tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6448150671758169257.post1335045883595787089..comments2023-10-20T05:20:06.726-05:00Comments on JuneBug Talk: "Ordinary Brown Braided Woman": A Comment on For Colored GirlsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6448150671758169257.post-22870362353466349222011-04-21T18:13:27.152-05:002011-04-21T18:13:27.152-05:00Thank you for sharing the info. I found the detail...Thank you for sharing the info. I found the details very helpful.<br /><br /><a href="http://doctor-recommended.net/buy-paxil-usa.html#487" rel="nofollow">paxil</a>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6448150671758169257.post-74925125264483037712010-11-09T04:37:35.054-06:002010-11-09T04:37:35.054-06:00@Bri and Elliot M Thanks for stopping by JBT!
@Be...@Bri and Elliot M Thanks for stopping by JBT!<br /><br />@Berneta I absolutely loved the film and your review in their entirety! Like you B, I didn't know what to expect, and I wondered if Tyler's efforts would be underwhelming. Anywho, I'm SO very proud of him for pulling through with his best work, and I hope this is just the beginning. <br /><br />I just glanced over Very Smart Brothas' blog, "The Balancing Act: 4 Reasons Why Movies Dealing With Black Love (Seem To) Sh*t On Black Men," and Elliot M's comments. My opinion of the film is very different and not just because I'm a woman, but maybe because of how my mind works. I understand that mass media has its' way of influencing society, but are we really having a conversation about Black manhood based upon a few male characters in a fictional movie based upon a fictional play? I never have taken a fictional portrait of black femininity as personal as some of the remarks from commentators I've combed through. Instead of comparing myself to film, I chose to be a living example of what I'd like to see in the world (of sound mind, able bodied, bright spirited, genuine, and imperfectly human). And if I came across a book, an article, a movie, or a song that personally attacked me, my gender, my religion, my race, and so on, I'd do what I could to correct that not by whining, but by contacting some of my favorite filmmakers or producers or writers and telling them what I'm interested in or maybe even doing it my damn self. I've heard some women with comments very similar about films like Precious, but I'd be crazy by saying the fictional characters in the movie are a direct representation of me and ALL black women. NOT! People, let's remember that these are just characters we're talking about with real-life issues and experiences and NOT all black women or men...just characters. The truth is this stuff does happen, and it warrants a much-needed conversation about those issues and solutions verses how a few characters were depicted. I'm just saying.Ms MaSharihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11494679320196778015noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6448150671758169257.post-89065562258561341452010-11-08T17:23:23.970-06:002010-11-08T17:23:23.970-06:00@ Bri: thanks for your comments! It was definitely...@ Bri: thanks for your comments! It was definitely one of the most touching movies I've seen in a long while.<br /><br />@Elliot: thanks for your comments as well! I think from a technical aspect and simply from a character development standpoint this film was a drastic departure from Perry's other films. For instance, usually when Perry gives us an evil male character, we have no sense of why the man is that way. In this film, he not only develops their motivations but also outright prevents us from writing them off as evil (except the rapist, of course). Evil one-dimensional black male characters have been the root of my beef with Tyler Perry since I first saw one of his stage plays (not to mention the fact that the evil dudes were usually very dark-skinned).<br /><br />Also, I care about what people say about the film because it is based on one of my favorite books. A book that changed my view of myself (and my writing). That would be the difference between your investment and my investment in this film. No, I won't go bananas because someone hates it. People will see whatever meaning they want to see, period. I find that most people go into a movie (or any situation) expecting to see a particular result and that's what they will see ultimately. I personally went into this film with no expectations: I thought it might suck, I thought I might be surprised, I thought it might be so-so. I had spent most of the summer loathing the idea that Tyler Perry would be making this film, but before the movie came out and after I'd read so many nasty reviews, I thought I'd just clear my head and see what happens.<br /><br />My thing about many people's reviews is that they are flat out nasty: citing Perry's potential homosexuality and his own messed up childhood to undermine the legitimacy of his work in this film. It's one thing to draw parallels between the writer/director and his work (to say that it would serve Perry well to examine how his own anxieties are materializing in his work), but it's another to flat out say, "He's gay himself, so of course he has a problem with real black men," as if being a gay black man precludes one from being a real black man, as if being molested by men makes one gay. And that's the underlying rhetoric that I'm seeing in many black male critical responses (and the obvious rhetoric of black male commentators in the comments sections on those review pages). That's immature and nasty, and only indicts the reviewer as an intellectually-underdeveloped and misogynist human being. Only Sergio from Shadow and Act seems to deliver a fair and mature assessment of the film. In addition, these same black male commentators seem to have film amnesia, suggesting that there have been no black male heroes recently in film: Pursuit of Happyness, Iron Man 2 (Cheadle), The Book of Eli, Miracle at St. Anna, Karate Kid. The real problem is that there's not enough decent portrayals of BLACK PEOPLE in general, but I find that black male critics always want to weigh oppressions between black women and black men and claim that the black man is always the principal object of oppression.<br /><br />But at the end of the day, this film is about black women. And harping on about black men in the film only strikes me as a covert misogynist impulse to divert attention away from a discussion of black women's lives. That is my problem with most of the black male reviews I've seen so far. Some of them bring up excellent points but cloud it in so much oppression olympics (i.e. the world is hardest on the black man) and misogynist garbage (i.e. saying stuff like the film is another movie about black women whining) that I end up not caring.<br /><br />Btw: I share your sentiments about the film version of The Color Purple: I was really annoyed that the film writers chose to get rid of all those sections of Mister and Celie bonding as friends after all the abuse, those moments that helped humanize him.Blahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07542131112280018323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6448150671758169257.post-11865800749909643302010-11-08T14:18:09.076-06:002010-11-08T14:18:09.076-06:00I read your review. It was very well articulated. ...I read your review. It was very well articulated. Of course we disagree on many aspects, but I think a lot of that is natural. Although open to viewing by anyone, as you stated, the story (the original one, not T. Perry's interpretation) was written by a Black woman, about issues mostly relevant to Black women. I definitely don't think it's necessary to "not have empathy for or hate Black women" or not be able to get passed it being a T. Perry production in order to dislike the film.That's absurd. Broad generalizations like that are almost always wrong. Even if you like something, you have to be able to acknowledge that their are legitimate reasons why someone else doesn't like it. Plus, why is it wrong to consider the maker of something when constructively critiquing it? Wouldn't it be relevant who the maker of a film about 9/11 was? Wouldn't it impact your perception if the maker were Dick Cheney as opposed to Michael Moore? Yes, Shange's original product was focused on the women in it, their experiences, and how they overcame difficult situations-I get that the focus of the movie are the women. And although I liked it (for the most part), I was still uncomfortable with the portrayals of Black men, as I think a lot of Black men would be..as many Black women have been with the portrayals of Black women in a slew of different movies. And, it isn't wrong to question why Perry chose this film to "adapt", given his pattern of making movies that often portray Black men (with a few exceptions) in a negative light (And, by the way, The Color Purple-the film, not the book- deserved much of the criticism it received..in the book at least some of the male characters were redeemed, not so in the movie, which portrayed all the men as just plain triflin' or abusive). Tyler Perry is in many ways an enabler, feeding into the dysfunctions of many of the women who seem to love his films the most..basically, he tells his main audience what the want(not need) to hear. It's great that he gives Black actors/actresses work, but that doesn't make him immune from criticism. I'm not saying he can't make whatever movies he wants, but some balance would be nice, and I simply don't see this dramatic difference between For Colored Girls and his other work..other than some poetry thrown in. Of course I'm aware that I am unlikely to be able to "feel" this movie the same as a woman, just as there are movies/songs,etc. that resonate with me more as a Black man. What gets me are the women going bananas because someone doesn't just blindly love the movie..there are a lot of movies I really like, but it doesn't bother me one way or the other if someone else doesn't. <br /><br />We all see things differently though;). Your review should be a good conversation starter.Elliot M.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6448150671758169257.post-33773572774072152010-11-08T13:49:16.213-06:002010-11-08T13:49:16.213-06:00I saw this yesterday. And I cried and cried.
It wa...I saw this yesterday. And I cried and cried.<br />It was the most moving thing I have ever watched. I went with a grown black man -- he cried too. It was too much. I totally agree with your sentiments here. Completely. I can't get it out of my head and I'm holding on, as a coloured girl who's faced some of the issues in the film and is still grappling with them, to the end of my rainbow. The rainbow has to be enough. <br /><br />And GIRLL!!! Thandie was the hottest. Them orange jeans -- "I feel you watching my ass old woman!" <br /><br />Fantastic performance all round from all the players.Brihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07081995597066974490noreply@blogger.com