Tyler Perry’s “For Colored Girls” adapted from Ntozake Shange’s 1975 stage show “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf,” premiered in theaters earlier this month and was received with a flood of mixed praises and condemning criticisms.
Perry — one of the most commercially well-known African American writer/filmmakers — has been known to push the envelope, making films that express black culture with a twist.
Poking fun at the black church and reinventing the racially-constructed Mammy with his most famous character, Mable “Madea” Simmons, is one thing, but did Perry go too far with the depictions of black women in his latest film, or hit the nail right on the head by exposing America to realistic struggles black women face?
Some have argued his films have one-dimensional characters and storytelling plots peppered with racial stereotypes and melodrama. Although some of these claims are valid, “For Colored Girls” is far from a typical Perry movie.
The attempt to remove the sugarcoated topping from the reality and struggles in the life of a black woman should not be dismissed, but appreciated.
Piecing together the remnants of what a black woman stands for in a society that is unready for what she has become, is a tall order, and there always is going to be fault found in the process of uncovering her journey.
Opening doors to the truth about what it’s like to bear this skin, this life and this culture is an inspirational effort — and no one is going to get it right on film.
The attempt, however, is honorable. Steven Spielberg received some flak about his direction of “The Color Purple,” adapted from Alice Walker’s novel of the same name, but he told a fictional story in a realistic way.
America wasn’t ready then and maybe is not even now, but the Disney-fied happy endings have to stop and the truth eventually will find its way to the light.
A good, hard-working, educated black woman is a treasure — just like any other good woman is — but our story is unique and precious.
Although race is socially constructed, our color is a reminder of where we’ve come from and what strides we’ve taken to get to where we are now.
And even now, in the world of higher learning, we still are haunted by the stereotypes.
How embarrassing is it to have a fellow classmate ask you how to pronounce your name, when it simply is Ashley?
Or the cashier at the grocery store direct you to the Bridge Card line when you have money in your pocket?
Or a thoughtless internship director who explains that you are “a credit to your race” because you speak with correct grammatical syntax?
These are pleasantries women like me face on a daily basis.
I recently watched my best friend — a graduating, dual-major mother and law school applicant, who is no stranger to the Dean’s List — shudder in frustration with tears spilling from her eyes because she could not figure out how she was going to pay her rent for the month.
I watched my divorced mother raise three children, go to college and graduate with her master’s and then go on to earn her doctorate, even when money was so tight she was forced to wear plastic grocery bags inside her winter boots to keep her feet dry.
I watched my grandmother teach all nine of her grandchildren to work hard and understand that good enough wasn’t good enough for us.
These are real women who haven’t been scripted or portrayed by actors, these are women who are the main components in the stock from which I have come and I’m not a character in a movie.
Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
So, yes, Perry might be heavy-handed with the delivery of his message, but it stemmed from a real place.
The heart of the black woman is like no other — it can find the underlying strength innate to survive because that is what it does.
“For Colored Girls” wasn’t the best movie, but it was based on truth, and that is something for whichi it should be praised.
Ashley Brown is a State News staff writer. Reach her at brownas8@msu.edu.
