For Colored Girls
 

Based on the play "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf" by Ntozake Shange.

http://www.forcoloredgirlsmovie.com/

It comes out this Friday.

Unfortunately, the showtimes are difficult to find for some cities. I have not seen the play but heard it was powerful.

I don't think we need another "sad Black folks" story in Hollywood because most Black movies in the theaters are sad tales. I get "Waiting to Exhale" vibes from the previews but know it's more dramatic than that. I hope it's nothing like the miserable "Precious" which I absolutely hated hated hated and thought was horrendous.

If anyone sees it please let us know what you thought. :) I'll do the same when I see it.

Thanks.

I'm with you, doc ... although I've never been a Tyler Perry (TP) fan, I just don't get the point of why this play is being made a movie. With the loss Janet Jackson has suffered (along with the rest of the world), I expect her deliverance to be stellar, bu still ...

I worry about why this would be something any of us would be interested in seeing merely because it's produced by TP. Oh, well ... more power to him, still ...

I want to see it, but I'm afraid it'll turn into Janet Fest 2010. I think she's a wonderful entertainer, but I'm thinking the other WONDERFUL actors will get overlooked.

I LOL'd at the thought that Janet would overshadow anything. She sucks compared to most of the women in this flick. She will be out shined. Easily.

I'm not talking about her acting outshining the others'. I'm talking about her getting more scenes in the movie and more media coverage.

I didn't even know TP was involved until recently. I've always heard of how great and powerful the play was and that's why I want to see it and because of who's starring in it (and not because of Janet Jackson and definitely not TP). I'm supposed to see it on Sunday...will be back with my thoughts.

I've seen and read the play, but I just can't imagine TP doing a good job on this. I'd hope it was more like "Waiting to Exhale," but I think it's going to be some "woe is us" crap that I cannot handle.

I'll check it out this friday and let you know my thoughts on the movie.

Waiting to Exhale (which was also pretty "woe is us" mixed with "sisters united") wasn't that great. It was awesome when I was a high schooler seeing it in the theater with my mom but it isn't so great as a grown woman.

As for TP, I like him but I didn't like his movies until he got beyond Madea. Now he's made two of my fav movies that I can watch everyday. :D

I look forward to reading what rhoyaltempest and sigtau305 have to say about this movie. :) I hope to find a showtime near me and report my findings.

Tyler Perry was on "The View" a few episodes ago and explained why he decided to make this play into a movie. Basically, he was approached several times to put his own spin on this play and make it into a movie although he did not want to initially. I missed the original airing of his appearance, but watched it on HULU.com.

He said (maybe on Oprah when he was talking about his own history of abuse) that he's not concerned with the critics' reviews. He's only concerned with the viewers' reviews. We shall see. We shall see.

Although it won't be actually like the play,I do expect Tyler to butcher it to the point where it isn't remotely close to the play...but we shall see. Madea better not make an appearance! If you want to see the original play with Alfre Woodard and Lynn Whitfield, you can get it on Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Colored-Girls-...8747073&sr=1-1

I'll check it out once it hits Netflix...instant queue...maybe.

I've had enough man-bashing movies for my life.

This weekend is my b-day weekend and I plan on trying to fit it in with all the festivities. I read the book sooo long ago (middle school/early high school) that I want to re-read it before I go see the movie. I know that is a "set up" so to speak, particularly a TP movie, but I'd rather have the authentic product to compare the movie to. If I remember correctly it is a pretty woeful book (although not always related to a man/a relationship), and imagine the movie will be as well. I'm more than a little bit concerned about TP "putting his spin on it", but it is what it is. However, I'm very excited to see the performances of Thandi Newton and Kimberly Elise.

LOL! Exactly!

That's interesting. I think about the movies with a majority Black male cast and I wonder what their central themes tended to be. :)

Happy birthday weekend! :D I'm excited to see everyone except Janet Jackson. I tolerated her in WDIGM but she annoyed me to no end on WDIGM2.

:)

For months my significant other and I planned on seeing this on opening weekend so we will probably see it tomorrow.

My pals just planned a women's evening out for Sunday in which we see this movie and go out for coffee (or something stronger).

Seeing this movie twice in one weekend will only happen if it's just that awesome. We shall see.

Looks like I'm seeing it on Monday night.

I hadn't planned on seeing this but one of my friends texted me last night and said it's the best movie she's seen in a long time. I guess I'll go sometime this week.

The movie was exactly what I expected and I guess those who saw the play and read the book could've predicted that. The moments of laughter and cheer in the audience were far outweighted by the other stuff. You have to be in a certain "mood" to see this movie.

Despite missing parts of the movie when I saw it yesterday, I have decided not to see it in its entirety today.

I agree with what this reviewer said about the movie (not with what the reviewer said about T.P.): http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie-c...colored-girls/

It isn't miserable like Precious because you can be easily distracted by For Colored Girls' star appeal because the actresses are awesome. And despite how much I love Janet's hair and her red dress, I do NOT like her acting.

Wasn't very good.

I haven't seen it yet. I'll probably check it out after work one day this week.

I just read the review - Ouch! (especially what was written about his directing skills).

Thanks!! I enjoyed myself this weekend (shout out to dreamseeker:D) but didn't make it to the movies. Will have to try for later on this week.

It was better than I thought it'd be. Standard man-hating and empowered women that you'd expect from a TP film, but the amazing actors (and the lack of TP/Madea in the film) made it enjoyable.

This is a thread in itself. I always say that we have enough miserable Black folks movies and I wish there was more balance. The balance song is the same song we've been singing for generations.

In the larger sense, I don't see it as man-hating or empowered women. I think his movies are a microcosm that is directed at a particular demographic that can relate to aspects of his plays and movies. All of his movies and plays have had at least one good man to highlight the good man vs. bad man dichotomy.

As much as I love some of his movies and say "get it, girl" during some scenes, I don't see the women's empowerment that some people see. True empowerment and liberation do not come at the hands of a man but that's what his plays and movies portray. Needing a shitty man to help you realize your power to overcome; or needing a good man to help you realize your potential keeps women in the same patriarchal structure. Show me a woman who realizes all of this without a man (or a woman for the lesbians) and I'll call her an empowered woman.

I see what you're saying.

TP is notorious for the "Giiiiiiiiirl, my man hits/cheats/yells/etc but as long as I have my girls, I'm OK! And when I least expect it, I'm gonna catch that one good man that I deserve!" sensibilities. That's what I was referring to.

It wasn't as blatant as, say, DOAMBWoman, but I attribute that to the cast.

Snaaaaaaping my fingers to this!!

I'm still conflicted. Love Shange's play. I've read the poem and seen the play many times. LOVE IT! Yes, IT is very empowering as the focus in on black female identity. His addition of Janet Jackson and her entire storyline were ANNOYING. Ugh. Also, he only included a snippet of one of my favorite pieces. It just didn't fit in with the story he was telling. However, the piece about Toussaint ended on a very sweet note. *sigh* Oh well. I just hope this encourages more people to go out and buy the book.

:D

this is where i am. i'm happy we have people interested in the original work. i saw the movie yesterday (after MUCH reservation) and it wasn't as bad as i expected. the theater and people... now that's another thread :rolleyes:

Anyway, a lot of my younger girlfriends are only tangentially familiar with the original work and now there's discussion of people reading it, seeing the play, etc. thumbs up to TP on that.

as far as the movie itself, i can only laugh when i hear the brothers say "it's a male bashing movie." sweeties, it's not about you. thanks.

On a different note, can anyone explain to me the issue that Tyler Perry has with his writers belonging to/seeking to join (WGA) unions? These unions provide wage protection, health benefits, and afford other protections that are common in this business.

I've read a lot of different explanations suggested by other people but don't quite get the word from the top. If anyone can point me to a credible place to understand this issues, I would appreciate, purely from a writing perspective. I'd also like to find out if he isn't the only well-known producer who holds such union restrictions on his writers.

My mother, who doesn't like TP at all, thinks the movie is really good. She has the book (a very old copy) that I read a few times growing up. I would have totally expected my mother to think that TP couldn't do it justice, but she says "it lacks that Tyler Perry flair." Hmmm...

I enjoyed this movie. Some parts I just couldn't hold the tears in and I didn't think he would let those kids go like that. You would think somebody would've tried to stand under them to make an attempt to catch them.

Overall, I did enjoy the movie. It's a tearjerker. I don't even cry at movies and it almost got me.

I didn't even think about that. That's a good point.

I finally got to see the movie last week. The way I see it, the movie didn't bash black men. the actresses that really stand out was Thandie Newton, Kimberly Elsie(sp) and Loretta Devine. Overall, the movie was good.

I could've sworn I posted in this thread already.

I saw it the first week and went late at night so that the theater was almost empty. It was beautifully done and I would like to see it again. I agree, you gotta be in some kinda mood to watch this. I'm glad not everybody in the cast was actively suicidal, that would have been overwhelmingly depressing. Tessa Thompson did a great job ("I just couldn't stop grinniiiiin'...." :D) and even Janet was great, but I think Anika Noni Rose took the cake for me.

I've heard people complain (IRL) about the storyline and "Why is this so sad? Why are all these women having so many issues, TP needs to let up with that same old line." Uh, he didn't write this. These stories were already like this, give the man a break. He did an excellent job with what he had. For heaven's sake, the book had the word "suicide" in the title--the book was sad, the play was sad, the movie will be sad. :rolleyes: But their stories showed that the bad is not the end. I like how the stories criss-crossed till the end when they all knew each other. Each one was special though I didn't quite understand Kerri Washington's character's story....her man cheated with her best friend and now she can't have children? I missed something in that monologue. If someone could explain, that'd be great.