Something New
Does love have a color? It's come to my
attention that our society is still up in the air about many topics, such as:
religion in politics, pro life vs. pro choice, homosexual marriage, and
interracial marriages. Many now would say that interracial marriages could not
be placed in the same group, but why couldn't it? To some, this topic may seem
irrelevant in comparison to these more important
topics; but we must remember that at one point in time, this insignificant
topic was beyond frowned upon. From 1660 to 1960, interracial marriages were
considered a felony in every region, colony, and state (Kennedy 103). But with interracial marriages on the rise
from 51,000 couples in 1960 to 330,000 in 1998, shows how much we’ve grown as a
country. Doesn’t necessarily mean we’ve grown completely in acceptance though. Many
interracial couples still face several of the issues they faced in the past,
maybe not to that extreme, but on a subliminal level, which sometimes could be
considered a bit more stressful. In the movie "Something New", we
meet Kenya McQueen (Sanaa Lathen), the main character in the movie. A woman on
a quest for love, ready to let go, and
let love flow, as her friends so often put it. Yet, she finds herself breaking
countless barriers she never thought she would encounter.
As a successful African American woman living
in the south, Kenya is making her way up the career corporate
ladder and up in age; only to
have no husband, and no kids to come home to. As Kenya and her friends gather
around the table on Valentine’s Day discussing their ideal man, Kenya goes on
and on with a list a mile long of requirements. It’s the least to say that
Kenya is indeed a control freak, who has to control every aspect of her life.
Her friends pester her with the fact that she remains alone because of her
inability to compromise and bend a little in her strict set of rules in her
future spouse. There
are many people who do the same thing. Place a list of requirements that their
spouse must meet to be approved. Now having standards is a must, but not being
able to give a chance to a potentially great person because of that list,
that’s where we begin to see problems and dissatisfaction; which is Kenya’s
situation at that point.
Therefore, do we know
ourselves enough to say we know what we want in a spouse? Is it concrete, superficial
and shallow things we look for? Whether it being consciously or subconsciously
or do we look for the little things that truly make us happy? Kenya always imagined
herself with a suit-and-tie, successful, African American kind of guy, that
could relate to her ethnically and socially. Urged on by her friends to try something new and to
let go of her dream of the "ideal black man," she accepts a blind
date with an architectural landscaper named Brian, only to cut the date short
upon first sight, because Brian is white. People are usually quick
to assume that because we may be different, things will be too hard to work and
adapt to. Meanwhile, your heart might say otherwise. That’s the biggest thing
she quickly realized. The more she spent time with him, the more she realized
that you can’t decide who you fall in love with. Your heart doesn’t stop you because of the
fact that you may be of a different race. Your mind may try to talk you out of
it, but your heart sometimes has a hard time of hearing. Although Brian fit
none of her requirements, he showed her something that she never experienced before;
introduced her to another side of life, strangely where she could be herself,
no filter, just Kenya. He pushed her out of her comfort zone, getting her to
try new things, and experience life as a fun adventure, finally breaking her
from her dull shell.
At
this point, nothing seems to be able to hinder her happiness, until reality
sets in. She has strings pulling her from every direction. Her heart saying it
could be love while, her friends try to convince her that it’s simply a fling,
and could never work out long-term; her parents, well, I should say her mother,
disapproving altogether. Negative reactions and disapproval from family and
friends is still one of the biggest reasons why interracial couples don’t stay
together, or tie the knot. Many families, especially those who hold a strong sense
of heritage regarding their race are not pleased when a member dates and/or
marries outside of their race. This can cause a lot of harsh and negative
feelings within the family and it can also cause some hurt for the person they’re
with. So finding out this news was not the easiest for her over
critical mother, who too had great expectation for her daughter to be with an African American, successful lawyer or
doctor, just as she planned. It’s
not hard to find that many families made it a point to communicate that they
would tolerate their child having friends of other races, but not romantic
partners. Many threatening to disown them if they ever dated outside of their
race! Yes, these are still major issues in our 21 century. Fighting
outside challenges within the relationship is hard enough, but as the tension
of others opinions of their relationship arose, they broke under the pressure.
While having a conversation with Brian at the supermarket, Kenya realizes how
different her and Brian actually were, ending this relationship in abrupt
moment. “I’m never going to be on the right side of the war going on in your
head because I’m not black, and I will never be black Kenya, so maybe this is
not what you want (referring to his self), maybe this is just not going to
work.” “Maybe it’s not.” She responded.
At the time, this
seemed like the best decision. Not long after finding her I.B.M. (ideal black
man), time passes and Brian comes to apologize, but by that time she thinks she
finds the perfect man. However, just
because something appears as ideal on paper doesn’t make it ideal in reality.
They were similar it seemed in every way, both made partner at their jobs,
worked on the weekends, successful and well spoken; but as they sat on the
couch silently working side by side, she realized just how miserable she was. How
could she be so unhappy when there was nothing to be unhappy about? It took her being with her perfect fit to realize that what she
always wanted is everything she could not see herself with. For this reason,
although she knew they had a lot in common, there was simply no chemistry. When
it all comes down to it, the only thing that matters is the feeling between the
two people. Not the family opinions, not the friends, and definitely not their
race. Therefore, as she stands up for whom she loves, their relationship eventually
gains the respect of her family and friends. Sometimes, change can be hard to get adjusted
to but, when we send all unnecessary restrictions down the drain, something as
special as love can evolve as the outcome. So it just leaves me to wonder if
interracial couples could possibly be the end of discrimination in our country.
WORK CITED
Kennedy, Randall. "Interracial Intimacy." Atlantic Monthly (10727825) 290.5
(2002): 103-110. Academic Search
Complete. Web. 12 October 2013.
Something New. Gramercy Pictures. 2006. Dir.
Sanaa Hamri. Perf. Sanaa Lathan, Simon Baker,
Golden Brooks,
2013. DVD.
No comments:
Post a Comment