Spiteful Booty

And so the saying goes, “There’s nothing like a woman scorned.” I usually use a movie as a reference and today is no different. One of my all time favorite movies is the BEST MAN, released in 1999 and starring Taye Diggs and Nia Long (as well as a host of other great African-American actors). And of course, this is a Spike Lee production so I had to include it in this series (and it’s directed by his brother Malcolm D. Lee). The movie is centered around a wedding. Some college friends reconnect for the big shin-dig around the time that one of the clan, Harper, the writer (Taye Diggs) gets ready to release his first novel, which airs some “dirty laundry”. By the end of the film the crew figures out that Harper had a fling with the groom’s bride-to-be and, needless to say, all hell breaks lose. I want to talk about Mia’s intent, the bride (Monica Calhoun). Lance, the groom (Morris Chestnut) is doing his thing throughout the relationship and it doesn’t help that he’s a professional athlete (wink-wink). She gets fed up and decides to gut-punch that ass and hit him where it hurts. She sleeps with his best friend – the best man. Damn! Scandalous, ain't it? Now, I don't believe that she ever wanted any of this to come out. She did it on the sly - in a very cunning and, might I add, commendable way. She wasn't blatant and loud with hers. Whether Lance knew or not, she did it and the idea was enough to satisfy the revenge she was seeking. He never really needed to know. She and Harper were really the only two that needed to know. However, Lance admits at the end of the movie, "I always knew she'd been with someone else." The fact that his best friend was "that self-serving, back-stabbing bastard" was added ammo. Women are naturally vindictive creatures. When we’re hurt, we go for the gusto. Unfortunately, I can recall some rash decisions I’ve made out of anger and the backlash wasn’t . . . well . . . good. And if you’ve seen this movie, you know that the backlash here was hellacious, to say the least. Today’s question, Why do we feel the need for revenge when we’ve been hurt?