The
"Chris Rock Show," which started on HBO in 1997, has featured
a character named Pootie Tang (played by Lance Crouthier),
whose speech is in a patois that is unintelligible. Not just
two or three odd phrases, as in The Lion King (1994).
All Pootie Tang’s speech is in a pseudo-Swahili tongue Tang.
Lance Crouthier, who plays the part, writes the lines and
other material for The Chris Rock Show. Now Paramount Pictures
has produced a film Pootie Tang, directed by
Louis C. K., who is a cowriter and coproducer of The Chris
Rock Show. The various characters from The Chris Rock Show
are introduced early in the film for the uninitiated by Pootie
Tang’s sidekick Trucky (played by JB Smith). We learn that
Pootie Tang’s father (played by Chris Rock) was a strict disciplinarian,
who used a magic belt to outfight any challenger and passed
his belt onto Pootie Tang before he died. In due course, Pootie
Tang becomes a hero throughout the land because he is a cool
cat. He discourages the youth of the land from eating fast
food, drinking alcohol, and indulging in drugs. However, the
profits of Corporate America have been plummeting as Pootie
Tang’s star has been rising. Accordingly, Dick Lecter (played
by Robert Vaughan), CEO of Chicago-based Lecter Corporation,
is unhappy because the youth of America is following Pootie
Tang’s advice. Accordingly, Lecter tries to bribe Pootie Tang
to provide product endorsements for Lecter Corporation’s unhealthy
food. Pootie Tang refuses, so Lecter engages Ireenie (played
by Jennifer Coolidge) to seduce Pootie Tang and rob him of
his secret power. First, Ireenie seduces Trucky, who reveals
that Pootie Tang’s secret power is in his belt. Then Ireenie
seduces Pootie Tang and steals his belt. Just as Delilah made
Samson weak by cutting off his hair, Pootie Tang is forced
to sign a contract with Lecter. The good people of the land
are disappointed, as Pootie Tang now supports all that he
hitherto opposed. Pootie Tang and Trucky even retreat to Greenville,
Mississippi, to become farmers in order to escape the opprobrium.
Soon, Trucky quits; farming is too much work for him. Then,
all alone, Pootie Tang falls into a delirium from all the
hard work, and the spirit of his father speaks to him from
a cornstalk, urging him to return to Chicago to right the
wrongs of the world, or at least those of Lecter Corporation.
Naturally, Pootie Tang follows his father’s advice, and vanquishes
the evil Lecter. But the plot is not really what is fascinating
about the story. What may be appealing to young African American
filmviewers is that Pootie Tang may provide a role model for
the youth - in the way he talks, how he walks, and the clothes
he wears. The hilarious lines of the other characters are
what makes Pootie Tang an uncartoonized replay
of The Lion King, but this time the people support
Pootie Tang because he is a democrat opposing the greed of
Corporate America rather than the caste system and monarchy
celebrated in The Lion King. Unfortunately, those who
watch will tune into the humor, the patois, and the costuming,
while tuning out the important message, because the plot is
too silly for the film to be taken seriously. MH
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