Hello World, 
The ’90s were the golden age of black cinema…Let me hit you with just a few — “House Party” (1990) “Boyz in the Hood” (1991), “New Jack City” (1991), “Juice” (1992), “Menace to Society” (1993),”Jason’s Lyric” (1993) “Friday” (1995), “Above the Rim” (1995), “Waiting to Exhale” (1995), “Love Jones” (1997) and “The Best Man” in 1999…Although during the ’90s, I was a poor high school and college student and later a brand new journalist, a considerable portion of my non-existent budget was spent seeing these pop culture classics…
I think that’s why so many of us who came of age in this golden age of black cinema bombarded the box office last weekend, making “The Best Man Holiday,” the sequel to “The Best Man” rank second during its opening weekend, earning just over $30 million to the surprise of Hollywood…When we met Harper, Jordan, Lance, Julian, Quentin, Robin, Mia, Shelby and Candy in 1999, many of us where right where they were…We were recent college graduates and newly minted professionals…Many of us were getting married or watching our boys and girls from college days become other people’s husbands and wives…I identified the most with Jordan…I was more excited about nurturing a career than nurturing relationships and was often shocked when I watched my male buddies that I once had in abundance get married…
So when I started hearing the rumblings about a sequel to “The Best Man” a couple of years ago, I knew I would be among the first seeing just what happened to these beloved characters over the years…And my high expectations were exceeded! Dare I say “The Best Man Holiday” was better than the original! And like, that never happens! Can you name any other sequel that was better than the original?! I can’t. At least right now. Let me know if I’m wrong. These characters became even more rich with time, wisdom, hilarity and — tragedy. As in real life, when you are young, you live in a bubble in which life makes sense and your parents are always there to nurse your boo boos. After you’ve been an adult for a while, you realize that life, while beautiful, is less than sensible and some hurts never truly heal…I won’t spoil the movie because I still want others to see it…But I now consider it a classic…A definite must-see…
However, in spite of this movie’s brilliance, there have been unfortunate efforts to diminish this movie’s shine…And I just don’t get it…but I will write about it…We’ve all heard about USA Today and it’s “race-themed” commentary on the movie’s success..Also, the next day after I saw the movie last Saturday, I saw a Facebook post by one of my friends in which he noted that three of the four lead actors in the movie have been or are married to white women…As if to say, that the black on black love that we saw in the movie was just movie magic, hardly a depiction of real life…Okay, so you know what I’m talking about – Taye Diggs, who plays Harper, is married to Idina Menzel, who is white. Harold Perrineau who plays Julian, is married to Brittany Perrineau, who is white. Terrance Howard, who plays Quentin, has been married to white women…So what, I say?!! I didn’t watch a movie about Taye Diggs, Harold Perrineau and Terrance Howard! I’m watched a movie about Harper, Julian and Quentin….And yes, in real life, some black men marry white women, but I will not fall for the okey doke and not speak well of the movie because some of its actors didn’t marry women that look like me…And furthermore, there is nothing wrong with interracial relationships…So they married outside of the black race, but they didn’t marry outside of the human race!!!
And now let me address the Taye Diggs issue…Over the years, I have read that Taye Diggs has an issue with black women…I don’t know if this is true or not as I’ve never spoken to the man, but I am aware of the rumor…And yesterday, I read an article someone posted on Facebook about how Taye Diggs was happy to get back to his white wife after being with all of those black women on the set of “The Best Man Holiday.” And now, I’ve seen Facebook posts in which people declared they will no longer support Taye Diggs nor the movie. Maybe it’s because I’m a journalist that I know that first you have to consider the source…I have seen no mention of this statement from any reputable news outlet. Secondly, seeing a movie is not a sweeping endorsement of the every single life choice or belief of every actor in a movie. Thirdly, while I am no conspiracy theorist, I do believe there are forces at work that try to tear down legitimate successes…just who released this supposed story about Taye Diggs and why? Just something to ponder…
If you want to see a great movie with multidimensional characters that manage to touch every emotion on the spectrum, see “The Best Man Holiday.” And for those who want to get into Black Power arguments, have several seats (at the movies) at “12 Years a Slave,” which is the proper forum for this kind of conversation…
In sum, support.black.cinema.
Any thoughts?
P.S. Just a snippet of the fine black men in the movie…
Great post!!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I shared this on Facebook. I was looking for a classy answer to the bs that I’ve seen in my timeline regarding this movie!!
Thank you for saying that! I appreciate it 🙂
This author is so naive and lives in some make believe world where race And skin color isn’t an issue or a true reflection of how people view themselves and their community that supports them. As a Black woman who also dates interracially, I have no problem with black men dating outside of their race but when your ONLY choice is nonwhite women then you have made a subtle statement that Black women aren’t good enough. Yet this is the same demographic group that has made you rich and famous. It’s so very important that black women speak up and point this out to black male actors that black women will no longer be your stage prop while you walk the red carpet with Becky. If we aren’t good enough to date and marry then my green bills aren’t good enough for your movie. When you support the movie you also support the actors. They are not separate entities because you are promoting both when you buy a movie ticket. I absolutely love Morris Chestnut and go to all of his movies, but after I saw that Facebook post, I refused to see the movie because if the other cast. I will continue to support black movies but only the ones that feature black men that RESPECTS BLACK WOMEN. Ladies, stop giving these self hating men a pass. They don’t deserve our support if they denigrate who we are. Look to support men who show black women respect regardless of his race. If you continue to “stand by our black men”. Even after they have shown hate toward us then we show the world that we believe about ourselves what Taye Diggs believes about us. Don’t let Black men get away with this nonsense. Don’t get mad or angry at them, just don’t support black men like Taye Diggs and all of their ignorance. There is a double standard black men have. They hate to see black women with white men like in tv show Scandal yet high five black men who get with Becky. Stop looking to Black men to value or validate who we are as women. You may not think we are “worthy” enough to marry you but you will respect us.
Eloquently stated. These men have racial self hatred. They do not love themselves or their race. They seem to think that marrying white will make them white as if being white is better! Marry who you want, but for love not because of race!! Black women should not support a movie in which the actors hired do not honor them, especially a Black movie! They should not be allowed to make their fortunes this way! Let them be the love interest of a white woman in one of their movies and see how much money they make. I’m saying, why doesn’t that happen?!
And here we have a black woman who is herself an interracial dater but still feels the need to trash black men who are in interracial relationships.
The lack of self-awareness of some people never ceases to amaze me.
And by the way, you have no idea if any of those men rule out dating black women.
Alfre Woodward has been married to a white man for many years… are you going to trash her, or are you going to have common sense, and realize that she’s in a long-term relationship, which for most people means no other partners, black or otherwise?
Perhaps all famous black men married to white women should divorce them and become engaged to black women just to satisfy you.
ditto what Sara said….
Absolutely what Sara said.
WONDERFULLY PUT! ! !
Thank-you Sara! Yes, for us Exiled Africans film IS political. Don’t care what anyone has to say about it or how they want to label it but we should spend out entertainment budget on Black artists who respect their Black people. Period.
The sad fact is these men and many more like them fall for the first chance to get with a white women, who is only pursuing them because the are black actors with a little money. Tiger woods is the perfect case..and as soon as the courts got a chance they gave that women 350 million dollars of his money..that she didn’t work for…we know that story
At the most she got 100 million dollars, not 350… that’s a lot of money, but Tiger still has at least 500 million in the bank.
I used to be the black woman that wondered why are they interested in that? I now am the one that feels sorry for the white women because they probably think they are getting a prize, when in reality they seem to overwhelmingly marry black men who simply want the freedom to cheat or be on the down low, particularly the wealthiest ones. There is also alot of physical and verbal abuse that occurs, I believe in part because deep down, the men haven’t yet matured from a character standpoint. I have several friends in this scenario and see it firsthand and its hard to watch. Men and women are different, but overwhelmingly, black men who are mature in character who are comfortable in their skin marry or come back to black women. I believe it with every part of my being now- it’s simply true.