Saturday, May 27, 2006
Ozwald Boateng coming to a TV Screen near you!
Oh, this made me YELP in public... I was walking along Broadway, when my boyfriend yelled, 'hey! Check out the poster on the bus! Its Ozwald Boateng!' (or something like that). And low and behold, it was the beautiful man himself! I screamed like a teenage girl. Really, I did. Well, it was more like a yelp. I helped because first of all, its always nice seeing the Boateng's face, and second of all, seeing a Ghanaian surname on a bus (and one that is shared by my cousin...), doesn't happen very often, so I was kinda shocked... After three buses adorned with his beautiful face passed, we were able to ascertain that he has a new program, which will be broadcast on The Sundance Channel, called House of Boateng. It starts on June 22 for people in the US, or who have access to the Sundance Channel, and looks like it will make interesting viewing - if not, well, at least we can all get to see his lovely face.
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
You give me the sweetest taboo...?: Love and Race in ‘Something New’ with Sanaa Lathan and Simon Baker
Something New is a great film! You heard me! That’s right - I said it! The GB LOVED the co called chick flick, which came out on DVD this month. Yes, Blair Underwood and Simon Baker are (mighty) pleasant on the eye, but the films exploration of a taboo subject was really moving (even with its corny parts). The film is perceptive, honest and smart where it counts. And ow many films are there that come from a Black woman’s perspective? Not many. How many of them deal with inter racial relationships honestly, apart from Spike Lee's Jungle Fever? Don’t even try to tell me about ‘Guess Who?’ Starring Ashton Kutcher…
Something New is about an African American business-woman, Kenya McQueen (played by Sanaa Lathan) who is looking for her Ideal Black Man (played by the one and only Blair Underwood). The thing is, she ends up falling fo a (whisper...) White Man (played by Simon Baker).
The issue of inter-racial relationships, especially between a black woman and a white man, is a touchy one for a lot of people. Positive images of black people at work, play or in love are rarely seen in the world’s media. And this, along with the fact that there has never been an honest public discussion on the legacy of racism, slavery or colonialism means that the issue of inter-racial dating is divisive. People who date or marry someone outside of their race are more often than not judged as somehow rejecting themselves, rather than accepting love. But, as Alfre Woodard, who stars in the film points out, black women in mixed relationships are often conflicted and hypersensitive to the judgments of wider society. Its not surprising, then, that some people claim that Something New advocates rejecting the brotha, no matter how perfect he is (the Ideal Black Man), for ‘The White Guy’ who plants flowers for a living.
But that isn’t what the film does – and The GB wouldn’t be raving about the film if it did. The film advocates taking a chance at real happiness and love by opening up, or ‘Letting Go and Letting Flow’, as Kenya and her girls (all rich, attractive, professional women, looking for their Ideal Black Man) say. And letting go isn’t chasing the hot, white dude for the sake of it – for a different flavor. ‘Letting Go and Letting Flow’ is allowing yourself to follow where your heart takes you, no matter how much that might scare you, rather than follow some socially prescribed list to make others happy. Kenya’s friend, Cheryl, who is a judge (played by Wendy R Robinson), ‘Lets go…’ and finds happiness with not an Ideal Professional Man, but with a cook, Walter (played by Mike Epps). Kenya’s heart takes her to a more controversial place – outside of her race.
Something New intelligently explores the difficulties and responsibilities that come with being in an inter-racial relationship. From learning to accept that that the person you love doesn’t LOOK like the KIND of person you had in mind, to dealing with the times when you just don’t get each others cultural code or historical perspective. Brian has no idea about the Black Tax; black people working twice as hard to prove themselves, and the couple clash after Brian says he needs a ‘night off’ from talking about race, just when Kenya, who was smarting from ill treatment at the hand of an ignorant client, needs a shoulder to cry on. Kenya voices her frustration at his attitude, by pointing out that when you are black, you cant get a night off from talking about race, because you are always having to protect yourself from members of the old (white) boys club have a problem with your skin color.
In the end, the film’s message is - because of our inability to talk about race in an honest way - brave. And the message is this: Follow you heart. It may be scary, it may get ugly at times, but if you know that is where happiness lies, even if that path wasn’t in your plan, take it. And be brave enough to not worry about what others say. Life will always get in your way and mess your isht up.
What has also moved me is the response to the film. Despite the relative lack of publicity, the film did OK at the box office; it was in the top ten in its first week and made around $11 million. But this pales in light of the qualitative impact the film has had. It has given many black women license to speak out about their experiences in the dating world – and Something New has also told their side of the dating story. As one woman wrote:
‘I saw this movie twice because I saw so much of the main character in myself. It was eerie…being an African-American woman who has never dated a white man before, I can appreciate the film's focus… People just don't understand the hell a sistah will get if she dates and marries a white man--hell from her parents, from her friends/community, from his parents and family, not to mention, society in general.’
Something New has clearly struck a real chord, it would be a real shame if the rest of America continued to ignored the voices…
And read this interesting review, by Chris Utley (courtesy of 3BlackChicks Review)
Something New is about an African American business-woman, Kenya McQueen (played by Sanaa Lathan) who is looking for her Ideal Black Man (played by the one and only Blair Underwood). The thing is, she ends up falling fo a (whisper...) White Man (played by Simon Baker).
The issue of inter-racial relationships, especially between a black woman and a white man, is a touchy one for a lot of people. Positive images of black people at work, play or in love are rarely seen in the world’s media. And this, along with the fact that there has never been an honest public discussion on the legacy of racism, slavery or colonialism means that the issue of inter-racial dating is divisive. People who date or marry someone outside of their race are more often than not judged as somehow rejecting themselves, rather than accepting love. But, as Alfre Woodard, who stars in the film points out, black women in mixed relationships are often conflicted and hypersensitive to the judgments of wider society. Its not surprising, then, that some people claim that Something New advocates rejecting the brotha, no matter how perfect he is (the Ideal Black Man), for ‘The White Guy’ who plants flowers for a living.
But that isn’t what the film does – and The GB wouldn’t be raving about the film if it did. The film advocates taking a chance at real happiness and love by opening up, or ‘Letting Go and Letting Flow’, as Kenya and her girls (all rich, attractive, professional women, looking for their Ideal Black Man) say. And letting go isn’t chasing the hot, white dude for the sake of it – for a different flavor. ‘Letting Go and Letting Flow’ is allowing yourself to follow where your heart takes you, no matter how much that might scare you, rather than follow some socially prescribed list to make others happy. Kenya’s friend, Cheryl, who is a judge (played by Wendy R Robinson), ‘Lets go…’ and finds happiness with not an Ideal Professional Man, but with a cook, Walter (played by Mike Epps). Kenya’s heart takes her to a more controversial place – outside of her race.
Something New intelligently explores the difficulties and responsibilities that come with being in an inter-racial relationship. From learning to accept that that the person you love doesn’t LOOK like the KIND of person you had in mind, to dealing with the times when you just don’t get each others cultural code or historical perspective. Brian has no idea about the Black Tax; black people working twice as hard to prove themselves, and the couple clash after Brian says he needs a ‘night off’ from talking about race, just when Kenya, who was smarting from ill treatment at the hand of an ignorant client, needs a shoulder to cry on. Kenya voices her frustration at his attitude, by pointing out that when you are black, you cant get a night off from talking about race, because you are always having to protect yourself from members of the old (white) boys club have a problem with your skin color.
In the end, the film’s message is - because of our inability to talk about race in an honest way - brave. And the message is this: Follow you heart. It may be scary, it may get ugly at times, but if you know that is where happiness lies, even if that path wasn’t in your plan, take it. And be brave enough to not worry about what others say. Life will always get in your way and mess your isht up.
What has also moved me is the response to the film. Despite the relative lack of publicity, the film did OK at the box office; it was in the top ten in its first week and made around $11 million. But this pales in light of the qualitative impact the film has had. It has given many black women license to speak out about their experiences in the dating world – and Something New has also told their side of the dating story. As one woman wrote:
‘I saw this movie twice because I saw so much of the main character in myself. It was eerie…being an African-American woman who has never dated a white man before, I can appreciate the film's focus… People just don't understand the hell a sistah will get if she dates and marries a white man--hell from her parents, from her friends/community, from his parents and family, not to mention, society in general.’
Something New has clearly struck a real chord, it would be a real shame if the rest of America continued to ignored the voices…
And read this interesting review, by Chris Utley (courtesy of 3BlackChicks Review)
Monday, May 22, 2006
Dont Panic!
We were gone for a few weeks, and then you couldn'd find us - we just took a short hiaitus, while some behind the scenes changes were made - and some visits to best friends living in Brazil were made, and some visits from close friends and family were made... you know that kind of thing.
But we are back, and there is plenty we want to talk about. Starting off with Brazil. One of the best places GB has been to. Ever. But that is a separate blog post. And we want to talk about WHY it is that people always take you for granted if you have a little more patience than others, huh?! And we will talk about the immigration madness in the US. First off, as a wise man once told me;The first question in this whole discussion on immigration needs to be, 'what tribe are you from?' If you cant answer that question, then you need to stop right there. Its bad enough that the debate on the TV has narrowed from a shouting match between Latinos, (who have been stereotyped as 'job stealing Mexicans' - seriously, its been very disturbing to watch), right wing men, to powerful republican men. Everyone else has been left out of the public discussion - and Americans who are NATIVE to this land have not even been invited to the table!
A highly emotional time for all involved. But look, lets not get started just yet. GB will return with more ranting and observations soon. Stay posted.
But we are back, and there is plenty we want to talk about. Starting off with Brazil. One of the best places GB has been to. Ever. But that is a separate blog post. And we want to talk about WHY it is that people always take you for granted if you have a little more patience than others, huh?! And we will talk about the immigration madness in the US. First off, as a wise man once told me;The first question in this whole discussion on immigration needs to be, 'what tribe are you from?' If you cant answer that question, then you need to stop right there. Its bad enough that the debate on the TV has narrowed from a shouting match between Latinos, (who have been stereotyped as 'job stealing Mexicans' - seriously, its been very disturbing to watch), right wing men, to powerful republican men. Everyone else has been left out of the public discussion - and Americans who are NATIVE to this land have not even been invited to the table!
A highly emotional time for all involved. But look, lets not get started just yet. GB will return with more ranting and observations soon. Stay posted.
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