Zane’s Addicted..Why Black Women are “Addicted” to Immorality.

During the movie(and the theater was packed, even for a matinee)the women were very talkative throughout the movie, especially the sex scenes, a lot of vulgar comments were made, and throughout the commentary, I didn’t hear one Black Woman say how wrong the character was for cheating on her husband.  Instead the comments were focused on the “sexy men” she was sleeping with.

 

The main character seemingly had it all, a loving husband, children, her own business (basically everything we SAY we want), yet there was a void, that caused her to seek sexual relationships outside of her marriage, though it wasn’t brought to light until later in the movie that she was a sex addict. The way sexual addiction was mentioned in the movie, made it seem like the character needed “something” to blame her behavior on. There was no real focus on the cause of the addiction or what triggered it, it just showed her having a lot of sex.

 

One of the aspects of the book that I did appreciate, was that there was an intense investigation into the past of the main character, Zoe and her husband, Jason. It was revealed that both suffered from some type of sexual trauma, whether it was a direct violation or if it was a sexual encounter that they were forced to witness.

 

I think that it would have been more beneficial if that was shown in the movie. In our community, most of us have suffered from some type of sexual violation that has resulted in trauma, that causes unhealthy behavior. We keep these memories suppressed, but they continue to play out in our psyche. The focus of the book was dealing with  an addiction to sex, which is a very real addiction and a struggle for many, and  in the book we were able to see her tackle her addiction in a more in depth fashion, than what was shown in the movie.

 

For Black Men, there aren’t a lot of outlets that allow men to talk about their pain as it relates to sexual  violation, whether it’s rape or molestation, so I think addressing the fact that Black Men aren’t exempt from sexual predators would  have been pivotal for the men of our community.

 

Leaving out the recovery process in the movie, sent a distorted message to women. We didn’t get to see the character put in any WORK as it relates to her reformation and truly accepting accountability for her actions. I understand that Zane is an  author that specializes in writing erotic stories, but that does not absolve her of responsibility as it relates to subject matter SHE decided to shed light on.   When she brought sex addiction to the forefront on the big screen, she should have also focused on the rehabilitation process, otherwise this movie is filled with salacious sex scenes, that make it seemed justified for the main character to cheat, and receives her husband’s forgiveness.

 

When we get into the false thinking that movies like these are harmless, and we read too much into them, it showcases a gross misunderstanding of propaganda. Nothing is done by mishap, ESPECIALLY in the media, there is ALWAYS an agenda.

 

Instead of seeing how detrimental, disrespectful and damaging these images and messages are, we feel like we are accomplishing something. We cheer on Shonda Rhimes, for having “Hollywood on lock” and having shows on a major network with two Black Actresses as the main focus. But what’s the REAL focus? In “Scandal’, Kerry Washington’s character  gets passed around between two white men. “In How To Get Away With Murder”,  Viola Davis’s character is married to a white man, but she is guilty of infidelity as well. We think that these shows defy the Jezebel image under the guise of being successful  Black Women, but actually they give life to the Jezebel stereotype.

 

Another commonality among “Scandal”, “How To Get Away With Murder” and ‘Addicted” is the mistreatment of good Black Men. On “Scandal” Kerry Washington’s character had a successful Black Man that wanted to marry her, but she preferred to be the White Man’s whore. On “How to Get Away With Murder”, Viola Davis’s character had an affair with a Black Man, which makes it seem like Black Men are good enough to cheat with, but not good enough to marry, since she is married to a white man, though I believe the character she had an affair with is involved in another relationship. In “Addicted” Sharon Leal’s character had the “ideal Black Man” but cheats on him with a Latino Man. These shows and movies leave the impression that Black Men aren’t adequate for us, and even when they are, we still aren’t satisfied.

 

Platforms like these  places Black Female promiscuity, lack of control, immorality, infidelity, the continued destruction of Black Marriages, “white is better”, and  the “Miss Independent Mentality” in the limelight and we applaud it all.

 

When it comes to Addicted, without showing how the main character had to take the vital  journey to delve deep into her past and  the necessary steps  towards her recovery, (which includes taking full ownership of her actions), it comes off as just another promiscuous Black  Woman, who gets to be sexually irresponsible, without little to no accountability, and her husband forgives her. The focal message should be sex addiction, instead it’s just sex.

 

This movie gives infidelity among Black Women a poetic and fairy tale ending, which again leaves Black Women void of any responsibility. Give Black Women a role where a Black Woman is a whore, and add some eye candy, whether it’s  Black Man or if we are fulfilling some white man’s fantasy and you have a recipe for success, because again, we love championing anything that lacks morals, values, accountability and responsibility.  

 

Like the title of the book and movie; it seems that Black Women have become ‘Addicted” to anything that promotes immorality and leading lady is a Black Whore.