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September 28, 2008
Staring at the Dimensions of Love
The NYT Sunday Styles section offers an unusual juxtaposition of hope for hopeless romantics. First, there's the cold-hearted reality of love in the time of brain damage in the Modern Love article. Then, there's the carefree romance of being swept away in the last moment's of someone else's wedding in the featured vows. Rounding out the review of modern love are the cover stories on queer actors and another that disturbingly read like a MoDo opinion piece stereotyping the domineering nature of socialite CEO spouses.
Meanwhile, in the category of picking up on seminal cultural touchstones that I missed when they were new, I watched Jungle Fever last night. I was curious to see the movie that popularized a rather denigrating term. I was frustrated that the exploration of multi-racial romance was saddled with an adultery subtext. I think there is much to be mined simply from dealing openly with relationships that cross ethnic, educational, and class lines. While many of the scenes discussing the affair seemed contrived, there were definite nuggets of truth in the film. While it's true that there are plenty of people who take a "rainbow connection" blind eye to the color of love, it's equally true that internalized racism leads some people of color to seek out white lovers. Finding the former can be difficult, even 17 years after the release of Spike Lee's film.
Posted by cj at September 28, 2008 02:05 PM