This movie is more about sex than race. Lee was quoted in the NYT as follows: "I hate this whole Hollywood process of breaking down a movie to one sentence," he said. "My films don't deal with one theme. They interweave many different things. You have to think. I'm not saying interracial relationships are impossible. Flipper and Angie are not meant to represent every interracial couple in the world. They are meant to represent two people who got together because of sexual mythology instead of love. Then they stay together because they're pushed together. They're outcasts. And since their relationship isn't based on love, when things get tough, they can't weather the storm." Thus at its core this film is a feminist critique of the nature of sexual attraction in contemporary America. These folks are wrong for each other but they both are stereotypically "attractive." There is "chemistry" between them, but no shared values that are the bedrock of a serious relationship. The "black stud"/ "sexy white girl" is just one way this could be instantiated.
In one sense, this is a serious issue and it is worth exploring. My own misgivings about this film is that Lee's moral seems to be: values = good, chemistry = bad, and this strikes me as somewhat simplistic.
In one sense, this is a serious issue and it is worth exploring. My own misgivings about this film is that Lee's moral seems to be: values = good, chemistry = bad, and this strikes me as somewhat simplistic.