By Deardra Shuler
In the movie “For Colored Girls,” distributed by Lionsgate, Crystal (Kimberly Elise) tells her war veteran husband Beau Willie (Michael Ealy) that she has loved him ever since they were 14-years-old. Yet love proves its not enough in this time honored tale of “For Colored Girls,” Tyler Perry's film portrayal of Ntozake Shange's 1970’s lyrical stage play "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf."
There is a lovely scene where Whoopie Goldberg (Alice)and Thandie Newton (Tangie) recites Shange’s poetry. Whoopie’s character (a religious fanatic) tends to use religion and the bible as a weapon which only serves to alienate her daughters. The verse they recite speaks perfectly to their relationship. Thandie Newton who plays Whoopie’s elder daughter Tangie both loves and hates her mother. Tangie hides a lot of inner pain. Pain that has corrupted her and caused her to lose her moral compass. She barely speaks to her mother and sister and uses men sexually yet is shocked when one of her conquests thinks she is a prostitute. Tangie's philosophy is that men should be treated sexually the same way they treat women. She abandons her younger sister Nyla (Tessa Thompson), who gets pregnant the very first time she tries love and ends up on Rose’s (Macy Gray) abortion table, alone and terrified. Anika Noni Rose plays Yasmine, a dance instructor, whose joy in her dancing is suddenly and forever shattered when she invites the wrong man into her home. Kerry Washington (Kelly)is a child welfare worker who is desperately trying to have a child of her own but is too late to help Crystal’s children. Janet Jackson plays Jo, (a stone faced business woman who has hardened over the years). Jo has lost her soul to her work and has no compassion for those around her. Ms. Jackson is becoming a fine actress if her Tyler Perry "Why Did I Get Married" films are any indication. However, something of her portrayal of Jo, reminded me of Miranda Priestly’s character in (The Devil Wears Prada). The divine Loretta Devine plays Juanita, an aging Family Planning counselor who keeps taking back a “no goodnik” man she should of discarded long ago. Phylicia Rashad plays Gilda the apartment manager who holds the keys to everyone’s apartment and everyone’s secrets.
Omari Hardwick as Carl, Hill Harper as Donald, Jaycee Williams as Kenya, Thomas Jessup as Kwame and John Crow as Dr. Davis portray the male characters in the movie. Some would say that the male characters are cast in a bad light. Not all were. I wish to clarify that the male characters signified the men Shange scripted in her controversial 1970s play. These male characters could have been any man of any race but happened to be black. They do not represent the majority of black men.
“For Colored Girls," was a sensation upon its debut in 1975, when Ms. Shange wrote the piece back in the ‘70s. Shange called her play a "choreopoem." The play consisted of 20 poems, and some musical tunes and song and dance numbers, much of it documenting Ms. Shange’s own personal experiences and attempts at suicide. In her play she identified each character with a color relating it to the rainbow, although brown, purple, green, blue and orange were also incorporated into the color spectrum. Tyler depicted colors via apparel with Jo wearing red. Whoopie’s character, white, Tangie, orange, Juanita, green, Yasmine, yellow, Nyla, purple, and Crystal, Brown, etc.
When Shange first wrote her play “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf” she stated the play was raw and honest including the lost of virginity, abortion, rape, and the need of all the characters to find love despite some unpleasant experiences.
I think Tyler Perry has done a fine job with this tear jerker. “For Colored Girls” holds the viewer spell bound. Some will love it and others not but all who see this movie will not forget it.
When I interviewed Tyler Perry he mentioned that based on the request of his fan base he continues to do the Medea character but wants to broaden his horizons and branch out with other types of movies and characters. His "Married" series and now "Colored Girls" are proof of his desire to get away from what some have tagged "coonery" films. Although, Perry is mostly known by black people, one cannot branch out in the film business unless they are working with those who reign over the entertainment business. I suspect Tyler gave those business entities what they wanted until he could put himself in a position to put more positive work out. He is now at that place. Thus, hopefully his "Mr. Payne" and "Mr. Brown" characters will become a distant past replaced by more positive intelligent images of black folks. But believe it or not, the success of the Mr. Paynes and Mr. Browns are due to the support of black audiences that support and like them. Therefore, like it or not, those blaming Perry for his minstrel movies must admit that his popularity stems from the vast black audience who continue to demand and support those chitlin circuit productions that Tyler Perry critics call his "coonery/buffoonery" movies and plays. So if we are to blame Tyler Perry we must also blame those among us that love and pay money to see this type of comedy.
"For Colored Girls" is now in theaters near you.
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