Difference between revisions of "Soul Man"

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Soul Man is a 1986 American comedy film directed by Steve Miner and written by Carol L. Black.
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== Plot ==
 
== Plot ==
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The film's hero is a UCLA graduate who poses as a black in order to qualify for a scholarship to Harvard Law School, and the movie follows him through his first semester, as he spars with a black professor, falls in love with a black woman and experiences racism. <ref>https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/soul-man-1986</ref>
  
 
== Controversy ==
 
== Controversy ==
 
The plot concerns a young, white man who is accepted by Harvard Law School but can't come up with the sky-high tuition until he hits on the idea of pretending to be black. After turning his skin dark with an overdose of tanning pills, Mark Watson (C. Thomas Howell) applies for and gets a scholarship that should be open only to black students.  
 
The plot concerns a young, white man who is accepted by Harvard Law School but can't come up with the sky-high tuition until he hits on the idea of pretending to be black. After turning his skin dark with an overdose of tanning pills, Mark Watson (C. Thomas Howell) applies for and gets a scholarship that should be open only to black students.  
The filmmakers simply don't understand (or, at any rate, know how to dramatize) anything about being black, and that limits their ability to find the humor in the situation they've established. You'd think, for instance, that a movie about a white disguised as a black would have fun with the guy's ignorance. He might misinterpret a slang expression or misunderstand a reference to a black historical figure or cultural hero. But no, the closest the film comes to this sort of gambit is when Mark expresses embarrassment about his Beach Boys record collection.
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The filmmakers simply don't understand (or, at any rate, know how to dramatize) anything about being black, and that limits their ability to find the humor in the situation they've established.<ref>https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1986-10-25-0260350201-story.html</ref>
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==References==
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{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Black Racism in Comedy Movies]]

Revision as of 14:58, 17 January 2021

Soul Man is a 1986 American comedy film directed by Steve Miner and written by Carol L. Black.

Plot

The film's hero is a UCLA graduate who poses as a black in order to qualify for a scholarship to Harvard Law School, and the movie follows him through his first semester, as he spars with a black professor, falls in love with a black woman and experiences racism. [1]

Controversy

The plot concerns a young, white man who is accepted by Harvard Law School but can't come up with the sky-high tuition until he hits on the idea of pretending to be black. After turning his skin dark with an overdose of tanning pills, Mark Watson (C. Thomas Howell) applies for and gets a scholarship that should be open only to black students. The filmmakers simply don't understand (or, at any rate, know how to dramatize) anything about being black, and that limits their ability to find the humor in the situation they've established.[2]

References