Christina Ricci discusses studio interference in Black snake moaning. Across both blockbusters and smaller indie projects, Ricci is an actor known for playing atypical characters with a dark side. Her breakthrough role came as Wednesday Addams in Barry Sonnenfeld’s The Addams family in 1991 and the sequel from 1993, Addams Family Values. Ricci is now returning in another role, Marylin Thornhill, in the upcoming Netflix reboot, Wednesdaystarring Jenna Ortega as the titular character.
In 2006 Ricci played in Black snake moaning. Written and directed by Pressure and flow‘s Craig Brewer, the film follows a god-fearing Mississippi bluesman played by Samuel L. Jackson who, after finding a sex addict named Rae Doole (played by Ricci) badly beaten by the side of the road, holds the troubled young woman captive. at his house and tries to cure her of nymphomania. although Black snake moaning received mixed to positive reviews from critics, it bombed at the box office and failed to recoup its $15 million production budget. However, Ricci’s performance was particularly well received, as she lost weight for her role to make her character look sickly.
During a recent Q&A session on The Rewind PodcastRicci reflects on Black snake moaning and laments the studio interference in the 2006 film. The actor explains how the film deteriorated during post-production and why Black snake moaning is still a “black cloudfor her. Read what she said below:
We were making the movie and then someone took it over in the studio and decided we should sell it to teenage boys so they remake it and make it feel like rape porn, which was a little disturbing to me. My intention was to do my best work. I am proud of my achievement and I loved working with Sam Jackson and I loved working with Justin Timberlake. But in the end, that pleasure was a bit of a black cloud for me.
How Black Snake Moan’s Edit Hurts The Movie’s Original Post
Actually, this isn’t the first time Ricci has spoken out against the way the studio is handling Black snake moaning. In 2008, she commented on the film’s promotional posters featuring her character in chains with the lustful tagline: “Everything in the hotter south?. “At the time, Ricci criticized the film’s marketing campaign for exploiting women, and now she’s worked out how the film was actually counterfeited to attract more college-age boys and girls”feel like rape porn.” Interference from the studio with Black snake moaning is particularly discouraging given the way it hurt the film’s original message.
Brewer meant Black snake moaning more like an exploration of mental health issues, such as how Rae’s nymphomania and substance abuse resulted from the sexual abuse she endured when she was younger, and how her boyfriend Ronnie Morgan (played by Justin Timberlake) experiences panic attacks due to severe anxiety disorder. Based on Ricci’s comments, it appears that the studio was more interested in the depiction of sexual assault in the film, resulting in a more sexualized promotion campaign and the film itself. For those who want to watch Black snake moaning and make up your own mind about the end result, the movie is currently streaming on Pluto TV.
Source: The Rewind Podcast
