Despite the food poisoning, I was able to watch this movie - it was in several sittings, but I got through it.
Tyler Perry is an interesting "rise to fame" story. I won't go into it here, but will say that I ain't hatin' him for trying to tell these stories the way that he is. He is telling this story which alludes to the "border crossing" that I believe we ought to be teaching to all of our nation's kids that are living in poverty.
Tyler Perry's character, Mr. Wesley Deeds, is the CEO of his father's computer software company. He narrates the beginning of the film explaining how the life he lives is really the life that others have marked out for him. It's a comfortable life, but it's not fitting him properly because he's playing a character and not being himself. The trailer tries to sell the film as if he has two women that he needs to choose between when in essence, he must learn to choose himself.
I like that lesson a lot. Stick with me, I'm not trying to ruffle any feathers or say that's it's okay to put yourself before everyone else, but I really want you to hear this and hear me revealing a little more about myself.
I am quite self-centered; it's true. Many in the readership might say - "well aren't we all to some degree or another', to which I must reply, I don't know where you at, but this gurl has got a lot of work to do on understanding and ensuring that she is not living with the mantra of "it's all about you" swirling around in her head. So, I am self-centered but know that I also come with lots of godly and wonderful qualities, but this self-focus is one that can be the bane of my relationships.
Tyler Perry is an interesting "rise to fame" story. I won't go into it here, but will say that I ain't hatin' him for trying to tell these stories the way that he is. He is telling this story which alludes to the "border crossing" that I believe we ought to be teaching to all of our nation's kids that are living in poverty.
Tyler Perry's character, Mr. Wesley Deeds, is the CEO of his father's computer software company. He narrates the beginning of the film explaining how the life he lives is really the life that others have marked out for him. It's a comfortable life, but it's not fitting him properly because he's playing a character and not being himself. The trailer tries to sell the film as if he has two women that he needs to choose between when in essence, he must learn to choose himself.
I like that lesson a lot. Stick with me, I'm not trying to ruffle any feathers or say that's it's okay to put yourself before everyone else, but I really want you to hear this and hear me revealing a little more about myself.
I am quite self-centered; it's true. Many in the readership might say - "well aren't we all to some degree or another', to which I must reply, I don't know where you at, but this gurl has got a lot of work to do on understanding and ensuring that she is not living with the mantra of "it's all about you" swirling around in her head. So, I am self-centered but know that I also come with lots of godly and wonderful qualities, but this self-focus is one that can be the bane of my relationships.
Going through some challenging times in my early thirties, I learned more about who God is and more of who I needed to be. Deeds was a chameleon, engaged to the poster girl, silent and unopinionated with his mother and a doormat to his inappropriate and unprofessional brother. He was miserable and those around him weren't their best selves either. There were some "dawg" moments and some vulnerable ones too, but it really didn't become the movie I enjoyed until he spoke his truth and then took action to live it. I wished that Perry had taken license to show Deeds praying and searching God's plan, but I will take the stepping back from the world and listening to what is supposed to be rather than continuing just cuz it seems clear, as a positive step in the right direction. I'm looking for that, always wanting to be that, so maybe that's why I am inferring it from the film. When I was so eager to please others and worked so desperately to fit in, I neglected to be what I've been crafted to be and it quite certainly negatively impacted those around me. For those who know me now, they do not believe that this "other me" really existed. I hope that's a good thing...
A reviewer observation. This was supposed to be a movie about class and its discrepancies and even how there can be a bridge between the two opposed worlds, but even the low income and struggling woman (played by Thandie Newton) was still connected, in new and cute outfits and even with tousled hair, a jacked up mini-van - which she and her daughter were living out of - she was still portrayed as attractive and put together. I'm still trying to wrap my brain around it. Had they made this character real scruff, would we have been able to accept the story as it unfolded? Is that because Perry was trying to crossover into a wider audience, to speak to another group of people... I may be overanalyzing it.
This movie certainly puts the spotlight on class versus race and I appreciate that and is certainly worth a one-time viewing. It could be great to watch with those you know who are ready to take risks and want to do something different, to feel the weight of the world on their shoulders.
A reviewer observation. This was supposed to be a movie about class and its discrepancies and even how there can be a bridge between the two opposed worlds, but even the low income and struggling woman (played by Thandie Newton) was still connected, in new and cute outfits and even with tousled hair, a jacked up mini-van - which she and her daughter were living out of - she was still portrayed as attractive and put together. I'm still trying to wrap my brain around it. Had they made this character real scruff, would we have been able to accept the story as it unfolded? Is that because Perry was trying to crossover into a wider audience, to speak to another group of people... I may be overanalyzing it.
This movie certainly puts the spotlight on class versus race and I appreciate that and is certainly worth a one-time viewing. It could be great to watch with those you know who are ready to take risks and want to do something different, to feel the weight of the world on their shoulders.
Please be warned though, while it could be a great convers If you're planning to watch this with your teen, you need to watch it first.
