Something New (Widescreen Edition)
by Sanaa Hamri
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DVD details
Actor: Donald Faison, K.C. Clyde, Mike Epps, Sanaa Lathan, Simon BakerDirector: Sanaa Hamri
Brand: NBC Universal
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish (Original Language)
Format: NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 99 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-05-16
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Focus Features
DVD Reviews of Something New (Widescreen Edition)
DVD Review: Interesting, but Unrealistic
Summary: 4 Stars
I think the movie is very interesting, but it's really just that--a movie. I don't think it's meant to be realistic, but more to make several points and get people in society thinking so that maybe the plot of the movie won't be so far-fetched someday soon.
The most obvious thing is that when interracial dating happens, a black woman is generally not involved. Some white men and some black women might find each other attractive, but most generally just won't go there. The reason why they found each other is because a white co-worker of Sanaa's character set them up, and that almost never would happen in the real world, either. Just like Sanaa's character was expecting a black male to show up and never even considered a white male being her blind date, when most people think to hook someone up they consider that person's race automatically. Even had this not been the case, there likely would have been some communication that, hey, he's white/she's black, is that okay?
Second, I think Sanaa's character's initial reactions to Simon's character were a little TOO much. The conversation with her friends about "the list" (i.e. I need a black man who has a job, an education, no kids, etc) was realistic, but I think the majority of blacks would have played off being set up with a white person a lot more than she did, especially with her character being the stiff, unemotional person that she is. She was too off-guard, too overboard in suddenly trying to appear "down" with blacks, too blatantly rude to Simon's character. And I also don't think it would be the case that a white male who didn't know he was set up with a black woman, unless he especially liked black women, would have thought nothing of it. He was a bit different, given that he had dated black women before, but I also find that "convenient" (see my comments below about "flipping the script").
Third, I think this movie just overall went overboard on trying to flip the script in several ways, i.e. the black person being off-guard but the white person isn't, for one. Second and related to the first point, almost all the blacks in it were insanely successful and just snobbish with all these narrowminded notions that eventually crumbled down. And yet, the one major white character in the movie had to be the one to not meet their standards until the end. This is how you normally think of whites vs blacks, and I think that was the point--to show the script flipped. That's not to say that blacks don't have preconceived ideas or racist ideas, or are not ever successful, but it was to such a point that it seemed exaggerated (I think the exaggerations were on purpose to make blacks consider how sometimes we do have narrowminded ideas, just like whites, or do have more in the world sometimes, not to mention it goes with the idea that successful black women have the hardest time finding males). They emphasized the class of the blacks too much and had these blacks doing BAP-ish things that most blacks don't do or care about at all, i.e. a cotillion. All the black women were ridiculously bourgie to me, and that's what made it even more hilarious to me that these blacks were so upperclass and yet had a problem with a black friend or relative dating white...realistically, blacks like that are around whites all the time and would probably have white friends, unlike these people in this movie, so there's no way the thought would never cross their minds.
Still, I don't think anyone was upset *enough* about race, for this kind of movie...and had these not been upperclass blacks who were used to a white world, I would complain more about that. In that sense, I feel like the movie was too "safe," while trying to be more blatant with class differences. The only person REALLY uptight about it was Sanaa's character, and the only way in which she was that I found realistic was the fight in the supermarket with Simon's character about race. I think her subsequently dating a black man was also realistic, but not necessarily the fact that she dumped such an "ideal black man" and then got back with the white male. And then, of course, you have the cheesy moments where everyone magically "understands" and is giving you the good advice to run after the one you truly love and then she suddenly "gets it," too--it just wouldn't be a movie without all that, huh? There were several other smaller realistic moments, i.e. the hair issue.
I think Simon's character should have been a bit more irritated and/or confused in scenes like Sanaa's character telling him she preferred black men and the black men hasseling him. This is another thing that makes the supermarket fight stand out, because not long after that he finally shows some real irritation with the fact that she's stuck on race. Also key about that scene is he says "enough with talking about race," and that's how it all starts. A lot of us know that white men don't "get it" or don't want to hear it, and that's what he showed at that moment, which was so good...it showed him running out of patience. All the moments of his naivete concerning race were important.
Finally, I think their differences were insurmountable, and I'm not talking about race or class. They enjoyed each other and learned from each other, but they had next to nothing in common. That's the kind of couple that, even if they get together in reality, heads to divorce court someday. I am still not clear on exactly how he broke her down. They made love really quickly, and I don't think that, in reality (unless she was just ridiculously [...]), she would have told him "We are not going out again" after a clearly bad "date" and then just let him take her like that.
In conclusion, watch and analyze for yourself, and decide what you think is realistic or not because there's obviously disagreement among us. You will walk away thinking about several things, and you will want to talk about the movie when it's over, whether or not you agree with it or think it's realistic. I think the movie should have gone deeper with the racial issue, at the very least, but that just wasn't the focus of this film. The broad point was to go after who you love, even if it's not who you expected. Because of that, you don't want to read anything deeper into this movie, i.e. "This movie tells black women to ditch black men and go for white men" or "Wow, white men really DO like black women, and WE'RE the ones who are the racist idiots"--this movie is not saying any of that or anything else that deep. It's just another romantic comedy.
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