Great Moments In Colored Cinema: Ray

Every man at some point in his life has witnessed the hell produced by a furious woman who has been scorned. It’s almost a rite of passage to be quite frank. No man is exempt from such a tradition. Black, white, young, old, tall, short – a woman who feels she’s been wronged will demonstrate her dissatisfaction either sneakily (see Lisa Left Eye Lopez, R.I.P.) or horribly blatantly (see Lorena Bobbitt,) and it’s a mans job to bear it. No man is safe. Not even the late great Ray Charles (Rest in Power) was able to escape the imminent actions from a scarred Margie Hendricks (Regina King) who at the time of this scene was filled with deceit, wrath and hard liquor.

Yet, for a woman scorned I do have to say that Ms. Hendricks took “the higher road.” Instead of straight pouncing on Ray Charles like Brenda Harvey did Lionel Richie or doing something wild like dousing the man with a pan of boiling hot grits a la Al Green, she simply decided to sabotage the recording session while sipping on some sizzurp. And even though she had every right to vent her frustration in some way, shape or form, she broke the number one cardinal rule of show business – and any job really – never bite the hand that feeds you. Remember when Megan Fox was the ish? Then she started talking sideways about Michael Bay and the next thing you know, she’s making guest appearances on ill-fated comedy shows, starring her washed up husband who hasn’t been relevant since he was riding the coattails of Luke Perry and Jason Priestley during the 90210 days.

 

But enough about that has been, Megan. We're talking about Margie when she blindsided Ray Charles with her antics. Not only was she purposely singing the hook off key, but she mocked him to the delight of her girls right in front of his boys. Straight disrespectful. The end result: Ray Charles went into Iceberg Slim mode. “Oh, y’all wanna play me while messing with my money? The three of y’all can hit the bricks and sing “Yesterday” together for spare change on the corner.” Margie called him a “cold ass bastard,” which he probably was at that moment, but she should’ve known that Ray Charles was the talent and that if she didn’t act right she was as replaceable as the original members of Destiny’s Child (To the left! To the left!)  

In the end, Ray Charles took what should’ve been the voices of three women on the chorus, and completed it by himself with the help of the next woman entering his life. Heed this warning people: Don’t date entertainers and expect to be their one and only. That goes for both women and men. Even ya boy Drizzy Drake once said that he felt like “Rihanna used” him. It's just part of the music game. Like The Rock used to say, “Know your role and shut your mouth!” and you won’t get thrown out the studio. 

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