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DEC. 16, 1998
Page B4
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ENTERTAINMENT
White Chocolaté gets to Heart o f Racial Identity
Sizzling Romuntic Thriller Examines Provocative Questions
How is racial identity determ ined?
By o n e ’s physical characteristics?
Fam ily lineage/ O r the leaning o f
one’s heart? W HITE CHOCOLATE,
an exciting romantic thriller from first-
tim e novelist E lizabeth A tkins Bow ­
man, takes readers into the world o f
T aylor Jam es, abeautiful biracial TV
reporter w ho looks w hite and seizes
an opportunity to use her looks in the
battle against racism W hile fighting
for her life, sh e’s caught in a sizzling
love triangle, forced to choose be­
tw een her pow erful w hite fiancé and
her biracial childhood sweetheart.
This story gives a hum an dim ension
to the hotly-contested 2000 Census
in which, for the first time, multiracial
people will have the option o f check­
ing as m any race boxes that apply, as
opposed to being forced to choose
ju st one. And since the num bers o f
biracial people are grow ing fast.
W HITE C H O C O LA TE helps to give
voice this grow ing - and often un­
heard segm ent o f society. “I w rote
W HITE C H O C O LA TE to get people
thinking and talking - about identity,
loyalty, love and ju stice ,” explains
Elizabeth w ho, like her heroine, is
biracial. “ This book is not only a
labor o f love, but the fulfillm ent o f a
longtim e dream . A form er reporter
who covered race-relations for The
Detroit N ew s, Elizabeth did her thesis
on interracial people at C olum bia
U niversity’sG raduate School o f Jour­
nalism and has w ritten several a r­
ticles on the subject. “C hances are,
you know w h o ’s m ixed,” Elizabeth
says. “A n d you c a n ’t help but w on­
der w hat it’s like, w hat they really go
through. T his is a hot issue...it’s still
tabo in som e families. G et folks talk­
ing about it, and the air wi 11 hum w ith
som e pretty passionate debates.” But
th at’s not the only reason to enjoy
this provocative book. It’s suspense-
filled plot and take-no-prisoners hero­
ine offer a fresh look at issues that
sim m er beneath the surface o f A m eri­
can life. W hether you know or w on­
der w hat it’s like to be biracial, WHITE
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M o v ie Review: Star Trek Insurrection
store w ith hundreds o f S tar T rek
figurines for sale?
This is little m ore than a generic
S tar T rek p lo t w ith som e expensive
special effects throw n in. Jonathan
Frakes, w ho plays C om m ander W il­
liam R iker here, as did in the TV
series, d irects this feature as he acts
— w hich is poorly. T here is not an
interesting cam era angle, n ot a w ell-
staged m om ent an d ju st a few satis­
fying perform ances. Patrick Stewart,
as anyone w h o ’s seen him act either
on stage or in film s like Jeffrey can
attest, know s he can do no wrong.
T he villainous A braham is solidly
mad?
W ell, it all has do w ith an unholy
alliance betw een the Federation and
the S o n ’a w hich is headed by the
evil R u ’afo (F. M urray A braham ).
R u ’afo w ants to ship all the B a’kus
o ff to an o th er w orld and harness
their p la n e t’s strange energy. W hy
w ould the F ederation agree to such
an inhum ane plan even if it will even­
tually benefit the w hole universe?
U pset, C aptain P icard (Patrick
S tew art) argues: “ I f a p lanet o f
people can be forcibly rem oved from
their w orld, destroying their w ay o f
life, w here does it en d ?” In som e toy
For T rekkies, b liss is a tick et stub
aw ay. For the rest o f us, the o cc a­
sional w atchers o r the “ I-never-
heard-of-the-show ” folks lost in a
tim e w arp, the new S tar Trek: Insur­
rection will be a ho-hum experience
that is neither dreadful nor invigo­
rating.
T he story centers on the planet
B a’ku and its 600 inhabitants, none
o f w hom are bald o r w rinkled or fans
o f R egis Philbin. H ow can this be?
A nd w hy has the android L ieuten-
antC om m ander D ata (Brent Spiner),
w ho w as doing a survey on this
lovely planet, suddenly gone raving
C H O C O LA TE will surprise and de­
light you w ith a flavor all it’s own.
W atch for E lizabeth’s next book,
DA RK SECRET, com ing in 1999.
To arrange an interview with Eliza­
beth A tkins Bow m an, call TaRessa
Stovall, 609/642-1702.
"Cellular for everyone else"
PAGERS
hissable, and D onna M urphy as a
3 00-year-old love interest is also
q u ite fine.B ut series regulars like
C heryl G ates M cFadden, M arina
Sirtis,
M ichael D orn and even the often-
talen ted LeV ar B urton reg ister ju st
ab o v e the crin g e level. I t’s like
th e y ’ve all enrolled in the
W illiam S hatner School o f A ct­
ing. T his is third-rate com m unity
theater acted out on the big screen.
A nd if you have n ever view ed a
Star Trek, you w o n ’t know w hat the
hell is happening. All o f the ch arac­
ters are w ritten in shorthand.
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