"Waiting to Exhale"

Film Review # 56431

African-American Studies
Ethnic Studies
Film

"Waiting to Exhale"

This paper examines the issue of race in Forest Whitaker's movie, "Waiting to Exhale."

1,795 words () | 0 sources | 2005 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the issue of "black films" and whether director's like Forest Whitaker are seen as "black directors" or just directors. This paper also discusses the themes and plot of the movie, "Waiting to Exhale," in the context of racial issues.

From the Paper:

"Forest Whitaker is the director for Waiting to Exhale. Forest was born on July 15, 1961 in Longview, Texas, but then moved with his family to California when he was still a baby. Forest grew up to be an athletic and talented football player in high school, which ultimately landed him a football scholarship at Pomona College. At Pomona, Forest not only preformed on the field, but also on the stage as an actor. During his freshman year, a Hollywood agent discovered Forest, which landed him his first acting job in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High." Forest decided to pursue his career as an actor and earned a scholarship to the University of Southern California. Forest eventually ended up earning a scholarship to the Drama Studio of London, which molded him into one of the film industry's most talented young actors. Throughout the 1980's and early 90's Forest worked along side some of today's top actors in many films. In 1988, Forest won "Best Actor" at the Cannes Film Festival for his work in "Bird." Forest slowing started pursuing his interest in directing with a few small projects. His first feature film to direct was "Waiting to Exhale" in 1995, which proved to be a success at the box office, making over $70 million when it only cost $14 million to produce the film. Forest Whitaker continues to direct and act in films. When asked about his success, Whitaker responds, "I'm an actor. And I guess I've done so many movies I've achieved some high visibility. But a star, I guess I still think of myself as kind of a worker ant.""