Mo'Nique's got Soooouull Plane

Though perhaps best known for her recurring role as Nikki Parker on UPN-TV's The Parkers, the voluptuous beauty was also one of the Queens of Comedy featured in the 2001 stand-up concert film along with Adele Givens, Laura Hayes and Sommore. Besides her TV duties, Mo'Nique divides her time between making movies and her job as host of It's Showtime at the Apollo. Here she sits down with Bean Soup Times correspondent Kam Williams.

KW: How would you describe your character in Soul Plane?

M: "Jamiqua is a security check agent, who takes no flak from no one. 8 to 80, blind, cripple or crazy, you won't get past her."

KW: Do you think she's a realistic representation of what to expect post 9-11?

M: "You can answer that your damn self. I don't think anyone's that crazy at the airport. Jamiqua will fight you. She'll threaten you. She does all kind of crazy stuff. She'll grope you, search you, touch you, feel you. Who's gonna do that to you at the airport for real? She'll cuss at you. Yeah!"

KW: It really looks like you lent your stand-up skills to the role.

M ". I think a lot of it is Monique's stand-up. You can just change your name, and say this is your part. But as comics, you give me something that's funny, and let me go, oh my God, the sky's the limit."

KW: So, you had creative control over your part?

M: "It wasn't so much creative control, Jessy [director Jessy Terrero] was just brilliant at being a director. He understood comedians. We're very selfish people. We have to be, because we're onstage by ourselves in front of thousands and thousands of people. He knew that. So he said, 'These are the words, make them your own, and go.' And that's what we did."

KW: Did you essentially overhaul the script?

M: "No, we respected the words, but we made them our own. That's the only way I can describe it to you. We respected the writers."

KW: How do you respond to those people who are saying the film is wrong for resurrecting racial stereotypes?

M: "You know what? The movie's funny. I don't get caught up in people saying, 'Oh, they made a black joke, or they made a white joke, or they made a gay joke.' We just made jokes that were funny. We're already serious enough. You will not leave this movie thinking that we're going to change the world. That's not what the movie was made for. It was made simply to laugh. And when you bring up stereotypes, I have to ask, 'Whose stereotypes are they?' Do black people like chicken and watermelon? We do. Why are we so ashamed to say that we do? Hello! They say most Oriental people are short. Well, most are. I've never seen a tall one except for Yao Ming. Am I making fun of him, or am I saying what's true? We're so afraid to say the truth because we've got to be politically-correct. That's boring, and it gets foolish and it allows us to stay ignorant. Let's be open and have a good time."

KW: How about the movie's frequent use of the 'N'-word? Did that bother you?

M: "No, I didn't even give it a thought. I think it's time that we change, that we graduate. Yes, that word has done so much damage. It's gotten people beaten-up and killed. But at what point do we graduate? Did you see that Dave Chappelle show with a white family called the Niggers?

KW: Yeah, did you like the skit?

M: "I think he’s just brilliant. And fearless. Most comedians are fearless. We have to be. Because when you start having fear, the audience will eat you alive. Good comedians can tell you everything they think and feel, and make you laugh at the same time. That‘s the brilliance of our gift."

KW: So, how do you feel about the N-word?

M: "It's time for us to graduate. For real. What happened 400 years ago, I want a clean slate. Ever go to a comedy show? We can call them 'honkies' and 'crackers' all day long. We say it all day, and they're falling out in the audience. But let a white comedian get up there and say 'nigger,' and we're ready to shut it down. I'm no longer willing to accept that or buy into that. I'm not. If you say 'bitch,' how I take it depends on how you say it."

KW: But don’t you think Soul Plane is making fun of African-Americans? Or everybody?

M: "Everybody! Black, white, gay, straight, short, tall, fat, skinny, Chinese, not Chinese, Arab, non-Arab. You name it, we are joking about it. Everybody! Life is too short. I pride myself on giving my sons a clean slate. It is unfair for me to ask them to carry my burdens, or Kunta Kinte's burdens."

KW: But this is a black movie and...

M: "No it's not. It's a movie. We just happen to be black. We don't say Troy is a white movie. It's just a movie, and that's good. We gotta change the standard. We have to. 'Cause as long as we keep it goin', we stay in a whole crazy place, and keep ourselves closed to what we could really have... I guess I said it. Didn't I say it? Pass the plate around, dammit! Pay me! Pay me!"

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