A Breath Of Fresh Air
'Waiting To Exhale' Strikes A Chord In Movie Audiences Hungry For Stronger Portrayals Of Black Women

Date: December 30, 1995
By Siona Carpenter, Staff writer

From Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA)
Submitted by: Larry A.


The first cheer went up a few minutes into "Waiting to Exhale."

On the screen, spurned wife Bernadine, the picture of hurt rage, had just snatched all of her husband's expensive suits and shoes from his closet, packed them into his BMW and doused the load with lighter fluid. Then she calmly lit a cigarette and used the match to set the car on fire.

"You go girl," somebody in the audience at the AMC Galleria in Metairie said. Others whooped, applauded or gave high-fives.

Throughout the movie, people talked back to the screen, laughed out loud and applauded.

"Waiting to Exhale," which was the surprise No. 1 movie at the box office after its debut last week, had clearly struck a nerve. Critics gave it mixed reviews, but that didn't matter to the people - mostly black women - who lined up to see characters rarely portrayed on screen.

Based on Terry McMillan's 1992 bestseller, the film stars Whitney Houston, Angela Bassett, Lela Rochon and Loretta Devine as four friends who struggle through a variety of romantic travails.

It is a milestone in putting African-American women at its center, affluent women who wear beautiful clothes, drive nice cars, have long conversations and fret about their relationships.

"The key word for me in the movie is 'relate,'" said Adrian Boutin, who attended a crowded showing of the movie at the AMC Galleria in Metairie this week. "I could relate, even though it wasn't representative of all women in how we handle relationships. It was very significant because a majority of women have had those experiences - the denials, the anguish, the anger, the loneliness. Those were all true feelings."

Some women organized groups to see the movie and many, like Ashanta Brown, a chemical engineering student at Louisiana State University, came with family members.

"For once, there is something projecting how strong black women can be," said Brown, who saw the movie with her mother, Charlotte Brown, and grandmother Geraldine Landix. The movie has sparked criticism for its less-than-flattering portrayal of black men, who with a few exceptions are seen as cheaters, liars or generally icky.

Boutin, who is a coordinator for the state's Women's Preventive Health Program, said she didn't find the movie unfair.

"The key thing is that it was about four particular women, not all women or all men," she said.

LeBron Joseph, program director of WYLD-FM in New Orleans, said he also didn't see the film as male-bashing.

"Quite honestly, the bad things that happen, we've all been there. I've done some things that I wouldn't necessarily do again and I've been on the other side.

"If it was about four upwardly mobile African-American guys trying to grow up, I'm sure you would have some of the same situations. I know, as a single guy, it ain't easy out there."

His radio station sponsored a "sisters-only" screening of the movie for call-in winners.

"It's been the hottest promotion of the holiday season, as exciting, if not more exciting, than our money giveaways," Joseph said.

"There has been such a kinship felt toward this movie."