Cultural Cuisinart

I'm not sure anyone else out there has seen one of my favorite sleeper comedies of all time, Undercover Brother, but here's the skinny:

Eddie Griffin plays the title role, an afro-ed, platform shoes-wearing, kung fu-fighting brother with a social conscience who unwittingly stumbles into the path of the B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D., a top-secret organization dedicated to fighting the Man, the shadowy figure behind myriad conspiracies to keep African-Americans down. Brother becomes the organization's secret agent.

The film makes some sharp commentary on race, particularly once "Becky", played by Denise Richards, comes along. Becky is sent in as an agent of The Man, to serve as "black man's kryptonite," playing off the stereotype that African American men are unable to resist hot white chicks. The extra fun part comes when Becky is revealed to be a super agent of evil known as White She Devil. She then has a fantastic and hilarious fight scene with Undercover Brother's main love interest, Sistah Girl.

Now, imagine my surprise when I saw the trailers for this weekend's box office champ "Obsessed" starring Idris Elba (Stringer Bell from The Wire)/Beyonce Knowles/That Blonde Chick From Heroes (no not the cheerleader, the other one) . Because it sure seems like Ali Larter is pretty much set up as the White She Devil character, using her sexuality to try and destroy the African American hero played by Elba.