Boy Willie

The Piano Lesson was a decent film in my opinion. I saw it in my AP Literature class as the film would give me life and understanding than the play itself. Charles S. Dutton from Gothika and Secret Window played Boy Willie. Loud, obnoxious, selfish, but funny at the same time. That best suits Boy Willie's character. His sister Berniece Charles, played by Alfre Woodard from True Blood and Desperate Housewives (my mom watched it for years don't judge me), was more level heeaded than her brother Boy Willie. The whole story was centered around a family heirloom, a piano made by Papa Boy Willie during the times of slavery. There were disputes about the piano when the slaves were sold and separated and Papa Boy Willie stole the piano back, but eventually died and left his wife with a hard life. The grandkids are the current owners of the piano. Berniece lives in Pittsburgh and has memories of her mother and grandmother with that piano. Boy Willie wants to take it and sell it to buy the land of the slave owner that once had his family's freedom tied down by slavery. The backstory and build up is fairly comical, but the whole movie portrays many traditions that are important to the soul of some people. I'd say people should see to get the sentimental values out of it and a good laugh. Boy Willie and his friend Lymon are vibrant characters causing trouble for everyone. The movie has some ghosts in it, but nothing scary at all. It has some truth to it. I believe ghosts truly exist because of my own personal experiences and they will linger on to protect certain things just as the movie portrays with the piano. Everyone could learn a lesson from the Hallmark classic The Piano Lesson.