'Obsessed' #1 Movie

[Tony Soprano]

Your man card is temporarily suspended until further notice.

Wow.

But believe it or not if there was a "chick-flick" disguised as a sports movie, the first that would come to mind is none other than:

"Jerry Maguire".

 

[GFunk]

Your man card is temporarily suspended until further notice.

Cold blooded.

 

[Machiavel]

Maybe because that's the way the movie has been advertised. The way the commercials have had it is a woman (ww) who just happens to be "obsessed" with a man (bm) she works with. But of course there are no race elements written in because they want the scenario to be relateable to the audience.

There's no doubt it was meant to play on some people's voyeurism etc. But once you see the movie, it's basically person vs person, good vs bad, and the acting is quite good. I think they made no reference to race indirectly or indirectly because the characters are too sophisticated for anyone to focus on their races. Idris Elba plays a UCLA graduate and he sells his role very easily. In the begining, you'd have a hard time imagining Beyonce working for a firm because her acting made her appearing as if she was just delivering her line because she had too, but as the movie went on, her acting got much better and she became quite convincing.

I mean really, would the effectiveness of Beyonce's character been lessened had the obsessed woman been another black woman???

Certainly not. But it would have been categorized as "black movie" which usually do not generate the same amount of cash. Now that I think of it, there are only three black characters in the film and the rest of the support cast is white. So I am guessing the decision to have a psycho/stalker was based on the demographics and their attempt to reach a broader audience.

And the Fatal Attraction theme was just Hollywood being faithfull to itself. When was the last time Hollywood has done a movie that was original? A significant % of the movie are recycled material, formula based and some old genre that's just been modernised. So Obsessed is basically a re-mix of Fatal Attraction it hope that it will attract some of the fans of the original.

And I am quite sure that if they had cast a black woman as the lead for the stalker/psycho girl, many people would have complained that it was a negative Stereotype of black women etc.

By the way, I noticed in the credits that Magic Johnson was one of the Executive Producers, I had no idea he was in movies also.

I don't think so. And that's really the whole argument for more. Race is the quiet little factor in the room because this type of movie caters to those fears that alot of black women out there have about bm/ww couples and flings where the ww seems to have no disregard for the man's family or happy relationship with a sistah.

Now maybe the writers tried there damndest to not put race at the forefront, but c'mon folks, let's not forget what country we live in.

True, but it should be noted that we live in a country where alot of black folks are obsessed with race too. It's not like many black American women want to see a handsome and successfull black man in a romantic movie with a white woman. Didn't Denzel chose not to kiss some of his costars that were white? So yeah, it's the filmakers, producers, studios etc who aren't eager to do movies about IR because many of them are racist and also because they know their audience too well

Yeah...., because she's a good actress and I am a fan of hers. That part probably no one will dispute. But may your theater audience speaks my argument better. You said nothing by white women there mostly. Well....women will probably recognize with the "fatal attraction" theme of this movie in an emotional way. And of course will back Beyonce's character as Ali's was protrayed as a crazed homewrecker. I just find it disturbing that hollyweird must continue to prey upon women's insecurities about relationships in order to get them into the theaters.

No. I think they just rooted for Beyonce because Ali Larter did such a great job of being the villain that it became a old good and evil cliche movie when you cheer for the good guy. Ali Larter's acting is very good because it's not over the top and nuanced. I am thinking that there's one key scene that made the female audience identify with Beyonce's character, but I will not ruin it for you if you haven't seen the movie yet.

Writers and filmakers are good at creating sympathy and empathy for their characters. Rocky I and II in the early 80's played in all movie theaters across sub-saharan African countries, so how would you explains millions of black Africans rooting for a white guy to kick a brother's ass? I hope you get my point.

 

[hellspawn72]

Certainly not. But it would have been categorized as "black movie" which usually do not generate the same amount of cash. Now that I think of it, there are only three black characters in the film and the rest of the support cast is white. So I am guessing the decision to have a psycho/stalker was based on the demographics and their attempt to reach a broader audience.

First of all, no offense, but do you have the statistical numbers on that??? That's purely subjective, based upon overall ticket sales at the box office around the country and abroad. I could argue that various "white-themed" movies don't sell quite as much for the same race reason. But I do feel as though past racial prejudices have contributed to what is considered a "black" movie. And the argument about demographics with respect to Ali's character doesn't hold water for me 'cause it presumes that a larger non-black audience cannot fathom a minority female succeeding in that role. Whose to say that under those circumstances, a black female working at that place wouldn't take the risk of acting out in the same way??

And I am quite sure that if they had cast a black woman as the lead for the stalker/psycho girl, many people would have complained that it was a negative Stereotype of black women etc.

Again, you're presuming that the audience, even a black audience, isn't progressive or intelligent enough to understand the premise of the movie. Actually, I would think a black audience would recognize with it more as it were mainly black people acting out the scenario. Plus, black women are in a better position these days to argue whether or not they are being stereotyped or victimized in a movie. We blacks in general are in a better place to fight those stereotypes now. I think if we are bothered by this type of scenario, we've got a lot worse problems to deal with.

..it should be noted that we live in a country where alot of black folks are obsessed with race too. It's not like many black American women want to see a handsome and successfull black man in a romantic movie with a white woman.

No, maybe black women don't. And the truth is, more often, I don't either. It would be nice to see a brotha in a movie with a beautiful sistah more often, but it has been generally known that Hollywood's audience does not like that. Imagine that. White america is always up in arms about IR dating, especially on film. But when that town tries to put a solid black couple on, they don't want to see that either. Maybe because it doesn't conform to THEIR stereotype of black relationships. And remember, we blacks are obsessed with race because whites decided it to be that way. See Slavery.

.. I think they just rooted for Beyonce because Ali Larter did such a great job of being the villain that it became a old good and evil cliche movie when you cheer for the good guy. Ali Larter's acting is very good because it's not over the top and nuanced. I am thinking that there's one key scene that made the female audience identify with Beyonce's character, but I will not ruin it for you if you haven't seen the movie yet.

Writers and filmakers are good at creating sympathy and empathy for their characters. Rocky I and II in the early 80's played in all movie theaters across sub-saharan African countries, so how would you explains millions of black Africans rooting for a white guy to kick a brother's ass? I hope you get my point.

Well yeah, they rooted for her because of Ali's convincing acting probably. But again, the scenario was set whereby women could relate to it from a wife or girlfriend's perspective. And there's nothing wrong with that. All I was reiterating was that it seems like another Hollywood stereotypical IR-themed movie which quitely plays on black women's insecurities. I've been watching movies for years and I don't doubt that a minority female could have produced the same affect. This to me was that town's position on how IR is to be for bm and ww.

As for those Rocky movies, that was mostly an underdog story. Hell, I'm a black man and even I was rooting for Rock to win in the end. It was about persevering under the most difficult of circumstances. To be cliche, it was about overcoming adversity in order to achieve your goals. Now without ever stepping foot on the African continent, I would presume that those people probably saw something similar. And we must take into the fact that their racial history and experiences with whites would probably be a little different than ours, if you get MY point.:smt023

 

[chicity]

You're joking right??? I mean, do you or anybody with a sense of tv or racial history, really need to know that Hollywood will do an IR story between a white man and black woman? They're in that transitionary mode with respect to IR relationships in that town. Probably the fact that this is about the most liberal this american audience will be to such a relationship that they are doing it at all. But just a quick Star Trek history lesson.

In a few short years, there will be genetic cloning. There will be an uprising and world war III. Countries are in shambles and populations scattered. In north america in 2063, a man creates a warp ship and ushers in a new era thus creating the Federation a few years later. James Kirk, who was born in Iowa (yes, still have states in the future), doesn't come along for like another 100 years or so give or take. Thus, this story in the movie is a while from now in our history. Why the short lesson folks?? Because, I've been watching S.T. for years and it has always been about the future. And this like racial prejudice, poverty, war,...all those things should be less of an issue after a few hundred years. But every movie showing ANY relationship generally involves a white male with a white or minority female. Not often, like in most movies, do you see a brotha with any real relationship, much less IR. Typical Hollywood. I guess my question is in James Kirk's era, the 22th century(??), where are all the white women for him to woo over??? It's just such a narrow view for an industry which is attempting to push it's own quiet IR agenda.

You're acting as tho Star Trek is typical Hollywood. It's not. Gene Rodenberry was in fact very supportive of BM/WW pairings, and his character of Data was always meant to be a stab at the fears of White Men about Black Men's abilities. He tried to introduce the character far earlier, but the hollywood types wouldn't have it, because of IR fears. Kirk got with EVERYONE so of course Kirk is going to get with someone in this movie, be they human or otherwise, but it's not like Warf and Geordi never got involved interracially. I was always frustrated with their pairings, but then I was always frustrated with all ST romance (why the hell weren't Picard & Gynan knocking boots on the regular? They had so much more chemistry than him and the doctor).

All of this is beside the point which is that revealing *anything* about a not yet released Star Trek movie on the internet is worse than killing bunnies.

 

[jaisee]

Cold blooded.

Haha, Petty knows I'm just effin with him. I own that movie too, but I used to have a thing for Julia Stiles and my homegirl from high school was in the cafeteria scene around the beginning of the movie.

I got a bunch of movies in my DVD collection that would warrant man card suspension. Save the last dance, coyote ugly and bring it on, to name a few...

 

[Machiavel]

First of all, no offense, but do you have the statistical numbers on that???

Well, no offense too, but how come you highlighted my statement and missed the fact that I wrote "I am guessing"? Isn't it clear that it was purely speculative? And I based that specualtion from Spike Lee interview, some other articles that said even a movie with black stars like Dreamsgirls would do a decent amount of cash here in North America, but not well at all over see. There are many examples like these.

Again, you're presuming that the audience, even a black audience, isn't progressive or intelligent enough to understand the premise of the movie.

Where did you get I was presuming that a black audience wasn't progressive or intelligent enough to undersant the premise of the movie?

No, maybe black women don't. And the truth is, more often, I don't either. It would be nice to see a brotha in a movie with a beautiful sistah more often, but it has been generally known that Hollywood's audience does not like that.

Aren't you agreeing with my initial statement here? Will Smith said that the decision from studios and producers not to cast a black woman as his love interest in Hitch was partly based on the fact that Romantic comedies with two black lead do not do well here in the US and oversea. So I just told you I was guessing that they didn't cast a black women in the role of the psycho/stalker to avoid the "black movie" label and here you are saying that it has been known that Hollywood's audience does not like that.

Imagine that. White america is always up in arms about IR dating, especially on film.

So is a great portion of black America. It was Spike Lee who made Jungle Fever and tried to portray IR as negative. Many white AMeircans are totally ignorant on Black American culture and mentality and they would think that Spike Lee's view represent the overall view and sentiment of the black community. And the fact that there are many black Americans, man and women who complain about black men dating or marrying white women doesn't exactly help dispel that notion.

And remember, we blacks are obsessed with race because whites decided it to be that way. See Slavery.

What about us continental Africans? Didn't we have colonialism? And Apartheid ended in South Africa just 19 years ago, and are black South Africans obsessed with race? So I would disagree with you that many black Americans are obsessed with race because whites decided it to be that way. To me it's the Farrakhans, the Al Sharpton, the upbringing, mentalities etc.

As for those Rocky movies, that was mostly an underdog story. Hell, I'm a black man and even I was rooting for Rock to win in the end. It was about persevering under the most difficult of circumstances. To be cliche, it was about overcoming adversity in order to achieve your goals. Now without ever stepping foot on the African continent, I would presume that those people probably saw something similar. And we must take into the fact that their racial history and experiences with whites would probably be a little different than ours, if you get MY point.:smt023

Okay, I am glad you got my point on the Rocky example. I was merely trying to give you an example of how writers can create sympathy and empathy for a character. Most audience around the world liked Rocky because he was the underdog like you said and Apollo Creed's character was portrayed as an arrogant, rich and disprespectful. Nobody like an arrogant person, so the audience identified with Rocky.

You're right about the racial history and experience with whites being completely different than yours, but well written characters and likable people on screen have been able to transcend race. I mean, as a black American, you never thought that Fonzie was cool? Well movie stars, especially American ones have been able to transcend race all over the world because they are usually perceived as being part of "American Mythology". Though the race relation here in American have been a perpetual work in progress, there have been black movie stars, and now the biggest movie star of them all is Will Smith: Bankable here and oversea.

 

[Sir Nose]

Anybody seen it yet???

Mrs Nose and I will see it tonight. I'll let you know what we thought.

 

[Tony Soprano]

First of all, no offense, but do you have the statistical numbers on that??? That's purely subjective, based upon overall ticket sales at the box office around the country and abroad. I could argue that various "white-themed" movies don't sell quite as much for the same race reason. But I do feel as though past racial prejudices have contributed to what is considered a "black" movie. And the argument about demographics with respect to Ali's character doesn't hold water for me 'cause it presumes that a larger non-black audience cannot fathom a minority female succeeding in that role. Whose to say that under those circumstances, a black female working at that place wouldn't take the risk of acting out in the same way??


Again, you're presuming that the audience, even a black audience, isn't progressive or intelligent enough to understand the premise of the movie. Actually, I would think a black audience would recognize with it more as it were mainly black people acting out the scenario. Plus, black women are in a better position these days to argue whether or not they are being stereotyped or victimized in a movie. We blacks in general are in a better place to fight those stereotypes now. I think if we are bothered by this type of scenario, we've got a lot worse problems to deal with.




No, maybe black women don't. And the truth is, more often, I don't either. It would be nice to see a brotha in a movie with a beautiful sistah more often, but it has been generally known that Hollywood's audience does not like that. Imagine that. White america is always up in arms about IR dating, especially on film. But when that town tries to put a solid black couple on, they don't want to see that either. Maybe because it doesn't conform to THEIR stereotype of black relationships. And remember, we blacks are obsessed with race because whites decided it to be that way. See Slavery.



Well yeah, they rooted for her because of Ali's convincing acting probably. But again, the scenario was set whereby women could relate to it from a wife or girlfriend's perspective. And there's nothing wrong with that. All I was reiterating was that it seems like another Hollywood stereotypical IR-themed movie which quitely plays on black women's insecurities. I've been watching movies for years and I don't doubt that a minority female could have produced the same affect. This to me was that town's position on how IR is to be for bm and ww.

As for those Rocky movies, that was mostly an underdog story. Hell, I'm a black man and even I was rooting for Rock to win in the end. It was about persevering under the most difficult of circumstances. To be cliche, it was about overcoming adversity in order to achieve your goals. Now without ever stepping foot on the African continent, I would presume that those people probably saw something similar. And we must take into the fact that their racial history and experiences with whites would probably be a little different than ours, if you get MY point.:smt023

 

[GFunk]

AAAAHHHHHHHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAA!!!!!!!

 

[nobledruali]

 

[pettyofficerj]

lol that Colin Powell pic is funny...

hope none of the ladies got offended by the N word, it was all in fun on behalf of the brothas..

as for Save the Last Dance...

Me and Brotha Ajax gunna bust gunz in Ft Lauderdale, for ya hatin ass Jay Z

 

[Kid Rasta]

For some reason I wanna see the deleted scenes more than I do the movie itself.

I wonder exactly what was too risque for the film that eventually ended up on the cutting room floor.

It's a marketing ploy to sell the DVD. Ever notice on DVDs the words uncut version or director's cut. I don't have any doubt that this flick will be a monster seller when it's realeased on DVD. I'm sure it will also blow up on pay-per-view and HBO/Showtime.

The Kid Rasta

 

[Kid Rasta]

No, my problem today is why is that still a practice in Hollywood today??? Sure, there are plenty of whites out there who don't like IR. But alot of people now generally don't even care. But that town still uses the same formula and rules from the 1950s with respect to race and relationships. Ya'll notice no one really cries hard when it's a wm/bw couple. But everyone cries that it's promoting IR dating when it's a bm/ww couple. Stupid. Hollywood should just do it and stop with all the dumb race stuff. It's just insulting at this point. Really, it is. There are plenty of white and black actors in Hollywood to spare to do some IR where people can accept it. I just think it's a little racist that white people sitting in a room in Hollywood get to decide what race is and what it's supposed to look like. That's the main reason why I don't go to the movies ANYMORE.

Damn!!! You hit the nail right on the head. I couldn't agree with you more. Bravo. Very well put.

Disappointed (as usual) that there was no IR sex scene in this flick, but not surprised.

The Kid Rasta

 

[hellspawn72]

Good one, Tone!!!

 

[satyricon]

hahaha some of the posts in the thread, which I have nor will not read, are probably longer than the script of the film.

Good for Beyonce, she is probably the biggest female star in the world right now. Fuck all of the other considerations.

 

[hellspawn72]

Well, no offense too, but how come you highlighted my statement and missed the fact that I wrote "I am guessing"? Isn't it clear that it was purely speculative? And I based that specualtion from Spike Lee interview, some other articles that said even a movie with black stars like Dreamsgirls would do a decent amount of cash here in North America, but not well at all over see. There are many examples like these.

OK, OK, OK. Clearly I see we can go back and forth forever seemingly since we appear to be on opposing sides of the issues. So I'll attempt to shorten this considerably. Um, yeah. sorry. I guess I did miss the fact that it was somewhat speculative. I just think that labeling any film a "black movie" largely undercuts the value of the black actors and actresses who portray the roles plus continues this general segregation that exists about which movies people will and won't see. As for my assertion of you presuming the intellect of the audience, I just meant that I didn't think you gave the audience enough credit to look past race (the same race in this case) and attempt to envision a black female doing the same as Ali's character. Like it or not, when it comes to black people, some can't necessarily "see" us in certain roles.

Aren't you agreeing with my initial statement here? Will Smith said that the decision from studios and producers not to cast a black woman as his love interest in Hitch was partly based on the fact that Romantic comedies with two black lead do not do well here in the US and oversea. So I just told you I was guessing that they didn't cast a black women in the role of the psycho/stalker to avoid the "black movie" label and here you are saying that it has been known that Hollywood's audience does not like that.

Again, your are correct. I guess I should have added that I don't understand necessarily why a "black movie" must not do well AT ALL. It shouldn't matter. The theme of the movie has to be the main attraction, as well as the acting ability of the characters themselves. And before you say, yes I'll eat my own medicine and state that I understand this countries history of not believing that blacks are truly capable of good acting and thus movies where we are a large cast aren't worth watching. Well, Sidney Poiter proved that wrong. All I mean is must we continue that idea just for a movie to make money or must, at some point, we try to tell stories from a perspective coincidentally having a large black cast?

And speaking of "Hitch," on the old show America's Black Forum, the movie was discussed when it first came out. And there was a black woman on there who argued that ticket sales may not necessarily have been taken away simply if his love interest were a black female. She stated as I feel today that a latin female didn't put "more butts in the seats" at theaters.(purely unscientific) Of course the studio heads will tell Will that not just because of the history of results at the box office, but because that's how their system works. And THAT is a large part of my gripe.

What about us continental Africans? Didn't we have colonialism? .....

Let's table that for another day, please, 'cause this response is already gettin' way tooo long for me playa.

....It was Spike Lee who made Jungle Fever and tried to portray IR as negative. Many white AMeircans are totally ignorant on Black American culture and mentality and they would think that Spike Lee's view represent the overall view and sentiment of the black community. ...

Actually, one Spike Lee interview that I saw show where he explained that the IR relationship wasn't supposed to be the central theme of that movie at first. He said he actually wanted to talk about various issues which existed in the black community (the family structure, blacks struggling in the workplace, a black man's committment to his community, etc...) It just so happened that it was interpreted in a different way. Of course, the writing may have had some influence in that like alot of his movies have been. But yeah, you're abso-mundo right that many whites that I've run into are completely ignorant about black culture. That to me has to do with this countries racial history and specific segregation rules. Let's face it, Chicago, for example, didn't just develop a "south side" with a large black population overnight.

In the end, what's wrong with challenging how blacks are portrayed in films? Who's to say that a large black cast must ultimately fail in box office numbers and can't be an influence on pop culture? And finally, what's wrong with putting more black women to work in positions where they are true competent counterparts to their fellow black males on screen? My true fear is that in a new Hollywood where opportunities will be plentful, that this type of casting will be commonplace and NO ONE will notice race.

 

[hellspawn72]

hahaha some of the posts in the thread, which I have nor will not read, are probably longer than the script of the film.

Good for Beyonce, she is probably the biggest female star in the world right now. Fuck all of the other considerations.

Oh wow, that's really adult of you. Especially the part where you state you probably haven't read ALL the posts. The premise of the movie and the racial makeup is being discussed, which explains the lengthy threads. Most posts here aren't hatin' on Beyonce' or her acting that I've noticed.
But just know that Hollywood does this with all the "biggest" stars of the generation. They use them in movies to achieve their ultimate end - to make higher sales at the box office. Beyonce herself may turn out to have a lengthy career, but let's be honest. If she were a regular, less known black actress working her way up the ladder in that town, she would probably not be as noticable or would get as compelling a role.

 

[fly girl]

hahaha some of the posts in the thread, which I have nor will not read, are probably longer than the script of the film.

Good for Beyonce, she is probably the biggest female star in the world right now. Fuck all of the other considerations.

Nah, she has to produce movies in order to get acting jobs. Jennifer Hudson blew her away in Dream girls (acting and singing) and look what she has done since....Sex in the City movie and Secret Lives of Bees (in which she was awesome). Has Beyonce even had an acting roll in a film she hasnt produced since?

My guess is this film will tank after the opening week. It got mass distribution and nothing opening against it.

And this film is not about interracial relationship, but black male desirability. Nothing wrong with that other than most posts wont admit it.

 

[Intriguedone]

^^That's some funny shit right tharr'!!!

People Dr. Phil'in the hell out of this movie, gahhdamn!

Be happy that Hollywood is showing a bm & ww in an intimate situation on the big-screen no matter what the story-line....it's called PROGRESS....shit, we didn't get the right to vote overnight.

I'm gonna go see the movie and enjoy damnit!