Ooh, they gonna get Beyonce mad! Obsessed is about a married black man who runs into his worst nightmare at work — a pretty, white temp. We don’t mean temp as in “temptation” though that’s part of the game; she’s a temporary office employee who obviously has a thing for this black man and is relentless in her pursuit.

This is not a new story but the film will be significant because it is the first high profile celebrity movie that I know of where a black man is the victim and the white woman is “the crazy bitch villain.”

Sure, there have been other crazy “white bitches” but they are pursuing white men with white wives. Obsessed is stirring the pot with race until it boils. In the film they may not even make race an issue, but let’s be realistic–the audience is seeing black and white.

I think even with a less than original plot this could be a great suspense film due to these racial elements. And from the looks of the trailer they didn’t go down the Fatal Attraction route where the main character actually sleeps with his stalker first–that probably would lose him the sympathy of most black women, women which will still think he’s guilty even if they don’t show any on screen sex (”Girlfriend, he did her on the desk after hours, they just ain’t showing it”).

I’m especially looking forward to a showdown between Beyonce’s character and the white girl temp, played by Ali Larter of Heroes. That is an onscreen battle worthy of paying for an evening show instead of the cheap matinee.

Plus for the black male ego, the movie shows women of all races fighting over him. That should satisfy most of those men who would rather be home watching sports. Have we stereotyped enough people in this commentary yet?

Trackback URI | Comments RSS