THAT SERIOUS HE-MAN BALL
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
The protagonists of Alonzo D. Lamont Jr.’s That Serious He-Man Ball are no disaffected ghetto adolescents, however, but middle-aged adults carrying trendy bags for their gear, wearing expensive sneakers, and possessing not one but two clean, well-kept Spaldings. Twin is an executive with the Xerox Corporation, Sky is a job counselor for a social-service organization, and Jello is an author with a graduate degree. Close friends in high school, they have met every Saturday afternoon since then to shoot baskets and bullshit. Try as they might on this day, however, to revive the innocence and optimism of their youth with chatter of games and girls, they find it more and more difficult to avoid the fact that they are grown men who have made their choices and must live with them.
That Serious He-Man Ball is not structured as a linear narrative but as a symposium at which the question “What is the measure of a man?” is argued. The sound and motion of the ball act as chorus. Twin is chastised by his compatriots for his position as a “showpiece minority” for the establishment, his marriage to a “Jew-y American Princess,” and his recent recommendation for promotion of a white man over a less qualified black. He defends himself by citing his substantial salary. Jello is reproved by Twin for his chronic unemployment, by Sky for his “dry-ass lit-ra-ture” that fails to address black concerns, and by both of them for his lack of dedication, seemingly to anything. Jello defends himself by citing the adoration of his fans, particularly his many female fans. Sky is accused of refusing to change with the times and dispensing outdated and futile advice to those he professes to be helping. He defends himself by citing his belief in his people and his refusal to compromise as his two friends have done.
