Comments on: The All-Black Steel Magnolias and Gay Male Reception

By: Taylor Cole Miller

Taylor Cole Miller — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 17:47:06 +0000

The original play takes place solely in the beauty shop, and the film was a completely new haircut from that play, so it’s possible and likely that the new film will also be very different from the 1989 version and therefore bit a remake at all.

I would so love to see the Steel Magnolias pilot CBS ran in 1990 and hear their thoughts on that.

I think my biggest issue would be in Queen Latifah playing M’Lynn as you say. That just doesn’t work in my head. Alfre would have been a much better choice. But who knows.

The most affecting thing I ever learned about Steel Magnolias is that the writer’s mother (it’s based on his life) was in the room in the scene where the (actual doctors) pull the plug and turn off the machines because “she wanted to see Julia get up and walk away.” Heart breaking!

By: Camille

Camille — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 00:14:59 +0000

This is a fascinating discussion Al. I appreciate it’s deeper considerations of the profound imprinting of a beloved texts and its impact on future consumptive practices. This is so much more nuanced than “they’ll hate it because it’s black,” which unfortunately has been the dominant discourse when considering the remake… Now with that in mind, if we turn back to considerations of race and this notion of “offness” I’m curious about what the reaction would be if someone decided to remake the Cosby Show with an all white cast. Would the same bloggers decide there was something “off” about that or would they celebrate the reboot/reworking/expansion of that beloved text? How much of the discomfort is racial and how much is historical? Interesting piece.