The Fighting Temptations, or an interesting point of view
"Check it out now, you see, now your Louisiana booty, it gets its renowned buoyancy from its heavy seafood diet, while your Alabama booty, it's characterized by its density. You're talking about a quarter-bouncing ping. And as for your Mississippi booty, it's been an ongoing debate, but consensus say that the Indian genetic contribution gives us its beautiful tone. And as for your Georgia booty, it's been known for ages that the Georgia sun bakes and seals all the booty juices into a slow roast." Luicius, The Fighting Temptations
BTW, I can attest that this is true for both men and women.
What is this quote doing in the movie? Its much more "something" than I was expecting. It has the taste of many other factors in this film - the taste of something that has been polished by a loving hand until it's exactly what it was meant to be - in this case a feel-good gospel musical parable about the beauty and flavor of the deep south and the deep soul.
This film pays extra attention to a maxim of musicals that other films tend to ignore - singing is a glorious expression of self. Even in sad songs, even the ones about dead husbands and wasted suppers, is the sense of the character/performer owning a stage for just a few moments and being required listening. Performing in musicals is the last bastion of equality - we are all equal when we sing and dance. And so even in a movie starring Beyonce, there is an awful lot of other people sharing musical screen-time; The O'Jays are expected to star, and Montell Jordan used to be a star but T-Bone? Where has this hot christian rapper been all my life? Oh, rapping about God being great. Can't keep my eye off the pastor though; Wendell Pierce, quietly incadescent since 1996.
More to the point though, the film is unashamed of it's musical underpinnings. Even the "Holy Ghost" moments are choreographed to an inch of their lives. People make odd faces and folks get carried away. The opening sequence plays like the end of "The Wiz", unabashed rejoicing. The "getting better montage" is one of the better edited sequences around, entirely in line with the premise of a gospel choir, but at the same time, a great musical set piece that shows off why good gospel choirs need to exist. The musical sequences, the care and polish placed on them make this film much better than I expected.
And because it's a filled full of black people in georgia, you have to think about it in context to the slew of african american films out there. There is a class conversation, as the lead character lies about his origins in order to make it in white-collar new york city. There is a economic aspect, with everyone lured by the promise of money, but no more so than in any film. Most interesting is that idea of fake versus real. The movie made a less-than-obvious choice of not placing the lead character in a "Remember where you come from" attitude that is often loaded with questions about identity and blackness. Instead, the choice is between something that feels real to him (the love of a woman who forces him to tell the truth, the satisfaction of something that matters to others as well as to him, and the ability to build something within a context instead of a lonely condo apartment.) They could have gone many ways with this - the idea of following in his mother's/aunt's footsteps regarding making music his life or the more pointed "black folk need to not put on airs", but instead they let the last song explain that "all god's children. it's time to come home." Not that you can't escape the past, but that something is always waiting for you at home and that it can mean something.
It gets dicey at times - they play on the edge, as the lead character invites a south american origin, or describes very tony prep schools and colleges, and juggles credit card balances to appear successful, but it all ends up being the same - he is living in a world of being a fake, and when he comes home, and not through the music of the choir, but through the family that it recreates for him, he finds something that is real and that he can make his own. Its impossible to not see the black/white/class divides but the film makes a neat show of showing those divides and then putting them aside for the finale.
The opening.
Oh, T-Bone you hottie.
BTW, I can attest that this is true for both men and women.
What is this quote doing in the movie? Its much more "something" than I was expecting. It has the taste of many other factors in this film - the taste of something that has been polished by a loving hand until it's exactly what it was meant to be - in this case a feel-good gospel musical parable about the beauty and flavor of the deep south and the deep soul.
This film pays extra attention to a maxim of musicals that other films tend to ignore - singing is a glorious expression of self. Even in sad songs, even the ones about dead husbands and wasted suppers, is the sense of the character/performer owning a stage for just a few moments and being required listening. Performing in musicals is the last bastion of equality - we are all equal when we sing and dance. And so even in a movie starring Beyonce, there is an awful lot of other people sharing musical screen-time; The O'Jays are expected to star, and Montell Jordan used to be a star but T-Bone? Where has this hot christian rapper been all my life? Oh, rapping about God being great. Can't keep my eye off the pastor though; Wendell Pierce, quietly incadescent since 1996.
More to the point though, the film is unashamed of it's musical underpinnings. Even the "Holy Ghost" moments are choreographed to an inch of their lives. People make odd faces and folks get carried away. The opening sequence plays like the end of "The Wiz", unabashed rejoicing. The "getting better montage" is one of the better edited sequences around, entirely in line with the premise of a gospel choir, but at the same time, a great musical set piece that shows off why good gospel choirs need to exist. The musical sequences, the care and polish placed on them make this film much better than I expected.
And because it's a filled full of black people in georgia, you have to think about it in context to the slew of african american films out there. There is a class conversation, as the lead character lies about his origins in order to make it in white-collar new york city. There is a economic aspect, with everyone lured by the promise of money, but no more so than in any film. Most interesting is that idea of fake versus real. The movie made a less-than-obvious choice of not placing the lead character in a "Remember where you come from" attitude that is often loaded with questions about identity and blackness. Instead, the choice is between something that feels real to him (the love of a woman who forces him to tell the truth, the satisfaction of something that matters to others as well as to him, and the ability to build something within a context instead of a lonely condo apartment.) They could have gone many ways with this - the idea of following in his mother's/aunt's footsteps regarding making music his life or the more pointed "black folk need to not put on airs", but instead they let the last song explain that "all god's children. it's time to come home." Not that you can't escape the past, but that something is always waiting for you at home and that it can mean something.
It gets dicey at times - they play on the edge, as the lead character invites a south american origin, or describes very tony prep schools and colleges, and juggles credit card balances to appear successful, but it all ends up being the same - he is living in a world of being a fake, and when he comes home, and not through the music of the choir, but through the family that it recreates for him, he finds something that is real and that he can make his own. Its impossible to not see the black/white/class divides but the film makes a neat show of showing those divides and then putting them aside for the finale.
The opening.
Click to viewOh, T-Bone you hottie.