Official movie poster (Focus Features) 15 years ago this month, Focus Features released Deliver Us from Eva, a film about 3 guys who try to wrangle their overbearing sister-in-law (Gabrielle Union). It was funny, entertaining, and had a bomb R&B soundtrack. Union was spectacularly brilliant in the title role. Her quirky facial expressions, bodily twitches and pronounced delivery of the rapid-fire script brought the eccentric and hyper-intelligent Evangeline Dandridge to life. Eva is a no-nonsense natural born leader. She cut her teeth at this raising her younger sisters: Kareenah (Essence Atkins), Bethany (Robinne Lee) and Jacqui (Meagan Good). They all became orphans years prior. To stay afloat and start "The Dandridge Fund," Eva dropped her horse-training dreams for more practical work as a restaurant health inspector. Her siblings naturally look up to her, but they extensively hang on her every word. This is to the exasperation of their respective mates, who feel her opinions and advice block their personal desires. Kareenah's husband, Tim (Mel Jackson), has baby fever. Bethany's boyfriend, Mike (Duane Martin), wants to move in and get his hands on the fund. Jacqui's spouse, Darrell (Dartanyan Edmonds), isn't happy she spends so much time on her college studies. The men resolve to pay someone to sweep Eva off her feet. That someone is Ray (LL Cool J), a rolling-stone playboy. His fee? $5,000. His task is "not just to distract her, but make her fall hard," and get her to relocate with him. Then, he can dump her. When he ends up liking her and she passes on an out-of-state job promotion, the fellas stage his death. Ray exposes the entire scam and chases Eva until she forgives him.
I saw this movie for the first time at a teenage slumber party. It had just come out on DVD. I was the only girl who actually had admiration for Eva, and thought the four horsemen didn't deserve forgiveness. I always joke I came out of the womb a feminist. I say this because, from a young age, I'd detect ridiculous biases. I'd question 'default' attitudes, standards and archetypes. In the very least, some situations--like parts of this film's plot--just didn't sit well with me. Eva wasn't homicidal, deceitful or malicious, but she was 'evil' the males needed 'deliverance' from. If any of the characters were guilty of these things (minus homicide), it was the guys, but she was villainized over them. There's something really wrong with that, especially when one takes a closer look at what allegedly made her so bad.
Eva is purportedly so traumatizing to deal with, an ex developed a speech impediment. Said ex freaks out upon seeing her picture, and repetitively screams "B*tch!" in an open bar. A flashback to their last encounter shows her dismissing him for complaining she was uptight and then lying about it. Oh, the horror! The horror! How 'bitchy' of her. *Rolls eyes* What puts Eva at the top of her field is her precision, but she's constantly criticized for it by others. When she doesn't budge on an inspection citation, she's told she has an ice pump in her chest and is "so damn uncompromising." Later, on her first date with Ray, she repeatedly has to ask him to leave a restaurant with a faulty manager. He further diminishes her concerns and career by accusing her of overreacting and snarkily saying "You're not the FBI." She responds accordingly, but is described as "nasty" and as having an "electric fence with rabid pit-bulls" around her heart.
I saw this movie for the first time at a teenage slumber party. It had just come out on DVD. I was the only girl who actually had admiration for Eva, and thought the four horsemen didn't deserve forgiveness. I always joke I came out of the womb a feminist. I say this because, from a young age, I'd detect ridiculous biases. I'd question 'default' attitudes, standards and archetypes. In the very least, some situations--like parts of this film's plot--just didn't sit well with me. Eva wasn't homicidal, deceitful or malicious, but she was 'evil' the males needed 'deliverance' from. If any of the characters were guilty of these things (minus homicide), it was the guys, but she was villainized over them. There's something really wrong with that, especially when one takes a closer look at what allegedly made her so bad.
Eva is purportedly so traumatizing to deal with, an ex developed a speech impediment. Said ex freaks out upon seeing her picture, and repetitively screams "B*tch!" in an open bar. A flashback to their last encounter shows her dismissing him for complaining she was uptight and then lying about it. Oh, the horror! The horror! How 'bitchy' of her. *Rolls eyes* What puts Eva at the top of her field is her precision, but she's constantly criticized for it by others. When she doesn't budge on an inspection citation, she's told she has an ice pump in her chest and is "so damn uncompromising." Later, on her first date with Ray, she repeatedly has to ask him to leave a restaurant with a faulty manager. He further diminishes her concerns and career by accusing her of overreacting and snarkily saying "You're not the FBI." She responds accordingly, but is described as "nasty" and as having an "electric fence with rabid pit-bulls" around her heart.
Smooth operator: Ray slithers his way into Eva's heart (Focus Features) In each of these scenarios, Eva sends her counterpart packing with an epic tongue-lashing. She articulately insults them and explains why they were wrong. She even turns being called uncompromising on its head: "People pay their tax dollars for my principle, so they can go into a restaurant and not eat chicken fried rat....if that makes me uncompromising, well, I wear it as a badge of honor, because I'm in damn good company--Martin Luther King was uncompromising, Nelson Mandela was uncompromising." My teenage self took note: cursing people out is pedestrian. If you really want to nail 'em, use knowledge and vocabulary to go over their head. It's telling that scenes where Eva is defending herself (and being smart while doing it) are supposed to be key in demonstrating her 'evil.' "They could never stand up to us without Eva...did you notice how they stuck together in an argument?," Mike, the hoax ringleader, says of the Dandridge clan. Women standing up for themselves, encouraging others to do the same, and presenting a united front? Witchcraft, I tell you! How could he ever gain access to inheritance money he wasn't entitled to with that?! Those women were savages! No, what was savage was the mindset and behavior of the men.
Tim, Mike, Darrell and Ray view women as conquests and blow-up dolls. "Is she putting out?" is Ray's first inquisition about Eva. Mike claims, "Love is an excuse, an alibi, a justification for sex." They value and think so highly of their appendages, they firmly believe it has the power to control and cajole. They insist a good poking is all Eva needs to be cured of her demonic ways. It's emphasized to Ray that if he does nothing else, he must bed her. Sadly, the idea sexual relations with men are the source of female joy and a predictor of behavior is reinforced throughout the movie. Eva's inaugural roll in the hay with Ray instantly and drastically changes her demeanor. She shows up at Bethany's salon the next morning a midriff-bearing, cursing and slang-using free spirit. In another example, it's assumed she's still hung up on her high-school sweetheart because he "popped her cherry."
Effectively manipulating women is a principle and a sport to these dudes. Being the best at it is a crowning achievement. They say things like "Playa' first, women second" and "Men getting away with sh*t is the backbone of this here country." Ray is considered a god among them for his thorough methodology. They meet him as he woos his 2 feuding dates into a polyamorous threesome. He pretends to have moral fiber by declining to date Eva initially, because he's "a lover, not a con-man." However, after seeing her on the job, the juices of his ego begin to flow and he salivates at the prospect of deconstructing her: "If I could get that woman, I'd go down in the player hall of fame." Man, what a 'lover." What a prince. Ray casually speaks of women's emotional barriers, without flinching about his kind being the cause for them. Eva astutely rejects going out with him and correctly pegs his type: "The playa'-playa' who thinks women are disposable toys." He's targeted her for those exact purposes, but he guilt trips her into it by dubbing her assessments as generalizing scare tactics. Tell a sista' she's harsh, bitter, stereotyping or not giving a brotha' a chance, and you're in. In short, this works because black women often believe the notion their 'anger' is to blame for any romance troubles they have. From there, we know Ray is successful at cracking Eva's proverbial nut. She warmly professes to him, "You taught me how to trust again." Sigh. He only decides to fess up when he's confronted by his partners in crime.
Tim, Mike, Darrell and Ray view women as conquests and blow-up dolls. "Is she putting out?" is Ray's first inquisition about Eva. Mike claims, "Love is an excuse, an alibi, a justification for sex." They value and think so highly of their appendages, they firmly believe it has the power to control and cajole. They insist a good poking is all Eva needs to be cured of her demonic ways. It's emphasized to Ray that if he does nothing else, he must bed her. Sadly, the idea sexual relations with men are the source of female joy and a predictor of behavior is reinforced throughout the movie. Eva's inaugural roll in the hay with Ray instantly and drastically changes her demeanor. She shows up at Bethany's salon the next morning a midriff-bearing, cursing and slang-using free spirit. In another example, it's assumed she's still hung up on her high-school sweetheart because he "popped her cherry."
Effectively manipulating women is a principle and a sport to these dudes. Being the best at it is a crowning achievement. They say things like "Playa' first, women second" and "Men getting away with sh*t is the backbone of this here country." Ray is considered a god among them for his thorough methodology. They meet him as he woos his 2 feuding dates into a polyamorous threesome. He pretends to have moral fiber by declining to date Eva initially, because he's "a lover, not a con-man." However, after seeing her on the job, the juices of his ego begin to flow and he salivates at the prospect of deconstructing her: "If I could get that woman, I'd go down in the player hall of fame." Man, what a 'lover." What a prince. Ray casually speaks of women's emotional barriers, without flinching about his kind being the cause for them. Eva astutely rejects going out with him and correctly pegs his type: "The playa'-playa' who thinks women are disposable toys." He's targeted her for those exact purposes, but he guilt trips her into it by dubbing her assessments as generalizing scare tactics. Tell a sista' she's harsh, bitter, stereotyping or not giving a brotha' a chance, and you're in. In short, this works because black women often believe the notion their 'anger' is to blame for any romance troubles they have. From there, we know Ray is successful at cracking Eva's proverbial nut. She warmly professes to him, "You taught me how to trust again." Sigh. He only decides to fess up when he's confronted by his partners in crime.
Divinely Dandridge: L-R Atkins, Good, Union and Lee (Focus Features)
Tim, Mike and Darrell betrayed the ladies in their lives by seeking to harm someone they deeply cherished. They sent a snake into Eva's garden to exploit her mind and vulnerabilities, for the extortion of her love, faith and body. She was to be broken down and discarded. Once the plan fell apart, they inflicted trauma by making her think her boyfriend tragically died. It was all exceptionally cruel. The audience doesn't feel the full gravity of it though, because it was wrapped in humorous packaging. That, and we're socially conditioned to believe and accept assertive women should be stopped and punished. "We didn't say she was a bad person, we said she was an irritating person," Mike clarifies. Irritating...Irritating. They signed Eva up for heartbreak and psychological warfare because she was irritating. Let that sink in. Thou shall not be an agitator to men, or thou will have hell to pay. It's no surprise this movie was based on Shakespeare's misogynistic and sexist play, The Taming of the Shrew. In it, a woman is mentally prodded until she's happily docile. There's 411 years between Shrew and Deliver Us from Eva. Oh, the endurance of misogyny. Eva isn't necessarily 'happily docile' in the end, but she pretty much takes her taming. She earnestly apologizes to the boys and submits to their thought that she was "a distraction and a huge pain in the a**." Her sisters were going to hand her the entire Dandridge Fund to help with her work transition, but she opts to dissolve it equally. The girls have been upset with their mates for weeks over the duping ploy, but she presumably convinces them to let it go. Kareenah's now game for starting a family, Bethany gets a ring on it, and Jacqui relaxes her study schedule. Just like before, Eva resists Ray in the beginning, but eventually lets up. The Joes all receive what they want; a scolding was the worst thing that happened to them. Meanwhile, Eva got to be a sacrificial lamb for player reform.
Eva was a perfectionist, and what some therapists would call 'enmeshed' with her family, but that still hardly brands her a villain. If it does, miscreants make up half the earth's population. Besides, enmeshment isn't a solo effort. Kareenah, Bethany, Jacqui and Eva are over-involved with each other. Even after Eva's relationship with Ray takes off, her sisters use her as a defining model. Maybe they weren't independent thinkers. Maybe they truly had reservations about babies, cohabitation and academics that were simply upheld by Eva's stances. Their significant others didn't contemplate these possibilities.
Eva Dandridge being an authoritative, outspoken and witty intellectual who took her work and sisterhood seriously doesn't make her Maleficent (who was proven to not be so awful herself). It makes her awesome, a boss, a shero and whatever other trendy terms for women who kick butt. #JusticeForEva
Eva was a perfectionist, and what some therapists would call 'enmeshed' with her family, but that still hardly brands her a villain. If it does, miscreants make up half the earth's population. Besides, enmeshment isn't a solo effort. Kareenah, Bethany, Jacqui and Eva are over-involved with each other. Even after Eva's relationship with Ray takes off, her sisters use her as a defining model. Maybe they weren't independent thinkers. Maybe they truly had reservations about babies, cohabitation and academics that were simply upheld by Eva's stances. Their significant others didn't contemplate these possibilities.
Eva Dandridge being an authoritative, outspoken and witty intellectual who took her work and sisterhood seriously doesn't make her Maleficent (who was proven to not be so awful herself). It makes her awesome, a boss, a shero and whatever other trendy terms for women who kick butt. #JusticeForEva
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