The first thoughts that came to mind when I watched Tyler Perry’s Acrimony was never judge a book by its cover, never give up on your dreams, if it hasn’t happened, it doesn’t mean that it won’t; it is never too late, it is never too early, whenever it comes to pass, as long as it is not outdated, it is the right time.
What is love without sacrifice or what is sacrifice without love? There are so many things involved in this four letter word many seem to throw around with reckless abandon. It is not a code that unlocks the ‘jackpot’ of a woman’s body or the wallets of man. It is the totality of releasing ourselves to the beautiful symphonic orchestral tune that makes our body float on water.
There is a truth which is the
only truth there is. Love doesn’t abhor a person no matter the situation that might
have befallen such a person in the past; it is the totality of forgiveness
without holding on to the draining residue of the past.
The first thoughts that came to
mind when I watched Tyler Perry’s Acrimony was never judge a book by its cover,
never give up on your dreams, if it hasn’t happened, it doesn’t mean that it
won’t; it is never too late, it is never too early, whenever it comes to pass,
as long as it is not outdated, it is the right time.
Melinda (Taraji P. Henson) is a character who was designed to be the hero in this beautiful story of love, sacrifice, devotion and commitment but she set herself up for destruction as a result of her hubris. She would have been a perfect example of Aristotelian tragedy bar the fact that she is not of royal blood but she is the perfect example of the modern form of tragedy.
I personally don’t like a story with a beautiful beginning and it turns out to end tragically; this has been the footnote of many a people relationship and you can’t but ask yourself where did all the love go? What happened to the fire, spark or lightning of that love that showed so much promise?
The doom that befell the
relationship between Melinda (Taraji P. Henson) and Robert (Lytic Bent) is catalysed
by her destructive anger which we see early on in the movie and this in no
little part set the tune of the tragic end to their marriage as well as her
lack of a mind of her own. She found herself controlled excessively by her
sisters Brenda (Ptosha Storey) and June ( Jazmyn Simon) who seem not to see any
good in Robert whom according to them is a good for nothing low life whose only
goal in life is goal dig his way to success.
Robert found himself on the wrong side of a highly judgmental environment stemming from the fact that he is from a poor background and he had to depend on student loans, scholarships so that his dreams would not die; his cause was also not helped in a highly unforgiving capitalist society as a result of his criminal record, He had three job offers after his graduation from College which Melinda sponsored and as a result of his criminal record, He wasn’t offered a job and he found himself back to square one.
He was defined by his
intelligence, creativity, ideals and tenacity to hold on to his dreams despite
the fact that seemed never to materialize; and this made him an easy target for the
corporate corrupt capitalist society as Prescott industries attempted to buy
his intellectual property for Eight hundred thousand dollars ( $800,000). One striking
and challenging quality of Robert is his decision not to budge nor being taken
advantage of in spite of his and Melinda’s impoverished condition.
The moment Melinda’s sister’s came around to insult him for ruining their sister’s life and his wife didn’t defend him like she used to, he came to the conclusion that the love and affection she had for him had gone sour and after Melinda gave him an ultimatum to stay instead of chasing his career defining meeting with Prescott where Diana (Chrystle Stewart) worked, he was sent out by Diana and he had no alternative than to live in a shelter.
No matter how high nor unrealistic his dreams begun to seem, Robert made himself bigger than his dreams and it helped him pull through in the very end while Melinda on the other hand shut all doors on hope for hopelessness and the minute the tide begun to turn, she was disillusioned and disoriented at why she was so blind to a storm that was beginning to subside; only for her to begin to open her eyes when Robert came to her office to reward her for her patience down the years with a cheque of ten million dollars ($10,000,000) and also helped get her house back at a point she was still insistent they were not getting back together despite still making his feelings known to her; only for her to reply him that ‘ they were never getting back together’.
It brings this question, Should Robert
have felt indebted to Melinda forever after he had exceedingly shown his
appreciation to her?, Did he not deserve another chance at love in his life?,
had Melinda seen him with another woman besides Diana who symbolically
represented the pain she feels from losing her womb as a result of deliberately
crashing her car into the trailer park after catching them having sex in their younger
days; would she have been satisfied and comfortable with another woman besides Diana living her dreams?
Robert loved Melinda, he made a
mistake and I wondered why it was terribly hard for her to forgive and move on
rather than vehemently hunt him with it, they would have had a better future
together if she had not let the past shape their future and I believe that dug
the inevitable grave of their love and condemned it to doom and failure. Why
did Melinda begin to open her eyes and start feeling stuffs again when Robert’s
life begun to take the shape she initially believed it would in the past?
This has become the truth of many,
they claim to love when the going is easy but it becomes harder for them when it
gets really hard. They want a harvest without a sacrifice but in the case of
Melinda they make the sacrifice but abandon the toil when the seed is
almost ripe for harvest for someone who knew not what was sown to reap it all in the case
of Diana.
The truth is Diana had feelings for Robert for a long time. She was painted as a villain when she didn’t even know she was one. Her younger self was angry at Robert for not telling her he had a girlfriend before they slept together which meant she didn’t mean to hurt anyone and even when they met again later in the future, she was careful of her relationship with Robert so as not to ruin his marriage which she symbolically did with the purse she left behind in the truck; this was the symbol that eventually destroyed Melinda and Robert but in all honesty, you would wonder how they could have lasted with so much anger, resentments and negative energy flying around.
I personally feel Tyler Perry shouldn’t have made the other woman the hero in this movie because it honestly greatly disrespects Melinda and all the sacrifices she made in the life of Robert and it is really disrespectful to the character and personality of Melinda that Diana ended up to be the one to reap her dreams. Just because you are the one who takes delivery of a baby, it doesn’t make the baby yours and it is the same for Diana as she hugged all the headlines just because she got Robert to the finish line of his dream.
Acrimony is a good movie with
many lessons but I strongly believe the story is one sided as the story was
told only from the angle of the woman and not both; the real heroes have been
made villains while the villains have been painted as a hero. In many ways, the
movie is a story of betrayal, psychological derangement spanning from
obsession, anger as well as a controlling mind-set. I really do pity Melinda and Robert but they
were doomed to fail from the point they met and badge into one another in the
rain which according to her, she felt it was the universe warning them that
they were doomed to fail and that is exactly what happened and it’s tragic how
it all ended for them. You could argue all you like that Robert didn’t try
harder, I feel he did only that he just undid all his good work by
disrespecting Melinda and giving the life that should have been hers to a
strange woman to live all the dreams Melinda’s sacrifices deserved. Melinda
betrayed her own sacrifices while Richard betrayed Melinda’s love by marrying
Diana. The movie would have been really
wonderful if it captures the realities that is greatly dying in the generation
of a love that truly conquers all; Robert and Melinda was just about getting
there but it wasn’t to be and it’s a shame that a beautiful love story had to
end in such a tragic manner.
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