Ray Charles Robinson had two mothers. His biological mother, Aretha Williams, was depicted in the film, but there was also his father's first wife, Mary Jane Robinson. Both women had a huge influence on him as a child. As David Ritz, co-author of Ray Charles' 1978 autobiography "Brother Ray," shared in a Slate article, "After her 6-year-old son went blind, Aretha fostered his independence, while Mary Jane indulged him. For the rest of his life Ray was as fiercely self-reliant as he was self-indulgent."
The specific reasons "Ray" didn't include both women in the film remain a mystery, though it's not entirely surprising. Trying to condense decades into a biopic requires eliminating extraneous characters and streamlining events into a tight narrative audiences can follow. Biopics are notorious for employing creative license to simplify storylines, increase drama, and create a satisfying narrative arc for the central figure. It is also possible Charles' second mother was eliminated because of the circumstances of his birth.
Mary Jane and Bailey Robinson took Aretha in as an orphaned teenager. Soon, Aretha was pregnant with her foster father's child. Because of the scandal this pregnancy created in their community, Aretha was sent away and gave birth to Ray on Sept. 23, 1930, in Albany, Georgia. The Robinsons separated after Ray was born and Bailey wasn't involved in raising his son. Aretha wanted her son to be independent despite going blind from undiagnosed glaucoma at seven years old, as Irene Earls documented in her book, "Young Musicians in World History."
