Friday, February 19, 2010

Um...About these Black HWD Game Changers...Moviefone

Hmm...
Visit the link above. Please.
I'm curious about what criteria Moviefone is basing this upon. From what I gather, the moral of the story is this: 'Precious' is one of those films that "throws a harsh light on ghetto life"...
Before it, there haven't been any Black movies worth watching since 'Hoop Dreams' in 1994. This makes me flinch like I do when I hear about white kids throwing 'hood parties.'
Problems.
This actually reminds me of a scene from 'The Cookout' (yes...I saw 'The Cookout.' What. On BET...), when Todd Anderson, is getting interviewed about the hype surrounding the likelihood of his first-draft pick status.
The Black interviewer keeps pressing him:
"Now, Todd, you were raised...in the ghetto, the
'hood...dragged up in the streets...after your father
abandoned you and your mother--"
And he cuts her off, "My dad never left. He's right here!
This is my dad."
She jumps back in:
"No government cheese??? No welfare???"
Because without which, there's no "genuine" Black story.
I forget HWD's capacity for oversimplification. Because this is less about the absence of 'dignified', 'bourgeois,' 'content' Black folk on the big screen, and more about the fact of: oversimplification. Can we at least talk about themes of hyper-surveillance in 'Boyz N the Hood'?
*sighs...cue Paul Mooney [N-word spoiler!]: "everybody wanna be..." and I'll add to that, "see a [Negro bwahahahaha!!]", but they don't really want to be/see a Negro.


Chappelle's Show

Ask a Black Dude - Walking
http://www.comedycentral.com/
Buy Chappelle's Show DVDsBlack ComedyTrue Hollywood Story

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