Soul Man (1986) * * *

Directed by:  Steve Miner

Starring:  C. Thomas Howell, Arye Gross, Rae Dawn Chong, James Earl Jones, James B. Sikking, Leslie Nielsen, Melora Hardin

With the issue of blackface dominating the news cycle thanks to the Governor and Attorney General of Virginia, my thoughts turned to this likely forgotten comedy from 1986.   Soul Man is about a Harvard freshman who unethically and illegally wins a scholarship by posing as an African-American because his father won't pay his tuition.    The scholarship is aimed at the most qualified minority applicant, and Mark Watson (Howell) takes a heavy dose of experimental tanning pills and wears a perm to pass for black.    Does he care that he took a scholarship away from another candidate who is actually a minority?    That is an emphatic no.   As Mark puts it, "Harvard, there is no substitute,"

Mark is apparently shortsighted in his selfish quest to go to Harvard.    Does he understand he may have to be someone he isn't for the rest of his life?    Such thoughts don't occur to him, even as he finds himself discriminated against by police, landlords, and the father of a potential white girlfriend.    Even in 1986 Boston, it isn't easy being black, and less so for a white guy pretending to be black, because he can't protest his treatment by confessing he is actually white.    But Mark learns a little during his stint as a minority, and naturally he will come face to face with the student he beat out to obtain the scholarship.    She is Sarah (Chong), a poor, struggling unwed mother who really could've used the scholarship, but Mark of course stole it, and he can't confess his deception to her either because he may be falling for her.

Soul Man walks a fine line between offense and satire.    It pokes fun at stereotypes (inherent skill at basketball, prominent penis size, etc.) and at the people who believe them as gospel.    During a dinner scene, an older white man (Nielsen) stares at Mark and envisions him as a pimp.    This is not unlike the scene in Annie Hall in which Annie's grandmother stares at Woody Allen and views him as a Hasidim with a long beard and hat.   Which is more offensive?   The stereotypes themselves or the fact that people still cling to them?   

I found Soul Man funny in the same vein All in the Family was funny.   The joke is on the bigot, and in some cases, on Mark as well.   The jokes, and occasional sitcom treatment of its touchy subject, are based on spoiling preconceived notions about African-Americans.     Mark undergoes the deception because he mistakenly believes, "This is the 80's.  This is the Cosby decade.  America loves black people,"   The movie obviously couldn't foresee what would become of Bill Cosby, but Mark comes to understand how he completely underestimated the hold racism still has on some people.