This is just my opinion, and I don't mean no harm (to borrow a phrase from my grandma), but I am trying to understand why some smart black folks got all bent out of shape over the movie The Help.
Disclosures: I have not read the book, nor have I seen the movie. In all likelihood, I probably will not read the book before I see the movie (and knowing me, I may not make it to see the movie until it comes out on cable). Nevertheless, I detect a lot of knee-jerk hateration going on here, and that has me scratching my head.
I read an open letter last week written by the National Director of the Association of Black Women Historians. Two years ago when I was still teaching African American history, I may have looked into joining this austere group, despite the fact that I was just a lawyer teaching history as an adjunct at an online university. If I were to go back into the classroom, there is a chance that I would still want to affiliate with these women because, well that is what one does--join academic/professional organizations in order to meet other academics and/or professionals. I can only imagine that the letter now making the internet rounds was written after an especially intense meeting of these academic professionals.
Here is a link to their historically-grounded letter of protest. And here is my response:
Le siiiiiiiiiggggggghhhhhhh.................................
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Tuesday, August 09, 2011
Men and Shoes
I was tempted to write this on the BBW blog, and I might post it there later if I think the topic warrants more debate...
It seems ironic to me that in the so-called post-racial Age of Obama, the more we try to avoid discussions of race, the more we discuss race. The third rail of intra-racial discussions is inter-racial relationships, with the first rail currently being occupied by natural hair and the second rail dominated by homosexuality (gay marriage, the down-low, Bishop Eddie Long, etc). I could probably swap one of those issues for the continued relevancy of hip hop, but that does not get debated endlessly anymore since we all know that hip hop is dead.
So, I stick with my original choices. And on the subject of interracial relationships (IRR), these conversations are the most volatile and explosive because unlike discussions of homosexuality (which tend to boil down to old vs. young attitudes about tolerance) and natural hair (which tend to reflect personal preferences) the opinions of IRR are all over the map. Even IR friendships between women can be polarizing. At least gay couples are visible on TV and a black woman can rock a 'fro and not be regarded as crazy. But just mention IR dating and everybody has an opinion.
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal rehashes a lot of the same facts about the plight of single black women--over-educated, over-achieving and over-represented in the spinster pool. The author's fix is for black women to diversify their dating portfolios as opposed to over-investing in one shrinking asset group of men. The husband, who happens to be Puerto Rican, has been saying this to me for years, as if I have a platform from which to broadcast his advice to my single sistren... Of course, I don't totally disagree that IR dating would at the very least, provide some women with more options.
But marriage is not really a numbers game. It is about choices, and the problem is not just the number of options one has, but also the quality of the choices one makes. Or put another way, there are a range of choices when buying shoes from Payless, Zappos, DSW and Lord & Taylor (or any upscale department store), but the best choice will depend on what you think you'll need. Payless is good for shoes in a pinch (no long-term commitment); Zappos is good for unlimited on-demand options (internet dating); DSW is good for just looking and maybe finding a cute shoe or two (casual dating with benefits); and L&T is good for finding exactly what you need but at a higher price (long-term investment). There is nothing wrong with shopping at Payless in a pinch, and it is not always practical to shop at the high-end department store. You might find exactly what you wanted on Zappos or you might find an unexpected surprise at DSW. Or you might not find anything...that day.
This is just my married woman advice...that women need to approach dating like shoe shopping. Too bad my words of wisdom do not have the same traction in the real world as the advice offered by a thrice-married male comedian, a male college professor, and the disgruntled blue-collar brothers who vent in the comments sections of online articles. In a sense, we are all saying the same thing--that women need to exercise more options. Single women who want to increase the odds of finding Mr. Right need to shop at a variety of different stores to try on more shoes.
It seems ironic to me that in the so-called post-racial Age of Obama, the more we try to avoid discussions of race, the more we discuss race. The third rail of intra-racial discussions is inter-racial relationships, with the first rail currently being occupied by natural hair and the second rail dominated by homosexuality (gay marriage, the down-low, Bishop Eddie Long, etc). I could probably swap one of those issues for the continued relevancy of hip hop, but that does not get debated endlessly anymore since we all know that hip hop is dead.
So, I stick with my original choices. And on the subject of interracial relationships (IRR), these conversations are the most volatile and explosive because unlike discussions of homosexuality (which tend to boil down to old vs. young attitudes about tolerance) and natural hair (which tend to reflect personal preferences) the opinions of IRR are all over the map. Even IR friendships between women can be polarizing. At least gay couples are visible on TV and a black woman can rock a 'fro and not be regarded as crazy. But just mention IR dating and everybody has an opinion.
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal rehashes a lot of the same facts about the plight of single black women--over-educated, over-achieving and over-represented in the spinster pool. The author's fix is for black women to diversify their dating portfolios as opposed to over-investing in one shrinking asset group of men. The husband, who happens to be Puerto Rican, has been saying this to me for years, as if I have a platform from which to broadcast his advice to my single sistren... Of course, I don't totally disagree that IR dating would at the very least, provide some women with more options.
But marriage is not really a numbers game. It is about choices, and the problem is not just the number of options one has, but also the quality of the choices one makes. Or put another way, there are a range of choices when buying shoes from Payless, Zappos, DSW and Lord & Taylor (or any upscale department store), but the best choice will depend on what you think you'll need. Payless is good for shoes in a pinch (no long-term commitment); Zappos is good for unlimited on-demand options (internet dating); DSW is good for just looking and maybe finding a cute shoe or two (casual dating with benefits); and L&T is good for finding exactly what you need but at a higher price (long-term investment). There is nothing wrong with shopping at Payless in a pinch, and it is not always practical to shop at the high-end department store. You might find exactly what you wanted on Zappos or you might find an unexpected surprise at DSW. Or you might not find anything...that day.
This is just my married woman advice...that women need to approach dating like shoe shopping. Too bad my words of wisdom do not have the same traction in the real world as the advice offered by a thrice-married male comedian, a male college professor, and the disgruntled blue-collar brothers who vent in the comments sections of online articles. In a sense, we are all saying the same thing--that women need to exercise more options. Single women who want to increase the odds of finding Mr. Right need to shop at a variety of different stores to try on more shoes.
Monday, August 08, 2011
The Rope-A-Dope
Dear President Obama,
My husband is worried, but I am not as worried, and overall, this worries me. If you can make sense of that sentence, then you probably are a genius.
But the problem with genius sometimes is that it exists in rarified ivory towers where it is only recognized by people with similar gifts. For the rest of us mere mortals, we can respect it from afar...but we never get close enough to it to really appreciate its beauty.
And this is where I think we are--at a moment where only those people who get to bask in the aura of your genius truly understand. The rest of us are baffled.
It was your 50th birthday last week, and all you got was a debt ceiling increase wrapped in oily newspaper. Then the nation's credit got downgraded and the stock market tanked. Could those have been the worse presents since Homer's bowling ball?
My husband is worried, but I am not as worried, and overall, this worries me. If you can make sense of that sentence, then you probably are a genius.
But the problem with genius sometimes is that it exists in rarified ivory towers where it is only recognized by people with similar gifts. For the rest of us mere mortals, we can respect it from afar...but we never get close enough to it to really appreciate its beauty.
And this is where I think we are--at a moment where only those people who get to bask in the aura of your genius truly understand. The rest of us are baffled.
It was your 50th birthday last week, and all you got was a debt ceiling increase wrapped in oily newspaper. Then the nation's credit got downgraded and the stock market tanked. Could those have been the worse presents since Homer's bowling ball?
Monday, August 01, 2011
Reassessing Spike Lee: Part II
It took me a week or so to return to this post, but picking up where I ended the last post, I wanted to weigh in on my reassessment of director Spike Lee and his early films. The impetus for this was the rotation of Lee films that have been airing on cable lately, which has given me a chance to see them again with older, more mature eyes.
Some background: I was a teenager when Lee's first major films were released (1986-1992). At first I just thought these were really good black movies. In college when I chose to critique these films (adding She's Gotta Have It, but not including Malcolm X) for my Images of Women in the Media class, these films were my exhibit A of black male chauvinism in Hollywood. My indictment of Lee's sexism was harsh--but I was a student at a women's college in the 90s...everybody was a sexist. Now some 20 years later, I regard these films as heralds of a renaissance of black film and Lee is undeniably the most exalted figure in the pantheon of black directors.
Of course, I still think Spike Lee is sexist and 20 years later, his gratuitous sex scenes and two-dimensional female characters sadden me. He should not shoulder the burden of uplifting black women on film, but he does deserve some blame for not creating a better model for subsequent filmmakers to emulate. The only film that breaks this mold is Crooklyn (but that was written by his sister Joie).
Spike Lee is also too outspoken for his own good, and in many ways, his off-screen arrogance over-shadows his nobler on-screen efforts. He gets a lot of attention for his high-profile dust-ups: Clint Eastwood, Spike TV, Debbie Allen, Reggie Miller, Charlton Heston, and of course, any team that plays against the New York Knicks. He came to the defense of Barry Bonds and has earned the ire of Jewish groups for some of his characters. And then there is Tyler Perry...
But it must be said that Spike Lee is a genius. A flawed, sexist, and arrogant genius.
Some background: I was a teenager when Lee's first major films were released (1986-1992). At first I just thought these were really good black movies. In college when I chose to critique these films (adding She's Gotta Have It, but not including Malcolm X) for my Images of Women in the Media class, these films were my exhibit A of black male chauvinism in Hollywood. My indictment of Lee's sexism was harsh--but I was a student at a women's college in the 90s...everybody was a sexist. Now some 20 years later, I regard these films as heralds of a renaissance of black film and Lee is undeniably the most exalted figure in the pantheon of black directors.
Of course, I still think Spike Lee is sexist and 20 years later, his gratuitous sex scenes and two-dimensional female characters sadden me. He should not shoulder the burden of uplifting black women on film, but he does deserve some blame for not creating a better model for subsequent filmmakers to emulate. The only film that breaks this mold is Crooklyn (but that was written by his sister Joie).
Spike Lee is also too outspoken for his own good, and in many ways, his off-screen arrogance over-shadows his nobler on-screen efforts. He gets a lot of attention for his high-profile dust-ups: Clint Eastwood, Spike TV, Debbie Allen, Reggie Miller, Charlton Heston, and of course, any team that plays against the New York Knicks. He came to the defense of Barry Bonds and has earned the ire of Jewish groups for some of his characters. And then there is Tyler Perry...
But it must be said that Spike Lee is a genius. A flawed, sexist, and arrogant genius.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Reassessing Spike Lee: Part I
For the last few weeks, Encore Indie has been airing old Spike Lee movies. It has been great to revisit some of the most iconic moments of Lee's classic films such as this one from Jungle Fever (1991):
And this one, also from Jungle Fever:
And who could forget this scene from Mo' Better Blues (1990):
Or this one:
You probably remember what happens in the very next scene (also classic and brilliant)...Another favorite film from Lee's 90's era output was Crooklyn (1994), which produced this nostalgic gem:
And I am ashamed to admit this, but I FINALLY saw all of Clockers (1995), a movie that I'll need to watch a few more times before I call any specific scene iconic.
By the way, these are not posted in any particular order, except maybe in the order of which scenes I think are most memorable (but not in order of which films I think are best). But I wanted to post these because they capture something unique about Spike Lee's creative genuis that has not been paralleled and because these scenes highlight why his very public beef with Tyler Perry is so timely. Check back for my analysis in Part II.
And this one, also from Jungle Fever:
And who could forget this scene from Mo' Better Blues (1990):
Or this one:
You probably remember what happens in the very next scene (also classic and brilliant)...Another favorite film from Lee's 90's era output was Crooklyn (1994), which produced this nostalgic gem:
And I am ashamed to admit this, but I FINALLY saw all of Clockers (1995), a movie that I'll need to watch a few more times before I call any specific scene iconic.
By the way, these are not posted in any particular order, except maybe in the order of which scenes I think are most memorable (but not in order of which films I think are best). But I wanted to post these because they capture something unique about Spike Lee's creative genuis that has not been paralleled and because these scenes highlight why his very public beef with Tyler Perry is so timely. Check back for my analysis in Part II.
Friday, July 08, 2011
What the World Needs Now...
Is not another list of things that annoy me, but I just can't help it! I've been on a roll at the BBW blog lately, and I feel as if I'm neglecting the Cafe. So here is my list of ten things that have been annoying me of late:
1. Old cartoon shows becoming live action movies - I watched the Smurfs, the Chipmunks, Fat Albert, He-Man, Inspector Gadget, The Tick, Underdog, and Scooby-Doo as a kid and I prefer them as cartoons where it made sense that a pot-smoking guy named Shaggy could communicate with his dog. It does not make sense in real life that a guy would adopt singing chipmunks or that a beagle would develop super powers (or that somehow Jason Lee would be associated with both of these craptastic movies).
2. TV Trials - This is not just about the Casey Anthony trial, but about televised court cases in general. Because the results of the Anthony, OJ, Michael Jackson, Phil Spector, Robert Blake, Anna Nicole Smith, Bill Clinton's impeachment and every other TV trial is pretty much going to disappoint if you were hoping for some type of public execution. These TV trials are so riveting because the prosecutors and the media are more focused on swaying the TV audience than they are at proving reasonable doubt to the 12 folks in the jury box. So if you want to see a slam dunk, can't lose trial, you need to go back to watching Perry Mason or Matlock reruns.
3. Contest shows - These are as old as TV, so my complaint is not that they exist, but that they seem to multiply like rabbits or tribbles. And there are more of these contests shows airing than scripted serials. If I see another show about dating, racing, weight-loss, singing, designing, cooking or modeling...
4. Awards Shows on MTV, BET, Vh1, or CMT - At some point, the awardees themselves are going to wonder what the heck that thing is on the mantle. These shows remind me of those soccer games where no one keeps score, but the sad truth is that everyone is NOT a winner. Maybe I am just annoyed because no one has offered me anything yet...
5. The Kardashians.
6. Twitter Beefs - Just acknowledging that such a thing exists seems childish, especially when you consider that it is a war of words waged in 140 characters or less. Worse, a few of the participants are grown a$$ folks with jobs who should know better (yeah I'm talking 'bout you Roland S. Martin)!
7. Hypersensitivity About President Obama - He's black. And a few folks in this country are not cool with that fact. And in a nation where we pride ourselves on the right to free speech, I say we let these fools say whatever the heck they want to say about him and the rest of us people of color. Maybe it will help to rid them of the ignorance once they spew it out and feel the backlash. And if their ignorance goes unchecked, well, I am not worried about the POTUS because the Secret Service are some pretty scary dudes.
8. The GOP Candidates for President - For the most part, I am ignoring them, but the two craziest and unavoidable declared candidates happen to be a Morehouse Man and a Foster Mom from Iowa/Minnesota. And the Democrats practice bad affirmative action? Yeah right!
9. Tavis Smily and Cornel West - This could possibly brand me as hypersensitive to the criticism about the POTUS, but I don't think so. I actually think there are some valid points of contention that these brothers have against the positions taken by the Obama Administration on certain issues. Dr. West's primary complaint appears to be that he could not secure a ticket for his mama to attend the Inauguration; Tavis' beef is that then-candidate Obama chose to announce his presidency in Illinois than attend the State of the Black Union Gabfest in 2007. Thus, the roots of discontent come from personal slights that have then been conflated into policy disagreements. OK, but guess what guys--I volunteered at the DC for Obama headquarters every Friday night during the month of October 2008 and I did not get an invitation to the inauguration or a job. I could be pissed; instead, I found something better to do with my energy...maybe you should do the same.
10. Obama - And this is where I prove that I am not hypersensitive to the President. Mr.Obama, please reveal the method to the madness before I lose hope. I read everyday where you appear to capitulate to the forces of evil that are holding the country hostage and I cannot help but to think that you are either the smartest man alive, or the most naive. Because I think I know better, I am going with the smartest man alive, but could you wink or clear your throat or send some other sign that you are still on our side? Thanks.
1. Old cartoon shows becoming live action movies - I watched the Smurfs, the Chipmunks, Fat Albert, He-Man, Inspector Gadget, The Tick, Underdog, and Scooby-Doo as a kid and I prefer them as cartoons where it made sense that a pot-smoking guy named Shaggy could communicate with his dog. It does not make sense in real life that a guy would adopt singing chipmunks or that a beagle would develop super powers (or that somehow Jason Lee would be associated with both of these craptastic movies).
2. TV Trials - This is not just about the Casey Anthony trial, but about televised court cases in general. Because the results of the Anthony, OJ, Michael Jackson, Phil Spector, Robert Blake, Anna Nicole Smith, Bill Clinton's impeachment and every other TV trial is pretty much going to disappoint if you were hoping for some type of public execution. These TV trials are so riveting because the prosecutors and the media are more focused on swaying the TV audience than they are at proving reasonable doubt to the 12 folks in the jury box. So if you want to see a slam dunk, can't lose trial, you need to go back to watching Perry Mason or Matlock reruns.
3. Contest shows - These are as old as TV, so my complaint is not that they exist, but that they seem to multiply like rabbits or tribbles. And there are more of these contests shows airing than scripted serials. If I see another show about dating, racing, weight-loss, singing, designing, cooking or modeling...
4. Awards Shows on MTV, BET, Vh1, or CMT - At some point, the awardees themselves are going to wonder what the heck that thing is on the mantle. These shows remind me of those soccer games where no one keeps score, but the sad truth is that everyone is NOT a winner. Maybe I am just annoyed because no one has offered me anything yet...
5. The Kardashians.
6. Twitter Beefs - Just acknowledging that such a thing exists seems childish, especially when you consider that it is a war of words waged in 140 characters or less. Worse, a few of the participants are grown a$$ folks with jobs who should know better (yeah I'm talking 'bout you Roland S. Martin)!
7. Hypersensitivity About President Obama - He's black. And a few folks in this country are not cool with that fact. And in a nation where we pride ourselves on the right to free speech, I say we let these fools say whatever the heck they want to say about him and the rest of us people of color. Maybe it will help to rid them of the ignorance once they spew it out and feel the backlash. And if their ignorance goes unchecked, well, I am not worried about the POTUS because the Secret Service are some pretty scary dudes.
8. The GOP Candidates for President - For the most part, I am ignoring them, but the two craziest and unavoidable declared candidates happen to be a Morehouse Man and a Foster Mom from Iowa/Minnesota. And the Democrats practice bad affirmative action? Yeah right!
9. Tavis Smily and Cornel West - This could possibly brand me as hypersensitive to the criticism about the POTUS, but I don't think so. I actually think there are some valid points of contention that these brothers have against the positions taken by the Obama Administration on certain issues. Dr. West's primary complaint appears to be that he could not secure a ticket for his mama to attend the Inauguration; Tavis' beef is that then-candidate Obama chose to announce his presidency in Illinois than attend the State of the Black Union Gabfest in 2007. Thus, the roots of discontent come from personal slights that have then been conflated into policy disagreements. OK, but guess what guys--I volunteered at the DC for Obama headquarters every Friday night during the month of October 2008 and I did not get an invitation to the inauguration or a job. I could be pissed; instead, I found something better to do with my energy...maybe you should do the same.
10. Obama - And this is where I prove that I am not hypersensitive to the President. Mr.Obama, please reveal the method to the madness before I lose hope. I read everyday where you appear to capitulate to the forces of evil that are holding the country hostage and I cannot help but to think that you are either the smartest man alive, or the most naive. Because I think I know better, I am going with the smartest man alive, but could you wink or clear your throat or send some other sign that you are still on our side? Thanks.
Monday, June 27, 2011
What Do We Expect?
So I did not watch the BET Awards...which is not that big of a deal since most of my Facebook friends posted live commentary while it aired. I spent a good portion of the morning reading their hilarious reactions.
And as I suspected, the universal conclusion was that the show was an entertaining hot mess! Which they all kept watching even after that fact became clear...
That is exactly why the BET Awards will always be a hot mess. It is why the now-defunct Source Awards were a hot mess. It is why Tyler Perry is a multi-gazillionaire.
Because we keep watching. So we need to ask ourselves, why do we keep watching?
I was up last night writing about bad black films for the BBW blog, and while that is another issue altogether, the point still is that if we truly want better entertainment options, then we need to cut out the crap. It is just like losing weight--you cannot say that you want to slim down to a size 6 one minute, but then the next minute finds you scarfing down a dozen Krispy Kremes.
So perhaps a better question is if we truly want these award shows (sitcoms, movies, music, etc.) to improve...or do we get far more enjoyment from criticizing them?
Several weeks ago I decided to stop watching the Housewives series on BRAVO, even though I find these shows highly entertaining. And maybe it was just a few weeks later that I listened to an interview on the radio with one of the former DC Housewives who gave her perspective on this genre. She discussed the new season of the Vh1 knock-off Basketball Wives and how it reinforced certain negative stereotypes about black women. Her own reason for appearing on a reality show was to counteract that imagery, but in the end, her show was cancelled because it lacked the same level of scandal and drama.
How do you spell I-R-O-N-I-C?
So, we really prefer do prefer the car crashes, the back-stabbing, the really bad fashion choices, and the overall sense that this is the best some of these folks can do. We want Kanye to throw a temper tantrum about not winning whatever award he was not even in the running to win. We hope that a third of the female performers will look like hookers and that half of the male performers will look like they were just released from Rikers. We expect that the seven-second delay will be absolutely imperative because someone will drop an f-bomb or two during an acceptance speech wherein they will also happen to thank Jesus. We know that half these folks can't sing.
If we really wanted a good clean awards show, we would watch the Kennedy Center Honors.
In the end, BET is just doing what every other business does when it comes to promoting its products:
And as I suspected, the universal conclusion was that the show was an entertaining hot mess! Which they all kept watching even after that fact became clear...
That is exactly why the BET Awards will always be a hot mess. It is why the now-defunct Source Awards were a hot mess. It is why Tyler Perry is a multi-gazillionaire.
Because we keep watching. So we need to ask ourselves, why do we keep watching?
I was up last night writing about bad black films for the BBW blog, and while that is another issue altogether, the point still is that if we truly want better entertainment options, then we need to cut out the crap. It is just like losing weight--you cannot say that you want to slim down to a size 6 one minute, but then the next minute finds you scarfing down a dozen Krispy Kremes.
So perhaps a better question is if we truly want these award shows (sitcoms, movies, music, etc.) to improve...or do we get far more enjoyment from criticizing them?
Several weeks ago I decided to stop watching the Housewives series on BRAVO, even though I find these shows highly entertaining. And maybe it was just a few weeks later that I listened to an interview on the radio with one of the former DC Housewives who gave her perspective on this genre. She discussed the new season of the Vh1 knock-off Basketball Wives and how it reinforced certain negative stereotypes about black women. Her own reason for appearing on a reality show was to counteract that imagery, but in the end, her show was cancelled because it lacked the same level of scandal and drama.
How do you spell I-R-O-N-I-C?
So, we really prefer do prefer the car crashes, the back-stabbing, the really bad fashion choices, and the overall sense that this is the best some of these folks can do. We want Kanye to throw a temper tantrum about not winning whatever award he was not even in the running to win. We hope that a third of the female performers will look like hookers and that half of the male performers will look like they were just released from Rikers. We expect that the seven-second delay will be absolutely imperative because someone will drop an f-bomb or two during an acceptance speech wherein they will also happen to thank Jesus. We know that half these folks can't sing.
If we really wanted a good clean awards show, we would watch the Kennedy Center Honors.
In the end, BET is just doing what every other business does when it comes to promoting its products:
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