CAST: Thandie Newton, Janet Jackson, Kerry Washington, Whoopi Goldberg, Michael Ealy
DIRECTOR: Tyler Perry
Let’s start with what seriously irritated me on this movie. It’s based on a play by Ntozakhe Shange who was born in the US as Paulette Williams in 1948. While it may be true that some black men are serious cheats and general menaces, it is not true that most are that way. For the life of me I cannot understand why out of eight women portrayed in the movie, only one has something even resembling a good relationship with a black man. Pretty much all the black guy characters are seriously deranged, half crazy, criminals with no future prospects whatsoever. Surely this cannot be the ideal that we all strive for and want to leave in people’s minds?
Having said that, I do admit there is something wrong with a society that is cruel and misogynistic towards women, and August being Women’s Month, such incidents cannot go unchallenged. I understand Perry did not want to change the script to suit his own understanding of things, but I’m sure, judging from his previous work, he would have liked to have at least one hero black man to carry the flag. The character of Frank was almost that guy. But almost doesn’t count. Ealy’s character is possibly the most frightening and he eventually defines the movie’s entire tone and message.
I also didn’t particularly enjoy the poetic soliloquies that all the main characters randomly got into. You cannot be trying to send out a certain message while at the same time being unrealistic with your dialogue. The acting could at times, be very sloppy and this being such a big cast, some players were not properly explored.
I do appreciate the film’s attempt at educating, highlighting and ultimately trying to change perceptions about relationships in general. However, I do strongly object to the black man being the 100% anti-good that he is here.
THAMI MASEMOLA
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