‘For Colored Girls’ directed by Tyler Perry is an adaptation of a Tony Award nominated choreopoem written by Ntozake Shange. Clint O’Conner a reviewer for the Plain Dealer writes about Tyler Perry, “He has taken Ntozake Shange’s 1974 choreopoem ‘For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf’ and both condensed and expanded it into a big-screen extravaganza assessing the black female experience in America” (O'Connor 1). ‘For Colored Girls’ is an emotionally charged drama about the struggles facing the modern-day black women finding their voice in America. This master piece with an all-star cast of African-American women will be talked about for years to come. Tyler Perry is at his finest and the ensemble of African-American actresses that he has brought together to portray Ms. Shange’s original cast is amazing. I agree with Peter Debruge when he speaks about Mr. Perry’s work, “ In adapting Ntozake Shange's Tony-nominated play -- a cycle of poetic monologues about abuse, abortion and other issues facing modern black women, rather than a traditional narrative -- the do-it-all auteur demonstrates an ambition beyond any of his previous work” (Debruge 1). Tyler Perry’s film tackles every issue from rape to post traumatic stress disorder with a rhythmic flare that honors the original work by Ms. Shange.
The movie begins by following the lives of eight women whose lives intertwine and intersect in a present day Harlem walk-up. Patrick Ivers, film critic writes “Tyler Perry’s powerful opera of pain and poetry and precious intensity, lyrical lament to rhythms of resentment brings together eight women and their traumatic experiences. They have suffered physical and verbal abuse, abandonment, infidelity, infection, i...
... middle of paper ...
...s, sister, and brothers together and asking questions.
The soundtrack and poetry that was played, danced to, and recited throughout the scenes in the movie, sent my mind on a journey, that if the picture itself did not touch my heart the sounds would make me move. The images, sounds, words, and colors throughout the movie came together like the colors in a rainbow. ‘For Colored Girls’ gave me the opportunity to step outside my shoes and take a journey that I would have never considered traveling. I realized even though the path may be different and the race may be harder with working together we too can come together like the colors in a rainbow shining through, and out whether any storm. Regardless of what I am going through in life this movie showed me that I am not alone, and often times leaning on someone else’s shoulders will help me overcome any obstacle.
It shows that there is no difference between white and colored people, but it’s so hard for people to get past the physical features to realize that we are all equal. Ethel was right when she said two colored men would help two white women, and those white men knew she was right. Those men knew Ethel had a point and now they had no choice but to help her and her friend. When Ethel was in the hospital, she had two doctors who mistreated her leg injury. Her wound was severely infected because the two doctors never helped her, and her leg could have been amputated.
This movie is based on a true story, about four extraordinary Aboriginal women. Sisters Laurel Robinson, Lois Peeler and their cousins Beverley Briggs and Naomi Mayers. They were part of an extended family of brothers and sisters who regularly sang together during the 1960s and 70’s. Laurel and Lois toured Vietnam in the late 1960s singing to the American troops which was an amazing feat, considering that Aboriginal people had only just gained the right to vote. All four of these women still live in Australia and all have important roles within the community.
...they deserved something positive in return. These people in Rosewood suffered because of the color of their skin and not anything else. I have realized that I am lucky to have the choices I have in my education, and athletics, and I am grateful to be able to play basketball for my school—as back in the times that they lived, they were simply lucky to be alive and did not have any choice in sports to play or fun to have. They simply worked for white people, and tried to stay away from death. They were not given the chances that I have today. This movie gave me a new, grateful and thankful view on the society I live in today.
I have always believed that all races have their good and bad. Their is never going to be the perfect race. This movie definitely set a powerful message that life is not perfect for any race and that even though people are from different cultures, they are all interconnected somehow. The filmmakers did a great job at showing us that individuals should not be based on first impressions such as skin color or the social status.
The movie teaches us to look beyond the cover and into who someone is as a person. We also learn that sometimes contact with people makes us reconsider our judgement towards them, to find out the real person underneath.
Aiming to gratify others has a tendency of making people act in ways other than their usual self. As one begins to act the way others want them to they begin to lose distinctiveness and individuality. For Colored Girls who have Considered Suicide when the Rainbow is Enuf by Ntozake Shange is about a specific set of women, who aim to please a certain man or different men. Each woman is hurt in some way by a man and as they progress throughout the series of “choreopoems”, they alter themselves in different ways to cause an effect upon the various men they associate themselves with. As the women describe their experiences, it is obvious that they make drastic changes in themselves. These women lose purpose and become confused, bitter, scared, and frustrated about their lives. Consequently, the ladies have negative outward reactions that are similar to each other, making the women easy to stereotype. The women in For Colored Girls who have Considered Suicide when the Rainbow is Enuf have the opportunity to narrate their own stories; however, they choose to emphasize the influence of men in their lives, thus illustrating how susceptible they are to stereotyping and making them weakened as individuals.
In this movie I learned that you can never be quick to judge people based on their color, or the way they look, because their look doesn't tell you if they are nice or good people. This movie teaches you great lessons about life and shows that it takes hard work to succeed and to make a good team. Chemistry is one of the key things. Everyone should get along, and there should be no conflict between teammates. I have also learned that you shouldn't judge someone based on the color of their skin.
Many of the readings we had this semester has given me a better outlook on the society I know today. Mainly, the most obvious characteristics of people, race. Race: The power of an Illusion, allowed me to understand the construction of a complex distinction of people. These distinctions and classifications created a divide in humanity, and re-enforced a system that not only favored the white race, but embedded a virus of hatred for colored people to succumb for future generations. The man made term and meaning of race is a important tool that the white elite used to oppress non-whites. It 's in this film, which provides us with there ridiculous claims of black bodies inferiority and theorized inevitability of extinction. False scientific theories
This movie is a wonderful production starting from 1960 and ending in 1969 covering all the different things that occurred during this unbelievable decade. The movie takes place in many different areas starring two main families; a very suburban, white family who were excepting of blacks, and a very positive black family trying to push black rights in Mississippi. The movie portrayed many historical events while also including the families and how the two were intertwined. These families were very different, yet so much alike, they both portrayed what to me the whole ‘message’ of the movie was. Although everyone was so different they all faced such drastic decisions and issues that affected everyone in so many different ways. It wasn’t like one person’s pain was easier to handle than another is that’s like saying Vietnam was harder on those men than on the men that stood for black rights or vice versa, everyone faced these equally hard issues. So it seemed everyone was very emotionally involved. In fact our whole country was very involved in president elections and campaigns against the war, it seemed everyone really cared.
"29 n The Color Purple: Black Women as Cultural Readers." Cultural theory and popular culture: A reader (1997): 310.
In today’s society, pre-existing assumptions and stereotypes of other ethnicities and individuals play a large part in the way we see others. This social construct of stereotypes has placed restrictions on many people’s lives which ultimately limits them from achieving certain goals. In this sense, stereotypes misrepresent and restrict people of colour to gain casting within the Hollywood film industry. The issue of how casting actors to certain roles and how these actors are forced to submit and represent these false stereotypes is one worthy of discussion. White Chicks (2004), directed by Keenan Wayans, illustrates this issue through the performance of Latrell, performed by Terry Crews, and his performance of the hyper-sexualised “buck” will be a prime example in this essay to discuss the racial politics and stereotypes in Hollywood casting.
The attempts the women tries so to be in vain till the end when it over boils. The women set herself free in the only way she knew how. Sometimes when people are in tight situation, or when their goals are being blocked, they react even when it doesn’t make sense. The women reacted to being closed up and oppressed and, to her family, it didn’t make
The title of Shanges choreopoem, For colored girls who have considered suicide when the Rainbow is Enuff reverberates with a sense of negativity. This is only surface scratching because when you read and study the contents of this narrative it becomes really an announcement of a victory for `colored girls'. These `colored girls' considered suicide, and for anything to be enuff to pull them away from killing themselves it must be a powerful force and it must hold a promise for fulfilling their desires. The rainbow signifies a move away from death into a happier life. The power of the force is greater than death. It is a life-giving force. The figure of the rainbow traverses race, color and class because it arches over all after the storm. The universality of the rainbow means it is recognizable. The rainbow figures in Christian religion in Genesis chapter 6-9 of the bible, where the rainbow is a token of a covenant from God to Noah that he will never destroy the earth by flood again. After 40 d...
African American women writers and thinkers are one of those Postcolonial groups that have asserted their voices and experiences in a world, which has denied them the right to exist. The Patriarchal fathers have silenced women from even the dominant communities into submission, so it was nothing new for Black women to be muted for centuries together by the all powerful white patriarchal powers. Black women have been facing oppression on more than one count. There has been covert resistance and resentment from these women, which have been beautifully depicted in the 2012 movie The Help, but it was only in the late 60’s and early 70’s when Black women overtly came to forefront with the establishment of The National Black Feminist Organization (NBFO).
In 1982, Walker published her most controversial and famous book, ‘The Color Purple’. It is written in the form of epistolary (letter), the novel included vivid descriptions of rape, incest, bisexuality, lesbianism, and “black- on – black” violence and abuse. It recounted the tragic but ultimately triumphant life story of Celie, a young victimized black woman. A year later it appeared it got Pulitzer Prize in fiction and National Book Award, and in 1985 it was adapted as motion picture. Walker’s longtime best- seller transcended black and gender