Blindsided by "The Blind Side"

I'm working on getting writing into my day. In an effort to progress, I started tackling one of the many issues floating in my head. Why did Sandra Bullock take a role in "The Blind Side," the film about a white housewife taking in a homeless black teenager and turning him into a great football player? This movie is obviously going to be a huge cliche, but also one that will catapult Bullock into the type of role she hasn't had much opportunity to explore in her career...and give some young undiscovered black talent a moment in the spotlight.



I'm sure some gossip rag already has Bullock's take on why she did the movie, but I remain convinced there is something more to the point an actor reaches when they take a white savior role. I however do not want to attack or grapple with the white savior theme. This is where my writing got stuck. I rambled and referenced every movie I could think of from Pride to Coach Carter to Dangerous Minds to Finding Forrester and Good Will Hunting. I came up with nothing. I had media issue fatigue. Every time the commercials come on, my head hurts and my eyes get droopy.

Undoubtedly, someone else will have something to add to the ever continuing conversation. I'm hoping to see the positive. Although it's a shtick done so often in the past few years that we can all write the scripts ourselves, there will be entertainment value. It will be heartwarming, and that little reminder that it's based on a true story will make us all feel better about the world. Also some unknown and non Hollywood looking black kid got a break that he definitely needed. He's no Rob Brown (who I met...yay me!) but he'll get thrown a bone. Also, Sandra Bullock can amp up her movie career.


And when I watch it when it finally makes it to TBS, I'll think...why didn't they put on Ms. Congeniality instead? It was kind of cliche, but I enjoy it! EVERY TIME!

EDIT: And side note, why are so many of these movies sports driven? If you need help in the world, be athletic built. If you can pull yourself up, either be able to sing or dance your way out of violence. If you're smart...you're probably alright, but find a creppy old professor to inspire you.


P.S.: This movie actually got addressed before on AverageBro.com . I even made a comment. Must of been in the back of my mind. Oops.

OMG, NAI....we have to make our film.

This is It Review

I went to see "This is It" with my sister over Halloween weekend and thoroughly thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it. It was as if I watched a concert in a movie theater...but much better than that time my eldest sister had to take me to see the Spice Girls movie in junior high (still among my top ten of questionable entertainment choices).

I'm glad we had this last glimpse of Michael. Sure at times he looked weary. You could see a weight decrease, but he still had it. He was sharp and together. He knew his dances better than the dancers and had a sharp ear for music.

Bro' man was also sauuuuuucy. OMG.

Ok, I'm obviously still sizzling and we all need to let it simmer. The link below has a movie review written by my sister. Check it out!

http://rbmvibes.com/2009/11/02/best-concert-ever/comment-page-1/#comment-3161

Make Em Say Huh: Better Black Television Network launch/BET and Tropic Thunder

"All dancing is not shucking and jiving"-Me

So browsing blogs, I note Average Bro's latest post concerning Percy Miller's latest venture, the Better Black Television Network (BBTV).

I was reserving judgment on the channel. After all, Silkk Tha Shocker is the host of one of the shows. I've never been able to indulge in TVOne, but it always seemed like a great deal to me, because they show sitcoms basically all day. I love sitcoms. However the BBTV has swayed me by including a show dedicated to black history. It's called "My People" and examines "the struggles of a few that changed the lives of so many." Since BET is nowhere near producing programs like this right now (BETJ maybe, but not BET) I have to congratulate Mr. Miller and give him a salute.

As we discuss BET, I also have to ask why oh why they are giving Tropic Thunder so much support. The movie's use of blackface has not stirred much controversy. In fact, more people are perturbed about discrimination against the disabled population. But I have to question why BET is so active in supporting the film. By sheer luck I watched "106 and Park" twice within a week. Besides losing brain cells, I also was privy to see multiple episodes dedicated to promoting the film. Terrence assured the crowd on the first day that the blackface was not wrong, because if it was they would have been all on it. I have no intention of paying to see if he speaks the truth. I'm still too upset that Radar Magazine has used this to usurp my dissertation two weeks before its due.

Check my coverage of The Miller Boys here: http://vanitydark.blogspot.com/2008/02/im-still-here-miller-boys.html

Watch a little ol' school No Limit. You've come a long way Percy!



HAUL,
The Queen

Steppin' The Movie. Every Black 90s star you could want

No Explanation: Just Joy!
Thanks to Nai for putting me on a few months ago.

Happily Never After: The Struggle for a Black Princess in the Disney Culture.

While browsing That Black Girls Site I noticed an article on Disney' s search for a black princess. I had previously spoken about Disney's struggle with princesses and my excitement for Maddy in this piece about American Girl ("American Girl Movie. A Playlist and An Apology"). Apparently my dream is never going to come true. According to this piece it has been reported that the princesses' name has been changed to Tiana, she's going to get with some non-black dude, and they will live in a fictional land. Well for one this disproves my theory that non-white Disney princesses are all localized in order to deal with the issues of ethnicity. Don't they owe the South one after the horror of Song of the South?* However, it does bring up other issues that are too numerous to mention.

I can talk all day about race, cartoons and children's programming as its something that I've wondered about since the days of Doug and the Puzzle Place (really the Funnys and the Beets were white, everyone else included rich lil Bebe was funky colored). But I won't.

Instead I bring the past which I may be looking at through rose colored glasses. HBO used to do a great series that was also available for purchase called Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child. The stories were "politically correct" and featured a range of races and ethnicities for the characters. There was this one Caribbean one that my family watched and laughed at over and over. Robert Guilliame narrated and there was quite the cast (voices) of minority actors (Magaret Cho**, Raven-Symone, Sinbad, even Pauletta Washington). The stories were really good with a little moralistic lesson as well as not demeaning the life of women. Apparently the episodes still come on in the morning. If you subscribe to HBO Family check it out: the schedule's here.

Here's a very short clip from "The Princess and The Pea:"



Also a Wikipedia article including links to the IMDB and HBO website. If you're really interested you can buy some episodes on Amazon.

*At 20 years old after seeing the movie the year before I went to Disneyland to try and ride Splash Mountain. It was sadly closed. Still that was a great way to spend senior year Spring Break.
**Crazy as Magaret Cho may be you have to admit she rocks hard for the kids. This and C-Bear and Jamal were the ish.

Throwback Pop Culture Clip: Happy Independence Day!

Apparently it's a holiday weekend out in the States, so Happy Independence Day! In lieu of Independence Day, I celebrated Guy Fawkes day back in October. Exciting I know.

This clip is from the Will Smith old enough to be a throwback film (before he got anywhere near the Scientology juice), Independence Day. I never watched it, not even when they played it on the bus ride to Philly in high school, so I couldn't really tell you what its about, but from the clip it sounds a whole lot like the premise to what September 11th became for the world. Except that the September 11th terrorists were not aliens from another planet.

I'll miss the fireworks.

American Girl Movie. A Playlist and an Apology.

-The American Girls (screen shot from http://www.americangirl.com/agcn/index.html)


As old as I am, I should not be this excited for the first theatrical release of an American Girl story. Even though I have no idea who this new Kit girl is, I always loved American Girl. As presents when I was little I received the purple and black modern American Girl Varsity Bomber jacket that I rocked hard with my red,green, yellow and blue plaid uniform as well as the starter set of Addy books. At the library I read through all the books in each series, gaining knowledge about American history as I went. I also collected American Girl trading cards and I still have some sitting on my bookshelf at home along with my Hello Kitty and Spice Girls paraphernalia. My favorite characters were Samantha, the posh Victorian who was friends with dirty and poor Nellie; Molly with her 40s charm that prompted me to ask my mother if I could pin curl my hair; and of course Addy, the fearless freed slave girl who came to New York and longed for her family to be reunited. Unfortunately I did not connect with Kirsten as much and Felicity was a bit too history book American for me. I got lost after they brought out Josefina, but was happy that they kept doing different eras and slowly added more diversity to the historical sisterhood. I'm still waiting for the Civil Rights Era doll, but I won't hold my breath.

(Imagine this in a kids size...yea, I was styling)

A.O. Scott of the New York Times, describes the film and its importance in this New York Times Article and he does hit on some solid points about the film industry and target audiences. We've seen it with Tyler Perry and the continued success of Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen's pre-NYU empire and all the Disney Channel productions (Lizzie McGuire, Cheetah Girls, High School Musical, That's So Raven, Hannah Montana). Even a Barbie theatrical production a few years ago prompted signs of joy and relief that girls could still partake in the idealism. Even more relief was prompted when Disney announced it would make another cartoon fairy tale, and this time starring Maddy, the black princess from NOLA.* There is an audience that needs films like this and in the hypersexualized culture that we live in, the innocence of being an American girl is something to be desired. Sure we know its not all sugar and spice and everything nice. Life is something more like that's portrayed in crazy movies like KIDS or Thirteen, but people do still want a bit of the fantasy, the escape, and the idealism. NOT a crazy essentialized idealism, but something that's not on the wild and crazy end of the spectrum and not on the Disney Channel. It also can't hurt to have a nice little Depression Era story in this crazy recession.

Of course this is not an end all be all. Coming out of the American Girl franchise its still steeped in ideas of consumerism and promoting good little shoppers and brand loyalty out of American girls who will see the film, dolls in hand and probably dressed in some of the costumes from the catalog. Proper gender roles will still be inscribed and who knows what Abigail Breslin may do in a few years. But still, it has to be better than when my sister was forced to take me to the Spice Girls movie after Saturday School at the old Flatbush Pavillion on Flatbush and 7th Avenue in Brooklyn and my friends and I bought Spice Girls lollipops everyday to get the free stickers that I collected. For that, I apologize Shirley.

Celebrate all it means being a girl:




*Really Random: Ever noticed how these modern ethnic minority fairy tales are all localized: Mulan was Chinese in China, Pocahantas was Native American in emerging colonial America, and now this black girl is from the South. Understandably Jasmine was from the Middle East, that was based on the Arabian Nights stories. I also do understand why these characters need locations to make their stories work, but I still find it interesting. I wonder if the Grimm Brothers gave locations to Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty.

Talib's Genius

So, I'm sitting, working with my internet disconnected listening to Talib Kweli's " Happy Home" featuring Candice Anderson off his MySpace album with Madlib, called Liberation. "Happy Home" is a pretty cool song that tells the story of Kweli's family going back to his grandparents and how his parents met. This is my umpteenth and a gazillionth time listening to this song, and it is pretty high up in my most played I Tunes list. This time, I caught something else in the lyrics "Back in the day it was hard for black actors/ They had to lighten their skin with Max Factor/ But my grandfather Stan wasn't Nothing But a Man,"when discussing his paternal grandfather. I've usually paused on the Max Factor part, in sheer amazement at their hold on the entertainment history in that time period (watch the credits of an I Love Lucy episode) but this time my ears picked up something different. He slipped in the great and oft-forgotten Ivan Dixon movie "Nothing But a Man."
"Nothing But a Man" is a great 1960s movie about black people, directed by and starring the great black actor Ivan Dixon. Admittedly its a little rough, but it was a budget movie in the 60s, what do you want???? Unfortunately Discon became most famous for being an assembly line worker/Sgt. in Hogan's Heroes. However, he was also involved in awesome projects that are Vanity Dark recommended like the movie version of "The Spook Who Sat By The Door" and "A Raisin in the Sun." For a Wiki on Dixon click here and for information on "Nothing But A Man" click here. Get up on that history.

But back to Talib...

So I do a little research. Talib Kweli's last name is Greene and according to IMDB, there is a Stanley Greene in the movie who played quite the prominent role as the Reverend.

This is an exciting find and indeed a great moment in pop culture history. Talib has quite family tree. NYU educated parents, actors, and afros all settled down in Brooklyn. Hot [Thing]. I really appreciate how he wove that bit of pop culture history into the story line. For me, that's genius. It also makes more sense now that Talib was at NYU studying theater (you must hear him joke about him being the one with the education and Mos Def being the one with all the movie roles...lol).



Sigh, I'm too excited about this and not excited enough about the symbiotic yet disadvantageous relationship between social movements and the media.

HAUL,
The Queen

American Gangster: What Happens When They Put a Brother on the Wall

I just came back from seeing American Gangster, and my most prominent thought is Do the Right Thing. I know, two different directors, and with the exception of Ruby Dee different casts, but the similarity of two simple scenes was left etched on my mind. In the words of Buggin' Out (Giancarlo Esposito) from Do The Right Thing, "Why ain't there any brothers on the wall?"

What trips me out in this historical fiction (mostly historical, but adapted for the screenplay) is the subtle commentary on race that director Ridley Scott does not play up, but he does recognize. In Russell Crowe's character's attempts to figure out who disseminated Blue Magic, he starts by placing pictures of suspects on the wall. The bulletin board in his office quickly becomes full of Italians. Watching it, I did all but say, "Hey Sal, why ain't there any brothers on the wall?" Time and time again the idea that it would be ludicrous for a black man to have power over the drug game was hinted at. Once Frank Lucas was discovered, the question then became "Who does he work for," and the Italians still remained on the wall.

American Gangster is a difficult movie to dissect. While many are quick to put it with the legions of mob films like Godfather and Scarface(which I admittedly haven't seen), the film becomes complicated with race issues which then gets tied up with morality. Hearing cheers in the theater as Frank Lucas, a black man, took over the drug trade in Harlem, it became necessary to pause. You want to say yes for black business, but not to black on black crime. Is black on black crime better than Italian on black crime? Is that a question that should even be justified?

Still in the end, a racial scorecard is kept and Blacks still lose. At one point in the movie Lucas mentions that these are immigrant groups that came to America after Blacks were first imported as slaves, and they too were able to exploit blacks. If you need a movie reference for the history of this, go watch Gangs of New York. Frank Lucas ends up in jail and his family and operation are torn down, but the mob families go untouched, and are even used as a possible threat to Lucas's career.

Thinking back to how everything came down the weakest link proved to be one of Frank's brothers, who allowed himself to be wired in order to save his life. Is this to say that blacks can't mobilize because the one that's threatened always gives up the answer instead of fighting to the end. It was always the house slave that told the master about the plots to run away, wasn't it? If that's the case then I say the disciple Peter was black, because he betrayed Jesus three times in less than 24 hours.

So, American Gangster doesn't leave any main character as the hero. Frank snitches, Russell Crowe's character is extremely flawed (and really just took on Frank because he found Blue Magic on his dead friend) and the crazy NY detective commits suicide because he was crooked. Still, the mob can go on and live their life and continue to destroy families. Should we honor the mob? No. But something about the resilience of Ruby Dee as Frank Lucas's mother leaves a beacon of hope for us all. Maybe, the real lesson lies in her strength and her largely untold story.


On another note, isn't it strange that JayZ's most acclaimed album since Reasonable Doubt brings him back to the drug game. I know there are deeper lessons about life, business prowess, and respectability to be gained from the movie as well as Mr. Carter's album, but it's interesting to note that his tales of being rich and a mogul don't strike the same cord as his rhymes about an O-Z.

HAUL,
The Queen


P.S.
props to Russell Crowe on the accent, and Cuba Gooding Jr. I still have a bone to pick with you. Don't dupe me into thinking you're going to do something worthwhile ever again. I think I've lost whatever hope I was holding out for you

There she is....

If your like me, you've pondered in the last few months Julia Roberts whereabouts...I mean, iconic Oscar winning actress that has up and disappeared form the scene. Thankfully Vanity Fair informs us of her whereabouts in the December issue. Unlike the rest of Hollywood that out being talentless and causing a scene, our dear talented Julia has been at home with her kids while continuing to work. That's lovely and I sincerely applaud her.

Note, I have doubted her talent, but after seeing what untalented is, I admit that shes great. She also doesn't pull Cuba Gooding Jr.s and take random jobs. Plus she also provided me with my historical understanding of Wellesley through Mona Lisa Smile...and I now use that to explain the school to others while I'm across the pond. Chuckles...

Haul

Happy Halloween?

My momma told me its the devil's holiday...but this is some involuntary participation.

I'm a SPOOK SITTING BY THE DOOR...cus aint nothing scarier than a SPOOK with a degree:

Holler!...

Don't worry tho...I'm leaving the door soon enough...be scared, be afraid.

CALL OUT

Let's hear it, one for the coons on UPN 9 and WB
Who 'Yes Massa' on TV, what ever happened to Wheezy? The Red Fox's?
Never got Emmy's but were real to me
Let's hear it, two for the spooks who do cartwheels
'Cause they said they played they parts well
Now they claim caviar, hate that oxtail
Lambda Sigma Phi badge on lapel
Whitey always tell him, "Ooh, he speak so well"
Are you the one we look to, the decent Negro?
The acceptable Negro -- hell nah
But they say, "These are our heroes"

One of Nas’s lesser known works, Coon Picnic focuses on what he viewed as coonery by blacks in contemporary media. Nas ends the chorus with the words, “These are our heroes,” in a sarcastic tone, pointing out the obvious flaws of those who are looked up to within the black community. Several colleagues reacted to this song when it came out, questioning Nas’s right to say anything about this topic at all. This is the same man that rapped on “Oochie Wallie” and along with Ginuwine said “Owe me back like 40 acres to blacks, Pay be back when you shake it like that,”-- points that will forever be his Achilles heel. Nas even realizes this point on his own song including a heckler at the end who derides the rapper for flaunting his wealth while making these comments.

After obviously attacking Kobe Bryant for his relations with white women who are of questionable status (a hotel worker and a former “video actress*”) in the first verse, and ranting some more, Nas starts blatant name calling towards the end, and called out Cuba Gooding Jr.

Now I’m calling him out as well, and his brother Omar is included: Let’s get it together people.


My beef with the Gooding brothers, as highly irrelevant as they may seem to be today, is not the same as that of Nas. I’m not as pre-occupied with them being “acceptable” as I am with them being as foolish as the foolish Galatians. They need to be smacked, hard, and then someone needs to smack their agents.

There have always been people that begin with promise before their career takes a turn fir the worse, but in the case of these brothers, their trajectory is a hair short of a low down and dirty shame. Lesser blame should be placed on Omar Gooding, since he obviously did not have the good fortune of his brother. Although riding on Cuba’s coat tails, his most memorable works are Hanging with Mr. Cooper, Smart Guy and Baby Boy. There was no golden role available for him to jumpstart his career. From there he went on to have some more supporting roles in movies like The Gospel, but also relies on episodes in an assortment of shows to stay relevant. It’d be one thing if he just moved on, but since he’s still trying, he needs to get it together. Omar is not exactly leading man material—he does not have the looks and has not shown the capability to do so, but he could make a solid supporting actor/television career, if he and his agent worked it out.

Cuba Gooding is a different story altogether. Despite what may have been witnessed in The Fighting Temptations (a movie I happen to like), he possesses talent and skill at his craft. Jerry McGuire and Boyz n the Hood are evidence of the brilliant work that he can do. But dear dear Cuba seems to have a problem with not taking roles. His IMDB roster leads one to think that his agent’s advice is to do every movie placed in front of you—leading to less than stellar works such as Daddy Day Care. After acting in Pearl Harbor and Men of Honor, Cuba Gooding then proceeded to star in Rat Race, Snow Dogs and Boat Trip. Although these movies may have taken in a decent amount at the box office, they only lessen his value as an actor. With each new commercial for an upcoming Cuba Gooding Jr., film , a roll of the eyes and queasiness is to be expected. These roles are acceptable for Ice-Cube, but not for someone with obvious talent and who is primarily an actor. Cuba, you and your agent are being called out for accepting stupid roles. Absence makes the heart grown fonder, and a few years could have gone by before American Gangster, which premieres later this fall, and an adoring fan base would have waited. Instead, you receive mumbled hallelujahs and silent prayers that your other works currently in production are well made, sensible films. Dabble in the goofy, but do it sensibly. This is my call out. And no…the Nas song don’t really got much to do wit nething, I just thought it was a song that more people should be aware of.