Many Visits + Daughters of Africa

Filed Under blogging itself, books, movies, race

So far today, I’ve had 131 unique visitors to this blog. On a typical day, I have 15. So … what on earth is happening?! Most of them seem to be reading the first part of the bell hooks lecture summary. I wonder if Crash winning best movie at the Academy Awards has anything to do with this?

Yesterday I learned that Matt Dillon was the only actor from the movie to be nominated for an Oscar. This may lend support to hooks’ statement that he was “the hero” of the movie. While Dillon did a good job, I actually thought Larenz Tate (quieter half of cart thieving duo) and Michael Pena (father of the little girl) offered the best acting - or at least, they portrayed the characters I was most intrigued by.

I found the movie really interesting both times I saw it, and a jumping off point for discussion (used in anti oppression workshop I participated in as a trainer). I thought it depicted the frustration of many black men’s experiences with the police better than any other movie I’ve seen. And yet, an online pal, Ben Chan, sums up for me what I’ve come to believe is Crash’s major flaw:

In the real world, the majority of racism and most other prejudices are
subtle. For every “chink” thrown out there, there are ten instances of people
asking some Asian American “where are you really from?”. I’d argue that “where are you from” attitude is more pervasive and leads to the “Fuck you chink!” … Ultimately, that is the crime of racism- it dehumanizes. But in the movie “Crash” nobody comes off as human- they’re all caricatures and so instead of racism being a human problem, it is a mere character flaw, a plot device in the movie.

This reminds me: my favorite African American character in film to date is Daniel Holt, portrayed by Jeffrey Wright in Ang Lee’s underrated Ride with the Devil. It reminded me of Last of the Mohicans in that, by the movie’s end, it occurred to me that the most important character was perhaps the brown guy standing behind the white male lead. Also, bonus to Jewel for her strong female character of the old South. Very atypical. I must be strange because RwtD has probably received the least universal praise of all Lee’s films (after Hulk), but it is - by far - my favorite.

In other news: I heard today that Margaret Busby, editor of the phenomenal anthology, Daughters of Africa, was on WBAI this morning and said she would be editing a NEW version of the book to include material published since 1994. Yes, yes, yes!

Comments

4 Responses to “Many Visits + Daughters of Africa”

Will Shetterly on March 12th, 2006 1:57 pm

I’ll second the love on Ride With the Devil. The first half is a bit unfocused–Ang Lee doesn’t understand the value of point of view in action scenes–but it’s my favorite Ang Lee. (Haven’t caught Brokeback yet. It’ll be a second-run show or a Netflix.)

Regarding an earlier post of yours, I’m also a sucker for redemption stories. It seems to me that’s the heart of the spiritual experience, and it amazes me whenever religious people disagree.

My favorite John Woo film is A Better Tomorrow. It’s rougher than his later movies, and just as soap-operaish in its extremes, and not for those who don’t like a lot of very stylish violence, but it’s all about responsibility and redemption, and it was my introduction to Chow Yun-Fat, so I have to love it.
Christine on March 14th, 2006 2:33 pm

One day I didn’t even post and had a massive traffic increase. Weird?!?

Stopped by to tag you:

http://christinemoers.blogspot.com/2006/03/my-very-first-car.html
LaReinaCobre on March 20th, 2006 10:00 pm

Will,
Thanks for the recommend; I added A Better Tomorrow to my Netflix queue.

I agree with you about the heart of the spiritual experience. I’m not sure what it is, but they just move me beyond measure. Maybe it has something to do with possibility. I always want to believe that people can right their own wrongs (or at least come to terms with the consequences of their actions). I wonder what it is that religious folk think is at the heart of spiritual experience?

I thought Affliction starring Nick Nolte, and The Claim, starring Sarah Polley and Milla Jovovich (I forget who plays the man) were both really good redemption tales. They are not as good as Karakter, though.
Will Shetterly on March 24th, 2006 10:17 pm

Just added Karakter to the Netflix queue. Thanks!