Stormy Weather !!



 The film Stormy Weather was vibrant and was a great film for the black culture during that time that still resonates today. The plot was pretty simple including the main characters being Bill Robinson, who is an army man coming back from war trying to become a performer and Selena Rogers who is a glamorous singer. Bill wants to be with Selena, but their careers get in the way as they both become more successful. They don’t see each other anymore and continue performing as well. They soon reunite on the musical stage again in a big way.  Many popular entertainers such as Cab Calloway, and Fats Waller are seen in this film and they are in my opinion, the best musical acts out of all shown.  In Stormy weather there three main things that stood out to me were the overwhelming African American representation, display of the arts, and moments showing changes to the usual status quote. 


The overwhelming African American Representation was shown in full effect with this film. In the 1940’s this was a very rare thing to see an all-black cast and it not being black face instead. One scene being the soldiers coming back on the boat and the camera zooming in on one of the soldiers using his teeth to make certain distinct sounds. Also, the great voice of Selena, played by Leena Horne, who sang multiple times in the film, and had such an angelic voice. I did notice that she was a very light skinned woman and could pass for white as well. I don’t think the film would've had a dark-skinned woman as the main character. This displays the colorism and what was seen as more acceptable during this time for some people getting certain role than others. Another scene that caught my eye was towards the very end with the two tap dancers at the end. They did many routines, and the choreography was outstanding. 


I want to also highlight not just the representation, but the moments showing the changes in the usual status quote. First, with the character Gab and his lady in the beginning of the film where the lady kept asking him for money and different things that she wanted as they entered the party. Her character is different from other typical black women roles seen in the films. Instead of coming across as a struggling, sad, black woman she appeared happy, enjoying life and being pampered by another man. Also, with Selena turning down Bill’s proposal to settle down and wanting to keep working at her job because she enjoys it. That was very against what the typical family promoting, settled down environment in the 40’s was. 


  My last thoughts being that for the film to be catered to the black audience that no hardships were shown or certain issues that African Americans were going through were being displayed. It was simply just a feel-good movie with many dramatic points, which was interesting from my observations. 


 


 

Comments

  1. Kendra Hamilton, Ph.D.February 14, 2023 at 12:41 PM

    Absolutely true, Taylor. Sometimes what you want is a feel-good movie. And this film, for all its flaws and all the ways it falls short by today's standards, was feel good.

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