On Precious:
If Crash is the Do the Right Thing of my generation, that makes Precious the The Color Purple of my generation. Precious gives us the same character of Celie from The Color Purple. She is a poor, ugly, black woman, but she is resilient. All of her life has been oppressive, but this movie is the story of her redemption. Precious finally breaks through in this movie. The similarities between Precious and Celie are blatantly obvious. Both are mothers to their father's children, both have been separated from their children and both live in a prison of a home. Another distinct similarity is a prettier, black woman helps both of them break away.
The main difference between the two stories is the setting. The Color Purple takes place about a hundred years ago and a few hundred miles away from Harlem. Precious shows that this story is still going on. It paint a picture of the same tragedies that Celie endures in The Color Purple, but in the viewer's backyard. That is part of the reason that the movie hits so hard, it shows the viewer that this is still happening today and it is happening in New York. The other reason that this movie hits so hard is because nothing goes unsaid in Precious. The abused from both parents, the extent of the mother's hate for her daughter and her jealousy, the everyday violence that Precious puts up with. It can only be assumed that the whole story is told here, but that may not be the case. There may be horrible things written in the book "Push" that Precious was based off of, that were omitted in the movie. Maybe even things that never made it to the book to begin with.
The most amazing part of the story of Precious is how resilient love is. In American History X it is shown that hate is baggage, but Precious tells a different story with a similar message: love is resilient. Even though she does not know it herself, Precious is full of love. The love of a mother that is endless, even though that is a love she never knew for herself, she has it to give to Abdul and Mongo. She also has love for her sisters and Ms. Rain, who took her in when no one else did.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Saturday, June 12, 2010
ain't nothin in the world get Black Dynamite more mad that some jive ass sucka dealin smack to the kids!
On Black Dynamite:
A complete spoof of the 70s Blaxploitation genre, this movie does not take itself seriously at all. With just about the most ridiculous plot ever, the government is trying to sell a brand of malt liquor that shrinks black male's penis size. The big, boss bad guy behind it all goes from an old Vietnam buddy of Black Dynamite's, to the evil Dr. Wu, to final the biggest bad guy of all. Of course, Richard Nixon.
The most important thing about this movie is that it exists. The Blaxploitation genre of the 70s has had such a big cultural influence that almost 40 years later there is still a spoof being made and popularized. And it is still funny. There is still a cultural significance to the fun being poked and the jokes being made about the black culture of the 70s.
This Shaft/Sweetback-eqsue smooth, jive talkin character found again in Black Dynamite is just the same as he was. He doesn't take shit from anyone, he is basically unbeatable in combat, all the ladies love him, he is almost perfect. Black Dynamite is even a hyperbolized version of that already exaggeration of a character. Black Dynamite makes love to seven women at a time, he fights half a dozen people simultaneously and still whoops everyone's butt, he is cool with the pimps and hos, there is nothing he isn't good at. This character is constantly reappearing in Blaxploitation movies, then and now and even in other genres, but he was first popularized and satirized here in Blaxploitation films. Next on the list is Precious
A complete spoof of the 70s Blaxploitation genre, this movie does not take itself seriously at all. With just about the most ridiculous plot ever, the government is trying to sell a brand of malt liquor that shrinks black male's penis size. The big, boss bad guy behind it all goes from an old Vietnam buddy of Black Dynamite's, to the evil Dr. Wu, to final the biggest bad guy of all. Of course, Richard Nixon.
The most important thing about this movie is that it exists. The Blaxploitation genre of the 70s has had such a big cultural influence that almost 40 years later there is still a spoof being made and popularized. And it is still funny. There is still a cultural significance to the fun being poked and the jokes being made about the black culture of the 70s.
This Shaft/Sweetback-eqsue smooth, jive talkin character found again in Black Dynamite is just the same as he was. He doesn't take shit from anyone, he is basically unbeatable in combat, all the ladies love him, he is almost perfect. Black Dynamite is even a hyperbolized version of that already exaggeration of a character. Black Dynamite makes love to seven women at a time, he fights half a dozen people simultaneously and still whoops everyone's butt, he is cool with the pimps and hos, there is nothing he isn't good at. This character is constantly reappearing in Blaxploitation movies, then and now and even in other genres, but he was first popularized and satirized here in Blaxploitation films. Next on the list is Precious
I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something
On Crash:
Crash is the Do the Right Thing of my generation. This movie not only deals with race relations in terms of blacks and whites, but Asians, Hispanics, Middle Easterns, everybody and how each of these different cultures interact within and with each other. It is that that makes Crash such a great movie and such an important movie to have on my list. I love the idea of the quote I introduced this post with and it fits in perfectly with the idea of the hands of love and hate introduced in Do the Right Thing. Think about the touch as love and when we are deprived of that touch the result is a crash, hate, just to feel something. There is a lot of crashing going on in this movie, but the message sent in the end is a message of love.
Crash is one of the intertwining-stories movies. There are a bunch of different people, with different baggage and different backgrounds that all interact with each other in one way or another and effect each other's lives. One of the most interesting interactions in this story to me is that between the black car thief, Anthony and the black director, Cameron. Anthony is a self-righteous black car thief. His character is so ironic because he is adamant about better his community and the black community, but he also perpetuates the stereotypes he tries to fight. Anthony talks about how pathetic it is for blacks to steal from each other, but he finds himself pointing a gun at Cameron to steal his car one day. Cameron has had a rough day and he is angry so he fights back. Anthony is startled and surprised to find his victim resisting even at gun point. The cop that comes to the scene happened to be the former partner of the officer that molested Cameron's wife and contributed to his bad mood. The cop tries to cut him a break and let him off with a severe warning. Cameron proceeds to drop Anthony off at a bus stop and gives him a stern talking to and tells him, "You are pathetic". That is a harsh, cold taste of reality for Anthony as he is forced to ride the bus he so despises back home.
Graham's character is one that has appeared in a few movies. Graham has a job as a detective that is respectable, and he has made it up and away from his life in the hood. But Graham has abandoned his brother Peter, Anthony's fellow car thief, and his sick mother. After identifying the body, Graham's mother told him that it was Graham himself that killed Peter, because he had not gone to find him and bring him home. That is also the truth, because Graham was afraid. He ran away from his life in the hood and never looked back. Sure, he still loves his family enough to visit his mom every once in a while and drop off groceries, but he has still abandoned his family. It is something that his co-worker and love interest, Ria, points out to him. The two come from very different cultural backgrounds and they think they know each other.
There is so much to take away from this movie about the diverse cultures of Los Angeles and their interactions. The overall message of this movie is not too far off from that of American History X that hate is baggage. Hate is something that grows and grows that you carry around until it just becomes too much and people crash into each other. Love helps alleviate the weight of hate. Next on the list is Black Dynamite
Crash is the Do the Right Thing of my generation. This movie not only deals with race relations in terms of blacks and whites, but Asians, Hispanics, Middle Easterns, everybody and how each of these different cultures interact within and with each other. It is that that makes Crash such a great movie and such an important movie to have on my list. I love the idea of the quote I introduced this post with and it fits in perfectly with the idea of the hands of love and hate introduced in Do the Right Thing. Think about the touch as love and when we are deprived of that touch the result is a crash, hate, just to feel something. There is a lot of crashing going on in this movie, but the message sent in the end is a message of love.
Crash is one of the intertwining-stories movies. There are a bunch of different people, with different baggage and different backgrounds that all interact with each other in one way or another and effect each other's lives. One of the most interesting interactions in this story to me is that between the black car thief, Anthony and the black director, Cameron. Anthony is a self-righteous black car thief. His character is so ironic because he is adamant about better his community and the black community, but he also perpetuates the stereotypes he tries to fight. Anthony talks about how pathetic it is for blacks to steal from each other, but he finds himself pointing a gun at Cameron to steal his car one day. Cameron has had a rough day and he is angry so he fights back. Anthony is startled and surprised to find his victim resisting even at gun point. The cop that comes to the scene happened to be the former partner of the officer that molested Cameron's wife and contributed to his bad mood. The cop tries to cut him a break and let him off with a severe warning. Cameron proceeds to drop Anthony off at a bus stop and gives him a stern talking to and tells him, "You are pathetic". That is a harsh, cold taste of reality for Anthony as he is forced to ride the bus he so despises back home.
Graham's character is one that has appeared in a few movies. Graham has a job as a detective that is respectable, and he has made it up and away from his life in the hood. But Graham has abandoned his brother Peter, Anthony's fellow car thief, and his sick mother. After identifying the body, Graham's mother told him that it was Graham himself that killed Peter, because he had not gone to find him and bring him home. That is also the truth, because Graham was afraid. He ran away from his life in the hood and never looked back. Sure, he still loves his family enough to visit his mom every once in a while and drop off groceries, but he has still abandoned his family. It is something that his co-worker and love interest, Ria, points out to him. The two come from very different cultural backgrounds and they think they know each other.
There is so much to take away from this movie about the diverse cultures of Los Angeles and their interactions. The overall message of this movie is not too far off from that of American History X that hate is baggage. Hate is something that grows and grows that you carry around until it just becomes too much and people crash into each other. Love helps alleviate the weight of hate. Next on the list is Black Dynamite
well let me tell you something: you better watch your ass, cause in the joint, you the nigger. Not me.
On American History X:
I have seen this movie a few times before, and every time I watch it this is the quote that stands out the most to me. It just makes so much sense. Outside of jail Derek Vinyard was the prince to Cameron's white power empire. But in jail he was not safe. He was the minority and he was in trouble. Derek later tells his brother Danny that he does not regret what happened to him in jail. Not the time, not the rape, none of it, because his experience was enlightening. The timely visits from his old English teacher, Dr. Sweeney helped him ask the right question, "Has anything you've done made your life better?"
That is the moment of enlightenment for Derek. After that he stops associating with the skinheads in jail and becomes a loner, whose only ally is Lamont. In writing his paper for Sweeney, Danny reaches a similar conclusion, he ends his paper with the idea that, "Hate is baggage" which is truly the moral of Derek's story and the story of American History X. In the movie the transition of both Derek and Danny is shown from the hand of hate to the hand of love. But, just when everything is starting to be alright again, Derek is making good on his promise to Sweeney to make things right, Danny has written his paper for Sweeney and the family is starting to come together again, the hand of hate gets one last punch in. A young member of a black gang shots Danny at school. In the bathroom, paper in hand, Danny, the former future skinhead leader gets gunned down. The movie ends with the sad conclusion and the viewer can only hope that Derek remembers that 'hate is baggage'. The final words of Danny's paper end much like Do the Right Thing, with a quote, "We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature". That is a quote from Abraham Lincoln, which shows how much Danny has changed from the boy who wrote his civil rights paper on "Mein Kampf".
In American History X the perspective of the story is very important. All the early movies I watched were told from the white man's perspective. In movies such as The Birth of a Nation, taking the moral high ground, but in most movies not giving it to the blacks. Then around the time of The Color Purple there was a shift were the movies were told from the black's perspective. This movie turns it inside out and tells the story from the perspective of the hateful white supremacists. Not only is all the hate from the D.O.C. about the blacks (along with all non-white-protestants) shown in this film, but the movie brings it all back around at the end when they young, black gang member kills Danny, further perpetuating the cycle of hate. Next on the list is Crash
I have seen this movie a few times before, and every time I watch it this is the quote that stands out the most to me. It just makes so much sense. Outside of jail Derek Vinyard was the prince to Cameron's white power empire. But in jail he was not safe. He was the minority and he was in trouble. Derek later tells his brother Danny that he does not regret what happened to him in jail. Not the time, not the rape, none of it, because his experience was enlightening. The timely visits from his old English teacher, Dr. Sweeney helped him ask the right question, "Has anything you've done made your life better?"
That is the moment of enlightenment for Derek. After that he stops associating with the skinheads in jail and becomes a loner, whose only ally is Lamont. In writing his paper for Sweeney, Danny reaches a similar conclusion, he ends his paper with the idea that, "Hate is baggage" which is truly the moral of Derek's story and the story of American History X. In the movie the transition of both Derek and Danny is shown from the hand of hate to the hand of love. But, just when everything is starting to be alright again, Derek is making good on his promise to Sweeney to make things right, Danny has written his paper for Sweeney and the family is starting to come together again, the hand of hate gets one last punch in. A young member of a black gang shots Danny at school. In the bathroom, paper in hand, Danny, the former future skinhead leader gets gunned down. The movie ends with the sad conclusion and the viewer can only hope that Derek remembers that 'hate is baggage'. The final words of Danny's paper end much like Do the Right Thing, with a quote, "We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature". That is a quote from Abraham Lincoln, which shows how much Danny has changed from the boy who wrote his civil rights paper on "Mein Kampf".
In American History X the perspective of the story is very important. All the early movies I watched were told from the white man's perspective. In movies such as The Birth of a Nation, taking the moral high ground, but in most movies not giving it to the blacks. Then around the time of The Color Purple there was a shift were the movies were told from the black's perspective. This movie turns it inside out and tells the story from the perspective of the hateful white supremacists. Not only is all the hate from the D.O.C. about the blacks (along with all non-white-protestants) shown in this film, but the movie brings it all back around at the end when they young, black gang member kills Danny, further perpetuating the cycle of hate. Next on the list is Crash
Friday, June 11, 2010
I've always believed that a portrait captures a person far better than a photograph. It truly takes a human being to really see a human being.
On Monster's Ball:
The film explains that a 'monster's ball' is the night-before party that those on death row have before their execution. As I watched this depressing movie, I wondered about the purpose of this bizarre ritual was. Do you give a last great taste of life to these people that apparently do not deserve to live it? Why do you give someone this experience only to take everything away directly after? Aside from that, sometimes, the best things in life get taken away from people. This happened a lot in Monster's Ball. After Lawrence Musgrove's execution both Hank Grotowski and Leticia Musgrove lost a son. In fact, they each lost their only son. This event and the series of events that followed left the two people with a gaping hole in each of their lives. Eventually they find each other and they start to need each other, as on the couple's journey many lines are crossed and many things change.
Many things can be considered disgusting about Hank and Leticia as a couple. Hank executed Leticia's husband. The only reason they are with each other is because they each lost a son and needed something good in their lives to distract them. To Hank's father, Buck, the fact that they are an interracial couple is disgusting also. To Buck, in fact, it is such a disgusting fact that he remains ignorant of the other facts and goes right into being disgusted. Watching the interaction when Leticia and Buck accidentally meet is the calm before a storm. Everything seems to being going unexpectedly normal and then the lightning hits. Almost casually into the conversation Buck slips in that, "I had a thing for nigger juice too. Hank is just like his daddy". This comment sends Leticia running and brings us back to the hateful world that is such familiar scenery in this film.
I cannot make a decision about the relationship between Hank and Leticia. On one hand it is beautiful. Sad, but still beautiful. The two cross so much hate to meet in the middle. Hank over comes so many of his and his family's prejudices because he needs this woman. Leticia has lost her family, but she still makes up a lot of ground in letting this white man pursue her. On the other hand, in order for this relationship to start, three people had to die. Is that what has to happen for a black person and a white person with all this baggage to come together?
This is a movie off the list with an interracial couple. While the movie did leave the viewer feeling awful dirty and with a lot of questions about the morality, meaning and future for the couple it is still significant that the movie has an interracial couple. It is also important that the movie points out all the problems and flaws with this relationship, both involving and not involving race, this movie brings up how messed up the couple is. I think that that says the most about how far film-making has come, this movie is allowed to have a dysfunctional, interracial couple and it is still a great, oscar nominated film of its time. Next on the list is Crash
The film explains that a 'monster's ball' is the night-before party that those on death row have before their execution. As I watched this depressing movie, I wondered about the purpose of this bizarre ritual was. Do you give a last great taste of life to these people that apparently do not deserve to live it? Why do you give someone this experience only to take everything away directly after? Aside from that, sometimes, the best things in life get taken away from people. This happened a lot in Monster's Ball. After Lawrence Musgrove's execution both Hank Grotowski and Leticia Musgrove lost a son. In fact, they each lost their only son. This event and the series of events that followed left the two people with a gaping hole in each of their lives. Eventually they find each other and they start to need each other, as on the couple's journey many lines are crossed and many things change.
Many things can be considered disgusting about Hank and Leticia as a couple. Hank executed Leticia's husband. The only reason they are with each other is because they each lost a son and needed something good in their lives to distract them. To Hank's father, Buck, the fact that they are an interracial couple is disgusting also. To Buck, in fact, it is such a disgusting fact that he remains ignorant of the other facts and goes right into being disgusted. Watching the interaction when Leticia and Buck accidentally meet is the calm before a storm. Everything seems to being going unexpectedly normal and then the lightning hits. Almost casually into the conversation Buck slips in that, "I had a thing for nigger juice too. Hank is just like his daddy". This comment sends Leticia running and brings us back to the hateful world that is such familiar scenery in this film.
I cannot make a decision about the relationship between Hank and Leticia. On one hand it is beautiful. Sad, but still beautiful. The two cross so much hate to meet in the middle. Hank over comes so many of his and his family's prejudices because he needs this woman. Leticia has lost her family, but she still makes up a lot of ground in letting this white man pursue her. On the other hand, in order for this relationship to start, three people had to die. Is that what has to happen for a black person and a white person with all this baggage to come together?
This is a movie off the list with an interracial couple. While the movie did leave the viewer feeling awful dirty and with a lot of questions about the morality, meaning and future for the couple it is still significant that the movie has an interracial couple. It is also important that the movie points out all the problems and flaws with this relationship, both involving and not involving race, this movie brings up how messed up the couple is. I think that that says the most about how far film-making has come, this movie is allowed to have a dysfunctional, interracial couple and it is still a great, oscar nominated film of its time. Next on the list is Crash
Monday, June 7, 2010
Alice, are you blind? don't you see the family resemblence? that's my brother.
On Remember the Titans:
This movie has a lot of love in it. Football is the great unifier for this newly integrated Virginia school. Of course, all parties go into the idea of an integrated team kicking-and-screaming, but by the end of the movie, the team is one family; all the players brothers and Coach Boone the daddy. The rivalry between Gerry and Julius quickly becomes a brotherhood that sets an example for the rest of the team.
All of the main characters in this movie start out as the hand of hate but start to turn into the hand of love, because of football. Society, on the other hand, is hate the whole way through. After the boys had made so much progress at camp, once they are dropped back in school they are in a society that is not ready to be integrated. It is a struggle to maintain that brotherhood in the face of adversity. Even as society tries to pull their ties apart, the team still goes on to win the state championship as the only integrated school competing. While some may argue that has to do with the athleticism of a team that is integrated, I'd like to think that the victory is more so due to the unique camaraderie that a team in the situation these boys are in have to go through. To want to win and to want to play so badly that as an individual you are willing to overcome all you knew about race, is a lot. A full squad of boys doing this together, at the same time, builds a lot of life-long friendships.
In addition to the fact that Remember the Titans is a great movie that tackles the issue of integration, this movie is on my list because of the setting. T.C. Williams is a local high-school, I know kids that go there and my home school has played them regularly. This movie helps to remind he how close to home (literally) the issue of black and white relations hit.
I am surprised by how little there is to cay about this movie. It is a great movie and i can recognize that. There are bricks thrown through windows, racial slurs and confrontations throughout this movie, it doesn't exactly sugar-coat the story. There is a certain "Hollywood-ed" quality to the story of Remember the Titans, but that is to be expected, seeing as is it a Disney movie. Mostly what I got out of re-watching this movie was more support for my theory about the hand of love and the hand of hate. This movie was solidly love. Next on the list is Monster's Ball
This movie has a lot of love in it. Football is the great unifier for this newly integrated Virginia school. Of course, all parties go into the idea of an integrated team kicking-and-screaming, but by the end of the movie, the team is one family; all the players brothers and Coach Boone the daddy. The rivalry between Gerry and Julius quickly becomes a brotherhood that sets an example for the rest of the team.
All of the main characters in this movie start out as the hand of hate but start to turn into the hand of love, because of football. Society, on the other hand, is hate the whole way through. After the boys had made so much progress at camp, once they are dropped back in school they are in a society that is not ready to be integrated. It is a struggle to maintain that brotherhood in the face of adversity. Even as society tries to pull their ties apart, the team still goes on to win the state championship as the only integrated school competing. While some may argue that has to do with the athleticism of a team that is integrated, I'd like to think that the victory is more so due to the unique camaraderie that a team in the situation these boys are in have to go through. To want to win and to want to play so badly that as an individual you are willing to overcome all you knew about race, is a lot. A full squad of boys doing this together, at the same time, builds a lot of life-long friendships.
In addition to the fact that Remember the Titans is a great movie that tackles the issue of integration, this movie is on my list because of the setting. T.C. Williams is a local high-school, I know kids that go there and my home school has played them regularly. This movie helps to remind he how close to home (literally) the issue of black and white relations hit.
I am surprised by how little there is to cay about this movie. It is a great movie and i can recognize that. There are bricks thrown through windows, racial slurs and confrontations throughout this movie, it doesn't exactly sugar-coat the story. There is a certain "Hollywood-ed" quality to the story of Remember the Titans, but that is to be expected, seeing as is it a Disney movie. Mostly what I got out of re-watching this movie was more support for my theory about the hand of love and the hand of hate. This movie was solidly love. Next on the list is Monster's Ball
Sunday, June 6, 2010
you can take Dashiki out the hood, but you can't take the hood niggas out Dashiki
On Don't Be a Menace in South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood:
Wow. I had no idea. I knew that this movie was a satire, and it was a blaxploitation movie, but I hit the jackpot. This movie is a spoof of Boyz N the Hood. Literally a spoof of the movie I just watched. If you can call it a plot, it is basically the same as the plot in Boyz N the Hood. A lot of the scenes are just making fun of the scenes from Boyz N the Hood. The reason I am so surprised is because Boyz N the Hood came out five years before this movie. I am sure that there were a lot of movies in between that were also spoofed in Don't Be a Menace.
This movie is basically stereotype after stereotype after stereotype the whole way through. People are being shot constantly, everyone seems to have a gun on their person, there is a constant pursuit of sex, grandma smokes weed and curses like everyone else and I think someone is drinking a 40oz in literally every scene. It's bad. The main point of movies like this being on the list is it shows how dominate movies such as Boyz N the Hood are, that movie was so culturally significant a movie that is a spoof of it was popularized five years later.
The social commentary of this movie is not necessarily honest, it is crude. Jokes are made about sexuality about blacks, about alcoholic and drug habits about blacks and about black-on-black violence. None of those topics are particularly funny, until they are made fun of. The extent of these topics has to reach critical mass before jokes about them become mainstream, to there is also some cultural significance there. Next on the list is A Time to Kill
Wow. I had no idea. I knew that this movie was a satire, and it was a blaxploitation movie, but I hit the jackpot. This movie is a spoof of Boyz N the Hood. Literally a spoof of the movie I just watched. If you can call it a plot, it is basically the same as the plot in Boyz N the Hood. A lot of the scenes are just making fun of the scenes from Boyz N the Hood. The reason I am so surprised is because Boyz N the Hood came out five years before this movie. I am sure that there were a lot of movies in between that were also spoofed in Don't Be a Menace.
This movie is basically stereotype after stereotype after stereotype the whole way through. People are being shot constantly, everyone seems to have a gun on their person, there is a constant pursuit of sex, grandma smokes weed and curses like everyone else and I think someone is drinking a 40oz in literally every scene. It's bad. The main point of movies like this being on the list is it shows how dominate movies such as Boyz N the Hood are, that movie was so culturally significant a movie that is a spoof of it was popularized five years later.
The social commentary of this movie is not necessarily honest, it is crude. Jokes are made about sexuality about blacks, about alcoholic and drug habits about blacks and about black-on-black violence. None of those topics are particularly funny, until they are made fun of. The extent of these topics has to reach critical mass before jokes about them become mainstream, to there is also some cultural significance there. Next on the list is A Time to Kill
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