Queen Latifah Gets Emotional in the All-Black Cast Steel Magnolias Trailer

So, they did kind of a clever thing in this trailer: Each character is “announced” by another character saying their name, so you know which one is Ouiser, which one is Clairee, which one is Truvy, etc. Then it’s up to you to be like, oh, I get it, Jill Scott is Dolly Parton, Phylicia Rashad is Olympia Dukakis, and, um, Queen Latifah is Sally Field. Anyway, Lifetime is certainly hoping you like black women and tearjerkers and black women in tearjerkers, because what seemed like a crazy idea is now a reality. Same story — right down to “pink is my signature color” — but with black ladies. When I was a kid I saw Steel Magnolias as a play and I remember thinking it was cool that you never actually see the men being discussed; the entire show was set in the beauty salon, aka Lady Territory. Not the case in the Julia Roberts movie or this TV version. Pretty sure there wasn’t a line about Beyoncé in the play either. But hey: It’s free on TV and it’s black ladies! I’ll watch.

[Blackbook, Insider]