Friday

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorCollege, Undergraduate November 2001

download word file, 2 pages 0.0

FRIDAY While watching the movie "Friday", I wondered if this movie was a good depiction of African Americans and the way that they really live their lives. I think that this movie is a poor depiction of African Americans and I think that if someone who didn't really know much about their race could get a bad image of African Americans.

One major aspect of this movie is that the two main characters sit around all day, skip class, don't take work very seriously, and smoke pot all day. But this is not completely true of the African American race; there are people of all different races and creeds that do the same thing. This movie was very stereotypical of the African American community. The father portrayed as a dogcatcher and the son was portrayed as a pot smoker. This gives the impression that African Americans have menial jobs or no job at all.

The documentary that we saw in class, showed a different perception of the progression of African Americans, ending with the household of the Huxtables in "The Cosby Show". Cliff was a well-respected doctor and his wife Claire was a lawyer, both of which had to work very hard to get to where they are. The cast of "Friday" played much less flattering roles with much less responsibility.

"Friday" was an over exaggeration of a major of the black community and the people around them. The movie was meant to be a comedy and make light of certain aspects of the African American community. It was about two guys who were trying to pay off a drug debt.

An interesting aspect of the movie is how Craig and Smokey attempt to get money to pay off the drug debt. They try to get money through a variety of schemes. First they tried to borrow the money from Craig's girlfriend, and eventually they attempt to steal the money from the neighborhood bully. The movie makes a statement that the only way black people try to get money is by scheming and being deceptive instead of doing hard work or finding a job. "Friday" represents a small amount of movies that over-exaggerate and stereotype African Americans.

While watching this movie, I realized its purpose was only humor and it was not trying to accurately portray the African American community. Craig and Smokey's mistakes and bad luck, are what made the movie funny. I think that this movie has more to do with the young people and the inner city, than color. If an older person of any color was to watch this movie, I don't believe they would find it as amusing as myself or another young person.