4A
EDITORIALS/ The Charlotte Post
February 1, 1996
Cljarlotte
Gerald O. Johnson
Publisher
Robert Johnson
Co-Publisher/
General Manager
Herbert L. White
Editor
Sex and profanity
stain movie based on
educated black women
By James E. Alsbrook
SPECIAL TO THE POST
If the biggest and best daily newspapers are correct, hundreds
of thousands of black women individually and collectively are
seeing and enjoying the movie "Waiting to Exhale” These four
women, in figurative terms, are holding their breath while wait
ing and looking for "Mr. Right" to appear, sweep them off their
feet and leave them breathless. Then, and only then, will they
really "exhale."
This movie is unusual because it was directed by a black actor.
Forest Whitaker, and is the first movie ever to focus on middle-
class black women. None is a cook, maid or servant as were por
trayed by Butterfly McQueen and Louise Beavers, and none is a
handkerchief-head as was Aunt Jemima. They are educated and
are of the sorority-sister type. The movie was adapted from a
very popular novel of the same name by the black fiction writer,
Terry McMillan. The four sophisticated ladies in the leading roles
are all talented - Whitney Houston, Angela Bassett, Lela Rochon
and Loretta Devine.
Reports from various cities provide the following black female
reaction to this movie:
• In Houston, one black woman thought "Waiting to Exhale"
was so important that she bought the entire house of 300 seats to
entertain her friends and clubs.
• In at least two cities, black women said "Waiting To Exhale"
was as important to them as the Million Man March on
Washington was to black men.
• Some white women said the issues raised in this movie are so
broad that they "transcend the experiences of race and class."
• In Columbus, Ohio, black women said the movie redefines the
meaning of black womanhood, presents new public Images of
black women and gives new meaning to their missions In life and
to their roles In society.
• One said on television that women of various races - AlWean
American, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, European and eth
ers - take "Waiting to Exhale" very seriously because all women
of all races have variations of the same problems with men,
• Some women In California said the movie was the best ever
shown about black women because it presented them as self-
reliant. creative and prosperous authority figures with good taste
and brains.
• Several women In different cities compared this movie with
"The Cosby Show" that ran from 1984 to 1992 and "broke new
ground" in truthfully showing middle-class black people.
Millions of white people had an Amos n' Andy image of black
people because they had been deceived by black stereotypes tai
lor-made to placate whites handicapped by a "sick" need to ei\joy
feeling superior to African Americans.
This writer saw the movie at the River Valley Mall in
Lancaster. Ohio, an area wherein blacks constitute only 2 or 3
percent of the population White women in the audience com
mented to one another sometimes across several seats when they
saw familiar experiences in scenes depicting exploitation of
women by an insensitive or unscrupulous man.
In several scenes this movie presented profane language and
questionable sexual behavior that bordered on obscenity. Then I
knew why the movie was categoried as "restricted" or "not suit
able for family viewing."
Four-letter words are spewed from the mouths of the leading
women frequently and loudly, and temper tantrums loom omi
nously nearby. The F-word and the S-word shocked some female
and male viewers. This vile profanity really degrades the suppos
edly educated and cultured black woman. These "dirty” words
detracted from the enjoyment of some, disrupting the mother-
daughter and father-son rapport and companionship of some in
the audience.
The best thing about this movie is that it projects a new image
of the black woman, taking her from the kitchen help category
and showing her as an educated, sophisticated living-room host
ess. The worst thing is that its sex, profanity and man-bashing
subtract and detract from its good assets.
JAMES ALSBROOK is professor emeritus at Ohio University in
Athens, Ohio.
*
Four unpopular columns in one
Loretta Devine as Gloria, Whitney Houston as Savannah,
Angela Basset as Bernadine and Lela Rochon as Robin protray
four women who Journey through husbands, lovers, and
makeovers in “Waiting To Exhaie.”
I have four columns in mind
to write during the upcoming
weeks.
You will probably disagree
with me about all of them And
since I don't rehsh the idea of
having you angry with me
each week for the next month,
I think I will give them to you
all at once. Here they are —
four unpopular columns in
one.
1. Quality of presidential
candidates.
I am hearing about it more
and more. "Why can't we have
a better choice." Or, "I think I
will just stay
away from
the polls this
year. None of
the candi
dates suit
me."
Sometimes it
is worse. It is
amazing what
strong lan
guage a dis
cussion of the
presidential candidates can
provoke.
Clinton
I say let's be thankful for
what we have got. If Clinton
and Dole are the major party
nominees, we will have a
choice between two strong,
experienced, pragmatic, mod
erate people who are right out
the mainstream American
experience.
Maybe their political wheel
ing and dealing turns you off.
But I want our presidents to
have the skills and energy to
make things work.
Hold your nose if you want
to. I'll say a prayer of thanks.
2.Budget debate — partial
government shutdown.
Most people are still com
plaining about the partial gov
ernment shutdown that
resulted from the inability of
the congressional majorities to
reach a speedy agreement
with the president about this
year's budget.
I say that this crisis has
been good for us. All of us
want a balanced budget. But
we also want to keep many
core government programs
and we want our taxes low
ered. We have tried to have it
all ways. And then blame the
politicians for the mess we are
in.
The budget crisis has put the
ultimate responsibility where
it belongs- with us.
3. Bosnia
"We shouldn't be there.” "We
shouldn't sacrifice a single
American for that region's
peace."
I hear opposition to our use
of troops in Bosnia at every
comer. It is good to be skepti
cal about sending American
troops to somebody else's coun
try. A healthy "show me" atti
tude is the right starting place
for such proposals.
But I believe that bringing a
time of peace — even an imper
fect peace - to that region of
Europe is so important to our
long term security that it is
worth the risk Americans are
taking. And I have high hopes
for their success.
4. Recalling elected
officials.
Some of my neighbors in a
nearby town have been busy
collecting signatures as a part
of an effort to put a newly
elected councilman out of
office. He was charged with
"impaired driving" a few days
after the election.
Chasing public officials -
from the president to tovVn
councilmen - out of office
early is becoming our most
popular pastime.
I say let's ease up on our
elected officials and let them
serve out their terms - absent
misconduct in office — or
crimes that send them to jail.
Here are a few of my reasons:
We will treat elections even
less seriously if we think we
can easily remove elected offi
cials whenever they don't suit
us.
The more we require our
elected officials to fight efforts
to remove them from office,
the more we take away the
time they should be working
in the offices to which they
were elected.
And, the more we go after
those in office, the harder it is
to recruit sane, well-meaning
people to run in the next elec
tion to replace them.
Now, aren't you glad I got
those four columns out of my
system at once. Next time, I
will write something that you
agree with. I promise.
D.G. MARTIN is vice presi
dent of public affairs for the
University of North Carolina
system.
THIS liepBeseNTS!
C m
C lEiNOWCft
0 dAN6 SHuTT, pweViLLe
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THe tm
Can’t afford to lose drum majors for justice
Bernice P.
Jackson
Our values are misplaced.
You hear about the deaths of
old sports and entertainment
figures who have abused their
bodies, but those people who
have devoted their lives to jus
tice so that the lives of others
might be better get no lines in
the newspapers or time on the
television.
The world was a better place
because Dr. Jean Sindab was
in it and some 800 people
came to Riverside Church in
New York in the middle of a
snowstorm to testify to her life
of commitment to poor people,
to oppressed people, to young
people. Young people came,
native Americans came, envi
ronmental justice advocates
came, Southern Afiicans came
and many of her friends and
colleagues came to pay tribute
to this gentle woman with an
uncompromising spirit.
Dr. Jean Sindab was an
Africanist, whose love for
Mother Africa was central to
her own identity. Through her
work at the World Council of
Churches, she was able to
work for the liberation of
black people throughout
Southern Africa and for the
eradication of racism the
world over.
Through her more recent
work at the National Council
of Churches, Dr. Sindab
became a leading voice in the
environmental justice move
ment. She helped black
churches to understand the
impact of environmental
racism on the lives of their
communities and she clearly
understood the link between
living in degraded physical
environments, mass alien
ation and destructive violence.
Jean Sindab was also a vocal
supporter of our youth and
one deeply concerned about
the violence which threatens
to engulf them. She put
together a program called
"Things that Make for Peace"
and was an active participant
in the Kansas City gang sum
mit.
Jean Sindab died at 51 of
breast cancer. Another war
rior for justice felled during
what should have been the
prime of her life. Another
frontline casualty in the war
against racial, social and eco
nomic injustice.
We seldom talk about the
price one pays for being on the
frontlines in the battles. We
seldom talk about the early
deaths, the nervous break
downs, the health problems of
facing into the winds of injus
tice and power. But they are
clearly there and we as a com
munity need to acknowledge
them. And then we need to do
something about them.
We need to take better care
of our leaders. We need to
embrace them, to support
them, to demand that they
take care of themselves physi
cally, mentally and spiritual
ly. We need to encourage our
leaders to stop smoking and to
find time for exercise in the
madness of the world. We
need to make sure that our
men on the frontlines watch
their blood pressure and their
diets and have prostate cancer
tests. We need to make sure
that our women on the front
lines have mammograms.
It seems that I've lost a lot of
folks I respect and love to can
cer. Indeed, African
Americans have the highest
overall age-adjusted cancer
incidence and mortality rate
of any group in the U.S. Black
women are more likely than
white women to die from
breast cancer and black men
are more likely to die from
prostate cancer, for instance.
Cancer, I am told, is a rela
tionship between a host and
an invader. There are a num
ber of factors which impact
how your body reacts to that
invader and clearly heredity,
environment, social and nutri
tional factors all have a part
to play in cancer. So do racism
and stress.
Being a drum major for jus
tice is full of stress. It means
being sensitive to the plight of
those who are oppressed. It
means speaking difficult
words to power. It means
putting your life on the line,
sometimes in not-so-obvious
ways.
Tell someone you respect,
someone who is on the front
lines for justice that you care.
Make sure they take care of
themselves. We can not afford
to lose many more Jean
Sindabs. We can't afford to
lose many more drum majors
for justice.
BERNICE POWELL JACK-
SON is executive director of
the Commission For Racial
Justice in Cleveland, Ohio.