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outcolder's review
3.0
There are more than a few moments in here that might have squeaked by in 1969 but are now like WTF alarm bells (homophobia, a shaky understanding of consent) that were so loud it kind of diminished my enjoyment of this otherwise good-natured, love-filled story about two Afrocentric teenagers pressured to attend a black debutante ball. That's already a funny premise, with all the tension already there within the Black Bourgeoisie and then to throw some dashiki politics at it just ups the ante. Plus, there are lots of old-school folksy black barber shop jokes, including some at the very beginning actually in a barber shop. I caught one reference to a Harlem Renaissance poem and there might have been others... could be more than one "black thing" that escaped me... it's like when [a:Flann O'Brien|15248|Flann O'Brien|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1356027168p2/15248.jpg] starts rapping in Gaelic...
Probably the most interesting character in here is the main character's mother, Lady Daphne, a woman of "mixed" ancestry from Barbados who seems to think the white man's ice is colder.
Probably the most interesting character in here is the main character's mother, Lady Daphne, a woman of "mixed" ancestry from Barbados who seems to think the white man's ice is colder.
jenniferrylds's review
4.0
The mother/daughter, father/daughter relationships remind me of Brown Girl, Brownstones byPaule Marshall and the satirical approach reminds of The Sellout by Paul Beatty.
On one hand, it highlights Lady Daphne need for something better that what she feels she has and this need to be taken seriously and on the other, the ridiculousness that is "required" to fit in, so to speak. It's almost as if Yoruba running into Ben Ali was perfect timing, for her sake.
It still seems relevent today even though it takes place in the late 60s, early 70s.
Why wasn't this made into a movie?
On one hand, it highlights Lady Daphne need for something better that what she feels she has and this need to be taken seriously and on the other, the ridiculousness that is "required" to fit in, so to speak. It's almost as if Yoruba running into Ben Ali was perfect timing, for her sake.
It still seems relevent today even though it takes place in the late 60s, early 70s.
Why wasn't this made into a movie?
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