Soul Food

Does the 1997 movie Soul Food accurately portray African American culture and life and is Soul Food a positive or negative portrayal of African American culture and life are two very different questions in my mind. Personally I find there to be two very straightforward and very different answers to each of these questions. Williams-Forson’s article “Still dying for some soul food?” does a very good job of pointing out that Soul Food does not do a very good job of accurately portraying the typical African American family or the time. While there are some truths or similarities between the food that is enjoyed by the Joseph family and particularly southern African American families the movie does a better job at forming a stereotypical image of a Southern African American family. From the relationship struggles to criminal problems to the food that is always consumed at the family’s Sunday supper, George Tillman Jr. seems to have found all of the stereotypes of an African American culture and put them all of the big screen together. I believe that it could have been possible to create a film of African American culture and life that had a positive projection of a family. By focusing on the traditions that do run through many families it would be reasonable to expect a film that could cover the traditional Sunday suppers a family gathers for or the history behind the food that is enjoyed. Unfortunately I find that the many stereotypes that were included in this film drowned out the more positive traditions which were turned into negative stereotypes because of the surrounding events. Since there have not been any other major box office films that cover this genre there must not have been too many people outraged enough by the film to want to paint a better picture for the world. All of this being said, I do believe that Soul Food is a good movie to watch: to understand what is being referred to when people generalize about soul food and the food of the South.