Add to favorites Examiner Bio

Cookies & Cream: a vivid and human portrayal of the life and struggles of a working mother

 

 

From Norma Rae to American Violet, film has attempted to portray the struggles of working mothers. The conflict between survival and dignity is heart wrenching as we see the desire for a better life and the difficult and unique choices faced by women in society as workers and as mothers. Cookies & Cream pulls off a rare feat as it deftly tells the story of an independent woman making her own way in a career that creates its own set of obstacles.

 

It’s almost cliché at this point. Take a beautiful woman with a job in the adult industry, throw in a stunning best friend, sprinkle in family and relationship complications and serve up hot. Hollywood loves to make films that satisfy the market’s salacious need to exploit women by wrapping the exploitation with a veneer of strength and dignity. It screams, we know you feel guilty and so do we, but you have needs and we need to make money on this project so we’ll throw in a little humanity to sate your conscience. Princeton Holt is an artist who refuses to give in to that trap. He has created a story on film, Cookies & Cream, and it’s clear that one thing is true: Holt has a moral center, and his characters will reflect his values. Put another way, Princeton Holt has integrity and it’s not for sale.

 

Its commonplace to develop post-modern stories, where there’s no protagonist or antagonist. We are all players in the human drama and who can judge? In Cookies & Cream the protagonist is played by Jace Nicole as Carmen, but the antagonist is Life. That’s the beauty of this film, because we know that is life. It’s complicated its messy but it has rules, and we must see the journey through to its conclusion.

 

Carmen keeps her eyes on the prize, survival. As a racially mixed single mother she takes a job in the adult entertainment industry. Her ambition is not stardom but humanity. She does what she needs to do but not at the expense of her dignity. We see her attempts at love and relationships, drawing clear lines sometimes painfully. When she meets Dylan played by Brian Ackley, she seems to have something real, but there’s a problem. How do you take that leap of faith if you already believe it will be fatal for the relationship? Will the telling or not telling be the downfall? It’s that double bind that defines the story, her life and the human experience.

 

Jodie, played by Naama Kates, provides the anchor in Carmen’s life. As her big sister, sometimes boss, mentor and rescuer Jodie is the one true thing she can count on for judgment-free support. If a relationship goes wrong she can bail out safely into the security of their friendship. That is the paradox, can someone in an industry so often misunderstood have a life outside the industry or is it all encompassing?

 

In a scene that could be a workshop on acting, writing and staging, Carmen and Dylan play a chess game that is all too familiar. As they move around the room, each movement has meaning and consequence. When Dylan tries to be tender we see that for Carmen the tenderness hurts, his sweetness cuts deep. Holt allows the scene to play out without going for the cheap resolution or unnecessary conflict. In those moments we see their longings and their inevitable disappointment.

 

Throughout the film we hear the lines “The show must go on”; we know that the “show” is life. Yes, life is complicated, messy, and at times disappointing, but life goes on.

 

For more information click here