6 Degrees of Black Romantic Comedies (BRC)
Daily Danjaruz Deliberation:
We go round and round and round
Cuz what we looking for, still isn't found
Danjaruz Disclosures, Declarations, and Diatribes:
Ok, if you know me, you know I love cinema and I'm a cinema snob. I admit it. Blame Donald Bogle for having a really great class and being a really great guy to talk about movies. *Note to self, set up venting session/lunch with Bogle soon!!* Ever since I have experienced his knowledge and expertise, and accute insight, I have not watched movies, particularly "black" movies, the same.
"Black Movies", for definition purposes, refers to movies that have either 1)90% Black cast, 2)Black director and at least 50% black cast, 3)Black director, producer, and/or theme related to some aspect of Black history, life, community, etc.
I love to support Black cinema. If we don't support, then who will? However, I know that money is the best way to show support and approval, so I am quite careful when it comes to deciding which movies I am going to support.
What I look for when choosing a Black Movie to see:
Title: If the title is discouraging, I don't give further consideration.
***Examples: Soul Plane, My Baby's Daddy
Actors: This can be tricky because 1) I, like Samuel Jackson, hate seeing most unskilled rappers or hip-hop artists in movies when it is clear they are there to draw an audience. However, 2)there are some people who have been a)surprising in their roles, b)some people who are actually talented actors, or 3)some people whose presence in the movie was accurately cast and they needed to be there. The other side of this is seeing the name of a revered actor/actress and being excited, only to realize that their role sucked, they sucked in their role, or the movie was so shitty that their presence offered no redemption.
***Examples: 1)Ja rule 2)a.Ice Cube b.Mos Def 3)DMX
Actors Pt. 2: Repetition of Actors/Actresses can kill a movie for me, but this is the point of this post so I will get to that later.
Storyline: Recycled plots kill me, and unfortunately, the majority of Black Movies that come out these days are just that- recycled storylines. I look for movies that are "different", maybe period pieces, biographies, etc. Romantic comedies kill me. And now ladies and gentlemen, I present:
Im taking the Sanaa Lathan approach on this one. Why Ms. Lathan? Well, before those of you who love her get on me and start all the "bet nobody not talk bout Ms. Lathan!!", let me say, that for a Yale-trained actress, while she has great potential, she has fallen into the BRC trap. She is the Kevin Bacon of BRC. We can examine so many movies just by using her as a point of referrence.
"Life"- Ms. Lathan plays "Daisy" a woman in love with a man who is sentenced to life in jail. While her man is in jail, she once visits him for a conjugal visit, after a jailhouse marriage, but then ends up with his kin, who is free and well-to-do.
Co-stars include Lisa Nicole Carson who was in "Love Jones" and "Jason's Lyric" which are, arguably, the movies that sparked this whole neo-BRC movement. They were not as formulaic, but they are the foremothers.
"Blade"- Ms. Lathan plays "Vanessa", Blade's mother, who was turned into a vampire. She is paramour to a vampire. Not the man you want to take home to daddy.
Co-stars include Wesley Snipes who later goes on to star with Ms. Lathan in another BRC classic, "Disappearing Acts". This movie also starred Regina Hall, who was in "Malibu's Most Wanted" with Blair Underwood, who was in "Set It Off" with Vivica A. Fox, [who was in "Soul Food" with Nia Long who was in "Love Jones", the foremother of the BMC movement], and Jada Pinkett Smith [who was in "Jason's Lyric", foremother of the BRC movement]
"Catfish In Blackbean Sauce"- Ms. Lathan plays "Nina", a woman in love with a Vietnamese man who is dealing with an identity crisis, as he was raised by a Black family and is about to be reunited with his Vietnamese birth mother. Nina gets lost in the confusion and has to deal with her man ignoring her, pushing her aside, etc.
Co-stars include Mary Alice, who was in the "Inkwell" with Lorenz Tate, who was in "Love Jones", foremother of the BRC movement.
"The Wood"- Ms. Lathan plays "Alicia", the narrator's first sweetheart. Of course, Alicia has had to deal with Mike, the narrator, not being completely "there", as he was out and about either trying to be a player or trying to figure out this "love" thing. While not a major focus in the movie, her character is not very different from the others Ms. Lathan plays. Loves a man who has issues loving her back until the end.
Co-stars include Taye Diggs, who will later star in some other movies with Ms. Lathan, which we will get to. He was also in "How Stella Got Her Groove Back", which co-starred Regina King, who co-starred in "Ray" with Larenz Tate, who was in "Love Jones", foremother of the BRC movement. Also stars Omar Epps, who also plays her love interest in a later movie "Love & Basketball".
"The Best Man"- Ms. Lathan plays "Robin", a woman in love with a man who is infatuated with a past love, and who slept with his best friend's girlfriend back in college. He spends most of his weekend trying to link up with this past crush, trying to see if there is any spark left, all while Robin is at home, loving his conflicted ass. She has to then come face-to-face with ex-flame and put on a strong act, while realizing the man she loves is at the center of a lot of drama for a number of people.
Co-stars Taye Diggs, again, as her love interest, as well as Nia Long, who was in "Love Jones", foremother of the BRC movement.
"Love & Basketball"- Ms. Lathan plays "Monica Wright", a woman in love with basketball as much as she is in love with her best friend from childhood. He struggles to be the best player he can be, as does she, and at some point their relationship falls apart. He finds a new woman, and Monica still loves him from overseas, watching his relationship grow with someone else. Eventually, he pays attention to her and realzies she has been there all along, loving him, like a good Sanaa Lathan character.
Co-stars Omar Epps, who played her love interest in "The Wood", Boris Kudjoe, who plays a love interest in a later movie "Brown Sugar", and Gabrielle Union, who stars with Morris Chestnut in "Breakin All The Rules", he, who was in "The Best Man" with Nia Long who was in "Love Jones", foremother of the BRC movement.
"Disappearing Acts"- Ms. Lathan plays "Zora", a woman in love with a man struggling with his identity as a man, a black man, a financially struggling black man, etc. She tries to love him, support him, ultimately sacrificing parts of herself for him while he figures out what he wants and how he needs to be for her.
Co-stars include Wesley Snipes, with whom she co-starred in "Blade". Also co-stars Regina Hall, who was in "Malibu's Most Wanted" with Blair Underwood, who was in "Set It Off" with Vivica A. Fox, [who was in "Soul Food" with Nia Long who was in "Love Jones", the foremother of the BMC movement], and Jada Pinkett Smith [who was in "Jason's Lyric", foremother of the BRC movement]
"Brown Sugar"- Ms. Lathan plays "Sidney", a woman in love with hip-hop music as much as she is with her childhood best friend. She loves him and watches him marry another woman, watches their relationship fail, and waits for him to realize that he loves her and comes to his senses and makes thing work for them.
Co-stars include Taye Diggs, with whom she co-starred in "The Best Man" which co-starred Nia Long, who was in "Love Jones", foremother of the BRC movement. It also co-starrs Boris Kudjoe with whom she was in "The Wood", which starred Richard T. Jones, who co-starred in "What's Love Got To Do With It", which starred Laurence Fishbourne, who was also in "Boyz In The Hood" which co-starred Nia Long, who was in "Love Jones", foremother of the BRC Movement. Also co-stars Mos Def who was in "Bamboozled" with Jada Pinkett Smith, who was in "Jason's Lyric", foremother of the BRC movement.
(honorable mention)
"Out of Time"- Ms. Lathan plays Ann, a cheating, conniving woman who traps a man into a plot involving money and intrigue.
Co-stars include Denzel Washington, who was in "The Bone Collector" with Queen Latifah, who was in "Set It Off" with Jada Pinkett Smith, who was in "Jason's Lyric", foremother of the BRC movement.
So basically, Sanaa Lathan has played some characters who are similar, almost painfully so. Yes, I know she was in Alien V Predator, and she was on Broadway (which is where she belongs if you ask me), but 75% of her flicks have been the same tired BRCs, same plots, same actors, predictable endings, predictable soundtracks, shallow characters, etc. But it isn't her fault because these movies are written this way, and you all love them, consume them, and demand nothing more from people. If I wanted to write a movie right now about Black people, with the hopes of making a lot of money, I would know exactly what to write. I know exactly what you Eric Jerome Dickey slaves love to see on film.
Naw, I'm not giving my money to these flicks because they are terrible and I am tired of them. I support Black cinema, GOOD black cinema. The more I give my money to these projects, the more I am showing approval of these weak stories, weak acting, and intelligence insults.
But hey, that is just me.
BRC staples:
Sanaa Lathan
Morris Chestnut: The Inkwell, The Best Man, The Brothers, Two Can play That Game, Breakin' All The Rules
Taye Diggs: How Stella Got Her Groove Back, The Wood, The Best Man, Brown Sugar
Omar Epps: The Wood, Love & Basketball
Nia Long: Love Jones, The Best Man, Hav Plenty, Soul Food
Terrence Howard: The Best Man, Love Beat The Hell Out Of Me, Love Chronicles
Monica Calhoun:Sprung, The Best Man, Love & Basketball, Love Chronicles
Tamala Jones:Booty Call, The Brothers, Two Can Play That Game
Gabrielle Union:Love & Basketball, The Brothers, Two Can Play That Game, Breaking All The Rules, Deliver Us From Eva, Honeymooners
Regina Hall: Best Man, Love & Basketball, Disappearing Acts, Honeymooners
Vivia A. Fox: Booty Call, Soul Food, Two Can Play That Game
Honorable Mention:
Jamie Foxx:Booty Call, Breakin' All The Rules
Anthony Anderson: Two Can Play That Game, Barbershop, My Baby's Daddy
We go round and round and round
Cuz what we looking for, still isn't found
Danjaruz Disclosures, Declarations, and Diatribes:
Ok, if you know me, you know I love cinema and I'm a cinema snob. I admit it. Blame Donald Bogle for having a really great class and being a really great guy to talk about movies. *Note to self, set up venting session/lunch with Bogle soon!!* Ever since I have experienced his knowledge and expertise, and accute insight, I have not watched movies, particularly "black" movies, the same.
"Black Movies", for definition purposes, refers to movies that have either 1)90% Black cast, 2)Black director and at least 50% black cast, 3)Black director, producer, and/or theme related to some aspect of Black history, life, community, etc.
I love to support Black cinema. If we don't support, then who will? However, I know that money is the best way to show support and approval, so I am quite careful when it comes to deciding which movies I am going to support.
What I look for when choosing a Black Movie to see:
Title: If the title is discouraging, I don't give further consideration.
***Examples: Soul Plane, My Baby's Daddy
Actors: This can be tricky because 1) I, like Samuel Jackson, hate seeing most unskilled rappers or hip-hop artists in movies when it is clear they are there to draw an audience. However, 2)there are some people who have been a)surprising in their roles, b)some people who are actually talented actors, or 3)some people whose presence in the movie was accurately cast and they needed to be there. The other side of this is seeing the name of a revered actor/actress and being excited, only to realize that their role sucked, they sucked in their role, or the movie was so shitty that their presence offered no redemption.
***Examples: 1)Ja rule 2)a.Ice Cube b.Mos Def 3)DMX
Actors Pt. 2: Repetition of Actors/Actresses can kill a movie for me, but this is the point of this post so I will get to that later.
Storyline: Recycled plots kill me, and unfortunately, the majority of Black Movies that come out these days are just that- recycled storylines. I look for movies that are "different", maybe period pieces, biographies, etc. Romantic comedies kill me. And now ladies and gentlemen, I present:
6 Degrees of Black Romantic Comedies (BRC)
Im taking the Sanaa Lathan approach on this one. Why Ms. Lathan? Well, before those of you who love her get on me and start all the "bet nobody not talk bout Ms. Lathan!!", let me say, that for a Yale-trained actress, while she has great potential, she has fallen into the BRC trap. She is the Kevin Bacon of BRC. We can examine so many movies just by using her as a point of referrence.
"Life"- Ms. Lathan plays "Daisy" a woman in love with a man who is sentenced to life in jail. While her man is in jail, she once visits him for a conjugal visit, after a jailhouse marriage, but then ends up with his kin, who is free and well-to-do.
Co-stars include Lisa Nicole Carson who was in "Love Jones" and "Jason's Lyric" which are, arguably, the movies that sparked this whole neo-BRC movement. They were not as formulaic, but they are the foremothers.
"Blade"- Ms. Lathan plays "Vanessa", Blade's mother, who was turned into a vampire. She is paramour to a vampire. Not the man you want to take home to daddy.
Co-stars include Wesley Snipes who later goes on to star with Ms. Lathan in another BRC classic, "Disappearing Acts". This movie also starred Regina Hall, who was in "Malibu's Most Wanted" with Blair Underwood, who was in "Set It Off" with Vivica A. Fox, [who was in "Soul Food" with Nia Long who was in "Love Jones", the foremother of the BMC movement], and Jada Pinkett Smith [who was in "Jason's Lyric", foremother of the BRC movement]
"Catfish In Blackbean Sauce"- Ms. Lathan plays "Nina", a woman in love with a Vietnamese man who is dealing with an identity crisis, as he was raised by a Black family and is about to be reunited with his Vietnamese birth mother. Nina gets lost in the confusion and has to deal with her man ignoring her, pushing her aside, etc.
Co-stars include Mary Alice, who was in the "Inkwell" with Lorenz Tate, who was in "Love Jones", foremother of the BRC movement.
"The Wood"- Ms. Lathan plays "Alicia", the narrator's first sweetheart. Of course, Alicia has had to deal with Mike, the narrator, not being completely "there", as he was out and about either trying to be a player or trying to figure out this "love" thing. While not a major focus in the movie, her character is not very different from the others Ms. Lathan plays. Loves a man who has issues loving her back until the end.
Co-stars include Taye Diggs, who will later star in some other movies with Ms. Lathan, which we will get to. He was also in "How Stella Got Her Groove Back", which co-starred Regina King, who co-starred in "Ray" with Larenz Tate, who was in "Love Jones", foremother of the BRC movement. Also stars Omar Epps, who also plays her love interest in a later movie "Love & Basketball".
"The Best Man"- Ms. Lathan plays "Robin", a woman in love with a man who is infatuated with a past love, and who slept with his best friend's girlfriend back in college. He spends most of his weekend trying to link up with this past crush, trying to see if there is any spark left, all while Robin is at home, loving his conflicted ass. She has to then come face-to-face with ex-flame and put on a strong act, while realizing the man she loves is at the center of a lot of drama for a number of people.
Co-stars Taye Diggs, again, as her love interest, as well as Nia Long, who was in "Love Jones", foremother of the BRC movement.
"Love & Basketball"- Ms. Lathan plays "Monica Wright", a woman in love with basketball as much as she is in love with her best friend from childhood. He struggles to be the best player he can be, as does she, and at some point their relationship falls apart. He finds a new woman, and Monica still loves him from overseas, watching his relationship grow with someone else. Eventually, he pays attention to her and realzies she has been there all along, loving him, like a good Sanaa Lathan character.
Co-stars Omar Epps, who played her love interest in "The Wood", Boris Kudjoe, who plays a love interest in a later movie "Brown Sugar", and Gabrielle Union, who stars with Morris Chestnut in "Breakin All The Rules", he, who was in "The Best Man" with Nia Long who was in "Love Jones", foremother of the BRC movement.
"Disappearing Acts"- Ms. Lathan plays "Zora", a woman in love with a man struggling with his identity as a man, a black man, a financially struggling black man, etc. She tries to love him, support him, ultimately sacrificing parts of herself for him while he figures out what he wants and how he needs to be for her.
Co-stars include Wesley Snipes, with whom she co-starred in "Blade". Also co-stars Regina Hall, who was in "Malibu's Most Wanted" with Blair Underwood, who was in "Set It Off" with Vivica A. Fox, [who was in "Soul Food" with Nia Long who was in "Love Jones", the foremother of the BMC movement], and Jada Pinkett Smith [who was in "Jason's Lyric", foremother of the BRC movement]
"Brown Sugar"- Ms. Lathan plays "Sidney", a woman in love with hip-hop music as much as she is with her childhood best friend. She loves him and watches him marry another woman, watches their relationship fail, and waits for him to realize that he loves her and comes to his senses and makes thing work for them.
Co-stars include Taye Diggs, with whom she co-starred in "The Best Man" which co-starred Nia Long, who was in "Love Jones", foremother of the BRC movement. It also co-starrs Boris Kudjoe with whom she was in "The Wood", which starred Richard T. Jones, who co-starred in "What's Love Got To Do With It", which starred Laurence Fishbourne, who was also in "Boyz In The Hood" which co-starred Nia Long, who was in "Love Jones", foremother of the BRC Movement. Also co-stars Mos Def who was in "Bamboozled" with Jada Pinkett Smith, who was in "Jason's Lyric", foremother of the BRC movement.
(honorable mention)
"Out of Time"- Ms. Lathan plays Ann, a cheating, conniving woman who traps a man into a plot involving money and intrigue.
Co-stars include Denzel Washington, who was in "The Bone Collector" with Queen Latifah, who was in "Set It Off" with Jada Pinkett Smith, who was in "Jason's Lyric", foremother of the BRC movement.
So basically, Sanaa Lathan has played some characters who are similar, almost painfully so. Yes, I know she was in Alien V Predator, and she was on Broadway (which is where she belongs if you ask me), but 75% of her flicks have been the same tired BRCs, same plots, same actors, predictable endings, predictable soundtracks, shallow characters, etc. But it isn't her fault because these movies are written this way, and you all love them, consume them, and demand nothing more from people. If I wanted to write a movie right now about Black people, with the hopes of making a lot of money, I would know exactly what to write. I know exactly what you Eric Jerome Dickey slaves love to see on film.
Naw, I'm not giving my money to these flicks because they are terrible and I am tired of them. I support Black cinema, GOOD black cinema. The more I give my money to these projects, the more I am showing approval of these weak stories, weak acting, and intelligence insults.
But hey, that is just me.
BRC staples:
Sanaa Lathan
Morris Chestnut: The Inkwell, The Best Man, The Brothers, Two Can play That Game, Breakin' All The Rules
Taye Diggs: How Stella Got Her Groove Back, The Wood, The Best Man, Brown Sugar
Omar Epps: The Wood, Love & Basketball
Nia Long: Love Jones, The Best Man, Hav Plenty, Soul Food
Terrence Howard: The Best Man, Love Beat The Hell Out Of Me, Love Chronicles
Monica Calhoun:Sprung, The Best Man, Love & Basketball, Love Chronicles
Tamala Jones:Booty Call, The Brothers, Two Can Play That Game
Gabrielle Union:Love & Basketball, The Brothers, Two Can Play That Game, Breaking All The Rules, Deliver Us From Eva, Honeymooners
Regina Hall: Best Man, Love & Basketball, Disappearing Acts, Honeymooners
Vivia A. Fox: Booty Call, Soul Food, Two Can Play That Game
Honorable Mention:
Jamie Foxx:Booty Call, Breakin' All The Rules
Anthony Anderson: Two Can Play That Game, Barbershop, My Baby's Daddy
posted by MBT4679 at 4/17/2005 01:57:00 PM
2 Comments:
Yeah....you wore me the heck out just READING about those movies.
*snapping fingers*
Hated em! LOL
thank you
thank you
thank you
so true....
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