Long time no chat huh? Well, I'm back after a small hiatus. Don't hate me too much, you knew I'd be coming back. ;)
I'm not one of those people that go see a movie the first weekend it is released. In fact, I'm probably the last person in the group to actually see a movie. While everyone is talking about the movie, I'm sitting quietly wondering if I feel like paying $20 bucks to see a movie that I may not like or wait until it comes out on Redbox. You can never loose with Redbox. Anyway, I finally went to see that movie "Think Like A Man" that everyone has been raving about. Before the movie even came out, people were telling me, "Jayme, you need to go see that movie and tell us what you think." Well, I finally went to see the movie one random Thursday night with some girlfriends of mine. I over payed for the movie ticket and nachos to see this movie. And you really want to know what I think?
It was cute.
That's it. The movie was cute. It wasn't profound and I doubt I will buy the DVD. When I go spend $50 dollars to go see a movie in the movie theater, I do like to think that I would POSSIBLY buy the movie on DVD. However, this was not one of those movies. I'm not knocking it because it was a cute movie. It was a pretty good romantic comedy. Nothing out of the ordinary, they simply incorporated Steve Harvey's book within it. While I only saw it as "cute", there were some other observations I made about the movie. Disclaimer: If you have not seen the movie yet, then do not read these observations.
1. I hope they did not plan to have a soundtrack out for that movie because the only song they played throughout the entire movie was John Legend's "Tonight's the Night". Don't get me wrong, it's a fantastic song. But I don't want to hear it over...and over.....and over...and over again. I'm sure they could have played more love songs. I have an Ipod shuffle list full of love songs they could have picked from other than John Legend. Come on now.
2. I appreciated witnessing the male bonding. We were able to get a glimpse into the male bonding in a funny, productive way. All of them were different men with different walks of life that are genuinely friends. It made me wonder whether brotha's actually have similar conversations. As a woman, it was good to know that men can have similar conversations as women in a group setting. I haven't seen a good male-bonding movie since The Brothers and The Wood.
3. I'm so glad they did not glorify the book! That was the best part for me. I was expecting them to infer that the book was the best thing ever created for women. However, it appeared as though they were poking fun at how women looked at the book like a dating bible. While it was messed up, the brotha's in the movie used the book against women. This is an aspect I don't think anyone really considered when the book was released. Whose to say a brotha did not pick up the book and use it as a resource tool? When the book came out, I wondered to myself, "I wonder how many brotha's out there are mad that Steve rewrote the man book for women?" And yes ladies, there's a mythical Man Book out there other than Steve Harvey's book. I think they receive the manual at birth, I'm not sure.
4. There were WAAYYYYY too many cameos! Did every black person in the entertainment community decide to play a role in this movie? My goodness. Was there some sort of group rate for the movie? Just pick a few good actors and actresses to play the roles and call it a day. They were just doing too much. Don't they know that less is more?
5. The movie was more about the hype than the actual quality of the movie. Again, don't get me wrong. It was a cute movie. But the way people were hyping up the movie, you'd think it was the next Love Jones or Waiting to Exhale. But, it was not even remotely in that category. Like I said, it was a cute movie, but nothing legendary. Many people hyped up the movie so people went to see it. Every time you went on Facebook or turned on the television (well, before they cut off my cable..*tear*), you would hear how we HAD to go see this movie. Yes, it did very well in the box office. But simply because it did well in the box office does not make it a good movie. That simply means you marketed the movie well. Promotion was exceptional for this movie, which caused us to run to see it. Yet, at the end of the day, it was alright.
6. Honestly, I appreciated the romantic scenes. While some of the romantic scenes were a result of the characters trying to "beat the women in their own game", they actually did a great job romancing them. I saw chocolate and roses in the same scene, that did it for me. Perhaps this can help some couples get some ideas on what REAL ROMANCE is. Take some notes ladies and gentleman. Romance is possible in a relationship.
7. THE ONE THING that may make me buy the DVD was Kevin Hart's character. I thought he was hilarious in the movie. He played the role extremely well. But, I'm a Kevin Hart fan. I read an article saying that Kevin Hart may be the next romantic comedy star? I would not go that far to say that. However, his character added some extra fun to the movie.
8. Why is it that the only white guy in the group had to tell these brotha's how to treat their women? It perpetrated this savior complex, that we had to get sound advice from a white, married man. Don't get me wrong, I love him as an actor. Also, I hear he's married to a sistah. However, throughout the movie, you mean to tell me that he was the ONLY voice of reason? I suppose I expected that from Kevin Hart's character. But he was too busy wanting to go to the strip clubs. This is the moment where my scholar cap came on. (Sidenote: never go see a movie with a scholar. We start analyzing the movie from a completely different context. So unless you want our insight, you may want to see the movie with someone else.) So, you mean to tell me that the only person who could give them some sound advice was the white guy? What kind of image is that portraying? I'm sure I'm going to be told I'm over analyzing it, but I don't think I am. Is the entertainment industry trying to infer that black people cannot engage in healthy conversations when dealing with relationships on their own? Furthermore, the only way we can "see the light" is when the white guy tells us what to do? Hmm. That did not sit right with me. Feel free to call me a militant, but that bothered the scholar within me.
9. The movie did not insight any serious conversations regarding relationships. I searched for days after the movie was released and did not see much of anything other than the box office ratings. I understand that the purpose of the movie was to entertain. However, I think that venue would have been a great opportunity for us to engage in a serious conversation about relationships OUTSIDE of Steve Harvey's book. I was anticipating more conversation that did not happen. I do not think it is asking for too much to have a movie that allows future generations to look back and say, "That movie was a great representation of black relationships." I'm waiting for that movie. We've had some of them in the past. But that was some time ago. Perhaps I anticipated this movie to be "that" movie. Unfortunately, it was not.
HOWEVER, the movie served its purpose to entertain us. Perhaps it did for a brief moment. But just like every fad, it ended as quickly as it started. It was not a terrible movie. Like I said, it had some positive aspects. But I could have waited until it came out on Redbox. ;)
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