What is wrong with black people?

I agree too!!!

whats wrong with you guys - all the posts are saying black, black, black... this movie is much more about a single woman's fate than about anything else. and it does have a great message to all women, about finding true themselves.

I agree with bjorkpluto in his well written summary. I appreciate seeing Black literature brought to film, by whatever means necessary. To tell the truth, I was enticed to read the book, by Ealy's performance alone...which makes me eternally greatful that he was chosen to play the part of TeaCake. I realize in the book that TeaCake was darkskinned and tall, but Ealy's performance was on target. I'm glad Oprah made the effort to bring this production to the screen. I'd heard of Zora Neale Hurston before, but had never read any of her books. I've now read TEWWG, Mules and Men and The Complete Stories. I'm presently waiting for Every Tongue Got to Confess. These are books I may never have read, had Oprah not brought the book to film and Michael Ealy portrayed a winsome TeaCake...I think the main connection, Ealy had to the character TeaCake...was the intricate combination of masculinity, adventurer, beauty and devotion...a treasured combination in a man...no insult intended.

I also agree that Black people are missing the point in this film and Oprah's effott in producing it. We are quick to lament the scarcity of productive roles for Blacks in films and television...especially roles depicting love between Black men and women. Hollywood shies away from the pairing out of fear of audience disapproval. It's thought that Black on Black love interests, would make the film, a Black film and White movie goers don't pay to see Black films. I guess the true value of Black consumer base doesn't extend to films.
I read about the Renaissance of Zora Neale Thurston and formerly unheralded works of Black History and Folklore, after a Black literature teacher named Alice Walker, read that she was buried in an unmarked grave and began a search for her grave. She felt an unmarked grave was an insult to a Black American literary presence like Hurston's.

So I co-sign bjorkpluto's assessment of Blacks missing the point in the celebration of Black literature and History. I've been inspired to search out and read more works, I would probably have overlooked without the incentive Oprah brings with her bookclub offerings and productions. I think it's important to look past surface and petty thinking and begin to see value where we can find it. I have to say, after watching "TEWWG", I gained a broader interest in the folklore of Black America...and since then...I have seen the story of "Rosewood"..."Beloved" and "Queen". I take opportunity to search out stories and history about Black America's past. Oprah may have some issues with ego...but her actions speak for themselves, and I for one am glad for her financing and promotion, that presented this film to the public and to me.

Bear in mind that Janie being light-skinned is the predominate physical feature that alienates her from the rest of the black people whom she lives with. You lose the power of this contrast if you cast light-skinned actors in key character parts that were not intended to look this way.

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