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Title: The Secret Life of Bees
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| CONSUMER ADVICE |
Parents would do well to preview this film before taking kids. Talk of racism, cheating, suicide, and scenes of violence are prevelent. 14 and up recommended. |
My paperback copy of Sue Monk Kidd’s “The Secret Life of Bees” clocks in at about 139 pages (with small text). Gina Prince-Bythewood’s film adaptation clocks in at about 97 minutes (with lots of sentimental dialog). This may not sound like much to you, but to a lover of theater and drama the point is made clear: This is a film that takes no chances. The story revolves around Lily Owens (Dakota Fanning), the daughter of a drunk man who is aggressively abuse and mean. He constantly slaps Lily around and is no kinder to the black house servant Rosaleen (played unconvincingly by Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson). After one beating too many though, the two flee the house and hunt down a town that was written on the back of a postcard Lilies mother used to have.
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This brings them to a fancy house accupied by three black women who make honey for a living. They have cliched personalities, and that might be just as well seeing as how half of them are played by R&B singers. The mother figure is August (Queen Latifah), who takes in Lily despite not knowing anything about her (or does she?). The other two girls are constantly present and consistently annoying. They are named May and June. June is a tough-as-nails woman who loves her man Neil but is too afraid to marry him. And May...well, May cries. A lot. I’m not exactly sure why, but this woman has more mood swings then a crooked politician. It’s her story that ultimately ends in tragedy, so let that be a lesson to all you whiners out there.
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The movie takes place during the time when the Civil Rights Law was signed, but that doesn’t stop the white men from being completely abusive to all the nice black folks. The fact that the racism is not the main issue is what makes me excuse these scenes, pointless as they are. No, the movie is more interested in Lily and the secret of the house she has come to live in. I don’t want to spoil the secret, but I don’t know if it would matter. Most people will see the secret coming seven minutes into the film. The real secret should have been what happened during her parents final fight. I won’t share it with you readers, but it’s reveled in the first two minutes of the film. Had the script hidden this act for the middle of the film we would feel sorry for Lily and her tragedy.
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Instead, this development acts as a cheap way to get the audience to sympathize for the protagonist, rather then have the screenplay develop the character properly and trust the audience to like film based on the fact it’s good. So the acting is good, the music fun, the story cliched, and the script unfair to the audience. Finally, I think there’s a good question in here somewhere on why a movie starring and being about mostly black women need a young white woman to taking center stage to sell the story to a mass audience.
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