices that affect our future, she made choices that affected her life.”

Whitney Houston died of an accidental drowning in a hotel bathtub almost three years ago. Her drug use and life difficulties were well-known to the American public.

Houston and former husband Bobby Brown aired some of their life’s dirty laundry in a reality TV show called Being Bobby Brown. One reviewer described the Bravo series this way:

“Being Bobby Brown, the reality show spotlighting the R&B singer whose rap sheet might be longer than his catalog, is undoubtedly the most disgusting and execrable series ever to ooze its way onto television… Not only does it reveal Brown to be even more vulgar than the tabloids suggest, but it manages at the same time to rob Houston of any last shreds of dignity.”

Angela Bassett knows that part of Whitney Houston’s story is a cautionary tale. At the same time she hopes to shine a light on another facet of her time with Bobby Brown that many people may have forgotten.

“I hope people walk away with going on the journey and the realization that these two extremely talented, beautiful young people really loved one another,” Bassett said “They tried to make it work.”

Angela Bassett acknowledges that not everyone will agree with her treatment of Houston’s story.

“You have to understand with great success there will be critics and naysayers. My intention was to tell their love story as honestly as I could,” Bassett said. “Whenever the naysayers came, you know you expect that and then you keep on moving. If I can tell [this story] with some compassion, then you just keep on jumping those hurdles until you get to that finish line.”