For Colored Girls

Opening night I dragged a close friend of mine to see For Colored Girls (film adaptation of the play) in the movie theater. I was dying to see the film after weeks of promising reviews and previews. Was I weary of the Tyler Perry curse (great ideas shattered by problematic stereotypes and misinformation)? Ummm yes. But I still went. I've never seen the play (yet) but read the monologues in this little book available at Barnes & Noble. The monologues are all thoughtfully written and grab you every time (in my humble opinion). The play is truly a work of art. Whenever Hollywood actresses say, "Well, I got naked because this is my craft..." Bullshit! That's not art, but this play is the real thing.

So, here I was in a packed room at the movies. The movie was engaging (as the play seems it would be) so tons of audience members (especially the women) were agreeing with the characters and basically relating to the film (which is crazy bad ass). It was a really cool experience to see such full, rich female characters on screen for a change! All the women featured (colors of the rainbow) told different stories in different ways all very powerfully. My favorite line was, "Somebody almost walked away with all of my stuff" (a woman implying she almost gave it all up for a man but then remembered HERSELF and didn't).

It was especially fun when there was a particular male character I knew I didn't like immediately even though he appeared to be rather nice and gentlemanly (I can pick a creeper out of a line up anywhere anytime; film or real life). But mostly, I enjoyed the connection everyone was having with the film. It felt real.

However, Tyler Perry didn't all of a sudden find feminism before making this film (no "coming to Gloria" moment for him). There was a scene where a gay man who is living on the "down low" (a term originally started in the African American community meaning a man who has sex with men secretly while he's married to a woman). This man ends up giving HIV to his wife and afterward a nurse explains that African American women are contracting HIV at a high rate recently. Okay, do some men live on the down low? Yes, thanks to Oprah we all know about it. Are African American women contracting HIV at higher rates? Yes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "In 2006, the rate of new HIV infection for black women was nearly 15 times as high as that of white women and nearly 4 times that of Hispanic/Latina women"(www.cdc.gov). However, in 2009 The National Black Leadership Commission showed a study saying that black women were contracting HIV from HETEROSEXUAL ACTIVITY!

The "down low" is a huge stereotype that is often used to explain this high rate of infection for women of color. However, studies show it is clearly not the case. So, Tyler Perry once again falls flat with me. For me, it was especially heartbreaking to see the audience reaction. When this male character was confronted by his wife, everyone nodded and said, "Oh yeah" and other supportive phrases. I don't know these people but it definitely FELT like in MY OPINION that the real hatred came from his being gay. In fact, his wife has a line saying something like "You should have just been yourself in the first place" but everyone was hooting and hollering in agreement and the line was barely audible!

It's just irresponsible on Tyler Perry's part. Next time, Tyler, let's not break some and while we create others.

DISCLAIMER: I did not poll the audience after the film. These are strictly my opinions and "feelings" I got from what I heard by the audience during and after the film.