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Originally posted by The Cushite
The Clip was interesting. But it shows the all too overplayed scenario of black men and black women in dysfunctional relationships. My wife is trying to write a novel about this, but she is finding from publishing companies that people don't want to delve into the complexities of a 21st century adult love affair between a black man and a black woman. All they want is the dirt, the name calling, the cheating, the rampant pain and lies. My wife, an English Professor, just calls it "Low culture" (A literary concept that divides academic fiction or "High culture" from popular fiction or "low Culture"). The high culture literature would be subject for academic critique and address themes that would stand up to literary critique. Think about Toni Morrison or Alice Walker for "High Culture" writers and Eric Jerome Dickey or Terry McMillan for "Low Culture" writers. This isn't to say that Low Culture isn't or can't be good literature, but it is written for a broader audience, an audience that wouldn't appreciate certain literary devices that High culture writers would employ.
I said all that to say that this clip seemed to attract a "low culture" perspective on the issue. Just because the brother showed up with a white women, the black women labeled him "weak". He only defended himself by looking at material things he bought for the ex, as if this disproved her assertion of his "weakness". He then states that he couldn't deal with the "drama" that came from her every night (a stereotype of black women, that they are immasculating). Couple that with all of the profanity and you appeal to a wider audience, and an audience that is more stimulated by titilation and discord rather than keen insight and critique. I think the issue of inter-racial dating needs to get beyond the surface issues and look at the complexities of history, economics, politics, religion, sex, "the whole 9" as Prof. X (R.I.P.) of the X Clan would say.
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Bruh, on the surface I appreciate and believe it or not, even agree with much of what you say. And I concede that perhaps the content comes off as stereotypical, or "low culture" as you put it. But frankly, I personally am glad that there is even a movie that addresses what I am feeling about today's black women to a T, be it high culture, low culture, or no culture at all.
Because all too often, I am forced to see movies that are presented only from the women's side, or with the tired theme of men pursuing IMHO undesireable/unsuitable black women (those men I call "manginas"--a hybrid of "man" and "vagina"; you get the general idea of where I am going with this).
Too many movies ignore the "Average Joe" brother and his attempts to land a woman with genuine intentions of seeking love and companionship, often resulting the the brother being slighted by the "sista" for shallow, selfish reasons. And the only rationale people can provide for this was that "the brother must've been a weak-@** man" What the fuss?
Now there is a movie that addresses "the other side of the fence" and folk automatically want to dismiss it as "low-brow drama". I look at it this way, someone took the initiative to say that stuff like this happens to men and it needs to be portrayed on the silver screen.
Slightly off topic: Last year, there was a Direct-to-DVD movie called "Baby's Momma Drama", about four men (two black, one white, one Latino) and their issues with dealing with child support payments and the money-hungry malicious women they were dealing with. Sure it was "low culture". But IMHO it was on point because stuff like this was happening every day and no one bothered to portray it "like it is".
AFAIC, I am just grateful that there are more movies being presented from the "average black man's" point of view, rather than the women's or the "super Negro brother's" point of view. And frankly, in that regard, I don't give two snots about the high-culture/low-culture stuff.
Just to add with regards to that "inter-racial" dating stuff: I don't think of what will be happening to average brothers as inter-racial dating, but inter-CULTURAL dating, which is why I wish they had the brother date a foreign woman, even an African or a Carribean woman would have made the same social impact as hime dating a white woman.