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Soul Men Curse?

Date: Sep 10 2008

Themes: News

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

Last month, two African-American stars died in the same weekend. The strangest part about it is that they had just filmed a movie together.

Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes finished working on a movie about soul musicians called Soul Men last spring. Last month, Hayes, 65, was found next to his treadmill. He was famous for writing and performing music in the ‘70s, but his career was also strong in recent years. He even played the chef on South Park!

Mac was a comedian who died of pneumonia at age 50. No one suspects foul play, but Devan and Marni wonder if the film is cursed.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Devan

Marni

Devan: Can you believe that Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes both died?

Marni: In the same weekend! And how odd is it that they just filmed a movie together.

Devan: I know! Samuel L. Jackson must be getting nervous.

Marni: I was thinking the same thing. Is just like, “Is there a death wish out for me?” It seemed just like a total coincidence that the both kind of just…

Devan: It’s so sad.

Marni: It is sad!

Devan: I heard on the news that Bernie Mac had pneumonia but they said that he was gonna be fine and that they were gonna let him out of the hospital the next day. And then all of a sudden, bam! He just died.

Marni: ...gone. And he was only 50 and just not a person I would have expected to hear about dying. And then Isaac Hayes! I love Isaac Hayes and he had such a prolific, you know, from Shaft, writing all those old soul songs and…

Devan: ...it’s so sad. If I was Samuel L. Jackson, I’d definitely be nervous since he’s the other star of that movie with the two of them.

Marni: I know! Soul Men? Is that what it’s called, I think? Soul Men? I know! It seems really kind of random.

Devan: It’s like Poltergeist all over again, another cursed movie or something.

Marni: Yeah, perhaps. But now I’m intrigued. I bet there will be a lot of hype around it…seems to be the way. They’ll be missed.

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Discussion

Naturally, Devan and Marni wonder if Samuel L. Jackson, the other star of Soul Men, is worried after his two costars died. Devan recalls the Poltergeist curse, in which four cast members died in the six years following the release of the film. They don’t even mention that another soul legend, Ike Turner, died recently as well!

Devan and Marni find the deaths especially sad since both men were relatively young. They suspect that the movie will get a lot of attention, not unlike Heath Ledger’s last film, The Dark Knight.

What’s your favorite Bernie Mac or Isaac Hayes moment? Do you believe their movie is cursed, or are their deaths just coincidence?