Something New

On Tuesday night, there was a free preview screening at the Angelika for the upcoming movie Something New starring Sanaa Lathan (AVP:Alien vs. Predator, Brown Sugar) and Simon Baker (The Ring Two). It is a lovely romantic comedy about finding love in unexpected places. Um, what that means is black woman meets white guy and hesitantly falls in love with him and gets through the obstacles (namely herself) that is preventing her from being happy in love. It was smart, touching and thought provoking. After the screening at the Angelika, there was a panel discussion with individuals in interracial relationships featuring my amazing husband, a black lady who had married a white man and a black guy, married 14 years to a black woman. The audience asked questions or made comments about their thoughts on the movie, interracial dating, the state of black relationships and so on. A lot of what was said, I felt was very close-minded. A dude said that if the interracial couple were in the relationship for the right reasons, then that was OK, but if they were in it for the wrong reasons, such as, I don't want to date black women anymore, they're too much trouble, then they are wrong for having an interracial relationship. The panel's response was simply this, it's nobody's business but the people in the relationship why they are in that relationship. You can't see an interracial couple in Kroger and decide whether or not they should be together because we do not know the reasons for their choice. It's none of our business.

Some ladies in the audience talked about how the pool of eligible black men shrinks the older they get or the more successful they become in business. While conversely the pool of women for these eligible black men increases with age and success. I wondered why they put these limits on themselves in this arena when clearly they don't limit themselves like that in other aspects of their lives. But then that's just me. Naive.

The dynamic of race in America is something that I am still grappling with. I don't expect that I will ever make much sense of it. If my parents were in the US at the time that they got married, they wouldn't have been able to. Consequently, I wouldn't even exist. These are all sobering thoughts to me. But then that's just me. Naive. Oops I said that already.

I felt that the movie was a good watch. Thoughtful and thought provoking. The discussion afterward was heated and prejudiced and enlightening as well. I had another date night with my Dear Husband (two nights in a row!!) so I was happy!