Waiting to Exhale

"And then I did it. I closed my eyes, and I exhaled."

- Savannah Jackson 

Forewarning: Spoiler Alert!

Welcome to the second installment of "Throwback Thursday."

Let me take you back to 1992. America was in flux. The Los Angeles Riots (Rodney King Riots) had just broken out, the Chicago Bulls were the NBA Finals' Champions, MTV introduced The Real World reality TV show, Bill Clinton was Time Magazine's "Man of the Year," and Terry McMillan wrote her third novel, Waiting to Exhale.

You know the story. Four beautiful, intelligent black women residing in Arizona trying to find their ways through love and life. You may be wondering why a fictional romance drama was important during this time of social, racial and political unrest. The answer is simple. Waiting to Exhale was able to provide black and brown women alike with a recess from reality, while also relating to their struggles. However, it wasn't until three years later that the iconic film, directed by Forest Whitaker and starring Whitney Houston, Angela Basset, Lela Rochon and Loretta Devine, was born.

As I previously mentioned, THIS. FILM. IS. ICONIC. and for good reason. Never before have we seen not one, not two, not three, but four successful black women gracing the silver screen as main characters of a story. This is not to say that these characters aren't flawed. The women of Waiting to Exhale have many an issue, but that's what makes them so relatable.

I know you're probably familiar with the plot of Waiting to Exhale (if not the whole plot, definitely the cigarette in mouth, car filled with clothes, burning scene), but in order to feel the full weight of this film, we need to delve into some character analysis. Within the four main characters live many women. I'm not talking about a multiple personalities thing here, I'm talking about representation. Waiting to Exhale gave women of color a collective voice.

Let's meet the main characters:

Savannah Jackson (Whitney Houston) is a successful television producer who has put more effort into furthering her career than actively searching for a man (and who can blame her). However, being human, she begins to find herself lonely and starts to casually date, but is unable to meet men who are suitable for her. One day Savannah's married ex-lover, Kenneth (Dennis Haysbert), comes back into her life and she has to decide whether or not to discard her morals for "love." Savannah, like many working women, felt immense pressures from family and society to have it all - the career and the flourishing love life. These pressures eventually led to her lapse in judgement with Kenneth. At the end of the movie, Savannah realizes that Kenneth will never leave his family, and decides to leave him instead.

Bernadine Harris (Angela Basset) is a wife and mother of two. "Bernie" puts her dreams of owning a catering business on the back burner in order to help her husband, John (Michael Beach), advance his career, only to have him cheat and leave her (yes, for a white woman. Get out of here, elephant). Bernadine was a woman scorned. For a majority of the movie, we are able to see that she is hurt and extremely pissed - not just at her husband, but also at herself. "Bernie" ultimately learns that no man is worth a dream deferred, and to always invest in oneself first.

Gloria Matthews (Loretta Devine) is the owner of her own beauty salon, and is also a single-mother raising a growing boy on her own. After Gloria's ex-lover and the father of her child comes out to her as gay, she realizes that any chance of them rekindling a romance is gone. Gloria, like Savannah, struggles with loneliness until she meets her new neighbor, Marvin (Gregory Hines). Gloria's main struggles in Waiting to Exhale are loneliness in her romantic life and letting her son become more independent. Both issues are solved when she begins to grow closer to Marvin. Not only is he a positive force in Gloria's life, but also in her son's.

Robin Stokes (Lela Rochon) is a high-powered marketing executive who could seemingly have any man she wants, but instead settles for being the long-time mistress of Russell (Leon). After breaking things off with Russell, Robin dates around for a while, but eventually gets back with him in hopes that he's changed and will finally divorce his wife. Shocker: he hasn't and he doesn't. Robin ends up pregnant with Russell's child and tells him that she will raise the baby on her own. While Robin started as the "jump-off" that most women can't stand, she eventually discovers her self-worth and ends the relationship with Russell. Like Robin, many women hold on to dead-end relationships out of fear of starting over; however, while new is scary, it is also a fresh start with a clean slate.

Whew. Didn't I tell you these women had issues? But all jokes aside, these characters have depth and a sense of authenticity that is often missing in major Hollywood productions. As far as numbers go, Waiting to Exhale, which debuted on Christmas weekend in 1995, grossed $14.1 million during opening weekend, and $81.45 million worldwide during its time in theaters. These figures are outstanding, but while money and ratings are great, we don't need them to tell us what we already know, and that is that Waiting to Exhale will always be known as one of the greatest romance films of this century.

Also, I wouldn't forgive myself if I forgot to tell you to download the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack. Like I said in my previous post, it's a vibe all its own.


(Photos courtesy of Essence and I Hear That Girl)