Saturday, August 19, 2017

Detroit: Black Pain in Living Color





I am a movie connoisseur. I’ll watch movies in any genre except horror, and now because real life is so filled with violent images, I stay away from movies with extreme violence. I watch movies for enjoyment but also for knowledge. Even movies that are purely entertainment contain life lessons. This is a three-part series on movies I’ve seen recently. They are part movie review, part social commentary. Do you agree or disagree with my views? What movies have made an impact on you? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comment section. As always, thanks for reading. 


There was a chorus of discontent around the docudrama, Detroit by the Academy-Award winning director, Kathryn Bigelow when it opened. Black folks had issues with a white director and missing Black women. Some call it a horror film, and someone I know left the theater before the movie ended. I decided to see it anyway and form my own opinion. I refused to read any articles or movie reviews because I didn’t want to be influenced by the thoughts of others.
I had seen Bigelow’s Hurt Locker, and thought it was excellent. So, I knew that the movie wouldn’t sugarcoat what happened at the Algiers Motel in July of 1967. Civil unrest plagued the city. There was rioting, looting and snipers taking shots at the police and National Guard who were charged with restoring order.
It was the 60s and racial tensions were at an all-time high. Some young Black people were partying at the hotel and amongst them were two white women. When shots rang out, Detroit police officers thought it was a sniper and rounded up everybody. The sadistic officers were determined to coerce a confession out of the party goers by any means necessary.
It was unflinching unrest and brutality in your face. The only things filling the screen were looting and rioting, burning buildings and brutalized bodies. I was exhausted before the movie ended and was ready for it to be over. It was literally black and white. No slices of life. We got our asses beat and killed. No justice. The End.
The violence against Black bodies was so unrelenting that by the end I was numb. The movie focuses primarily on what happened at the hotel and the trial after. So, all the characters are flat. They are not complex human beings with lives beyond the walls they find themselves trapped behind. The characters are victims which leaves little room for understanding and/or empathy. It's a voyeuristic look at Black pain.
Though we live in the spaces of oppression, we are more than our bruised and battered bodies. We are more than chalk outlines on the ground. There is ecstasy in our agony and pleasure in our pain. Watching the unrelenting brutality of the police officers was too much. After about 90 minutes I had nothing left in me to feel for characters not because I didn’t want to, but because I couldn’t afford to. Disconnecting became an act of self preservation because the movie is 2’22” minutes long and it mirrors what is happening today.
Things happen to us as a result of racism and discrimination. But it is not the sum of our existence. The Soul of Black people is missing from this film. In the midst of our trauma we live. We love. We laugh. We’re not hiding in the shadows; we’re moving toward the light.



Why I Liked Girls Trip



I am a movie connoisseur. I’ll watch movies in any genre except horror, and now because real life is so filled with violent images, I stay away from movies with extreme violence. I watch movies for enjoyment but also for knowledge. Even movies that are purely entertainment contain life lessons. This is a three-part series on movies I’ve seen recently. They are part movie review, part social commentary. Do you agree or disagree with my views? What movies have made an impact on you? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comment section. As always, thanks for reading.  



One of my friends expressed surprise that I wanted to see Girls Trip. She knows that I like documentaries, dramas and docudramas especially about Black history which is American history. Because I am a strong proponent for social justice and equity, people assume that I’m serious all the time. They don't really know me; I do have a silly side. Being in Fight the Power mode all the time is exhausting. When I have to get out of my head, one of my primary ways of escape is movies.
I like comedy, and I love raunchy (but not vulgar) comedies. From everything I saw in the previews, Girls Trip was the prescription I needed. It was raunchy. It had actors I like and they looked like me. It was a win all the way around. So, I went to see Girls Trip—twice. And I enjoyed it each time. And I’m not alone. Since opening, Girls Trip has made 100 million dollars—the first comedy of 2017 to make that much money. This is phenomenal considering that comedies haven’t done well this year.
Is it cinematic greatness? No. It didn’t have to be. It needed to be fun, and it was! It is a story of friendship, and it is a story of love. Friends since college, Ryan, Sasha, Lisa and Dina reconnect after a five-year gap and take a trip to New Orleans for the annual Essence music festival. A trip that is supposed to solidify Ryan’s brand and rekindle old friendships, is fraught with mayhem when it’s discovered that Ryan’s husband is cheating and Sasha has the incriminating photos as proof of his infidelity. 

Loyalties are tested. Feelings are hurt. Battles are lost—and won. But in the end friendship wins. And love wins. Sounds corny right? But who doesn’t love a happy ending? With the tension and hostility poisoning the atmosphere in the world today, I needed a feel-good story.  And it had some good eye candy, too. So, I sat back, relaxed and had a good time. Everything worked. I laughed and I learned these five things:  

  1. Know your worth. It's not your social economic status. It’s not your material possessions. It’s not the letters behind your names. It’s who you are where you right now and knowing that, that is enough.

  1. Decide what "all" is to you. A spouse, a house and 2.5 kids is not everyone's dream. There is nothing wrong with being married and having children, if that’ what you want. But you have to know what you want and go after it. Success is falling down and getting back up again. You can have it all once you decide what all is for you? Writing a novel? Traveling the world? Opening a restaurant or just living a simple life that brings you unbridled joy? Don’t allow someone else to define your success.

  1.  Know you tribe. We all need a tribe of women who holds us up, but also keeps us grounded. The women we can share deep belly laughs, cry our eyes out and hold secrets like the fat inside a waist clincher. Dina, Ryan, Lisa and Sasha were there for each other even when they had issues between them. Who are the women who are there for you? Are you there for them?

  1. Find balance. Work hard, but not so hard that there is no time to play. Take time away from the duties and responsibilities of life and just be. Make space for family, friends, spouses, but also make space for self.

  1. It's all love. That what it’s all about in the end: the capacity to love and be loved. And not just romantic love, but love in all its manifestations. Love is too big to be contained.