black face caricatures & platitudes

Rating: 1/10 (22 April 2017)

This bordered on offensive. Caricature-ready characters, no depth to speak of, platitudes on top of platitudes (the line gets moved, really?) and scenes bordering on idiocy. Don't know if running across campus was an inside joke or the director was actually serious. This is a powerful story about incredible women breaking through racism and sexism, having to fight through group-think male mediocrity and culture of white entitlement. And the irony of it all is that the story gets butchered by a product of that very culture--one who seems to understand black community only through stereotypes. In a time when so many writers/directors of every background are doing amazing things, having Melfi tell the story is baffling. And Pharrell is always god to me--we were raised by N.E.R.D., thank u for that always--but this is just plain hokey.