My first reaction to the film is that it did not fit the stereotypical form that is seen in most films based on African American families. The film can be appreciated by anyone. I feel everyone no matter which race can relate to this film. I do not see this as an African American film but as a family film. Everyone with a family can relate. Family dinners bring everyone together that’s why Thanksgiving is still such a popular holiday. People with large families can relate to the matriarch character that is the rock or the glue that holds everyone together. I could have done without a lot of the voiceovers that are heard throughout the film.
Most films that are directed at black audiences seem to almost always be fast-paced, loud and violent. Soul Food tells it’s story in a kinder gentler fashion. This is where it breaks stereotypes. Where stereotypes run rampant when looking at the readings is with the women. We have the head of the family a large black woman, an aunt Jemima type. Within the three sisters we have the business women, the mother, and the whore.
I also saw this film as it relates to the other films, and what sticks to me most is its relation to Avalon. I saw Avalon as a film where the family was brought together by family dinner and TV broke them apart. In Soul Food this family was also brought together over Sunday family dinner and was torn a part for a little bit when the Matriarch mother was hospitalized. As shown in Avalon and Soul Food, family dinner are “All- American” and possibly are the root or at least ties to the American Dream
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