Most Important Black Films – #6 Coming to America
Debatably the most popular black film of all time, Coming to America is the story of Prince Akeem, who, in lieu of his arranged marriage as the Prince of Zumunda, elects to go to Queens in search of true love. On to the tale of the tape…
Relevance: While we live in a ‘post-racial’ America (cough, cough), it’s hard to imagine the biggest black movie star today (Will?) getting this movie greenlit and made the way it was made. LOOK AT THIS CAST LIST: Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones, John Amos, Madge Sinclair, Samuel L. Jackson, Eriq LaSalle, Cuba Gooding Jr., Garcelle Beauvis, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Ruben Santiago-Hudson (you may not automatically remember who they were in the film, but trust me, they were all in there). That cast list is symbolic of the one word I would use to describe this film: loaded.
Legacy: Again, impossible to pick one thing. People give The Nutty Professor credit for this, but every fan of this film knows Eddie originated his ‘playing multiple characters in one scene’ routine with the barbershop here. I believe the Very Smart Brothas made this point before I did, but this is easily the most quotable black film of all time, if not the most popular. “My name is Peaches, and I’m the best…” You know the rest. Does that even break the top 10 of the best lines from this film?
Craft: Film geek time. For the million and one jokes we could spend all day quoting back and forth, the reason this film endures (in my humble opinion) is because it is a genuinely good romantic comedy. That’s the heart of it. Without that, you’ve still got a really funny film but not an all time classic. I know Shari Headley was one of my earliest crushes and started me on the path of favoring the cute girl with a head on her shoulders over the sexpot with wind blowing between the ears (and I know through conversation I wasn’t the only brotha who felt like that). Even the throwaway ‘Trading Places’ joke was a very nice homage for Eddie Murphy fans (would they even let the joke slide in these days? Everything is so corporate). I’m getting off track but John Landis (also the director of Thriller) was/is a hell of a director.
Crossover: I don’t know how to fully explain this to a generation who only knows Eddie Murphy through marginal family films, but he was THE MAN in the 80s. The Man! And a big part of that was because of Saturday Night Live; he was a massive crossover success before this film (and in fact certainly helped it get made).
Apollo: Soul Glo and the jheri-curled stained couch? A little. “She’s your Queen to Be?” Somewhat. Me and those close to me live by a Code. Among the rules of that Code is this: “Don’t make your homies look bad.” But there are exceptions to the rule of course. In our first year in L.A. me and my roommate at the time agreed that if we were on some studio lot, and Eriq LaSalle threw a milkshake on one of us and sped off in his luxury car, there would be no fault if the other cat fell out laughing. That (in my humble opinion) is one of the best ‘Apollo’ moments in any movie (and some of you may not think that’s the best Apollo moment in this movie).
The top 5 films kicks off with a film that was as prestigious as it was popular. Until then, this is Malik ‘Sexual Chocolate’ Aziz signing out.
“Sexual Chocolate.”
SEXUAL CHOCOLATE!!!!
(dropping keyboard as I stare at the screen…)
(pointing at the screen and exiting stage left…)
Most Important Black TV Shows – #6 Oprah
Yup, time to break out the big guns. The Oprah Winfrey Show has been a daytime staple for over twenty years, its host/star now on a first name only basis across the world. Oprah doesn’t really need a huge introduction, does she? Let’s move to the tale of the tape…
Relevance: While her detractors will still at times refer to her as “America’s Mammy”, there can be no argument that this black woman through her show has made a connection with her generation/her audience that could not possibly have been predicted before (because there was no precedent in daytime television).
Legacy: The Book Club. Oprah’s Favorite Things. Dr. Phil. O Magazine. OWN. And those are just the off shoots from the show!
Craft: When you’ve been doing it as long as Oprah has, people pick up the patterns and start parodying you. The “Very Special” interviews, the ‘Relationship” shows, even her speech/vocal elements. It is still essentially a talk show so there’s not as much to pick apart craft-wise, but at this point it is a smooth, polished machine.
Crossover: Not going to dignify this category with a response…
Apollo: I guess the Tom Cruise episode is the most ‘Wow’ episode ever, but before there was YouTube I’d say the craziest thing Oprah herself ever did was wheel out a wagon of fat to show how much weight she lost (yeah you have to be a certain age to remember that one). It’s not as funny, but at the time it was a career and show defining moment.
The top 5 starts next month with another show that’s still on the air…
The Greatest Hater Movie of All Time
Father Vogler: It makes no difference. All men are equal in God’s eyes.
Salieri: [leans in mockingly] *Are* they?
The Hater lives by a simple credo: “If I can’t do it/have it, then you can’t it either.” For my money, no film has ever, or will ever come close to capturing the Hater in all his glory than Amadeus. The basic story is as familiar as Cain and Abel, but in case you haven’t seen this film: after attempting suicide, former court composer Salieri confesses to his role in destroying his one time friend, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
The beauty of the Hate (as portrayed in this film) is that through Salieri, you truly see Hate in all its forms. Initially as admiration (Salieri calls Amadeus his idol as a child and prayed to God to be like him); until it inevitably turns into jealousy in all its various forms. First a little anger (Amadeus is so effortless and flippant in his God given talents that it irritates Salieri who busts his ass to be average), then heartbreak (Amadeus sleeps with a woman Salieri never messed with but put on a pedestal), then petty revenge (in the Director’s Cut, Salieri tries to pull the ‘Favor for a Favor’ move with Amadeus’ wife. And she was going to do it for her husband, but in a final moment of consciousness, Salieri backs out. He never wanted the goods, it was all about trying to make Amadeus see ’how it feels’.) The next scene is chilling everytime I watch it. Salieri takes his crucifix and puts in the burning fireplace, as he says the Hater’s Prayer to God:
From now on we are enemies, You and I. Because You choose for Your instrument a boastful, lustful, smutty, infantile boy and give me for reward only the ability to recognize the incarnation. Because You are unjust, unfair, unkind, I will block You, I swear it. I will hinder and harm Your creature on earth as far as I am able.
The rest of the film is a scary textbook in Haterism. Salieri makes himself Amadeus’ most trusted confidant, all the while blocking every job offer, spreading completely made up rumors and ruining Amadeus’ reputation every chance he got. The coup de gras of Salieri’s plan was to get Amadeus to write a Requiem, kill him, then claim it as his own so people would acknowledge he’s been touched by ‘greatness’. Amadeus’ wife returns while he’s on his deathbed, putting an end to Salieri’s perfect plan (needless to say she’s not remotely happy that, of all people ‘this dude’ is the man who happens to be watching over her husband at his weakest point). But the damage has been done and Amadeus dies at a young age.
Salieri lives for another 30 years, but as he himself notes, he’s watched his own legacy disappear while in death the legend of Amadeus grows into immortality. Salieri (insane?) ends up ‘forgiving’ the Father who came to hear his confession; Salieri considers himself the ‘patron saint of mediocrity’.
If you couldn’t tell by reading this, Amadeus is easily one of my 10 favorite films. It swept through the Oscars the year it came out; Best Picture, Best Actor (character actor F. Murray Abraham as Salieri), Best Adapted Screenplay. Based on what I’ve read, the real Salieri and Amadeus were actually good friends, but that’s not very dramatic is it?
Most Important Black TV Shows – #7 Eyes on the Prize
Eyes on the Prize was a miniseries broadcast on PBS that explored the Civil Rights movement from the mid fifties to the mid eighties. It is widely considered to be one of the best nonfiction works regarding black history ever produced.
On to the tale of the tape…
Relevance: From an ambition stand point alone, to pitch any project by saying “We’re going to attempt to capture the essence of the Civil Rights Movement” is a nearly impossible task. Among the many things that Eyes on the Prize got right was stressing that the strides made in ’the Struggle’ were not the result of any one or two men but by an large, diverse group of people who are working toward a common goal.
Legacy: I don’t know if this is still shown every Black History Month in public schools across the country, (which is how I was introduced to it), but I will speak to two more recent documentaries that follow in this series’ footsteps. For the various criticisms leveled at Spike Lee and his later fiction work, Four Little Girls and When the Levees Broke are two of the best films he’s ever done.
Craft: There’s no way to factually prove this of course, but it’s widely believed that the rise of television (specifically the news) went a long way in helping end Jim Crow in the South. It’s one thing to read about civil unrest in the morning newspaper, it’s a completely different story to see people getting ran down with fire hoses and attacked by police dogs. If you’ve somehow never seen this footage, then you need to rent this series.
Crossover: The series was nominated for Oscars and Emmys, and won Peabody and Television Critic Awards. Nuff said.
Apollo: Like other works that deal with the Civil Rights Movement, the ‘Apollo’ factor is somewhat muted since, at least with the nonfiction works, these things really happened. I’m not the ‘knock you over the head with my message’ type, but in this case I will make the connection between Eyes on the Prize and this Most Important Black Film/TV Show countdown: know your history.
The countdown continues next month with another historic show…
Most Important Black Films – #7 Sweet Sweetback’s Badasssssss Song
The film that literally starts the discussion of modern black filmmaking, Sweet Sweetback on its most basic level is the story of one brotha on the run from the police. If you know anything about black folks, our history, and our paranoia, you can easily insert the statement/joke, “Well, that’s a movie!” and be done with it right there. But I’ll go a little deeper. On to the tale of the tape…
Relevance: It was the late 60s/early 70s. JFK and RFK had been shot down, Dr. King had been shot down, Malcolm had been shot down. The era of liberal optimism had come to a violent end. Out of this climate came Melvin Van Peebles, who did some work here and there, but had a desire to do this story that spoke to the ‘brothas on the street.’ Needless to say, funding (or anything else) didn’t come falling out of the sky for this one. So piece by piece he put it together (with a little help on the back end from young Bill Cosby) and this film was born. When it opened it was given a well deserved X rating and barely screened. But when it found its audience it found it. Hollywood caught wind of the idea that ‘Hey, we can make dirt cheap movies for black audiences and easily make a profit” and the blaxploitation era was officially born. I’m not going to get on my soapbox other than to say that lesson about making cheap films for black audiences has been remembered and forgotten at least three times in my very short lifetime. Such is the Business (and life). Moving on…
Legacy: There’s the whole creating a 70s subgenre thing, but the best legacy for this movie was the film Badass!, written and directed by Melvin’s son Mario. More than a tribute really, the film (which doesn’t hide the fact that Melvin stuck his young son in one of the original film’s most notorious sex scenes) is very solid in its own regard, and gives a great insight on how insane it was to get this film made (and the struggle of getting any independent film made truth be told). Worthwhile viewing even if you’ve never seen the original.
Craft: Sweet Sweetback is not in any sense of the word a ‘traditional’ film, so know that going in if you’re going to check it out for the first time. I’ll award the points for this category to the group that did the soundtrack for the film. A little outfit known as Earth, Wind and Fire. Perhaps you’ve heard of them?
Crossover: Business wise absolutely. Hollywood took notice and Shaft, Superfly, Foxy Brown, Dolemite and countless others took their turns portraying the ‘Black Superman/Superwoman/Anti-Hero’. But cross over audience wise? Ehh… Put it like this: this was said to be Huey P. Newton’s favorite film, so much so that it was required viewing for the Black Panther Party. So yeah…
Apollo: Absolutely; like I said, it earned its X rating. A question I’ve often been asked over the years is ‘How do you simulate some of the more graphic sex scenes’ that you see in movie X or Y? Well, it’s been said that there wasn’t any ’simulation’ in this movie. And um, guess how the title character earned his name? Yup…
The film countdown continues next month with probably the most quotable black film of all time…
Dancing Machine
With Halloween around the corner, a local radio station in L.A. is trying to break the world record for the biggest Thriller danceoff ever. I’d heard it about for awhile but at this point I feel like I’ve done more than my part to pay tribute to his memory. I still don’t plan to see ‘This Is It’ in the theaters; I just don’t see how it can possibly measure up to the experience that was being at the memorial.
Anyway as I was driving home from work tonight, I hear them hyping up the final rehearsals for this event tomorrow. I don’t have anything too big planned for the evening, and I haven’t had the greatest week, so I’m mildly interested. Then they announce the rehearsals are going to be literally a few blocks from my pad. I mouth the words “Nah,” but the mischievous little boy grin is already creeping on my face. No way I can make the actual dance-off Saturday, but as far as tonight goes, why not? I talk a good game but it’s been awhile; how much of the Thriller routine do I still know (and more importantly, how much of it will my body still do)?
So I put on some comfortable clothes and head down to the dance studio. There were two ‘classes’ if you will; the beginners class for those who needed to be baby stepped into the basics of rhythm, and the smaller room for the people who knew the dance who just needed to be refreshed. I think we all knew which room I confidently walked into. So it’s me, a few other guys, and a lot of women who in their dress and attitude appear to be professionally trained dancers. No pressure.
So we go through the routine the first time, and it is a 6 minute routine. You know how in the video Mike is dancing with Ola Ray for the first five minutes? Yeah, we didn’t do that part. It was a 6 minute zombie routine. So the first couple times through, it was a lot of “Oh we’re busting out the zombie step here,” and “Man, was that move really that fast in the video?” Once we broke up the routine into smaller sections, well, it was over. I was throwing jazz hands like nobody’s business! Relearning that routine in two hours made me wonder how hard I could freak it if I had a couple days or weeks to rehearse it. Very, very, very much like step practice for those of you who came through the BGLO system as I did. I’m not in the best shape of my life, but I feel pretty damn good for my age (only my knees are begging to be iced).
Speaking of my age, I was 6 or 7 when that video came out? But I remember it clearly; I was actually scared to watch it by myself initially so my Pops watched it with me. My point is that I was there; I remember when it all went down with that video. Half the people learning the routine with me were high schoolers, a couple kids younger than that. There’s no way they lived through it; they’re experiencing this side of Michael as part of the history of pop culture and enjoying it. Honestly the vast majority of the people in there weren’t even black; there were Latinos, the head choreographer was this white girl, there were some Asians in there, it was the melting pot. MJ probably would have loved it. I heard him say in this interview once that entertainers can be more powerful than politicians, because we can bring people together. Well, if anybody’s art in my lifetime continues to do that, it’s his.
Anyway for those of you who are going to be out there tomorrow in the sun in your zombie outfits working it out, handle it! I’m sure I’ll see you on the news.
Dealing With Anger
Today was one of those days I was damn near frustrated to tears. I woke up knowing I would settle a personal matter in the afternoon…and it went stunningly downhill from there. Within a 45 minute time span, the personal affair imploded in my face, my car starting squealing as I drove it (and when is that ever a good sign), I lost someone I trusted professionally (through not fault of my own, things happen), I got jacked for $5 by a shady gas station attendant (the fact that I spent 5 minutes arguing with someone with a gold tooth would have sent me through the roof without the avalanche of negativity I was already dealing with), and I come home and catch an attitude from somebody because I wouldn’t get drawn into a beef they had with our super. I knew before I locked my door tonight there was absolutely no chance I was walking back out until tomorrow morning. I was somehow literally attracting drama for an hour straight.
For a brief period of time, I felt like I was a teenager again; not wanting to take my frustrations out on anybody else, but just needing an ear to vent to. Somewhere between now and then, I picked up on the fact that the first step toward calming myself down was…thinking that I wanted to calm myself down. So I did my Obi-Wan thing: deep exhales, prayer, meditation. Felt a little better. Then I picked up the phone. Called one of my Aces. Not even to vent really; I just know he’s one of those people who gets a kick out of seeing or hearing about it when I get so ticked off I do go into Eff You Mode (which is intentionally hard to get me to do, but I am human). As expected, he fell out laughing and soon had me laughing at the incompetence that had me so ticked off in the first place. One more phone call to the Mechanic to get his take on what I think is going on with my ride. He made the same assessment I made; the hardest part is still to come. The final assessment for me personally, and this is why I’m so much better with my anger now, is that yeah things are going to suck for a little while longer, but I’m not going to physically die. Suck it up, know people have my back, and deal with it.
Now only a few hours removed, it’s like all that BS never happened. I know some people think it’s one of my stronger attributes; some people who knew me as a kid can’t believe I’m not the walking, stomping hothead I used to be. Again, I’m human; the bigger issues you never forget and you don’t consciously walk into a bad situation. But I don’t like being angry, never did. Never in a million years did I have plans to be that old angry bitter dude nobody likes to hang around. Mad life didn’t turn out the way he planned for it to turn out. Ironically, I know a LOT of people who seem to have turned out like that, in my age bracket (early 30s). Life is so ironic at times.
But tomorrow is another day. Smile. Happy Friday!
Wow…
So…it’s been brought to my attention that this here blog is about to celebrate its 1st anniversary…
Have I been writing that long? Definitely doesn’t feel like it. I have a few ideas about things I may talk about it; I don’t want to repeat anything that’s going to come up again in the year end rundown the next month.
Open to suggestions if there’s anything you absolutely want me to address. If not, come back soon…
Pay It Forward Friday
Just as there are some of you who stop by on a regular basis to check out whatever is on my mind, I thought today I would pass on three stops on the Net that are always part of my daily routine. Let’s start with the obvious:
1. YouTube
My goodness, what was life like before YouTube? As I’m writing this, I realize I probably spend more time watching and researching clips I like than I do watching actual television shows these days. But why not? This is the age we live in, where more than ever we can pick and choose what content we want to support and watch. You can find old clips from reruns all day, personally I love the clips I would have never seen otherwise due to geography or age.
Prime Example: OK, so my first five choices all had, um, language issues. This was the first thing I thought of that is clean. The lesson as always; old black guys laughing = comedy gold.
Favorite Quote: Anchor 1: We would to apologize… Anchor 2: ‘HOLD ON! HOLD ON!!!’ (More laughter…)
2. Very Smart Brothas
I’m sure they’ll pop up again in a couple months of my favorite things of 2009, but there has been many a night when I haven’t been feeling it, I check out their latest rant and 30 seconds later, I’m falling over laughing. The two main writers are The Champ and Panama Jackson: young, college educated brothas with an amazingly silly sense of humor. So…I can kind of relate.
Prime Example: “Three Signs He’s a Good Dude”: http://www.verysmartbrothas.com/signs-that-hes-a-good-dude/
Favorite Quote: “there’s no surer sign, no more concrete indication that a man is a good dude than if his close friends are good dudes too. with no exceptions, every guy i know who i’d consider to be a “good dude” has nothing but other good dudes in their immediate circle. basically, if a guy is repeatedly telling you stories about his best friend, and this “best friend” sounds more triflin than eating food with utensils on the bus, run.” (Malik note: that last metaphor alone damn near got me and one of my black co-workers fired for laughing at our desks.)
3. Bill Simmons, ‘The Sports Guy’
Few writers in my lifetime have been as consistently good at blending sports, pop culture, and humor into their writing as much as Bill Simmons. I don’t even remember who in my circle found him first, but we’ve all been reading him regularly for years now. One of the benchmarks of this blog, the Most Important Black Film and TV Show Countdown, was inspired in part by Simmons trying to countdown the best Sports Movies of All Time. (He didn’t finish his, mine should be done by the end of the year). I’m sure if you’re a teenager now, some of his references are already starting to feel dated, but for my generation he’s been pitch perfect.
Prime Example: The Vengeance Scale – http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/040720
Favorite Quote:
9.1 — Tupac Shakur recording “Hit ‘Em Up.”
(Note: In my book, the most devastating rap song of all-time. And you wonder why Pac was murdered. This made “Who Shot Ya?” look like it was written by James Ingram and Michael McDonald. Every line is crossed: This one has death threats, admissions of sleeping with other people’s wives, jokes about sickle cell, mama jokes and at least 100 F-bombs. I’m not kidding. And while we’re on the subject, “We ain’t singin’, we bringin’ drama – f— you and your motherf—– mama!” remains the greatest single moment in 2Pac history. And yes, I know I’m white.)
One last personal note: if you’re wondering why I didn’t include any of my friends and their blogs on this list, it’s because I treat them like I treat my children: I think they were accidents and try to act like they don’t exist.
(joking, joking, it’s Friday, sheesh!)
Anyway if you check out my Blogroll, you’ll find blogs written by people I care about, covering everything from politics to religion to personal advice to living in L.A.
Hope everyone enjoys their weekend!
M
Family
A man who never spends time with his family can never be a real man. – Don Vito Corleone
I’ll tell you up front, this is me rambling…
Last night I had a dream about one of my exes. The one my homie describes as my ‘Trying to Fix My Childhood’ Ex…funny because it’s true. Anyway I walked into her office and (much like real life) she was cold and distant towards me. Didn’t even look up when I came through the door. Then finally she stopped typing her notes and looked up and smiled at me, and WHOOSH!!!! All those old feelings passed over me again. She was the way I think I’ll always remember her in my mind; gorgeous and proud on the outside, vulnerable and sensitive on the inside. One of the few women I legitimately thought I was going to marry at a certain point in time. But things happen of course and you move on.
Only my chosen few really knew about this at the time, but a couple years back, while I was on the tail end of another serious relationship, I started having these massive panic attacks. Me being me, I had to be a little silly about it, but the best way to describe it was I’d be minding my business then all of a sudden my heart would start pounding out of my chest, my eyes would start bugging out, and I was looking like Cutty (for all you Wire fans out there). This happened a few times as I was driving home, but usually popped up right before I went to bed; when I had time to myself to think. For the various Batman jokes I invite and encourage, it was the first time I ever remember feeling like, “I can’t be alone. What if I don’t wake up? How many weeks are going to pass before someone comes knocking on my door looking for me?” To be clear, I wasn’t nowhere near suicidal, just…panicked. I’ve already dodged enough DUIs to last a lifetime, so going back into the bottle wasn’t an option. I just needed to be around people. So I started popping up at the homie’s houses. Not just on weekends, but like…Tuesday nights. Thursday lunch dates. You get the gist. One of the cats suggested I see a therapist, but for all the respect I have for medicine, I live by the adage, “Brothas don’t do therapy.” I just manned up, prayed a lot, hung with all my people here in L.A., made all kind of calls back to K.C. and everywhere else where I got folks until I calmed the hell down. And as always I got over the girl, met somebody new and life continues.
There’s a common thread between those two stories. Not remotely by coincidence I think, the dream I had about one of my potential wives was caused by the news that one of my close friends has brought another life into this world. For a short while it seemed that I would beat him to the punch in building my biological family but God has other plans. He also happens to be someone who has a strong spirtual base; the Bible I still use was a gift from him, the inscription inside reads ‘To My Brother From Another Mother…” Phrases like that neither of us take very lightly.
It struck me as odd (and a little off) today that I know the birthdays of his kids and many of my friends and their kids, but have trouble now knowing the birthdays of many of my own aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews. And I don’t hate my family at all, but we’ve just steadily grown apart (outside of Mother, Father, Sister). You can throw at me the quote about how we don’t choose our family but we choose our friends (and I couldn’t agree more), but I do wonder what type of precedent I’m setting as a potential husband or father. These are the types of things I think about when I’m not just being completely silly or writing about black films and TV Shows.
The End.
(I told you up front this was a rambling rant…)
