By: Emily Ao

When all-time star singer Celine Dion was diagnosed with a rare disorder called stiff person syndrome (SPS) in 2022, many fans were shocked. Clearly, Dion’s announcement on her Instagram was a reminder that illness had no favorites.

‘I Am: Celine Dion,’ a newly aired documentary on Amazon Prime Video, captures Dion during her most vulnerable moments following her SPS diagnosis. The film aims to show Dion battling her new, harsh reality of being unable to pursue her teenage dream of being able to sing “all [her] life,” and how it affects the star.

To set the scene, Irene Taylor, the director of the film, starts off by introducing the audience to a few lighthearted clips of Dion spending time happily with her family and staff at her home in Las Vegas. However, these carefree scenes soon cut to Dion’s cries of pain as she suffers a seizure. All her life, Dion’s voice led everyone to see her as a celebrity; the film contrasts that perspective by “making her a person,” an article in the New York Times says.

Nonetheless, this new diagnosis doesn’t shape who Dion is as a person. Despite facing such challenges, Dion’s humorous personality still overshadows her pain, seen in Taylor’s raw footage: times where Dion throws around small jokes casually throughout her day, despite clearly being in agony.

Even so, when Dion attempts to sing again in the studio, her voice has not changed at all. Dion has secured her spot in the roster of stars, and nothing can stop her.