There are spoilers here.
“Boomerang” was like the first black romantic-comedy I think I’ve ever seen. Of course there was “Coming to America” before it, also by Eddie Murphy, but that movie felt more like a comedy with some romance in it, rather than a full-fledged romantic comedy. “Boomerang,” on the other hand, zeroed in more on the complexities, the uncertainties, delusions and ambiguities along with the undeniables that make the joy and the heartbreak that relationships are.
I was twelve when this movie came out. I didn’t see it in theatres, so I probably saw it on VHS or cable TV. I remember not liking Robin Givens character Jacqueline. I always rooted for Angela, Halle Berry’s character, because she was nice and sweet. I thought of her as a “good girl.”
I think part of the reason I didn’t like Jacqueline was because Robin Givens played her, and as a kid I didn’t like Robin Givens. She sort of had a bad reputation in the media in the 80s and 90s. They painted a picture of her as this gold digger who was manipulating Mike Tyson. A big to-do was made over that interview that she and Mike did with Barbara Walters where she talked about the domestic violence she suffered from him while he sat there still and quiet like a deer in the headlights. In my youthful naivete, I believed the reputation that was associated with her. The fact that she was playing a character in this film that used a man for sex, didn’t help matters any.
I don’t know when the changed occurred, but by the time I was in my early twenties, I had gone from disliking Jacqueline to admiring her. She had a great job, she was sophisticated, she was pretty, and most importantly, she didn’t fall victim to someone like Marcus, played by Eddie Murphy, who had all the accoutrements of a man who could make a woman weak – handsome, charming, successful, funny, oh and I can’t forget good in bed.
As I got older, I went from feeling sorry for him, to enjoying how she flipped the script on him. Even though Marcus was finally able to break free of the metaphorical grip she had on him, and her ego undoubtedly was bruised, ultimately, he was no loss.
In the last few years I’ve been hearing this term for women who’s…let’s just say the Samantha from Sex and the City type. Perhaps she was married, got divorced and went through a “sexual revolution,” or she’s never been married and just entertained a number of gentlemen callers in her day, the term I’m hearing in these internet streets is that she’s considered “ran through.” And apparently men don’t want women who are “ran through.” But the gag is, as Keke Palmer would say, women don’t want men who’s “ran through” either (or at least they shouldn’t”) and Marcus was ran through.
It’s funny how men want to do their dirt and then settle down with a “good girl.” I mean nobody’s perfect, we all make mistakes, and deserve forgiveness. But one thing’s for sure, it’s riskier for a woman to develop a serious relationship with a man like that. The last thing you need is to be married for two years only to have a baby mama show up at your door with a 10-year-old and you don’t even have kids yet.
Speaking of a “good girl,” that’s how Angela was framed and I never thought anything of it. That is until recently when I was reading the comments under a clip from the movie and someone mentioned how Angela did David Alan Grier’s character dirty. I was like wow, I never thought of that, but now that you mention it, I guess it’s true. Angela seemed to be into Marcus ever since that party where we were introduced to Strangé and yet she still went out with his friend – ruthless. Even though she came off as sweet and altruistic, volunteering with those kids and all, she still had her bad side…then again, we all do.
That is, by the way, a pet peeve of mine in movies. I’ve seen this motif in several romantic comedies, that frankly I find disgusting. I mean sometimes it’s not even friends, sometimes it’s family: I’m thinking “Something’s Gotta Give” and “The Mirror Has Two Faces” to name a couple. Hell, even “Coming to America” had the sister interested in the same guy. I don’t know if that is to create more tension, as if losing somebody you want to someone else doesn’t cause tension enough.
Anyway, I guess this was kind of deceiving as there wasn’t a particular scene that I liked in this movie, but rather a standout character, Jacqueline, that I thought was interesting. I think I was much more interested in what makes a woman take on these characteristics that’s more often associated with a man. I explore that to some extent in the movie script that I’ve written which also features a workplace love triangle.
But yeah, overall “Boomerang” is a favorite for the great storytelling…oh and a bomb ass soundtrack.
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