I absolutely loved the Best Man Holiday. How often do we see strong black couples, steamy black love scenes and beautiful black families on the big screen? I found it to be a refreshing reminder of the importance of friendship, love and honesty in relationships. With all of the negative images of us in the new reality TV craziness, we don’t often get the opportunity to see ourselves portrayed in positive relationships. Although it was fiction, it was a good representation of our friendships and the handling of challenging situations.
The characters reminded me of my own friendships. The good, the bad and the ugly. It was honest and definitely a movie I could relate to. It’s not often enough that I can go to a movie and leave with a connection and feeling some kind of way about my life. Best Man Holiday made me want to be a better friend and love on my spouse just a little harder. It felt amazing to relate to at least two characters in a movie. This, unfortunately, doesn’t happen too frequently either.
It displayed black love, not necessarily always at its finest, but at its realest. I love the fact that even the characters with flaws had aha moments. I loved how beautiful it all looked on the big screen. I enjoyed seeing strong black men and loving and supportive black women. Despite the 2 minute fight scene, the movie displayed a solid sisterhood, and a strong brotherhood. I want others to know that we are more than just angry black women and troubled black men. We live, we love, we are successful, we raise families and we are spiritually grounded. We value our friendships, we make mistakes and also know the power of forgiveness.
It was exciting to see Best Man Holiday come in at #2 at the box office. I hope it continues to do well, if just to remind Hollywood that yes, we want to continue seeing these types of images of ourselves.
BMWK, what are your thoughts on the images portrayed in Best Man Holiday?