“For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf.” No this is not the name of a book but an original play that has been turned into a motion picture movie by African-American filmmaker Tyler Perry. Unlike the original play which featured only 7 women, the new version offers 20 characters that each performed a collection of 20 poems that deal with women’s intense issues and the provoking results that encompass what it means to be a female of color in the world.
The movie based on Ntozake Shange’s 1975 stage play “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf,” opened last Friday (November 4) to the tune of over $20 million. Retaining the play’s poetic style, the picture consists of a cast of some of the best African female actresses including seven of whom are based on the play’s seven characters only known by color (“Lady in Red”, “Lady in Blue”, “Lady in Yellow,” etc) and like the play each character deals with their own personal conflicts, such as love, abandonment, rape, infidelity, homosexuality and abortion.
The stellar cast consisting of Janet Jackson as Jo, Thandie Newton as Tangie, Loretta Devine as Juanita, Anika Noni Rose as Yasmine, Kimberly Elise as Crystal, Kerry Washington as Kelly, Phylicia Rashad as Gilda and Tessa Thompson as Nyla, emphasized on the fact that tragedies through inner strength comes from common experiences and to the strength of others to carry you through tough times.
If you do go see the movie, remember that this Harlem era drama picture is not about God even though Whoopi Goldberg‘s character is a religious woman but about a call to unify women about their shared experiences at the hands of oppressed men. Indeed the 2010 recipient of the Heartland Truly Moving Pictures Award offers Perry’s stance on some heavy melodramatic dialogues that will run poignant emotions in some fans hearts maybe just the right ingredients for this next Oscar contender.
Check out the trailer bellow
By Valerie Varasse
