JUST MAKE ME FEEL GOOD

“When it is dark enough,
you can see the stars.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Cups (jellosea remix)
by Anna Kendrick

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Just Make Me Feel Good
by Kendall F. Person

Time Magazine would hail it as Black History Night at the Oscars, and a big night it was. Sidney Poitier received the Lifetime Achievement Award, Denzel Washington took Best Actor, but it was Halle Berry that truly made history. In 2002, she became the first African American woman to be named Best Actress at the Academy Awards.

However, controversy would not be far, unfounded I thought then and still do now, that the first Black woman to win the top honor, would do so for a movie named Monster’s Ball, for some was not a reason to celebrate at all. At the core of the controversy was one pivotal scene. Some moviegoers believed it was over the top, doing nothing to advance the drama, simply a way for the movie to exploit Halle Berry’s gorgeous body. Out of context, this reasoning made sense. The love-making scene between Halle and Billy Bob was so intense, so visual and graphic, it left a shellshocked audience panting, trying to catch their breath. But in context, it defined the Monster’s Ball.

When the movie opens, Halle Berry’s husband is on death row. He would be put to death by a man who would eventually become her lover, but she did know. Billy Bob Thornton was the man in question. His father was an old school racist and his son suffered from depression. Her only child – an immensely overweight, chronic eater – was killed by a hit and run driver. His only son, could not fight his demons and placed a gun against his own head and pulled the trigger.

When Billy Bob arrived at Halle’s home, everything she owned had been put on the streets, and everyone she loved was buried six feet deep. So when he asked her was there anything he could do, her response was the precursor to the most talked about scene of the movie “Just make me feel good.”

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It is not necessary and nor should we wait until times are bad, to do nice things for ourselves and others. Simple courtesies like saying good morning with a genuine smile or holding the door open or just listening without saying a word, can go a long way in making us feel good about ourselves. Although, there are times when only a chocolate sundae or being in the arms of the person we love can make us feel good all over.