Dustin, dude, what you're missing completely about this film is the very "Cosby" quality you've touched on, and which is all too often missing from movies filled with Black/African American characters. You point out the absent stereotypes, but fail to realize that even recognizing that void is a kudos to the movie! No one goes to see 'Leap Year' and bemoans the absence of conflict due to a lack of white/Irish female stereotypes! Yet (as I strain everyone's patience to point out the obvious) it is so very, very hard to make a film about Black characters that steers clear of the stereotypical, and lands warmly in run-of-the-mill possible drama-lite, that for the makers to have done so gets my vote!
So thank you for your review which has actually made me want to go see the movie for the things you point out as for the things you forget, such as: Latifah's win of Common over the much skinnier Patton - reminding one that body politics in the Black community tend to be much less clear cut than in mainstream culture. And the film's reminder to the many Black women out there who see a basketball player as a meal ticket (and Oh I know some of them), that to be happy, you should build relationships on emotional connections more than on the money. These messages, far from veering into the stereotypical, are still nonetheless speaking to a Black audience. An audience which, as the Obama's have proved, is a much more nuanced entity than most folks imagine!
So thank you for your review which has actually made me want to go see the movie for the things you point out as for the things you forget, such as: Latifah's win of Common over the much skinnier Patton - reminding one that body politics in the Black community tend to be much less clear cut than in mainstream culture. And the film's reminder to the many Black women out there who see a basketball player as a meal ticket (and Oh I know some of them), that to be happy, you should build relationships on emotional connections more than on the money. These messages, far from veering into the stereotypical, are still nonetheless speaking to a Black audience. An audience which, as the Obama's have proved, is a much more nuanced entity than most folks imagine!
