THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES REVIEW

So much crying! This movie had as many emotions as Transformers had explosions. Clearly aimed toward black women, one would be quick to dub The Secret Life Of Bees a chick flick, but with the female movie demographic becoming more empowering, is that such a bad thing?

In The Secret Life of Bees, Lily Owens (Dakota Fanning) escapes with her caregiver (Jennifer Hudson) from her abusive father to embark on a journey to learn about her late mother's past. She is lead to the Boatwright sisters (Queen Latifah, Sophie Okonedo, and Alicia Keys), three intelligent, independent, black women that make a good-living distributing honey. Here, Owens discovers the world of beekeeping, and deep racial prejudice of the south. The Secret Life of Bees was adapted by the novel of the same name written by Sue Monk Kidd, directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, and produced/executive produced by Will and Jada-Pinkett Smith respectively.  

This film is tailor-made for one demographic: black women. And it's about time. The film goes over and beyond in making a presence of strong black women known, including a scene about a black virgin mary. Spearheading this effort is the three women who portray the Boatwright sisters - Queen Latifah as August, Sophie Okonedo as May, and Alicia Keys as June. Later Rosaleen's (Jennifer Hudson) name is changed to July. For a film with three Oscar nominated actresses, the acting does fall flat. Latifah's southern accent and maternal instincts comes off contrived, Keys puts forth a solid but not outstanding effort, and Oscar winner Hudson comes off as novice. The true bright star here is Sophie Okenedo who's character is emotionally and mentally unstable.  SPOILER ALERT: May committing suicide is the most emotional part of the movie. Until the others ruin the moment by soaking it in tears. 

Other than the disenchanting performances, the film comes off decent. The story pulls of a multi-objective Spike Lee trick, intertwining a daughter's quest to learn her mother's past, empowering black women, and showcasing the deep racial prejudice in the south and senseless violence it led to. The film runs a bit slow, and too long, and doesn't really hit home a point in the end, but it's still nice to see a movie paying homage to the "sistahs" for a change. 

CULTURAL INTROSPECTION:

Dakota Fanning is a white girl who lives with a group of black women in the segregated south. She sees the hardships but is still not able to understand where the black women are coming from. Hence, Keys blowing a fit when Fanning comes close to their black, Virgin Mary statue or taking offense when Fanning is surprised that their cultured. Queen Latifah says it best when referring to Fanning's mother, for whom she nannied- "We were living in two separate worlds. Love can never be perfect." I remember the South Park episode when Token makes Stan realize no matter how much he thinks he understands black people's plights, he'll never truly understand what they go through. I also remember during the democratic primaries, Joe Biden calling Obama a clean African-American and then white people not understanding why blacks were outraged. Biden treated "clean African-American" as an oxymoron. It obviously wasn't malicious, but it was still anti-progressive and hurtful. Hopefully in this so-called "post racial America", we can start seeing where each other is coming from a little easier. 

THE BLACK PERSPECTIVE:

This is an empowering film for black women. So much is debated about Jesus being black. If Jesus was black, then wouldn't Virgin Mary be as well? The Boatwright sisters are articulate, cultured, independent, entrepreneurial, and kind-hearted (except Keys who softens). Even the battered Rosalene comes into her own. This film goes far to oppose the stereotype of ignorant, oversexulized, angry black women a.k.a. Tisha Campbell is Zack and Miri Make A Porno. Just look how different both movies portray black women and you'll see how important movies like The Secret Life Of Bees are in today's mainstream society. 

SIDENOTE:

The Secret Life of Bees was okay, but I think it would have turned out better had it been for better actors. Latifah, Keys, and Hudson, put forth solid efforts, but there are a ton of black actresses that would have done the roles justice. It's obvious the three women were casted for their star power wattage, but that's Hollywood.  When the studios finance a movie they think big names equal profits, and the overall effectiveness of the storytelling takes a back-seat. A film like-this being green-lighted by a studio is an achievement in itself. Hopefully they give Gina Prince-Bythewood and other female African-American women directors many more chances to proudly represent this oppressed demographic. 

RATING:

= 3 Stars

= 5 Black Fists

EXTRAS:

• The Secret Life Of Bees grossed over 37 million dollars making it the highest grossing movie by a black, female director. Gina Prince-Bythewood topped her previous record, 28 million from Love & Basketball.
• Morale of the story: If We Support Positive Black Movies, We'll Get More Positive Black Movies!