Soul Man is a 1986 American comedy film directed by Steve Miner and written by Carol L. Black.
C. Thomas Howell stars as a white male law student who pretends to be black in order to qualify for a scholarship.
Its title refers to the song of the same name by Isaac Hayes and David Porter; the original soundtrack includes a version performed by Sam Moore and Lou Reed.
Mark Watson is the pampered son of a rich family who is about to attend Harvard Law School along with his best friend Gordon.
He meets a young African American student named Sarah Walker, whom he at first only flirts with; gradually, however, he genuinely falls in love with her.
He also finds himself subjected to sexual harassment by his landlord's daughter, Whitney, who is eager to explore what she perceives to be the "exotic" thrill of sleeping with a black man.
After a chaotic day in which Sarah, his parents (who are not aware of his double life), and Whitney all make surprise visits at the same time, Mark drops the charade and publicly reveals himself to be white.
He goes to Sarah and begs for another chance, to which she agrees after Mark stands up for her and George when two male students tell a racist joke in front of them.
[2] Star C. Thomas Howell later said, "when I made the movie, I didn't go into it with the idea that I had a responsibility to sort of teach America a lesson.
[5] Members of the NAACP spoke out against the film and an African American student group at UCLA organized a picket of a cinema screening Soul Man.
[6] NAACP Chapter President Willis Edwards said in a statement at the time, "We certainly believe it is possible to use humor to reveal the ridiculousness of racism.
"[7] In defending the film, Tisch compared it to Tootsie (1982), which featured a man masquerading as a woman for career advancement.
[8] Roger Ebert gave Soul Man one out of four stars, writing that the main premise "is a genuinely interesting idea, filled with dramatic possibilities, but the movie approaches it on the level of a dim-witted sitcom.
The video starred actors Bruce Willis, Cybill Shepherd, Rae Dawn Chong, C. Thomas Howell, Ron Reagan Jr., George Segal, Jamie Farr, boxer Ray Mancini and the children's character Gumby, all lip synching to the song.
I always tried to be an actor who was doing a part that was a character versus what I call 'blackting,' or playing my race, because I knew that I would fail because I was mixed [Chong is of African, Chinese and European ancestry].
[3]Downey Jr. referenced Howell and Soul Man when addressing the potential controversy over his role in Tropic Thunder: "At the end of the day, it's always about how well you commit to the character.
If I didn't feel [the role in Tropic Thunder] was morally sound, or that it would be easily misinterpreted that I'm just C. Thomas Howell [in Soul Man], I would've stayed home.