In anticipation of the upcoming Coming to America sequel, we decided to devote a week to some observations, questions, and theories we’ve always had about the iconic original.
Reason(s) Why I Think They Eventually Boned: The final scene in Coming to America is Akeem and Lisa’s wedding parade, and all of Zamunda is there to celebrate the nuptials and the promise of another generation of stark financial inequities. In the very last shot of the movie, Queen Aoleon Joffer shoots a look at Cleo McDowell while the king, who is standing next to her, is busy celebrating. It is not a look of shared celebration. Or amusement. Or community. Or family. It is the look of “I want to sit on that hard-working, God-fearing, jacked-forearmed, American man’s face.” Cleo quickly notices the look, and returns it, with a look that says “My face is your seat, my queen.”
We already know the king is unfaithful and is probably busy doing king shit, so this means the Queen and Cleo would presumably have tons of time, space, and opportunity to commence the smashing, making Coming to America a, heh, double entendre. (I’ve been waiting 30 years to get that joke off. Thank you for indulging.)
Reason(s) Why Maybe They Didn’t Bone: The king is the king, and presumably has all types of killers at his beck and call, as most kings do. And while the electricity between Cleo and the Queen is palpable, is it enough to risk a certain beheading if caught?
Verdict: The queen took one look at that spry, self-built, Queens-bred man and definitely decided to risk it all. And Cleo is a widower, which means it’s possible he hadn’t had sex in years, and now this fine-ass queen is giving him the eye?
They boned.