Monday, October 20, 2008

I'll Take a Mammy Over a Video Hoe: On the Secret Life of Bees

Recently I viewed the new movie, "The Secret Life of Bees" with a star studded cast of Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys, Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, Sophie Okonedo, Nate Parker and Tristan Wilds. The film is based on the novel by Sue Monk Kidd, which was a New York Times bestseller. Set in 1964, on the dawn of the Civil Rights Act, in the still separate and unequal South.

Visually the film is extremely appealing against the backdrop of beautiful South Carolina. What makes the film more amazing is that it was adapted for the screen and directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and produced by Overbrook Productions (Will and Jada making that pape). African-American cast, director, producer. How often does this happen in America? No pimps, hoes, or gratuitous profanity.

Though I saw it coming, I wanted to give us the benefit of the doubt. Of course each person is allowed their perception or opinion of a movie. Many have come out to say the movie represents black women as Mammies and some saw especially Queen Latifah's character as a Mammy. What saddens me is I don't see this kind of outrage when the video hoes are paraded across the screen daily as representations of black womanhood and the outcry is a decibel above a whisper. Few seem to have a problem with black women who can barely string a sentence together and the only tools they utilize is a body that will fade far too soon.

I'll take a Mammy over a video ho any day. The women in "Secret Life" are smart, cultured, independent, entrepreneurial and have the capacity for love even in the mist of white supremacy at its worst. The women are able to transcend the boundaries of race and class, knowing that anything that's loved can be saved: even a poor little motherless white girl that's been rejected by her father and an uneducated black woman whose only crime is her desire to register to vote.

Sadly as a people we have internalized our oppression to the point we are blind to our beauty and power. We as a community and the whole of humanity could take some lessons from the Boatwright sisters. Though fictional, the characters in this movie recognize the revolutionary power of love to heal and transform lives. June's character played by Alicia Keys almost misses out on love, because she is nearly consumed by the struggle for civil rights and her need for independence. But it is the Mammy in August(Queen Latifah) that reminds her that there is always room for love and to reach out to those less fortunate.

Rather than internalizing the negatives stereotypes of black women that have haunted us throughout our journey in these dis- United Sates, I choose to see the characters in "Secret Life" as part of our historical legacy as African people. In my mind, it stands to reason that the Mitochondrial mother of all humanity would also be the nurturer and mother to the world. Those of limited vision failed to look beyond the Southern drawl and the homely clothes and see proud black women empowered because they define themselves, they own the land that they live on and their means of survival. Name me one video hoe, including Karrine Steffans who can claim the same.

The bees in "Secret Life" represent a powerful metaphor not just for black people but for the whole of humanity. We must be more like the bees and think we/us, rather than me/I if the planet is to survive. In the coming days, with our without Obama as commander and chief, we will have to find the capacity to love beyond racial, gender and class lines. Love is a revolutionary act and it is indeed the only thing that can heal our world.



To each his own, but I'll take a independent honey making Mammy over a video hoe any day.

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1 comment:

Sam Grisham said...

I haven't seen the film yet but it is a must-see on my todo's for the decade. Even before seeing it, I considered it would be history-making, both in its production and, revelations. And, your comments support that.

I tire of the parade of the behinds and breasts and b-words and n-words that infiltrate our homes daily under the guise of entertainment. The video industry is indeed poisoning the minds of our youth and shaping their ideals of self, not only from a physical perspective but with a dollar value as well. How sad to have your value defined by rump shaking and the ability to purchase the best tequila.

I'll take the mammy, too, thank you very much!

And, Thanks for the comments, June.