You site the example of Madea’s Family Reunion and you make a great point but Nathan is not silent in this movie. And his turnaround is accurate and very well told within the context of a 10 minute movie.

One of the things I admire about Harvey’s storytelling is that it is so simple and concise, maybe it was too simple for you to discern the clues brought about by the scenes with Nathan’s patients. Nathan’s world is filled with people in chaos and confusion and inner turmoil. His ultimate request from God becomes not “if I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take” but rather just give all of us some peace. I think we could all use some of that. What a powerful message.

Then again, Charles may have some vendetta against actors in general. Who knows?

I think Charmagne is struggling between her faith and her feelings. The fact that she ultimately walks out and doesn’t have sex with Jonathan says that she has the power to do what she wants with her body. Why do women always have to jump into bed with a man in order to be considered “liberated?” And in a religious society where it’s force-fed down people’s throats to wait until marriage, with little hard core evidence as to reasons why, Charmagne makes a decision on her own accord because she acknowledges that she doesn’t know if what she’s been force fed in terms of the Bible is actually true (ie “How do we even know Adam and Eve were married?”) Again, that’s something you just don’t do within the church. You don’t ask questions. And saying that you don’t know is considered just as rebellious as saying that you you don’t believe, in the eyes of that culture.

And why should Charmagne be considered hypocritical for encouraging her sister not to have sex with a guy that she just met 3 weeks ago and who can’t say I love you? Tasha challenges Stephen with the question and when he doesn’t answer, she unfortunately still decides to sleep with him. Also, I thought Jonathan was very supportive of Charmagne. Other men would have rolled out if they weren’t getting sex after all that time. But he respected her values and her faith.

It was unclear as to whether or not Charmagne was a virgin in the first place. The fact that her and Jonathan started dating a year ago and she just got baptized and got her true love waits necklace a year ago could mean that maybe she had already had sex prior to one year ago. Plus, Claudette made that comment about giving up hope that she would be a “respectable lady.” Perhaps that was why she was telling her sister to wait–to help prevent her sister from having a negative experience. If that’s the case, her warning could be more from a practical level than a spiritual one, which would make sense since Charmagne is conflicted about the whole “don’t have sex before your married because the Bible says so” debate anyway. The Bible verse at the end of Defining Moments doesn’t say wait until you’re married, it says wait until you’re ready. Ready could mean being with someone who you love and care for very deeply, and that doesn’t necessarily have to mean marriage.

You raise a valid point about the hypocrisy of virginity tests. I thought the part with the teenage girl bleeding after sex was very sad because many young girls dream and fantasize about their first time and think of it as being this glorious, romantic thing. I can say from experience that that’s not always the case. For many women, losing your viriginity is a big deal because it affects your body physically. What Tasha thought was going to be a great experience ended up being physically painful, messy and rushed. So much for romance! That’s sad for that to be her first introduction to something as beautiful as sexual intercourse. I think that’s what the filmmaker was trying to get across, not anything about virginity tests. That’s a completely different story in and of itself.

I also think you’re right about communication being the key to relationships. Sex and a woman’s sexuality are topics that are rarely talked about openly in the church unless except just to say “Don’t Do it.” I think this film will challenge the religious community in terms of how they box women in sexually. It doesn’t “preach to the choir,” actually it points fingers at the choir. Hopefully it will open up some dialogue and discussion within that community because lord knows the church doesn’t talk about it enough.

Good leads and funny dialogue. Very cool.

-Martin

I think this is one of those good mistakes. It keeps folks like me on my toes and makes me aware of the responsibility I have as a writer for CinemATL.

I’ve tried to balance using my more personal voice on the blog and my more journalistic voice on the rest of CinemATL. It maybe a “dangerous” distinction to make. In the future, I’ll try to remain in a more journalistic mode.

And CinemATL always extends the offer to print feedback from anywhere. Negative or positive.

Charles

My apologies for Skip and my misunderstanding.

Be well,

Josie Burgin Lawson