Fifty Shades of Black
DVD
Review
by Kam Williams
Wayans Plays
Filthy-Rich Playboy in Parody of Erotic Adventure
Ever since
Scary Movie (2000), Marlon Wayans has carved out quite a career for
himself writing and starring in a string of silly spoofs that
includes Scary Movie 2 (2001), Dance Flick (2009), A Haunted House
(2013), and A Haunted House 2 (2014). The latest offering in his
cottage industry of genre-bending parodies is Fifty Shades of Black,
a jaw-dropping lampoon of the already outrageous Fifty Shades of
Grey.
Released
just a year ago, Fifty Shades of Grey was based on the best-selling
erotic novel by E.L. James. That explicit adventure chronicled the
sadomasochistic sexploits shared by a handsome billionaire and an
impressionable, young college student .
This
relatively-kinky variation on the theme remains fairly faithful to
the source material's basic plotline, so it helps immeasurably if
you've seen the original. The major difference, however, is that the
two leads are African-American, and much of the humor revolves around
graphic nudity and stale racial stereotypes.
At the
point of departure, we're introduced to Hannah (Kali Hawk), a
Literature major at mythical Howell University. Since her
promiscuous, foul-mouthed roommate, Kateesha (Jenny Zigrino), has a
crippling case of Chlamydia, Hannah finds herself recruited as a
stand-in to interview filthy-rich Christian Black (Wayans).
She asks
"How did you get your money and can I have some?" His
answer: "Drug dealing, like most successful blacks." And
"Is you gay?" is met with "You're only gay if you
enjoy touching penises."
After that
dubious exchange, Christian tricks the naive virgin into unprotected
intercourse despite the fact that she's ovulating. That disturbing
date rape scene is a little hard to laugh at, especially in light of
the recent Bill Cosby revelations.
Furthermore,
when Hannah ends up pregnant, she takes him home to meet her
misogynistic step-father, Ron (Mike Epps). Instead of protecting his
daughter's honor, he sides with Christian's refusal to marry her,
saying "I like this N-word," before denigrating Hannah's
mother as a slut.
In other
skits, Christian waterboards Hannah (while shouting "Where's bin
Laden?"}, delivers an insulting commencement address at Howell
("Thank God, I'm not you!") and tosses his poop-filled
underwear in the face of a screaming fan during a gross homage to
Magic Mike. Still, the movie's most tasteless moments arrive on those
occasions when Christian gratuitously exposes his genitalia.
A descent
into depravity far more shocking than funny and morally-objectionable
in part for all.
Fair (1
star)
Rated R for crude sexuality,
graphic nudity, ethnic slurs, coarse humor, rape and pervasive
profanity
Running time: 92 minutes
Distributor: Universal Studios
Home Entertainment
Blu-ray/DVD
Combo Pack Extras: Unrated deleted scenes; and Meet Mr. Black.
To see a trailer for Fifty Shades
of Black, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZBPoakMk_o
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