Did The Black Woman's Role of Second Banana In Hollywood Receive an Upgrade?

Second Banana- noun Informal

1. One, such as an assistant or deputy, who is subordinate to another.
2. One who serves as the straight man opposite the leading comedian in a burlesque.

3. E.g. Larry, Curly, (and Shemp) is to Moe.
4. Gordon Quid and Waffle is to Mr Blik.

Earlier today while over at Skypurple's spot, I came across Columbia Pictures' movie trailer Eat Pray Love. It's the story of a white woman who travels the world to find Yoda herself and ends up finding true love in the process. It stars Julia Roberts, Javier Bardem and that fine azz James Franco. But hey this is Hollywood so what chick flick is complete without a BBF- Black Best Flunky Female? You know what I mean. The black chick that's either the sassy know-it-all, the matronly nurturer or the rational thinker.

For some strange reason, the primary job of the BBF is to uplift, teach and support the main character. More disturbing the BBF is almost always seen as asexual- never being paired up with anyone romantically or sexually. Except for that one time when Tara hooked up with Sam out in Bon Temps. However that's a story in itself. So imagine my surprise when I realized that Robert's BBF, Oscar Nominee Viola Davis is in a relationship with a...wait for it...a white man! Furthermore it appears that the two characters are actually married...to each other *gasps*

Even if this movie has made a slight attempt to go The Princess and The Frog route on us, it's not enough to make me wanna drop 10 bucks on a Julia flick. Frankly I'd rather see her brother Eric spazzing out in his trademark crazy-man roles. Besides, Eric Anthony has great hair!

So is Hollywood giving the BBF roles an upgrade with a twist? Will we begin to see black women in more [interracial] romantic roles? Or will they continue to lag behind the real world?

Catch the trailer after the jump...

I'm out!