BUCKING THE SYSTEM: BLACK AMILY REALITY ON `SOUL FOOD' MENU

Finally, a movie made by, for and about black Americans that touches on more of the realities and fewer of the extremes of our lives.

I'm tired of Blaxploitation in American movies.

Not all black women are on welfare, use food stamps, have babies in their teens, are constantly sexually aroused, wear braids and big earrings, roll their eyes (and necks), pop their chewing gum, or are excellent gospel singers.

Neither do all black men use or deal drugs, spend time in prison, carry guns, idolize white women, drive fancy cars, enjoy gangsta rap, steal, or keep fat rolls of money in their pockets.

Maybe you don't feed into these negative stereotypes about black Americans, or maybe you just don't think you do. Either way, unless the movie involves Oprah, Denzel or Whoopi, these are the images I see being perpetuated in the vast majority of movies today.

Oh yeah, on a side note -- race doesn't seem to matter when it comes to perpetuating these stereotypes. I've seen just as many stereotypical movies with black producers and directors as with other races.

Want a real picture of black family life in the '90s? Go to the movie theater with an open mind this weekend and watch "Soul Food." It's the best and most realistic movie I've seen since "Sounder."

I'm not a movie reviewer, but I'll try to give a short sketch of the storyline without giving away the whole movie. "Soul Food" is the saga of a mother and her three adult daughters. This family is extremely matriarchal, with Big Momma being the glue that holds everyone together before and after her husband's death.

The oldest daughter is a successful attorney who is having marital troubles with her second husband. The middle daughter, who is constantly battling with her older sister, is happily married to a hardworking man and pregnant with her third child. The baby girl is newly married to an ex-convict who is trying to do the right thing.

The story is good because it tells what happens when Big Momma gets sick and the girls have to take charge of the family and their own lives.

This movie has a little of everything, and it doesn't point any fingers. Nobody is completely wrong or right, and you can find yourself relating to the tensions and the actions the characters feel and make. It's a real movie about real people.

It's about time. I was getting tired of gangsta rap and shoot 'em ups, even though I know for some black people those are also realities.

I like this movie because it talks about family, and I think everyone knows that's one of my favorite themes. Maybe I'm wrong, but I just don't think it's necessary to base every movie featuring black characters on the principles of gangs, drugs, guns and early deaths.

What's wrong with depicting real relationships and emotions, with producing movies that have realistic and pleasant endings? Maybe if more black actors and actresses demanded the same quality roles as Denzel, Whoopi and Oprah have become accustomed to, we'd get less foolery, sex and death and more family, everydayism, and ... well soul food, for our money.

~Tamara Zellars Buck is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.