Scribbler's Rave & Favorite Five: Tuesday Night at the Movies, #2 Coming to America

Now I usually start off these "Rave & Favorite Five" posts with either some kind of sentimental tale about my storied past with a particular artist, movie, event, etc., or some excuse as to why you had to wait a few weeks for me to unveil the next slot.  However, instead of boring you with the minutiae, I'd rather kick off this post doing what I rarely do: shine a quick light on a much-deserved honorable mention.  Of all of the music for which legendary producer Nile Rodgers has been responsible--David Bowie's "Let's Dance", Madonna's "Like a Virgin" and pretty much everything by Chic (with one-time production partner Bernard Edwards) just to name a few numbers--absolutely nothing tops "The King's Motorcade" IMHO.  When King Jaffe Joffer (James Earl Jones) comes from the Kingdom of Zamunda to America looking for his son Prince Akeem (Eddie Murphy) after Semi (Arsenio Hall) requested "a cool million", "The King's Motorcade" was the ideal sonic depiction of the importance of his arrival in one of the most regal and bouse ways.  (By the way, you must say "bouse" like Rick Ross or Slim Thug because the pronunciation of "boss" just doesn't cut it.)  I fought myself over what this musical masterpiece could replace in the following top five, but I couldn't bring myself to knocking off any of these things that make Coming to America my No. 2 favorite movie of all time.  Without further ado, let's spin that globe, flip that coin and take a trip to Queens...

#5 EVERYBODY DID THEIR PART--AND I DO MEAN EVERYBODY.  Mrs. Scribbler and I were talking a month ago about the importance of details in movies pertaining to every character playing a role in making the movie successful and Coming to America is among the best movies of all time in that department.  You have the more silent partners like the rose petal girls (Feather and Garcelle Beauvais) and his bathers (Michele Watley aka Midori and Felicia Taylor), including the one (Victoria Dillard) who infamously says "the royal penis is clean, your Highness"; the dancers at Akeem's first wedding ceremony; the annoyed body language of the people at the Black Awareness Rally when Randy Watson (Eddie Murphy) inundated them with his musical stylings; the little girls who have the "cool story, bro" look on their face when Akeem tells them that he has a date with Lisa McDowell (Shari Headley); the Jenks family (Arthur Adams, Loni Kaye Harkless and Montrose Hagins) getting up and leaving Soul Glo juice on Cleo McDowell's couch; and even Uncle Ray Murphy as Stu falling down the stairs--although his fart certainly wasn't a "silent killer".  Then there are the one-shot-deal guys like the cab driver (Jake Steinfeld) screaming "YOU DUMB F--K" when Akeem steps in the middle of the street (although that definitely wouldn't go that well as a Black man trying to get a taxi in America) or one of Samuel L. Jackson's first roles as the foul-mouthed, shotgun-toting hold-up man at McDowell's restaurant; the club scene with the woman who needed a man to "put in overtime for me to get off" (Mary Bond Davis), Ms. "I Was Joan of Arc In My Former Life" (June Boykins) and the unforgettable rapping/beatboxing duo of Fresh Peaches & Sugar Cube (Janette & Vanessa Colon) that brought us "my name is Peaches and I'm the best, all the DJs want to feel my breasts"; and the hilarious off-screen comments when Akeem's neighbors are irritated at his boisterous, early morning greeting or his grating rendition of Jackie Wilson's "To Be Loved" riding high on Cloud Nine after a date with Lisa McDowell (Shari Headley).  Throw in folks who had slightly bigger roles like the arrogant, Soul Glo poster child in Darryl Jenks (Eriq La Salle), Lisa's sexually-liberal sister Patrice (Allison Dean), Queen Aoleon (Madge Sinclair), Maurice (Louie Anderson) and Mr. "She's Your Queen to Be" in King Joffer's sidekick Oha (Paul Bates) and you have one of the most well-rounded casts of character ever.  Just like I did with Friday, shout-out to the casting director, Jackie Burch...you da real MVP.

#4 COMING TO AMERICA WAS EDDIE MURPHY'S FIRST FILM THAT FEATURED BLACK FOLK.  If you go through Eddie Murphy's first six movies, it's not like he was the only Black person in the movie.  As Reggie Hammond in 48 Hrs., our faces were seen mainly in two places: in jail and at the bar.  When he was Billy Ray Valentine in Trading Places and came up by way of the Dukes, the celebration of his newfound wealth predominantly involved his own people; the problem was that our faces weren't prevalent after that.  In Beverly Hills Cop, Best Defense (which I had never heard of until fact-checking for this post), The Golden Child and Beverly Hills Cop II, it was even harder to come by Black folk as Inspector Todd (Gil Hill) was the most memorable supporting cast member of color.  As he gained more notoriety and success in the first eight years of his acting career, it allowed him to demand more of us be represented as his speech at the 60th Annual Academy Awards may have foreshadowed that necessity.  Hence, Coming to America was the beginning of a trend for Eddie Murphy movies where Black folk were not only present, but were the leading actors as James Earl Jones, Arsenio Hall, Shari Headley, John Amos and Eriq La Salle were all Black.  Granted, I say none of this to suggest that Coming to America was more groundbreaking than anything before it.  However, two things to that effect: 1) although I have always been a huge fan of the Bill Cosby/Sidney Poitier films in the 70s (especially Let's Do It Again), I connect a whole lot more with the music of that era than I do with the movies; and 2) as much as the 80s appeared to be this era of open-mindedness, Hollywood somehow didn't get the memo until nearly the end of the decade that our faces can dominate a critically and commercially successful motion picture.  As a young Black kid who grew up in the heyday of the BET era as well as watching network TV shows of the time like The Cosby Show, A Different World, 227 and Amen--all NBC shows as no other network was showing Black folk much love during the 80s in terms of new shows--seeing so many of us in a blockbuster film like Coming to America was a pretty big deal.

#3 COMING TO AMERICA MAY HAVE HELPED TO MAKE THE BARBERSHOP FRANCHISE POSSIBLE.  Along with the hair salon, the Black barbershop is nearly as much of a community cornerstone as the church--largely because it's not only a sign of Black entrepreneurship and prosperity, but also for the wealth of reliable and debatable information and camaraderie that comes along with it.  Not many movies or TV shows highlighted how paramount the barbershop was before 1988, but Coming to America put the subculture front and center.  When Akeem and Semi first arrived in Queens and sought someplace to feel more at home, they went to My-T-Sharp and got all types of knowledge dropped on them including the real way to court American women, hair care advice, boxing analysis, exaggerated encounters with social and cultural icons and even the soup joke that fell on dull funny bones.  Subsequently, Martin Lawrence, who worked closely with Murphy on Boomerang and Life, took a page out of the Coming to America playbook and implemented both the barbershop and salon subcultures into FOX's Martin series.  Also, without Coming to America, the commercial viability of Ice Cube's Barbershop franchise may not have been realized as Eddie Murphy's role as Clarence, the embellishing owner of My-T-Sharp, is essentially the predecessor to one of the best roles of Cedric the Entertainer's career via the portrayal of the unapologetic, highly-opinionated Eddie.  Granted, the Barbershop franchise expanded upon the wide array of issues within the four walls of and surrounding what is often the neighborhood landmark and hallmark, especially in the first sequel that addressed the issue of gentrification.  Nevertheless, credit is due to Coming to America for pioneering the showcasing of the Black barbershop in all of its splendor on a bigger stage.

#2 THE BLACK AWARENESS RALLY WAS EVERYTHING.  Forget the fact that Prince Akeem was still desperately seeking his future bride while the one-track-minded Semi wasn't much help with his pessimism.  If you had never seen Coming to America, then Clarence's "good clean girls" line with his big gold-toothed smile was the perfect setup for the legendary tomfoolery that would ensue at the Black Awareness Rally.  As Reverend Brown (Arsenio Hall) tries his best not to objectify the contestants of the Miss Black Awareness Pageant and drops his "there's a GAWD somewhere/man cannot make it like this" sermon, he uses the scantily-clad ladies as inspiration for his call-and-response-led demagoguery that brings out Akeem's green-sounding "joy", the hilarious co-sign from the "amen, brother, amen" lady, the disconcertingly-emphatic "YES LORD" lady and a wave of amens and shouts as if it were the "exhilarating" football contest between the Giants of New York and the Packers of Green Bay.  Clarence, Morris (Arsenio Hall) and Sweets (Clint Smith) have even funnier moments outside of My-T-Sharp as the collection plate goes around and Morris puts a chicken bone in thinking it's the trash; Sweets is probably the only person in the room who thinks Randy Watson is talented, delivering his ever popular "that boy good" line; and Clarence just responds with, "Yeah, good and terrible!"  Speaking of the Randy Watson World Tour, the entire Sexual Chocolate bit should've been enough to propel this scene to the No. 1 spot because it's not just Watson's dramatically tried-it histrionics; it's the lackluster response from his audience who wishes that he would just take his cues from The Richard Bey Show: SIT DOWN...SHUT UP!!!  (How many of y'all remember that show?!?!  Oh, don't act like I'm the only one.)  However, only one thing can top this list, so sing along with me...

#1 "SAY...CAN'T YOU SEE...I'M...COMING TO THE QUO-TA-BLES!!!"  Sorry, The System...as much as "Don't Disturb This Groove" was my favorite song in the whole wide world for like five years running, that's the only love that "Coming to America" gets on this countdown.  Anyway, y'all should know by now how I am about my comedies: they must have a plethora of dope quotes in order for them to even be remotely considered a classic and Coming to America meets that criteria and then some.  Since y'all know how I do with the whole countdown within a countdown within a countdown thing, let's just roll with it.  No. 5...when Lisa turns down Akeem's request to marry him, an elderly passenger (Birdie M. Hale) decides to "go on, honey, take a chance" her doggone self: "If you're really a prince, I'll marry you!"  No. 4...Reverend Brown introduces the crowd less-than-favorite at the aforementioned Black Awareness Rally:

I got a special treat for ya this evening, a young man that you all know as Joe the Policeman from the "What's Going Down" episode of That's My Momma.  I want you to put your hands together, and welcome him to the stage.  Put your hands together for Jackson Heights own...Mr. Randy...WATSON!!!

 No. 3...when the originator of "drip, drop, drip-drippity drop" in Darryl blindsides Lisa with an engagement, Reverend Brown gives his spiritual two cents:

I'ma pray for you...and I want you to hold on to God's unchanging hand!  He helped Joshua fight the battle of Jericho!  EEE-YES-HA!!!  He helped Daniel get out the lion's den!  He helped GILL-I-GAAAAAN...get off the island!!  LORD!!!

No. 2...while Akeem and Semi's brusque landlord-to-be (Frankie Faison) is feeling him out, one of his tenants/"boo-boos" tries to pull a fast one: "Hey Stu, your rent's due, mothaf---a!  And don't be pulling that falling down the stairs sh-- on me, you hear!  Now you conscious!!"  No. 1...when King Joffer shades the crap out of Lisa by saying she and her father are beneath him, Cleo McDowell (John Amos) reminds him that he's not in Zamunda anymore: "I don't give a damn who you are!  This is America, Jack!  Now, you say one more word about Lisa, and I'll break my foot off in your royal a--!"  There's no shortage of other great lines that I overlooked and might arguably be better, so...

If you're a huge fan of Coming to America just like your tenth favorite blogger, then drop some of your favorite scenes, quotes or random things about this classic movie!  Please don't forget to return next week to find out which film takes the No. 1 slot in the "Tuesday Night at the Movies" edition of "Scribbler's Rave & Favorite Five"!!!