 Houston starred in the 1995 romance film Waiting to Exhale , directed by Forest Whittaker . Although Houston did not intend to contribute to the film 's soundtrack , when Whittaker hired Babyface to score the soundtrack , she opted in . Babyface , Houston and some other African @-@ American female singers recorded songs for the album . The song was one of the final additions to the soundtrack . " Why Does It Hurt So Bad " was originally written by Babyface for Houston , two years prior to the release of Waiting to Exhale , but Houston refused to record it at that time . " I wasn 't really in the mood for singing about why it <unk> so bad , " said Houston . Two years later , according to Chris <unk> of Entertainment Weekly , the emotions of the movie merged with the real @-@ life circumstances of Houston 's troubled marriage to Bobby Brown . " Now , I 'm ready to sing not only the <unk> of things , but the pains of things , also , " Houston explained . 
