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Soul Man
A white man becomes black to get in at a Harvard law school.
This interesting hypothetical idea was made into a movie which goes by the name of Soul Man. When it came out, people hated it. And I mean hated it. It was criticized for its premise and many people got upset over the movie relying on black stereotypes for jokes. But is it really as offensive as it's reputed?
Well, no.
Personally, I don't have a problem with potentionally offensive humor. One of my favorite comedies of all time is Borat after all. If executed by the right people, it can be hilarious.
But unlike Borat, I think the message is easier spelled out. I'll get to that later.
When we are first introduced into Mark Watson, he's your regular ambitious teenager. He's gotten in at Harvard - the university to end all universities! But after his father gets some ill-adviced suggestions from his phychiatrist, he decides not to pay for his son's studies. So now Mark can't afford to go to Harvard! Failing to scramble in money, he only sees one option left: you see, since the only foundation which still accepts foundations are only for black students... he has to become black himself! With the help of some bronzing pills.
The thing I like the most is how the character of Mark progresses throughout the movie. He starts off thinking pretending to be black is an easy game. We get some fairly amusing bits where he tries to talk or act in a "jive" manner in order to fit in, only to embarrass himself instead. Or in one scene, two other students show their racist bias by assuming he's great at basketball just because he's black, only for him to cause the team to lose the game instead. I think him failing to score a single hit drives home the point perfectly. Another good example is the "sympathizer" Whitney, who claims to know which stereotypes are true and which are not. As well as pretentiously talking about how she's erasing barriers and how there is no black and white, only "grey", and that she understands all the struggles they go through. We even hilariously see her act the same around a Native American after Mark decides to cut ties with her. Probably my favorite scene in the movie however is when the truth about Mark's skin color is close to coming out, and he has to juggle talking with his parents (who knows he's white, but since he can't show he now looks black he has to wear a skimask) and talking with Sarah, who still thinks he's black. It's a comedy setup as old as time, but still handled in a zanily funny manner. Gordon in the middle trying to keep the situation under control makes it even better.
The movie very nicely balances between the humorous and the serious elements, and even has a bit of romance in there too. It doesn't pretend to be much more than what it is, a silly "what if" comedy. But at times, it's very meaningful as well. Not all of Mark's struggles with being black are played for comedy, and as the movie goes on and he has to suffer more and more prejudice, we start to feel his guilt. It also makes the cute blossoming romance between him and Sarah sadder. He's living his life as a lie. Sooner or later the elephant in the room has to be addressed. It never feels too heavy though, it wouldn't be a comedy in that case. The drama kicks in wherever it's neccessary.
I can't close out without mentioning the top-notch acting. C. Thomas Howell is an incredibly likeable lead, and makes you root for, but also appropriately cringe at a lot of his character's actions. Arye Gross as his friend is great as well, and makes an otherwise stock friend character compelling. James Earl Jones as the Harvard professor is nothing short of priceless. Jones excellently knows how to use his voice for humor as much as intimidation. I'm pretty much a newcomer to Rae Dawn Chong (who I've seen in Jeff, Who Lives At Home, but it was a long time since I saw that), who gives possibly the second best performance next to Earl Jones. She's so charming you almost want to melt, but also a chick with sass, the best possible combination. Everything about Sarah as well is likeable, and the chemistry between her and Howell in the film makes the romance above convincing.
The soundtrack is done in classic 80's style, with some nice montage music and a main song track which will never go out of your hea- I'm a sooooooooul maaaaaaaan!
cough Sorry about that.
The movie ends with a message delivered so sincerely you wouldn't expect it to come from a movie which has been a subject to so much controversy. Even after all the struggles Mark went through pretending to be black, including getting stopped by the police and thrown in jail for no reason, he knows it's still not the same as actually being black. Because if it ever got too hard for him, he could always just switch back. But not everyone has that option. Is it too late to say the audience completely misunderstood the picture's intentions?
To take a break from the praise, it's still not a perfect 10/10 by any means. At times the movie seems to drag a bit, scenes maybe going on a little too long and with a multitude of pauses where you just get to look at Mark having an expression which says "I'm confused right now." It's perfectly logical and fits, but just a tad bit overdone. There's also not a lot of humor before the main plot starts, since it's too focused on setting the premise up. And finally, it could have used some more Leslie Nielsen. Sure he doesn't play a laugh-riot personality this time, but he was funny for the little time he had. He seemed to be a bit wasted.
Brother or bro, I don't care who. See it if you've got an open mind.
A white man becomes black to get in at a Harvard law school.
This interesting hypothetical idea was made into a movie which goes by the name of Soul Man. When it came out, people hated it. And I mean hated it. It was criticized for its premise and many people got upset over the movie relying on black stereotypes for jokes. But is it really as offensive as it's reputed?
Well, no.
Personally, I don't have a problem with potentionally offensive humor. One of my favorite comedies of all time is Borat after all. If executed by the right people, it can be hilarious.
But unlike Borat, I think the message is easier spelled out. I'll get to that later.
When we are first introduced into Mark Watson, he's your regular ambitious teenager. He's gotten in at Harvard - the university to end all universities! But after his father gets some ill-adviced suggestions from his phychiatrist, he decides not to pay for his son's studies. So now Mark can't afford to go to Harvard! Failing to scramble in money, he only sees one option left: you see, since the only foundation which still accepts foundations are only for black students... he has to become black himself! With the help of some bronzing pills.
The thing I like the most is how the character of Mark progresses throughout the movie. He starts off thinking pretending to be black is an easy game. We get some fairly amusing bits where he tries to talk or act in a "jive" manner in order to fit in, only to embarrass himself instead. Or in one scene, two other students show their racist bias by assuming he's great at basketball just because he's black, only for him to cause the team to lose the game instead. I think him failing to score a single hit drives home the point perfectly. Another good example is the "sympathizer" Whitney, who claims to know which stereotypes are true and which are not. As well as pretentiously talking about how she's erasing barriers and how there is no black and white, only "grey", and that she understands all the struggles they go through. We even hilariously see her act the same around a Native American after Mark decides to cut ties with her. Probably my favorite scene in the movie however is when the truth about Mark's skin color is close to coming out, and he has to juggle talking with his parents (who knows he's white, but since he can't show he now looks black he has to wear a skimask) and talking with Sarah, who still thinks he's black. It's a comedy setup as old as time, but still handled in a zanily funny manner. Gordon in the middle trying to keep the situation under control makes it even better.
The movie very nicely balances between the humorous and the serious elements, and even has a bit of romance in there too. It doesn't pretend to be much more than what it is, a silly "what if" comedy. But at times, it's very meaningful as well. Not all of Mark's struggles with being black are played for comedy, and as the movie goes on and he has to suffer more and more prejudice, we start to feel his guilt. It also makes the cute blossoming romance between him and Sarah sadder. He's living his life as a lie. Sooner or later the elephant in the room has to be addressed. It never feels too heavy though, it wouldn't be a comedy in that case. The drama kicks in wherever it's neccessary.
I can't close out without mentioning the top-notch acting. C. Thomas Howell is an incredibly likeable lead, and makes you root for, but also appropriately cringe at a lot of his character's actions. Arye Gross as his friend is great as well, and makes an otherwise stock friend character compelling. James Earl Jones as the Harvard professor is nothing short of priceless. Jones excellently knows how to use his voice for humor as much as intimidation. I'm pretty much a newcomer to Rae Dawn Chong (who I've seen in Jeff, Who Lives At Home, but it was a long time since I saw that), who gives possibly the second best performance next to Earl Jones. She's so charming you almost want to melt, but also a chick with sass, the best possible combination. Everything about Sarah as well is likeable, and the chemistry between her and Howell in the film makes the romance above convincing.
The soundtrack is done in classic 80's style, with some nice montage music and a main song track which will never go out of your hea- I'm a sooooooooul maaaaaaaan!
cough Sorry about that.
The movie ends with a message delivered so sincerely you wouldn't expect it to come from a movie which has been a subject to so much controversy. Even after all the struggles Mark went through pretending to be black, including getting stopped by the police and thrown in jail for no reason, he knows it's still not the same as actually being black. Because if it ever got too hard for him, he could always just switch back. But not everyone has that option. Is it too late to say the audience completely misunderstood the picture's intentions?
To take a break from the praise, it's still not a perfect 10/10 by any means. At times the movie seems to drag a bit, scenes maybe going on a little too long and with a multitude of pauses where you just get to look at Mark having an expression which says "I'm confused right now." It's perfectly logical and fits, but just a tad bit overdone. There's also not a lot of humor before the main plot starts, since it's too focused on setting the premise up. And finally, it could have used some more Leslie Nielsen. Sure he doesn't play a laugh-riot personality this time, but he was funny for the little time he had. He seemed to be a bit wasted.
Brother or bro, I don't care who. See it if you've got an open mind.
Last edited by mattiasflgrtll6; 05-28-18 at 01:29 PM.
And need I say Frances and Sam.
. I'd forgotten she was in that, not that I ever saw the film.
.
