Essay I need it by tuesday 11:00pm

Due April 20, 2016 Total Points = 50

Questions to reflect upon and include in your essay.

· Did you learn anything from this film? If so, what?

Yes I learned a lot from the film soul food. I learn that family is everything. Family should never turn their back on each other. One person can keep a family together and, when that one person is gone, a family can be torn apart. Food nourishes us and keeps us alive. It’s pleasurable and it’s comforting. It signifies home and family. And soul food, which occupies a special place in African American culture, enjoys all of

those positive attributes. But can too much of it make you sick and even kill you?

Soul Food asks this question and others as it explores the history of soul food, its place in African American culture, and its effects on the health of African Americans.

soul food, from its origins during the days of slavery to present-day modifications in traditional cooking. Many of the items that are considered soul food staples, such as yams, corn, and the lowest-quality pork, were once the sustenance of slaves. Over

time, dishes made with these items morphed into Southern cuisine, as survival food became a delicacy enjoyed by others became a descriptor applied to numerous aspects of African Americans.

· What did you like best and least about the film? Why?

The cast are very comfortable with each other and are able to add realism to the show that makes it easy to relate too. Just like the 'Joseph sisters' I too have 2 sisters and we are very close. I can definately relate to the strong bond and the way they are fiercely protective of each other and the family as a whole! A family struggles through life, haunted and influenced by the recent passing of their mother, but remains bonded through the food that reminds them of home. Through all things they stick together. I must say that I feel that the television show is much better than the film. Not that the film was bad or anything, it's just that the television show allows the audience to sympathize and grow with the characters over a period of time. Here we are, each week for one hour, we get to tap into the Joeseph sisters lives and realize that they are more than one-dimensional characters. With the film version, we only got 2 hours to really tap into the lives of the Joseph sisters, but with the series we're given a chance to see how they have evolved as characters. They’re many positive things about this show. For one, I think that this show presents African Americans, especially men, in a positive light. Here, the male characters are not deadbeat dads, drunkards or living their life from check to check. Another plus, is that I think this show has very good acting. Perhaps I think my favorite actor on this show is Rockmund Dunbar(Kenny Chadway) but I'm surprised they didn't cast a much taller actor to play his character. Let's don't forget Nicole Ari Parker and her believable portrayal of Teri Joseph, the leader and the most successful out of the Joseph Sisters.

· How are the major characters introduced? Does it tell anything about what will happen?

Matriarch Mama Joe has held her family together for 40 years around a Sunday dinner of soul food. When diabetes hospitalizes her, the dinners stop and tensions among her three daughters start to break the family apart. Two of the sisters feud continuously: Teri is jealous of Maxine's marriage and irritated that everyone assumes her corporate salary is open to the rest of the family's uses. Maxine resents Teri's bossiness and insensitivity to family tradition. Bird, the youngest, newly married to an ex-con, accepts a favor from an old lover that leads to her husband's arrest. Mama Joe's grandson Ahmad cooks up a scheme to bring the family together, back to the table.

· What role if any does the back-story play in explaining the actions of the major characters?

· Are there any transformations or changes that occur over the course of the story in any of the major characters?

I think change occur throughout the whole film with the entire family and in their relationships. Life becomes complicated when Mother Joe, the diabetic but wise and caring matriarch of the family and the glue that holds it together, suffers a debilitating stroke during an operation to amputate her leg and slips into a coma, dying shortly after sharing a last word of advice with Ahmad when she awakens five weeks later. Without her guidance, the family begins to fall apart. Teri takes in her troubled cousin Faith (Ravera), who bonds with Miles over a love of the arts. They two have an affair and are caught having sex by Teri, which later leads to a near-violent confrontation at Kenny and Maxine's anniversary party when she furiously comes after the two with a butcher knife. Meanwhile, Lem cannot find a job due to his criminal record, so Bird makes an uneasy deal with her former boyfriend Simuel St. James (Mel Jackson) to get Lem a job. This creates tension between Lem and Bird when he finds out, and in one of their arguments, Teri overhears and mistakenly believes Lem was physically threatening her sister. Teri hires her cousin Blimp to teach Lem a lesson, but when the two men fight, the police become involved, resulting in Lem being arrested on assault and unlawful weapon possession charges. Realizing her mistake, Teri calls in a few favors to have Lem released and she apologizes to Lem. By contrast Kenny and Maxine's relationship remains stable, and they have their third child at the start of the film; however, they constant call on Teri to pay for things for the family without paying the money back, which causes even more tension between the sisters. Ahmad, Kenny and Maxine's oldest child, becomes worried about the state of his extended family, and conspires to find a way to bring them all back together.

Ahmad tells his relatives about a stash of money that Big Mama had hidden away some time ago but everyone dismisses him, believing it to be a myth. However, Ahmad manages to get everyone together for another Sunday dinner by promising them the whereabouts of the money.

· Is there a key moment in the story, a scene which brings an “ah-ha” moment?

I think my ah ha moment came about when Uncle Pete finally came out the room. As Maxine is comforting her son, the kitchen accidentally catches on fire due to Ahmad leaving a towel too close to the burner, and they all work together to try and to put it out. When they put the fire out, Uncle Pete, Big Mama's brother, comes down with his television and drops it to reveal the money that Big Mama had hidden away.

Things start to go well for the family. Miles still comes by for Sunday dinner even though he and Teri are divorcing, Teri has also decided not to sell her mother's house, Lem and Bird are expecting their first child, Faith is finally becoming part of the family again and Uncle Pete who never came out of his room, starts to join the family.

· Describe any social or cultural issues that affect the story. How do these issues impact characters or influence the theme?

· What is the primary or central theme in the film?

the film centers on the trials of an extended African-American family, held together by longstanding family traditions which begin to fade as serious problems take center stage. Tillman based the family in the film on his own, and Soul Food was widely acclaimed for presenting a more positive image of African-Americans.

· Does the title of the film have any special meaning?

"Soul Food offers a sometimes humorous exploration of the Black community's affinity for foods like fried chicken, fat-flavored collard greens, and fried pork chops, despite the fact that these foods increase risks for diabetes, high blood pressure, stokes, heart disease and obesity. Inspired by the premature death of his father, Hurt traces the origins of soul food back to slavery and encourages healthier approaches to soul food preparation."

Byron Hurt has brought together some of the most important voices on African American food traditions to discuss a topic deep at the heart of our culture. At a time when there are so many conflicting messages about soul food, Hurt has provided a fabulous critical discussion of the politics, culture, history, and economics of this most contentious concept. Soul Food offers a corrective to many of the misperceptions we have about African American foodways and simultaneously, provides a substantive way of thinking about cultural sustainability and viability. To gain a wide variety of perspectives and images on soul food, you should not hesitate to watch Hurt's very informative documentary. It is a conversation that is beneficial to all races and ethnicities because it challenges all of us to consider what it means to cling to traditions real and imagined even when change is necessary."

· Most notable elements in the film (language, location, setting, costumes, etc)

Everything took place after Big Momma passes away. The location was always at big mom house for Sunday dinner and how the family never miss that tradition until the family grew apart. At the end the family got together and solve their problem.