I had no idea how connected I would feel to this Tyler Perry film.
I was sitting in a sparsely occupied theatre, attentive to the movie, relating to the experiences being portrayed by the women on the screen. I was thinking things like Yup, I dated that guy and Don't believe him! I've heard that before and baby girl, don't give up - I've been there, too! (Who am I kidding? I was yelling those things at the screen just like the other 20 women in the theatre.) I sat there in my seat and felt the same hurt and shame and resentment that the actresses conveyed as the women's stories unfolded. I felt along with them because, I realized, they were telling my story - not all of them, of course, but a few....one in particular. It was actually really difficult to watch at a couple of points - sitting in the theatre with strangers and friends who don't know my colored girl secrets, feeling like I was being exposed. Maybe they felt that way, too....
I left the theatre wondering what happens next? Tyler Perry has a way of introducing and facilitating the beginning of conversations that, although they are important conversations to be had, get left as just an introduction. And then I'm left to wonder where the responsibility falls to pick up the conversation, continue it and turn the words into some sort of action? Who helps the colored girls to be more than a series of almost unmanageable stories, a collage of tragic entertainment and casualties of their circumstance?
As a colored girl, a woman who saw her past splashed vividly across 30 ft of screen, I'm prayerful that this isn't the end of the conversation. (If you'll notice, this blog post is a 'part 1', so you know it's not the end for me......)
Watch the trailer, watch the movie, join the conversation....
~gg~
No comments:
Post a Comment