Bodyswap and Interracial Dating – “The Takeover” Online Movie Review
The Takeover tackles an issue that many people talk about when discussing the prospect of dating but rarely question. That concept; that many of us tend to racially profile our potential dates. The Takeover deals very heavily with the concept that black men do not want to date black women and the trials and tribulations of the L.A dating scene on and off-line as a person of color. All of it done with the device of a body swap between a white woman and a black woman due to a well travelled barista slipping a magical item to them in their coffee.
There certainly is some meat to the project, it handles race issues as well as taking a HUGE risk in having two actors pretend to body swap with respect. If done poorly this decision can border on the offensive, each actor however was able to make subtle choices that mimicked each other’s speech patterns which I feel really sold the joke/device of the story without venturing into caricature. The piece is very up front with it’s message as best described by a moment during the party scene where a group of black men descended upon Tisha (who was trapped in Ashley’s body) telling her in a creepy/funny mantra “You’re better than black women, you’re better than black women…” and so fourth. The Takeover also had a couple of really nice impactful moments like when after Tisha and Ashley wake up and Ashley confesses “I felt like the ugliest girl at the party,” referring to the treatment she received as a black woman. Something about that scene, and just the fact that it was said so honestly by Ashley without realizing she was not only learning her lesson but also insulting Tisha. It was probably the most beautiful nugget of truth within a tried and true body swap story telling device.
It does however fall short on a couple of fronts. One of the main characters is a fashion designer and the other is a comic book illustrator and aside from one line to the guy she has a crush on and his catching a glimpse of a Black Panther comic book and a “how to drawing comics” book, she doesn’t come across as a comic book fan. One could look at that and say “Well she’s playing against stereotype,” but I mean less that she doesn’t LOOK like what people expect a comic illustrator to look like and more that her being an illustrator doesn’t have much to do with the plot. Maybe if the crush had tried to strike up a conversation about Wakanda and how he always looked up to The Black Panther when talking to Ashley (in Tisha’s body) or if Tisha didn’t live in such an expensive apartment which lacked in even a few nice respectful pieces of comic memorabilia I could have believed it more.
There is a shoe montage which, to be honest, was a little much but I quickly forgave it after shoegasming a bit. The shoes DID look pretty awesome! At the same time it did little to advance the plot aside from give Ashley and Tisha something to do in between getting coffee, checking out guys online, and going to sleep. Also the Yoshi guy would be SO fired for slipping whatever it was he did into the girls drinks… but he seemed like a loveable little scamp so I forgave that as well.
On the whole The Takeover has some really impactful moments and asks questions about the role race plays in dating but occasionally falls short. It’s definitely got heart passion and depth but occasionally goes on tangents and asks the viewer to believe major aspects of it’s characters lives without proving them within the story. Though flawed The Takeover is certainly worth checking out and I’m very interested to see what the production team puts out in the future.
