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Movie Review in The Other Paper angers OSU student

The Other Paper, an entertainment magazine in Columbus, recently published a movie review of "The Best Man" which was not to the liking of OSU student Apryl Steadman. Here are some excerpts from that article, then Steadman's counter.

"Issall Good"
By Johnny DiLoretto, The Other Paper

The No. 1 movie of the week (if you follow that kind of thing) is "The Best Man," described by most unimaginative critics as a black Big Chill. Apparently, African-American moviegoers were hungry for a boring ensemble reunion piece...

...Taye Diggs is charismatic as title character Harper, an Oprah book-of-the-month-club author who is to be the best man at homey Lance's wedding. The hook is that his peeps have been passing around an advanced copy of his debut novel trying to figure out which of the thinly-veiled characters represent them. Harper's boys get together and swap belly-smackin' stories and romantic advice. Who did who, who shoulda did whom. They argue about the woman's place, her role in marriage, etc. Old flames get reignited, and old scabs get picked. Lance star' trippin' when he think Harper hit skins widdiz fiancee, Mia. The boys got to learn the hard way that bros always come before ho's. Knowuddinsayin'? It's mostly juvenile trash talk, but the actors bring it to life...

...The female support is good. But why is it that even in all-black movies the definition of female beauty is light-skinned? Whereas white movies keep casting old codgers alongside uncomfortably young ingenues, black movies exhibit an unspoken fear of dark-skinned black women. Whazzup, black Hollywood? It's all pink inside, yo. Don't be afraid to flaunt your own darkness...

...Aside from the women in the picture getting short shrift, "The Best Man" is a tolerable comedy about black male success and insecurity. It flirts with exposing black male misogyny but backs off with a neat lesson about loyalty and forgiveness...

...But hey, issall good.

The RESPONSE

By Apryl Steadman
DIMENSIONS Staff Writer

"But hey, issall good."

Those are the final words of Johnny DiLoretto's movie review of "The Best Man."

Mr. DiLoretto, it definitely is NOT all good. I, as well as my fellow African-Americans, don't enjoy being taunted and characterized as people who cannot and do not speak proper English.

DiLoretto's review is a blatant demonstration of how time and time again, African-Americans are looked upon as ignorant, as well as exclusions of "mainstream America." The review was filled with Ebonics that DiLoretto apparently believes is the correct characterization of African-Americans.

As I read the review, it angered me to believe that someone would allow such a degrading and racist review to appear in their publication. But in a way, I don't blame DiLoretto because ignorance is a sickness, and he is very ill.

I blame the editors and owners of The Other Paper, because allowing such a prejudiced review to be published tells me they don't value my readership because I'm black.

Do you think such a review would have been published if the movie were written by a white person?

Of course not. No matter how hard we try to say that it isn't true, the fact remains - we as African-Americans still do not receive the respect we deserve when we excel in any particular area. "The Best Man," though it was No. 1 on the charts, was still characterized as a "black movie." I find that odd because, although I cannot recall seeing not one black actor in "Titanic," that movie was never characterized as a "white movie," because, of course, it was a love story for "everyone."

But "The Best Man," a movie that focuses on friendship, love and loyalty (themes that people of all races can relate to), has been classified as a "black movie" just because it was written by an African-American and has a predominantly African-American cast.

Yet, there are plenty of films written by whites with predominantly white casts that also focus on universal themes; however, the difference is that those films receive reviews based on the content of the movie and not the race of the writer and the cast.

Now does that sound like "issall good" to you?

Apryl Steadman is a senior majoring in journalism.


E-mail Apryl
Jan. 2000