Fury (1936)

There’s a lot that can be said of You People, a recent comedy film released through Netflix starring Jonah Hill, Lauren London, Eddie Murphy and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.  It covers the somewhat cinematically underdeveloped and occasionally controversial subject of interracial and interfaith marriage and the ensuing clashes between older and younger generations on the matter.  The film bravely, in my opinion, addresses a generalized ignorance both Black and white people possess in their dealings with each other.  You People puts words to things that we’ve all thought about from time to time but never had the courage or willingness to admit to.  And leave it to the comedy genre, and producer, writer, and star Jonah Hill, to cover the topic with enough humor and candidness to not alienate its audience. Instead, the film attempts to invite the audience into a much needed discussion.

Praise and critical accolades, however, are not the things that seem to be following You People since its release. Despite debuting at number one on Netflix, the film’s success has been somewhat overshadowed by a recent article that claimed the two main characters, Ezra and Amira, never actually kissed in the film’s closing scene.  Co-star Bill Schultz recently commented on his podcast that on set the two actors paused before their lips locked and that one of the film’s most intimate moments was actually created by CGI.  

What’s the point of this strange yet fascinating bit of news?  For me, the article implies there’s a certain fraudulence to the movie.  How can you portray a love story between two people and not have them actually kiss?  If a romantic comedy is a cookbook, the kiss is an essential ingredient. The authenticity and message of the film are called into question.  

This might be an overblown reaction, however.  This "news" arguably does not mean anything and may not even be true. And if it were true then so what?  Maybe the production saved money by not hiring an intimacy coordinator.  Or perhaps the writers decided that scenes of an intimate nature were unnecessary, that the story was less about expressions of love and more about interracial couples and their dealings with societal and familial expectations. 

The aforementioned familial expectations take the form of two sets of parents. Arnold and Shelley, played by David Duchovny and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. The other parents are Akbar and Fatima, played by Eddie Murphy and Nia Long.  Jonah Hill plays Ezra, a young, Jewish, up-and-coming podcaster who meets Amira (Lauren London), a fashion designer, after inadvertently getting into the back seat of her car, mistaking her for an Uber driver.  The movie then jumps ahead a few months to find them living together as a couple. Deciding that they want to take their relationship to the next level, they realize they must first introduce themselves to each other's respective parents.