{"id":34688,"date":"2015-09-25T08:40:17","date_gmt":"2015-09-25T15:40:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=34688"},"modified":"2021-12-24T14:47:34","modified_gmt":"2021-12-24T21:47:34","slug":"black-girl-1972","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=34688","title":{"rendered":"Black Girl (1972)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;A spiritualist told me that a child that wasn&#8217;t mine was gonna make me happy one day!&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Black-Girl-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Black-Girl-Poster-300x234.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"234\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-34691\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Black-Girl-Poster-300x234.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Black-Girl-Poster-128x100.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Black-Girl-Poster-1024x800.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nAn aspiring dancer (Peggy Pettit) is pressured by her bullying sisters (Gloria Edwards and Rhetta Greene) into mistreating a visiting foster sister (Leslie Uggams) who is idolized by their mother (Louise Stubbs).\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>African-Americans<\/li>\n<li>Jealousy<\/li>\n<li>Play Adaptations<\/li>\n<li>Ruby Dee Films<\/li>\n<li>Siblings<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nThis hard-hitting family drama &#8212; based on a play by <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/J._E._Franklin\">J.E. Franklin<\/a> &#8212; is graphically authentic in its representation of family dysfunction spiraling through generations. Full of profanity and cruel mistreatment, it&#8217;s a challenging but oddly refreshing viewing experience &#8212; much like <a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt1322269\/\"><em>August: Osage County<\/em> (2013)<\/a> (also based on a play).  Pettit and her two half-sisters &#8212; all high school dropouts, living in a cramped apartment with their mother, grandmother (Claudia McNeil), and grandmother&#8217;s boyfriend (Kent Martin) &#8212; are deeply embittered by their mother&#8217;s overt dismissal of their own potential, and understandably furious that Stubbs turned to foster parenting in an attempt to salvage her own reputation as a supportive mother. Uggams &#8212; who&#8217;s gone away to a &#8220;white person&#8217;s college&#8221;, and whose own mother (Ruby Dee) had a nervous breakdown &#8212; adores &#8220;Mama Rose&#8221;, but feels conflicted about the effect her own success has had on her foster siblings. <\/p>\n<p>An early interlude involving a visit from Stubbs&#8217; first husband (Brock Peters) &#8212; biological father to Edwards and Greene &#8212; reveals quite a bit about Stubbs&#8217; history and crushed dreams. He arrives waving $100 bills around, demonstrating his enduring power over the household years after he cheated on Stubbs and left for Detroit; he only half-jokingly withholds money from Pettit, who has borne the burden of different paternity her entire life. To that end, she clearly represents an opportunity to escape &#8212; if she can manage the wrath of her envious sisters, who are desperately trying to hold her back along with them. While not a true literary masterpiece like Lorraine Hansbury&#8217;s <em>Raisin in the Sun<\/em>, <em>Black Girl<\/em> remains worthy viewing for those interested in fearless exploration of family dynamics. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Louise Stubbs as Mama Rose<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Black-Girl-Stubbs.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Black-Girl-Stubbs.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"704\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-34689\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Black-Girl-Stubbs.png 704w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Black-Girl-Stubbs-128x87.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Black-Girl-Stubbs-300x205.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 704px) 100vw, 704px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Good use of outdoor locales<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Black-Girl-L.A.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Black-Girl-L.A.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"704\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-34690\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Black-Girl-L.A.png 704w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Black-Girl-L.A-128x87.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Black-Girl-L.A-300x205.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 704px) 100vw, 704px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>A hard-hitting script<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Black-Girl-Script.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Black-Girl-Script.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"704\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-34692\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Black-Girl-Script.png 704w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Black-Girl-Script-128x87.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Black-Girl-Script-300x205.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 704px) 100vw, 704px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, though it&#8217;s strongly recommended if you can stomach it. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0068280\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.tvguide.com\/movies\/black-girl\/review\/108596\/\">TV Guide Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/black-girl-1973\">Roger Ebert&#8217;s Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/hornsection.blogspot.com\/2012\/03\/film-review-black-girl-1972.html\">Horn Section Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;A spiritualist told me that a child that wasn&#8217;t mine was gonna make me happy one day!&#8221; Synopsis: An aspiring dancer (Peggy Pettit) is pressured by her bullying sisters (Gloria Edwards and Rhetta Greene) into mistreating a visiting foster sister (Leslie Uggams) who is idolized by their mother (Louise Stubbs). Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: African-Americans Jealousy Play Adaptations Ruby Dee Films Siblings Review: This hard-hitting family drama &#8212; based on a play by J.E. Franklin &#8212; is graphically authentic&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=34688\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=34688"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34688\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79142,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34688\/revisions\/79142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}