Soul-Less Food (re: Somewhat Disappointed)

[Guest guest]

Alafia All,

 

Here is an essay i wrote a while back, that i believe is just as

pertinent today, and only adds to the " somewhat disappointed "

discussion that has been going on.

 

Tarikh.

--------------------------------

 

Ankh (Life), Udja (Prosperity), Soneb (Health).

 

Tonight, i had the opportunity to watch Soul Food (the original

movie) for about the tenth time. One thing i noticed throughout the

movie is that NOT ONCE is the issue of how debilitating some of our

eating habits can be. Several times during the movie, we hear the

voice of the young brother hailing such dishes as Macaroni and

Cheese, Catfish, Chitterlings, Fried Chicken, and so many other

disease-causing dishes. A huge chunk of the movie is even spent on

the matriarch of the family, Mama Jo, and her high blood pressure,

dizziness, sharp pains in her arm, and her diabetic condition (that

eventually leads to her leg amputation and death).

 

But not once is there a connection made between these ritualistic

sunday dinners and these ailments. Not once are the viewers educated

on how menacing these foods can be, esepcially when consumed on a

regular basis. This leads the unsuspecting viewer to the assumption

that these foods are " good " ; that they don't cause life threatening

ailments; and that they were actually the cause of Momma Jo's demise.

(But then, what do we expect from a pig but a grunt???)

 

There are some who opin that the movie wasn't really about the food;

that the food was used symbolically. That is quite interesting,

especially considering what pertinent role food played throughout the

movie. If it wasn't that significant, why did Momma Jo explain the

rots (sorry, roots) of these sick eating habits???

 

Clearly, a different message must get out to the masses of Afrikan

people. Especially when we consider that more of us die from high

blood pressure, heart disease, coronary artery disease, strokes, and

heart attacks than any other group of people in the U.S. Of all

these " plagues " , Afrikan people can prevent them. A heart attack is

NOT hereditary. Just because my grandmother ate ham hocks,

chitterlings, and pickled pig's feet (straight out the jar), that

does not mean that i am locked into that kind of eating myself,

therefore making a heart attack or a stroke inevitable.

 

The title Soul Food should have been scrapped for a more apt title:

BODY SNATCHERS!!!

 

Alafia,

 

Tarikh.