Front Door

By Elyssa Fernandez

The film For Colored Girls, directed by Tyler Perry, is about eight African American women who learn to be strong and overcome obstacles that come into their lives. In one scene Jo, played by Janet Jackson, confronts her husband Carl, played by Omari Hardwick, about his infidelity. This scene reveals that a modern woman can stand up to a man’s bad behavior. Each woman in this movie goes through a battle and together they are strong enough to survive life’s struggle.

“I’ve got sorry greetin’ me at the front door, you can keep yours,” Jo says to her husband. After Jo found out hat her husband had taken money from her to put towards a bad investment, she decided she needed a private investigator to follow him because she had suspicions that he was cheating on her. It turned out she was right; Jo went to the doctor because she was feeling ill and she found out she had AIDS. The only logical explanation Jo figured out was that her husband was cheating on her with another man; he admitted to it. Jo finally decided that it was time for him to go, and she kicked him out. In their relationship, Jo was the bread winner because she paid for almost every bill and the house they lived in was hers. She was a powerful woman who had been scorned by a man and she was done with all of his apologies. Jo is not a stereotypical weak woman, but a strong modern woman who does not tolerate being cheated or betrayed.

A breadwinner in a relationship or family is typically seen as the man’s role, but in this case it was Jo. When one looks at her style, which is almost always business and classy, one could say that she does have masculine-like tendencies. The most predominant one would have to be her short haircut. Men are usually the ones with a short hairstyle that is constantly slicked back into perfection. Jo’s hairstyle shows her no funny-business attitude and her high stature in the world of money typically a male dominated area. She often wears something red which in most cases shows love but in this case it shows pure passion. She has a strong drive for her work and lives out of her desk. With a high position of editor-in-chief of a very popular magazine, one can almost feel the passion through the big screen. When Jo confronts her husband about his infidelities, she does not let a teardrop fall, symbolizing her toughness and strong femininity. On the other hand, Carl practically breaks down because he feels his homosexuality is a shameful addiction that makes him less of a man. Lastly, her posture of being turned away from him on the opposite side of the bed shows that she has turned his back on him for doing her wrong. Jo is so self-sufficient that she can turn away from him without any reservation

To be a strong African American woman today, she must know how to deal with all the dehumanization and oppression that she will receive from not only the men but the rest of world as well. It does break hearts when it is heard of a woman being abused by her so-called love, and it especially hurts when the children also suffer. Tyler Perry’s adaptation of the play and story For Colored Girls: Who have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Not Enough, captures the immense damage that can come if women are not strong like Jo.