Diet 330 – Cultural Movie Report Film :Soul Food Due April 20, 2016 Total Points = 50 Criteria Points Score - Comments Introduction · Defined purpose statement that defines direction of the paper · Identifies film, time period and synopsis of the film’s plot · Significance as to why the film is applicable to a food and/or cultural analysis 5 Content and Discussion · Ideas illustrate thorough knowledge of the film · Answers questions thoroughly and with critical analysis 25 Conclusion · Conclusion returns to purpose of film review and briefly summarizes · Discusses theme of the film with class content 15 Organization/Writing Style · Free of spelling and grammar errors · Good organization and flows easily · Good transition between paragraphs and topics 5 Questions to reflect upon and include in your essay. · Did you learn anything from this film? If so, what? Yes I learned a lot from the film soul food. I learn that family is everything. Family should never turn their back on each other. One person can keep a family together and, when that one person is gone, a family can be torn apart. Food nourishes us and keeps us alive. It’s pleasurable and it’s comforting. It signifies home and family. And soul food, which occupies a special place in African American culture, enjoys all of those positive attributes. But can too much of it make you sick and even kill you? Soul Food asks this question and others as it explores the history of soul food, its place in African American culture, and its effects on the health of African Americans. soul food, from its origins during the days of slavery to present-day modifications in traditional cooking. Many of the items that are considered soul food staples, such as yams, corn, and the lowest-quality pork, were once the sustenance of slaves. Over time, dishes made with these items morphed into Southern cuisine, as survival food became a delicacy enjoyed by others became a descriptor applied to numerous aspects of African Americans. · What did you like best and least about the film? Why? The cast are very comfortable with each other and are able to add realism to the show that makes it easy to relate too. Just like the 'Joseph sisters' I too have 2 sisters and we are very close. I can definately relate to the strong bond and the way they are fiercely protective of each other and the family as a whole! A family struggles through life, haunted and influenced by the recent passing of their mother, but remains bonded through the food that reminds them of home. Through all things they stick together. I must say that I feel that the television show is much better than the film. Not that the film was bad or anything, it's just that the television show allows the audience to sympathize and grow with the characters over a period of time. Here we are, each week for one hour, we get to tap into the Joeseph sisters lives and realize that they are more than one-dimensional characters. With the film version, we.

1. Diet 330 – Cultural Movie Report Film :Soul Food
Due April 20, 2016 Total Points = 50
Criteria
Points
Score - Comments
Introduction
· Defined purpose statement that defines direction of the paper
· Identifies film, time period and synopsis of the film’s plot
· Significance as to why the film is applicable to a food and/or
cultural analysis
5
Content and Discussion
· Ideas illustrate thorough knowledge of the film
· Answers questions thoroughly and with critical analysis
25
Conclusion
· Conclusion returns to purpose of film review and briefly
summarizes
· Discusses theme of the film with class content
15
Organization/Writing Style
· Free of spelling and grammar errors
· Good organization and flows easily
· Good transition between paragraphs and topics
5
Questions to reflect upon and include in your essay.

2. · Did you learn anything from this film? If so, what?
Yes I learned a lot from the film soul food. I learn that family is
everything. Family should never turn their back on each other.
One person can keep a family together and, when that one
person is gone, a family can be torn apart. Food nourishes us
and keeps us alive. It’s pleasurable and it’s comforting. It
signifies home and family. And soul food, which occupies a
special place in African American culture, enjoys all of
those positive attributes. But can too much of it make you sick
and even kill you?
Soul Food asks this question and others as it explores the
history of soul food, its place in African American culture, and
its effects on the health of African Americans.
soul food, from its origins during the days of slavery to present-
day modifications in traditional cooking. Many of the items that
are considered soul food staples, such as yams, corn, and the
lowest-quality pork, were once the sustenance of slaves. Over
time, dishes made with these items morphed into Southern
cuisine, as survival food became a delicacy enjoyed by others
became a descriptor applied to numerous aspects of African
Americans.
· What did you like best and least about the film? Why?
The cast are very comfortable with each other and are able to
add realism to the show that makes it easy to relate too. Just
like the 'Joseph sisters' I too have 2 sisters and we are very
close. I can definately relate to the strong bond and the way
they are fiercely protective of each other and the family as a
whole! A family struggles through life, haunted and influenced
by the recent passing of their mother, but remains bonded
through the food that reminds them of home. Through all things
they stick together. I must say that I feel that the television
show is much better than the film. Not that the film was bad or
anything, it's just that the television show allows the audience
to sympathize and grow with the characters over a period of
time. Here we are, each week for one hour, we get to tap into

3. the Joeseph sisters lives and realize that they are more than one-
dimensional characters. With the film version, we only got 2
hours to really tap into the lives of the Joseph sisters, but with
the series we're given a chance to see how they have evolved as
characters. They’re many positive things about this show. For
one, I think that this show presents African Americans,
especially men, in a positive light. Here, the male characters are
not deadbeat dads, drunkards or living their life from check to
check. Another plus, is that I think this show has very good
acting. Perhaps I think my favorite actor on this show is
Rockmund Dunbar(Kenny Chadway) but I'm surprised they
didn't cast a much taller actor to play his character. Let's don't
forget Nicole Ari Parker and her believable portrayal of Teri
Joseph, the leader and the most successful out of the Joseph
Sisters.
· How are the major characters introduced? Does it tell anything
about what will happen?
Matriarch Mama Joe has held her family together for 40 years
around a Sunday dinner of soul food. When diabetes
hospitalizes her, the dinners stop and tensions among her three
daughters start to break the family apart. Two of the sisters feud
continuously: Teri is jealous of Maxine's marriage and irritated
that everyone assumes her corporate salary is open to the rest of
the family's uses. Maxine resents Teri's bossiness and
insensitivity to family tradition. Bird, the youngest, newly
married to an ex-con, accepts a favor from an old lover that
leads to her husband's arrest. Mama Joe's grandson Ahmad
cooks up a scheme to bring the family together, back to the
table.
· What role if any does the back-story play in explaining the
actions of the major characters?

4. · Are there any transformations or changes that occur over the
course of the story in any of the major characters?
I think change occur throughout the whole film with the entire
family and in their relationships. Life becomes complicated
when Mother Joe, the diabetic but wise and caring matriarch of
the family and the glue that holds it together, suffers a
debilitating stroke during an operation to amputate her leg and
slips into a coma, dying shortly after sharing a last word of
advice with Ahmad when she awakens five weeks later. Without
her guidance, the family begins to fall apart. Teri takes in her
troubled cousin Faith (Ravera), who bonds with Miles over a
love of the arts. They two have an affair and are caught having
sex by Teri, which later leads to a near-violent confrontation at
Kenny and Maxine's anniversary party when she furiously
comes after the two with a butcher knife. Meanwhile, Lem
cannot find a job due to his criminal record, so Bird makes an
uneasy deal with her former boyfriend Simuel St. James (Mel
Jackson) to get Lem a job. This creates tension between Lem
and Bird when he finds out, and in one of their arguments, Teri
overhears and mistakenly believes Lem was physically
threatening her sister. Teri hires her cousin Blimp to teach Lem
a lesson, but when the two men fight, the police become
involved, resulting in Lem being arrested on assault and
unlawful weapon possession charges. Realizing her mistake,
Teri calls in a few favors to have Lem released and she
apologizes to Lem. By contrast Kenny and Maxine's relationship
remains stable, and they have their third child at the start of the
film; however, they constant call on Teri to pay for things for
the family without paying the money back, which causes even
more tension between the sisters. Ahmad, Kenny and Maxine's
oldest child, becomes worried about the state of his extended
family, and conspires to find a way to bring them all back
together.
Ahmad tells his relatives about a stash of money that Big Mama

5. had hidden away some time ago but everyone dismisses him,
believing it to be a myth. However, Ahmad manages to get
everyone together for another Sunday dinner by promising them
the whereabouts of the money.
· Is there a key moment in the story, a scene which brings an
“ah-ha” moment?
I think my ah ha moment came about when Uncle Pete finally
came out the room. As Maxine is comforting her son, the
kitchen accidentally catches on fire due to Ahmad leaving a
towel too close to the burner, and they all work together to try
and to put it out. When they put the fire out, Uncle Pete, Big
Mama's brother, comes down with his television and drops it to
reveal the money that Big Mama had hidden away.
Things start to go well for the family. Miles still comes by for
Sunday dinner even though he and Teri are divorcing, Teri has
also decided not to sell her mother's house, Lem and Bird are
expecting their first child, Faith is finally becoming part of the
family again and Uncle Pete who never came out of his room,
starts to join the family.
· Describe any social or cultural issues that affect the story.
How do these issues impact characters or influence the theme?
· What is the primary or central theme in the film?
the film centers on the trials of an extended African-American
family, held together by longstanding family traditions which
begin to fade as serious problems take center stage. Tillman
based the family in the film on his own, and Soul Food was
widely acclaimed for presenting a more positive image of
African-Americans.

6. · Does the title of the film have any special meaning?
"Soul Food offers a sometimes humorous exploration of the
Black community's affinity for foods like fried chicken, fat-
flavored collard greens, and fried pork chops, despite the fact
that these foods increase risks for diabetes, high blood pressure,
stokes, heart disease and obesity. Inspired by the premature
death of his father, Hurt traces the origins of soul food back to
slavery and encourages healthier approaches to soul food
preparation."
Byron Hurt has brought together some of the most important
voices on African American food traditions to discuss a topic
deep at the heart of our culture. At a time when there are so
many conflicting messages about soul food, Hurt has provided a
fabulous critical discussion of the politics, culture, history, and
economics of this most contentious concept. Soul Food offers a
corrective to many of the misperceptions we have about African
American foodways and simultaneously, provides a substantive
way of thinking about cultural sustainability and viability. To
gain a wide variety of perspectives and images on soul food,
you should not hesitate to watch Hurt's very informative
documentary. It is a conversation that is beneficial to all races
and ethnicities because it challenges all of us to consider what
it means to cling to traditions real and imagined even when
change is necessary."
· Most notable elements in the film (language, location, setting,
costumes, etc)
Everything took place after Big Momma passes away. The
location was always at big mom house for Sunday dinner and
how the family never miss that tradition until the family grew

7. apart. At the end the family got together and solve their
problem.