A few days ago, Bossip put out the promotional one-sheets for Tyler Perry’s new film, For Colored Girls, the film adaptation of the play “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf”. The play is something like 35 years old, and I read it back when I was in high school, although I had to consult Wikipedia for a recap. The play was basically written as seven acts/monologues it seems, with each of the seven main characters getting an act. Tyler Perry’s adaptation – which was written by Nzingha Stewart changes some things, but not the big things. Like, Perry gave each character a name, which is different from the play. But the film will still deal with all of the Big Topics: sex, domestic abuse, rape, violence, abortion, divorce/separation. The trailer just come out and it looks… difficult. Like it will be difficult to sit through because it’s so hardcore. Here’s the trailer:
Damn, I love Loretta Devine. I mentioned that the other day – for me, Devine can do no wrong. Janet Jackson looks interesting, and it seems like Kimberly Elise only gets roles where she has to look like hell, right? But damn, Phylicia Rashad is looking great, isn’t she? It’s great to see her working in a Tyler Perry movie. As for Thandie Newton and Kerry Washington… ugh. But they’re barely in the trailer, so who knows? Also: WHOOPI. Goodness. How did Whoopi get this gig? I always forget how powerful she is as a dramatic actress.
Also – I just want to say this, because I don’t think people say it enough about Tyler Perry: It’s wonderful to see a film dominated by so many talented African-American actresses (and Thandie). Tyler consistently gives work to so many women of color, and for that one reason alone, I really adore him. He does what no other director does, not even Spike Lee. Spike’s films deal with race, of course, but Spike doesn’t have as consistent a record of putting women of color to work.
Posters courtesy of Bossip.
Ntzoke Shange wrote the play. And it’s nice to see women of color– Thandie may not be American, but she is Black.
I think he ran the madea thing into the ground but i agree it is great he gives work to black girls, and latinas occasionally. Im hispanic and it can be so frustrating to constantly watch movies about the pretty white girls, like oh woe is you
Another must see. I hope its as good as it looks and the Academy shows it some love. I love Tyler Perry and his movies. my family used to just love his plays and I think we have every single one on DVD. So Tyler certainly has experience with transforming a play to film, I think this is gonna be great. Sooo happy to see Ms Rayshad in a film. Yay.
They’ve probably photoshopped the crap out of it, but good grief, does Janet Jackson look stunning in that poster.
You know, I really like Tyler Perry’s movies. I like the actors he uses and I like the stories.
Two of my faves are The Family that Preys Together, and Why Did I get Married.
Yeah, I watched that one with Idris Elba – Daddy’s Little Girls, is it? I was drawn in. Perry’s stuff is melodramatic, sure. But they’re very watchable. He’s like the modern Douglas Sirk, making old-fashioned “women’s pictures”
Cosign w/ Gabs and Anon
Loretta Devine is the woman! love her 4eva. 🙂
janet looks fierce in this.
& true that, kaiser. it’s great to see so many black actresses in a vehicle like this.
tyler’s doin the damn thing alright.
Looks very powerful, me and some of my female cousins have already made plans to have a girls night out, movie/dinner or dinner/movie,, cant wait
I will cry if I watch this movie and something bad happens to Mrs Cosby.
Newton is a mixed race girl and considered mixed in Europe. Get over it.
The stories are always over the top drama, but they’re so good I have to watch them all more than once.
I will have to see Daddy’s Little Girls. Thanks for the tip.
We read this in high school too, and while I loved it I’m not clear on how it’s going to translate into a film. Are they adding dialogue? or just the blank verse monologues in the play?
That’s quite a powerful cast. Looks interesting. Not sugar-coated like his other movies. Don’t get me wrong, I like his other movies, a lot. But they have sort of a Disney-ish quality to them, not that there’s anything wrong with that… 😉
Just saw “Why Did I Get Married Too” a couple weeks ago and enjoyed the majority of it. I thought it was better than the first, really, until the end, which fizzled out in a Hallmark-y style that didn’t really go with the rest of the film. Still love his work though!
Janet does look good but she is always photo-shopped to the max, so a picture tells very little about how she actually looks.
Thandie is a woman of color, we’re not arguing about which color are we?
All I know is I watched one episode of his show House of Payne and it was unbearably bad. The worst thing I have ever seen on television. Ever.
i find it interesting how some people do not like acknowledging ‘the white parent’ in mixed race folks. jussayin.
along with thandie, boris kodjoe, evan ross, alicia keys, halle berry, faith evans, sade, & keisha coles all have a white parent.
it’s ok. really. 🙂
Why do you hate Thandie Newton? This is the second post in two days that you’ve mentioned how much you dislike her…
Re: Thandie – I don’t really care for Thandie as an actress because I think she’s very overrated – she’s done some good work, but overall, she’s not as wonderful as she thinks she is. Plus, I saw her on Oprah to promote Crash, and I was very put-off by her holier-than-thou attitude.
I hope this is actually a good all-women movie. I hate those pieces of crap where there is always some incomprehensible scene were all or most of the women, who were just arguing a moment ago, dance around the kitchen or coffee table, singing into a hairbrush. That shit just doesn’t happen in real life.
It would be refreshing to see an intelligent female-dominated movie. I can’t remember the last one I saw. I know they are out there but they are few and far between.
And, yes, Madea was driven into the ground.
Oh, and Whoopi “it wasn’t rape-rape” Goldberg can suck it.
I read this back in high school too. I had a great A.P. English teacher who demanded from the principal to teach such material.
I loved it and I really hope that Perry will do it justice!
@RHNYC when someone is mixed they usually tend to identify with one race over another for a number of different reasons, i.e. family, location, upbringing. Your a real housewives fan obvs, think of Lisa from Atlanta. She is Asian and African, but culturally and socially black…. think of Nene’s reaction to seeing her “other side.” When you are multi-racial there are people from each race who will never accept you because of the mix. So you burn your own path and identify with make you, YOU! whatever that may be.
Perry makes huge big money movies, then turns around and uses the money for charitable causes and to make films like this. Such an awesome collection of women. Good for him.
Now Kaiser, you know the only reason you even saw “Daddy’s Little Girls” was to swoon over my man, Idris Elba. Tell the truth, shame the devil.
Shivers. . .
I was a huge theater geek in high school, and one of my friends/competitors performed a monologue from “For Colored Girls. . .” (I hated competing against her, she was a talented actress with a heart-wrenching piece. That bitch always placed in the top 5. . .)
I involuntarily cringed when they spliced scenes of the woman looking up on the street. . .
I want to see this movie, but I don’t want to cry for a week.
According to wikipedia, ‘Thandiwe Nashita “Thandie” Newton was born in London, England, and is the daughter of Nyasha, a Zimbabwean health-care worker, and Nick Newton, an English laboratory technician and artist.’ So, she isn’t African-American, but she’s definitely black–and African (well, half, I guess).
I like her. I didn’t see the interview Kaiser was referring to, but I did see a couple interviews when “Run Fatboy Run” came out and she seemed very fun and easy-going. She’s apparently quite the practical joker, and they all had lots of fun playing pranks. I think she’s kinda adorable. 🙂
Woot! There are some fine actresses featured in this movie and it looks like a solid drama (haven’t read or seen the play) for that reason alone I’ll go see it. I usually avoid Tyler Perry movies with their usual heaping of steoreotypical bullshit. As a filmmaker the man’s a hack imo and the idea that I should like his movies just ’cause I’m black gets on my last nerves *side-eye to friends and relatives who’ve actually said that to me* BUT I won’t hate on him too much simply because we don’t see enough black actresses getting decent roles and in this instance it looks like several of them get to showcase their acting chops.
african americans are racially mixed. (most usa citizens are at least ethnically mixed – we’re all mutts) thandie newton is mixed. she may not be from the states but she’s black. lay off her. she’s gorges and talented.
and i cant wait to see this film:)
Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t think Kaiser was questioning Thandie’s blackness; she’s saying that the rest are great actresses and Thandie is not.
Scarlet – I know she isn’t African-American, if that was directed at me. That’s why I wrote, “so many talented African-American actresses (and Thandie).”
Also: why did this become a discussion on being mixed race?
This post brings up 2 things that really bother me:
1) Why is African-American synonymous with black? Your ethnicity and heritage/ancestory are 2 different things. I am a white American. I don’t identify myself to random people on the street as an Irish-English-German-American.
2) I understand the literature was written years ago, so that explains its word choice. However, can we all agree that it is very confusing that whites cannot use the term “colored” without an uproar, but the NAACP and this movie still reference a “racist” term? I understand the problem with the word is that it was used in the days of segregation, but can we also understand that most people who use the word “colored” are not intending insult?
Just some of my frustrations.
You know what bothers me? When people can’t just take “if you use this word, it offends me” as a good enough reason to not use it. If you want to sound like an ass, go ahead and call black people colored. But know that you’re going to sound like an ass. I’m white and I don’t find this the least bit confusing.
Okay, but I would like to see women’s films that strike the middle ground of women’s life experience, somewhere between:
a) brainless clichéd rom-com, &
b) orgy of suffering, which is what this looks like
Ugh – the play is great, and the fact that he cast so few hard-hitting actresses doesn’t say much to me about his commitment to them (Alfre Woodard, much? Charlayne Woodard? Jurnee Smollett? Vanessa Williams? Angela Bassett? I can’t believe f’ing Janet Jackson and Macy Gray are in this. Blergh. Even Jill Scott is better than they are.). I have never seen one of his movies, and don’t intend to. The play, however, is amazing – and is worth reading. Far better use of your time than seeing this movie. Perry does not represent all black people’s interests. Besides, I’m getting tired of the “downtrodden black woman” portrayals. How about something that’s positive and not stereotypical?
Also, I don’t even know why people bother with the term African American – they really only mean black, anyway…
And TQB – thank you.
Forget this Thandie Newton stuff,
how GREAT does Anika Noni Rose sound singing the song in the trailer. Im sure thats her. Kaiser you didnt even mention her. I think she has a stage presence. it will be interesting to see her in a movie that isnt dominated by music
What in the bottom pits of hell??? How did this post become a topic about Thandie’s ethnicity? Yes she’s mixed, but (and correct me if i’m wrong) she identifies as black, which a lot of mixed people (black and white) tend to do because that’s how they are seen and are treated, think of Obama and his story for an example. Furthermore, most black people in America who are several generations in have a mixed ancestry, that’s right people…most blacks in the US aren’t of 100 percent African descent, that’s why our complexions can range from light bright to damn near white to mocha chocolate mousse. At the end of the day, it’s an individual choice…get over it.
And BJF, the reason that SOME blacks in the US prefer to be called African Americans is because that’s what they are. Unfortunately, that whole little slavery thing has made it a wee bit difficult for us to pinpoint which African country our ancestors are from, so while you have the privilege of knowing which country your ancetors came from, most blacks/african americans do not, hence some of them claiming the continent. And stop being butt hurt over not be able to say “colored”, it screams white privilege.
Anyways this movie looks pretty good so I just might open the wallet up and go see it.
Thandie is a wonderful actress and great beauty. She has been around for almost two decades. I adore her, because she is adorable.
I know I’m going to get crap for this but I think Whoopi is very talented and does deliver in comedies and dramas
We need more female directors. Ten per cent is laughable and it explains how women and girls are seen to the world, made into objects, how they are pimped and eroticized in ways men aren’t, and how they pimp themselves out (cough Kardashian ho’s) just to get attention in Hollywood.
But yeah, props to Tyler for sure! He bucks the trend.
That’s a bullcrap post about mixed race actresses who do not mention the white parent. Lots of lies.
I’ve seen and heard Halle Berry speak glowingly about her white mother and how she’s the parent who was there, but explain the vagaries of her mixed background. Same with Alicia Keyes. She loves her mama, yes, the white mother.
Jeez people, join the 21st century. This thread was appalling, some of you don’t get out much and make up some phony statements to bash people’s choice of how they experience their own ethnicity.
And if you don’t know why “colored” is historical and “out” if you’re not a historical organization or using a word in a past context then how do you keep up with the I-Pod or this new fangled term called “the internet?” Oh, that is not a problem? New words aren’t THAT hard to learn?
Right, enough said. You just want to bash people trying to uplift their condition with phony excuses about how your limited intellect just can’t keep up with change. As you post your bull on a computer on the internet on something called a “blog” that argument shows its own lies.
Tyler Perry is absolutely the wrong person to make this film. I can look past the fact that he will direct and produce this film. But he cannot write and adapt this. He does not have the ability to tell women’s story(even if it is black women) well.
http://jezebel.com/5352723/is-tyler-perry-the-right-man-to-tell-black-womens-stories
@bjf, try to reference when the play was written “colored” was acceptable, twenty years before that the “n” word was the term in use. Its called progression.
Also in the original play the women were referenced only by the color they wore, red, blue, yellow, etc.
and if someone on the street HAD to identify me then yes i would have to say African American, because if they cant tell from looking at me i then does become a question of my heritage and not my ethnicity. im sure nobody stops and asks you unless they want to know that you are English, Irish, Slavic, whatever
why would i want to be identified as just being colored, when the whole problem with racism was THE COLOR OF YOUR SKIN.
i think you just showed your a**
It doesn’t matter to me what color the the people are in the movie. I also thought the people were called “colored” because of the colors they wore not bc the color of their skin.It looks awesome regardless! Tyler Perry is so talented. He will be successful for a very long time. Most people in general in the US are mutts. I for one and a bit of arab, swiss, german, french and english…but half arab so people consider me “arab american” which is strange to me….but whatever
Anyone know who is singing that cover of Nina Simone’s Four Women?
@Dhavy, for what it’s worth, I agree with you about Whoopi. I wish I knew less about her jackassness so I could enjoy her solid work more.
My father is black and my mother is white but I turned out pretty much white, except for my hair. Everyone is shocked that my dad is black. It’s annoying.
The trailer looks great, I can’t wait to see this film (and read the play).
I can’t wait to see the movie now that I have done my research and now know its based on the play. I will reserve my judgements on the workmanship for after I have seen it. I too am wondering how well the work will translate from stage to screen… On the Thandie Newton, I’m Black, Who You Callin Mutt, Don’t Call Me Colored, Well I’m White but Irish, Spanish, Albanian convo… Y’all acting up (and not in an award winning way). Thanx for the laughs. Lol, Both black and white are colors last time I checked. So Hell we’re all colored. Try just being American. Its liberating.
@TQB
I understand the whole it offends people, don’t use it logic. What I don’t understand is the NAACP and United Negro College Fund. I don’t use the word colored, nor the word negro. But, there they are in black empowerment group names. Where’s that logic? And I am all for evolving; perhaps those groups should consider it.
@tip
Thank you. That is the point that I was attempting to make. I’m American. Not whatever heritage American. Just American.
i dont know why tyler is dating a girl 16yrs his junior old enough to be his daughter. my daughter is gelila bekele’s age and my husband and i are tyler’s age, its so disgusting how men with money think that they can sleep with our little girls