Black People Come in So Many Different Flavors

Thanks to the election of Barack Obama, people the world over are being forced to acknolwedge that Black people really do come in many different flavors. The Black experience does not always start in the ghetto and end in a)the ghetto, b)the 'hood or c)a southern fried kitchen lorded over by Big Mamma and Tyler Perry.

Debut filmmaker, Barry Jenkins is doing his part to broaden the landscape of the Black experience with his new film, Medicine for Melancholy. Reviewed in the New York Times yesterday, the film follows the 24 hours after a one-night stand between two Black twenty-something "hipsters" in San Francisco. It's as much about their budding relationship as it is about being Black in mostly White San Francisco. The movie tackles issue of race, class, identity and regionalism. From the review written by Dennis Lim:

" ...Medicine for Melancholy concerns the search for self-definition. But it stands apart for its forthright attention to the push-pull of inclusion and exclusion that comes with being a minority member of a subculture."

The movie opens in New York this Friday and looks like it will only have a limited release in select cities. So if you live in NYC, San Francisco, Seattle and/or Los Angeles, get thee to a movie theater quick.

Peace!