By Eartha Watts-Hicks
When I first saw Steel Magnolias, it was 1989. I was a teenager, my mother’s daughter. I remember thinking the original was a good movie. I loved the all-star cast, but otherwise felt no real connection to the film. The story appealed to me, but however unfortunate didn’t apply to me. To me Steel Magnolias was another sentimental tearjerker the likes of Terms of Endearment. It was touching, but didn’t resonate with me. I took with a grain of salt.
Fast-forward to 2012, now Steel Magnolias has an all black cast. The acting was phenomenal, but as I watched I didn’t see actors. I saw people and the story. And this story grabbed me. I don’t know if it was that the acting was so great, or that I just now realized how incredible the script was, or if I was connecting to it because the cast was black, or that I have lived long enough to truly relate.
I’ve always known how much my mother loves me. She’s my guardian angel. But now that I am the mother of a young woman who is brilliant, beautiful, and headstrong, I understand that dynamic from the other side. I know what it is like to rage war against anyone or anything that could ever harm my baby. Now watching this film, I cried through the whole thing. I was a basket case, and it was cleansing and therapeutic.
Now when I think about Steel Magnolias, I wonder whose wonderful idea this was. Why has Hollywood taken so long to realize that black people love deeply, have real struggles, and serve as a powerful support system? We are not the stereotypes. We are human beings. Almost everyone I know is struggling to put their kids through school, remain healthy, and to live a better life. It’s 2012. Why does Hollywood focus so much on slaves, maids, hustlers, pimps, and whores when there are so many more stories to tell?
The Lifetime Original Movie “Steel Magnolias” stars Queen Latifah, Alfre Woodard, Phylicia Rashad, Jill Scott, Adepero Oduye and Condola Rashad. It airs again tonight at 8pm and at midnight on the Lifetime television network.
If you have you seen the movie, what did you think of it?
Related articles
- Salters Scene: Queen Latifah and the Steel Magnolias Crew At the Paris Theatre (harlemworldmag.com)
Submit your newstip or news photos
I watched the movie and was moved also. I scarely remembered the original version but as I watched last night it began to come back to me, especially the ending. I enjoyed the all black cast but was a little disappointed feeling that the acting could have been stronger. (Just my opinion). I however was in tears at the end, so the story and acting (Queen Latifah) really resonated in my soul. I understood the storyline because of knowing so many people who suffer with diabetics. I also had a friend how died because of giving birth to her son because of the impact of the disease. I enjoyed the movie and am glad that it was made.
I also watched the remake of the movie last night. I am always excited to see a group of talented African American actors doing what they do best, telling a story and making the viewer feel. I was however, and I don’t know why a little disappointed in the acting. I felt that it could have been a little stronger. I however enjoyed it and was a bucket of tears at the end. I remember the original and was also a bucket of tears at the end of that one too. I could relate to the story because I have friends who are fighting diabetics and had a friend who died a few years later after giving birth to her son. Sometimes we don’t take the disease seriously but it is! I feel the daughter (Condola Rashad) would have survived if she had paid attention to the warning signs she got before leaving the hospital. I have known folks who do not want to admit that they have the disease and go on eating the same way. This movie is somewhat a learning blueprint for those folks. I thought Queen Latifah was awesome. I felt her pain and loved my girl Jill Scott. (watch it though Jill, taking parts where you are not satified in your marriages, don’t want to get typecast). I might watch it again tonight. Peace