Popular Culture Review Vol. 10, No. 2, August 1999 | Page 56

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Popular Culture Review

Stoney, although she made a life-threatening decision to rob banks for a living, her
escape at the end of the movie demonstrates her commitment to the vision she set
for herself. Of the four women, Stoney is dedicated to achieving a life beyond the
four walls of the ‘hood, despite the decisions she made that temporarily compro
mised her integrity.
The second stereotype of the Jezebel was pervasive in both movies and
re-introduced the image of the sexually promiscuous African American woman.
The characters Robin and Savannah in Waiting to Exhale portrayed successful,
professional African American women as self-serving sexual beings who were
willing to sacrifice relationship for sexual relations. Such “amoral” decisions were
evident in their decisions to become sexually connected with commitment-phobic
men who were not considered “marriageable material.” In essence, the women
were willing to prostitute their bodies and souls in exchange for temporal relation
ship satisfaction. As previously noted. Waiting to Exhale is a visual text centered
around relationships; therefore it would stand to reason that the portrayal of sexual
intimacy is inherent in romantic heterosexual relationships. In S eth Off, only one
character, Stoney, has a pronounced “traditional” sexual identity in her relation
ship with a male character. The underlying message revolving around her sexual
encounters is that she is not solely defined by her sexual identity but also by her
vision for a better life. Conversely, Cleo has a “nontraditional” sexual identity that
perpetuates the Jezebel image from a divergent standpoint. As a lesbian, Cleo per
petuates the masculine lesbian image as well as the image of an African American
woman being “preoccupied” with fulfilling her sexual needs and desires. In one of
the two scenes where we observe Cleo interacting with her partner, there are strong
sexual overtones that communicate to the audience the “true” a nature of their
relationship. Despite Cleo’s attempts to normalize their relationship, her partner’s
silence, or non-speaking presence, in each scene magnifies the sexual dimension
of their defined relationship.
Despite this natural part of male-female relationships, the movies per
petuate the Jezebel stereotype. While the Waiting to Exhale characters engage in
sex with only four male characters (two per female character) and Set It Offs
Stoney remains sexually monogamous, these stereotypic depictions are further
magnified due to the few opportunities African American screen writers, directors,
and actors have to share these life experiences with the masses. In contrast, Ameri
can audiences are bombarded with thousands of movies each year that feature
predominately or all-White cast members who tell stories of romance, love, dan
ger, humor, political warfare, and murder, among others. Although the characters
engage in v arious sexual acts that are deemed “normal,” rarely are the films indi
vidually and collectively scrutinized for perpetuating stereotypes that are histori
cally ingrained in the psyche of their American audiences. Instead, various plat-