Watermelon Man
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Donna Dubrow, Frank Farmer, Godfrey Cambridge, Howard Caine, Mae ClarkeBrand: Sony
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen, 1.85:1
Running Time: 100 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-09-14
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Movie Reviews of Watermelon Man
Movie Review: Hard to Believe This Gem is Not Better Known
Summary: 5 Stars
Most of the well-known social satires dealing with white-on-black racism share the same strange thing in common: They're not written or directed by African Americans. And while films like "Blazing Saddles" and television programs like "All in the Family" are hilarious and important for their own reasons, they don't seem quite as sincere, if that's the right word, as this film, arguably Melvin Van Peebles' best.
The late, great Godfrey Cambridge ("The President's Analyst"; "Cotton Comes to Harlem") stars as Jeff Gerber, a middle-class American boor who delights in meaningless competition, keeping up with the Joneses, and chauvinism without consequences at the office -- in short, a fairly typical suburban guy. His sexless but otherwise happy, narcissistic life has the sort of antiseptic order that probably didn't seem so offensive when Dwight Eisenhower and "Leave It to Beaver" were still more or less fresh in people's minds. But his world is changed irrevocably when the bigoted but unimpeded Gerber awakens one morning to find himself indisputably no longer white -- and privileged -- but black -- and reviled. Thus begins his firsthand experiences with the sort of overt and covert racism writers like Ralph Ellison and Chester Himes have described for years and Eddie Murphy would lampoon on "Saturday Night Live," everything from co-workers suddenly no longer saying hello or bothering to make eye contact to being accused of crimes he didn't commit and barred entry to private clubs.
The best thing about "Watermelon Man" is how it shows so much of the viciousness of prejudice rather than lectures or preaches, in a film that starts out broadly comedic but ends with the soberness of prophecy. Key scenes show neighbors turning on him, bribing him in a "golly, no hard feelings" sort of way to leave the neighborhood because his presence will bring property values down; his own wife (Estelle Parsons, shrill as she was on "Roseanne" but with the same proper effect), who prides herself an enlightened liberal until she actually has to take a personal stand on race, deserting him; and his at first seemingly sympathetic doctor, a highly educated and cultured man who thoughtfully concludes the transformation was not the result of an tanning bed accident, as Gerber outrageously supposes, but from having African ancestry -- and then promptly refers his patient to a black physician. Any man of color who has found himself the exotic flavor of the month will understand Gerber's reaction when the packed-and-stacked Scandinavian bombshell secretary beds the boss she found completely unattractive when he was a member of her own race.
"Watermelon Man" is not perfect -- at times, the comedy tries too hard, even for the era of postmodern camp -- but the social satire hits home, then and now. It's sad, really, that the sentiments at the heart of this film still exist for some people today, after much discussion in the culture, even as it's so obvious how priceless the contributions of African Americans and other people of color have been to the fabric of this great nation. Populated by a strong cast of character actors, including Howard Caine, SS Major Hochstettler of "Hogan's Heroes" fame, it reminds us how race underpins so much of our mean-spirited treatment of one another, and while the film is not hopeless -- most obvious in Gerber's children, about the only people in the movie who seem unfazed by their father's rebirth as a black man -- the revolutionary message at the end is bittersweet, as Gerber finds resigned solace in the one place America allows him even the suggestion of freedom. The final shot of the film reminds us that our futures are rooted in the present, and our civilization is measured by either the kindness or the coarseness of how we treat each other. It may seem trite, but that sentiment is as important today as it was over 40 years ago.
Summary of Watermelon Man
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