Anaconda was first released to theaters on April 11, 1997, five days before my 12th birthday which is beside the point because I never saw this movie in theaters and it probably wasn't until two years later when I actually did see it. Anaconda starred Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Jon Voight and at that time a budding actor named Owen Wilson.
A number of years ago NBC on Saturday and Sunday nights would show movies and one night this was the movie of the week sort of speak. Now, in the 90's and even today, it was a common joke in the media and amongst black people that if there is a black person more specifically a black man in some type of horror film then most likely he would be the first to die. So, I am watching this movie just waiting for Ice Cube's character Danny to be the first to go and halfway through the movie he is still alive and I'm thinking Jennifer Lopez's character Terri certainly isn't going to die because she's the lead.
Hmmm...so the end comes and everyone else has met their demise except Danny, Terri and Jon Voight's character Paul Serone. This is interesting. Then Paul Serone dies and after killing the anaconda Terri and Danny have survived the ordeal.
Yay! The minorities live!
So, the long and the short of why Anaconda is one of my favorite movies is not because it was excellent acting or writing (written by Hans Bauer, Jim Cash and Jack Epps, Jr.) or directing it is because the Black guy and the Latina made it to the end. That may be a racist thing to say, but it had a profound affect on me in terms of my movie watching. I may still get snickers when I refer to this movie as one of my favorites, but at least now you know why.
By the way, I've easily seen this movie 100 times. I watch it just about every time it comes on television.
End of Post
(John 3:16)
