Marisa Adam

Of all the films I've decided to give a review, I can't believe the first I'm writing online is for "Diary of a Mad Black Woman". DOAMBW was released when I was in high school. Fifteen years later as an actual woman, not teenaged girl, the film resonates differently with me. 1. It is a FEMINIST film. The main character is a woman, a house wife who Madea argues still has rights to the property and assets of her marriage. Madea calculates the cost for 18 years of cooking, cleaning, and sex that wasn't good. Outside of a marriage, no one cooks and cleans for free unless it is for a relative who is unable to care for themselves. Helen learns to be independent and live a life outside of her marriage. Although she leaves one relationship and enters a new relationship, the film makes up for this by using a woman's voice to narrate the film and control the story line. 2. Justice and Karma. Charles, Helen's husband, was a ruthless defense attorney whose life choices, in marriage and his career, ultimately caught up with him. He nearly tortured Helen in their marriage and made enemies from his days as a kingpin. After he moved in his mistress, he was shot in a courtroom. This paralyzed him. Everyone left him, except Helen. The scenes from when Helen returns are also extremely feminist. We often hear stories of men controlling relationships and beating their wives. I'm am not advocating domestic violence, but it was important for a female protagonist to take control of a situation and not allow a man to disrespect her. The lines from these scenes are more main street than Hollywood. People have real life problems, not everything is as easy as the film industry has raised people to believe. Charles, with a bit of irony, does receive justice, not just because he is deserted as a handicapped man, but because Helen leaves him after he loves her again. At that point she is everything he had, but she does not want to be with him anymore. 3. You can find love in other places. Marriages and relationships end. At first, Helen was distraught, but she eventually overcame her divorce and found another man who loved her. Even though the lifestyle was a completely different shift from what she was accustomed to, in the end she had everything with Orlando she didn't have in her marriage. Charles, cheated on Helen and that woman ultimately left him when it wasn't convenient for her to get what she wanted anymore. He didn't find love in that, but Helen did find it elsewhere. In contrast to the beginning of the film, Helen made the decision to leave Charles. I could go on and on, but I I will stop here. I know my "review" is biased because I went through something where I see myself in Helen. However, part of the work of an artist, especially when creating characters, is to make them relatable. That is what makes DOAMBW with all of its ample room for criticism, a winner to me.