Soul Man (film)

Soul Man is a 1986 comedy film about a white man who temporarily darkens his skin, in order to pretend to be black and qualify for a black-only scholarship at Harvard Law School. The movie was directed by Steve Miner and stars C. Thomas Howell, Rae Dawn Chong, Arye Gross, James Earl Jones, Leslie Nielsen, James B. Sikking, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

The title refers to the Sam and Dave song "Soul Man". The original soundtrack includes a version performed by Sam Moore and Lou Reed.

Plot

The movie's protagonist is Mark Watson (Howell), the pampered son from a rich family who is about to attend Harvard Law School along with his best friend Gordon (Gross). Unfortunately, his father's neurotic psychiatrist talks his patient into having more fun for himself instead of spending money on his son. Faced with the horrifying prospect of having to pay for law school by himself, Mark decides to take up a scholarship, but the only suitable one is for African Americans only. So he decides to cheat by using tanning pills in a larger dose than prescribed to appear as an African American. Watson then sets out for Harvard, naïvely believing that blacks have no problems at all in American society.

Soul Man

Soul Man may refer to:

People

Music

Film and television

See also

Soul Man (TV series)

Soul Man is an American sitcom that aired on ABC in 1997 that lasted two seasons and starred Dan Aykroyd.

The series premiered on April 15, 1997, and was picked up for a second season of 22 half-hour episodes after only three episodes aired for the first season. Despite ranking 29th in its 2nd and final season, it ended on May 26, 1998, with 25 half-hour episodes produced in total.

The theme song was "Soul Man" written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter. Aykroyd was closely associated with the song, having released a hit single of it in 1979 with his band The Blues Brothers.

Premise

Mike Weber (played by Aykroyd) is a widowed Episcopal priest who must deal with his four children, his quirky parishioners in Royal Oak, Michigan, and a wet-behind-the-ears curate who happens to be the nephew of his bishop.

Home Improvement connection

Mike Weber appeared on Home Improvement as the priest of Richard Karn's character, Al Borland. He was hired to put in a new stand for a holy water basin in the season seven episode "Losing My Religion". Tim Taylor ended up cutting the hole too big, causing the basin to fall through the floor.

Soul Man (song)

"Soul Man" is a 1967 song written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter, first successful as a number 2 hit single by Atlantic Records soul duo Sam & Dave.

Song history and background

Co-author Isaac Hayes found the inspiration for "Soul Man" in the turmoil of the civil rights movement of the 1960s. In July 1967, watching a television newscast of the aftermath of the 12th Street riot in Detroit, Michigan, Hayes noted that black residents had marked buildings that had not been destroyed during the riots – mostly African-American owned and operated institutions – with the word "soul". Relating this occurrence to the biblical story of the Passover, Hayes and songwriting partner David Porter came up with the idea, in Hayes' words, of "a story about one's struggle to rise above his present conditions. It's almost a tune [where it's] kind of like boasting 'I'm a soul man'. It's a pride thing."

Sam sings the first verse, with Dave joining in the chorus. Dave sings the second verse, with Sam joining in the chorus. Sam sings the third verse, with Dave joining in the chorus. This is followed by a brief bridge section by Dave and then a coda, in which both Sam and Dave repeat the title phrase a half-step up, before the song's fade.