There's no question about Halle

Halle Berry's feature film Frankie & Alice will be in theaters this spring. The film, in which Berry plays a go-go dancer with multiple personality disorder, is finally being distributed after nearly three years. There has been speculation that the film is now being released because other "black" movies have been successful at the box office making Hollywood more comfortable with backing minority leads. Berry's character, Frankie, is black, but one of her personalities is a white supremacist named Alice.
I'm not sure why there needs to be speculation about whether or not Hollywood was hesitant to back this film, however. Most of the blogs/coverage I've read about the new release date are asking questions, but for me there are none.

What were the red flags for Frankie & Alice? Was it the portrayal of mental illness which many have termed a touchy subject, or was it the perceived racial implications of a top black actress battling with a white supremacist inside her head? We may never know. 

---- Dan Heching, The Daily Beast  

I haven't seen Frankie & Alice (although I plan to see it), but I would bet money (any takers?) that the film delves a little too deeply and honestly into the cause and effects of racism in America. And of course, this was the reason, among others, that Hollywood dropped the ball on distribution. Now, Berry did receive a Golden Globe nomination for her role in this film, but when the film had it's first theater run, Berry and her team were seeking Oscar qualification.
The "black" films that have had reportedly saved Berry's day with their recent success have been majorly comedies - The Best Man Holiday, Kevin Hart's Let Me Explain and About Last Night - or "post racial race" films like The Butler and 42. Neither the comedies nor the "race" films have pushed boundaries in the conversation on race. In fact the comedies mainly reinforce stereotypes of black people and the "race" films essentially white wash history. I say this for The Butler and 42, which are movies I've seen. I can't say anything about 12 Years A Slave because I am yet to see it.
Maybe Berry's Golden Globe nod is an indication that she gave this role a level of depth and was able to bring across the haunting realities of intersections of racism and emotional/mental well being. Maybe. It's also interesting to note that Berry also served as the producer for Frankie & Alice. This was a film that she had a vested interest in and had been working on getting it made since the 90s it seems. It wasn't easy getting this through the door in the way it was for Monster's Ball. 

Pariah the movie

unfortunately, i will not be able to see this movie until it comes out on DVD. and trust me it hurts. baaaadddd. but if you are able to, i am highly recommending viewing Pariah. when i found out about it, i pored over the film's website reading interviews and looking at videos and photos of the trailer, stills from various scenes and opening night glamour. cliche as this may sound it's good to see black men and women at the helm of this production from top to bottom. the director, producer, lead role, soundtrack music, costume designer, interns. and they're not telling the story hollywood wants them to tell or conforming to they way hollywood want them look and its just good to see that. good and inspiring. plus, the trailer and clips i've seen have shown good acting and great shots. did i mention that this is just a good project? 

Pariah is the story of Alike (Adepero Oduye), a 17year old coming to terms with her sexuality in Brooklyn, New York. The film is currently playing in select theatres throughout the US. Here are few links to reviews and the film website 

Film Website: http://www.focusfeatures.com/pariah 

Crunk Feminist Collective: http://crunkfeministcollective.wordpress.com/2012/01/06/go-see-pariah/ 

Black Youth Project: http://www.blackyouthproject.com/2012/01/pariahs-pariah-a-review-a-critique/

The Feminist Wire: http://thefeministwire.com/2012/01/black-queer-gender-and-pariahs-grand-swagger/

Writer/Director: Dee Rees

Executive Producer: Spike Lee

Producer: Nekisa Cooper 

on south african film and black butterflies

In something reminiscent of an accident, I ended up watching the film Black Butterflies the other day. (Not sure what rug I've been living under to have not heard about the film before) I did recognize that there was a  powerful story within the mini biopic of  the South African poet Ingrid Jonker which dealt with the limited expectations of womanhood and sexism and double standards and so on. I didn't know where the movie was going exactly but I think even before it started I just felt like this would be the same thing all over again. Yes, this was essentially good cinema. Maybe even great. Yes, Ingrid Jonker had an interesting story.  But in the larger scheme of things, in the South African context, the fact of privilege and "whiteness" cancels out all of that. While watching I remembered something I'd read by Haile Gerima that really highlights the complexity of South African cinema (although the director and the lead actress are both Dutch but then again that's a whole other conversation by itself about identity). He was speaking at a program in London on South African cinema soon after Mandela's release: 

A most interesting concept thrown carelessly around at this panel was so-called "non-racial cinema."  When it was my turn to speak, I organized my thoughts on the future of South Africa in the following manner. First, I stated there was no such thing as non-racial cinema, especially not in South Africa, a country founded on the notion of white supremacy. With independence, cinema would have to celebrate all races and specifically African people, whose image and story had been so brutally suppressed. I felt that in the new South Africa, film would have to dramatically dynamize culture. In fact, I went on to suggest, in order to correct the past abuse of color privilege, most of the white filmmakers would need to refrain from future film projects and take responsibility for producing and financing the filmmaking of African in South Africa. The whole auditorium exploded. Most of the whites lost their center of intellectual gravity. However, I went on to suggest that by virtue of heir credentials and professional experience, which they had attained in the old South Africa, white South African filmmakers would continue to be in prominent positions and still be able to make films about other South Africans strictly because of their very privileged backgrounds. 

To read more see here. 

Thinking Out Loud

Originally published on July 31, 2009

Just a thought:

After seeing the film, Flag Wars, a documentary about gentrification in Columbus Ohio, I wonder: are there any statistics on the number of deaths cause by institutional racism? There is one scene in which a home owner sits in court, shivering, barely able to speak, just after having a major operation and the judge is badgering her about why it is taking so long to get her house up to code. This woman dies not too long after this and the house not being up to code was not her only problem. Her house was put up on the yuppie auction block shortly after her death as well.

http://www.flagwarsthemovie.com/