Nia Long and Larenz Tate are reuniting for the Love Jones reunion we’ve been waiting for, but there’s an elephant in the room

Those of us who have waited decades To find out if Nina Mosley and Darius Lovehall, the black and sexy leads of the 1997 romantic comedy classic Love Jones, stayed together, our wish will finally come true this holiday season. Lead actors Nia Long and Larenz Tate – still black and still sexy, we might add – reunited for a “Love Jones”-themed Christmas commercial for Walmart, complete with the strains of Dionne Farris’ now-iconic groove “Hopeless.” ” as the opening soundtrack.

In the Walmart Holiday x Love Jones spot titled “Give the Gift That Shows You Get Them,” the gift-giving starts early when Nina (Nia) finds a Walmart box on the steps of her townhouse and unpacks it to find a record player find. To confirm that the gift actually came from him, Darius (Larenz) repeats one of his lines from the hit film and asks: “Do you mind if I play a little something for you?”

Whether poet Darius (Larenz) is still trying to be “the blues in (Nina’s) left thigh… and trying to become the funk in (her) right thigh” remains unknown, but nostalgia hits me as the two of them start dancing to the Isley Brothers classic. “Groove With You, Part 1.” So that this moment does not remain undocumented, a young woman, presumably the daughter of the fictional couple, appears in the door to capture the moment on camera, obviously in imitation of her mother, the photographer Nina . It’s a heartwarming return to a black film classic that many of us would like to see revisited in this era of sequels.

However, the elephant in the otherwise romantic room is Walmart. The major retailer dampened many holiday spirits this year when it announced after the election that it would “roll back” most of its DEI initiatives, a move widely interpreted as a harbinger of similar industry policies under the incoming Trump administration. Initiatives now abandoned include a $100 million racial justice center launched in 2020 in response to the police killing of George Floyd, as well as prioritizing 51% BIPOC, LGBTQ, veterans and women’s products, the Houston Herald reported.

“With DEI programs ending, the marketing department sure knows how to change the narrative,” one viewer commented on YouTube. “This commercial won’t make me forget that Walmart has stopped all DEI efforts,” another commenter said.

Walmart clearly still sees the value in attracting Black consumers, like the Gen. The company would do well to do so, as our annual purchasing power is expected to exceed $1 trillion by 2030, according to McKinsey & Co.

“Targeting Black consumers can help brands better serve their products all clients, particularly as the country’s demographics become more diverse,” said Shelley Stewart III, Senior Partner and Global Leader, Reputation & Engagement at McKinsey.

Although many viewers welcome the return of Darius and Nina (some even calling for an official, albeit very delayed, sequel), the dichotomy between Walmart’s advertising and practice has not gone unnoticed.

“Walmart needs to rethink its DEI policies,” said one YouTube commenter. “We’re playing to our faces by using characters and actors we love!”