For Colored Girls is a movie that helps women relate to one another. I would describe it as a self-help movie. I say this because this movie is very therapeutic for women that have gone through different crises in their life. The poems in For Colored Girls originate from a book by Ntozake Shange. The name of the book is For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf. The poem that interested me the most in this book was “Sorry. ” “Sorry” is a poem that women can relate to because the speaker of the poem is clearly disgusted with excuses and lies. Sorry” is a matter of fact poem. The speaker of the poem is tired of everybody’s excuses to her, specifically her lover. It seems as everyone has always treated her wrong and dumped their problems or issues on her and she has been content with this. She has never confronted people before and told them how she really felt. This poem seems as if it is her breaking point. “Save your sorry” (Shange 1), is the first three words that come out her mouth. Before she said this it looks as if the person she was conversing with was talking, and she cut them off.
She cut them off to let them know she did not want to hear any excuses, and she is finally going to fully express herself. She can fully express herself because she is in an angry state of mind obviously because the poem has an angry tone. The speaker says, “I’m gonna tack a sign on my door, leave a message by the phone. If you called to say you’re sorry, call somebody else” (Shange 3-4). In my opinion this quote explains why this poem is expressing more feelings than just the ones to her lover. If the speaker just wanted to tell her lover no more apologies, she could just say it to his face.
When she says she would like to put a sign on her door or a voicemail this lets me know these feelings about apologies are also for the public. The speaker then expresses how she has no mercy on people anymore. She says, “I let sorry, didn’t mean to, and how could I know about that, take a walk down a dark and musty street in Brooklyn” (Shange 5-6). In the past the speaker has shown pity for people with excuses even if she knew they were excuses. I think she feels as if why show pity on people anymore because nobody seems to care about her feelings and come to her rescue.
At the same time the speaker does not want anybody to have pity for her. She does not understand why people should feel the need to make up excuses since she lives life with no regrets, basically meaning she is content with her actions. She feels this way because she is now living her life for herself and not for others. The speaker then goes on to express how her lover should stop saying sorry because it does not make her feel any better about the situation. She will console herself. In my opinion the speaker means the only reason her lover is saying sorry is to make him feel less guilty about the situation.
It seems as if her lover was a very selfish person and did not consider her feelings. He would do what he wanted then have an excuse thinking that it would soothe her feelings, when in actuality it helped none. She would just hide her emotions so he would not know how she actually felt. The speaker shows how she is out of her comfort zone when she tells her lover how she is going to act from now on. This explains how this poem is her breaking point because everything she has tolerated in the past, she will no longer tolerate. She is at her breaking point so much to where every secret she ever knew about him will now be told.
It seems as if the speaker feels her lover is regretful about being with her. The speaker says, “I loved you on purpose” (Shange 12). She is explaining how everything she ever did for him was not a mistake. She is pointing this out to him to show how different their feelings are for each other. At this point she begins to think maybe he regrets being with her since he is so full of excuses. As a result of all of these excuses from everybody the speaker is hurt mentally. But she still wants to be loved by somebody. I assume this because the speaker says, “I still crave vulnerability” (Shange 12).
She wants to be vulnerable meaning she wants to be in love and confide in another person. The speaker shows her strong side by showing she does not make excuses. She will no longer have pity on people with excuses. She shows her weak side by showing how she still cares about what other people think because she wants somebody to love her. This is not only a breaking point poem, but perhaps a breaking up poem, also. She expresses several negative aspects about her lover that she has never said before. I think at this point in the poem she has realized that she deserves better.
In the movie this poem was recited by Janet Jackson. Janet Jackson did a wonderful job of showing how the speaker of the poem felt. I think this is a poem that a person only can relate to if they have been in a similar situation and was discontent. She showed emotion by crying. When she was crying I could tell that the speaker was heart-broken. Also, as I said earlier I could tell the poem was a break up poem by how Janet Jackson and her husband were positioned on the bed during the movie. When she was saying the poem they had their backs turned toward each other.
They were making no eye contact. It was almost as they were disconnecting at that point in the movie. I believe that Ntozake Shange wrote this poem for herself. When For Colored Girls came out Shange was asked several questions about her poems that originated from her book but were in the movie. Shange spoke on her life. During her younger years in life she was faced with several conflicts. These conflicts led her to attempting to try to commit suicide several times. I think she wrote this poem to teach young women they do not have to turn to suicide as a solution, like Shange did.
Shange wants young women to always express their feelings like the speaker did at the end of the poem. If a person always expresses themselves they will not be pushed to breaking points like the speaker of this poem was. Pop culture such as movies has such a big influence on people. In this movie they show several calamities, but at the same time the movie shows women how they can overcome these calamities. As a result of these tragedies in these women’s lives they became stronger. They became stronger by forming bonds with other women. These other women became a good support system for each other.
This movie touched on different topics whether it was AIDS, rape, abortion, or unfaithfulness. I believe it was such a variety of topics so that it could relate to a diverse group of women that have been through these situations and to show them that they can overcome their problems. In my opinion even if a woman has not been through these situations it could teach a person in the future how to avoid certain situations by looking at the signs and signals. The speaker in “Sorry” is very candid about other people’s feelings such as her lover’s feelings. She was led to feel like this because of the lies and excuses she had been hearing.
This poem was therapeutic for the speaker and for the audience that could relate to the poem. Janet Jackson was the speaker in the poem in the movie. This was a good choice because she is such a good role model for young women. She can influence them with this poem by showing them how not to end up like the women in the movie and the book. This poem is a message to women be strong and not tolerate lies and excuses. Do not live life for others, and when a person is having issues they should look to others for support instead of choosing suicide. Even though For Colored Girls was a depressing movie, it was a very educational movie.
