My Blog

The Holiday Season, Bah Humbug!

Fri, 7 Jan 2011 18:07:28 -0600

The Holiday season is suppose to be a great time for the movies. I don’t know about you, but my family and I mean family: cousins, brothers, sisters and in-laws all go out for a big movie gathering at least twice during the holidays. Most times we can agree on one or two movies where almost everybody will go but this year we went out only once and that is because the pickings were slim. There was nothing out there that excited everyone. We spent so much time deciding that we even missed a few showtimes. Eventually settling on Little Fockers and Tron, I skipped the family event because I didn’t want to sit through them again. Unlike the previous year where I saw Avatar, It’s Complicated, The Blind Side and The Princess and the Frog - with the family. Yogi Bear, Not! Gulliver’s Travels, at least not again. And I take it that you must have felt the same way because the movie box office was down a whopping 27%! So it would be natural to hope that the new slate of movies for 2011 would start off with a bang but the fact that there are only two major releases this week may indicate a little less than fireworks. Was there a great movie out during the holidays? Does Black Swan, The Fighter or True Grit make the grade. Was there a great comedy? Somehow, the whole movie season was bah-humbug! I’d love to hear what you think so send me an email @ thereelcritic@reginaldponder.com

For Colored Girls May Not Be Good For Colored Guys And Girls

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 13:06:28 -0600

Last week Tyler Perry’s new film For Colored Girls hit the theaters. This adaptation of Ntozke Shange’s choreopoem has caused quite a bit of controversy as would be expected. I was in the gym this week playing basketball and the guys who saw it were furious. They spoke of the negative portrayal of Black men, the attempt to offset that with a one dimensional character in Hill Harper and the fact Perry chose not to explore the many positive things Ntozake had right there in her work. I told them that “I feel you!” But I still feel that Perry did a pretty good job capturing the essence of her work. By in large, I see this film as one about women regaining their power and less about a power struggle between men and women. That if women refuse to give away their power, both men and women will be stronger for it. It is not a piece where you add to one and subtract from another but one where when you add to one, you add to all. How could it not help that women love and respect themselves thereby truly being able to love others? And have a standard for what that love should look like. We all win! But here is where I agree with my brothers: Seeing these men is like seeing all the negative things we have been told we are in one sitting. And while it is not Perry’s nor Ntozake’s fault, we are tired of seeing these images over and over again, especially when there is very little to counterbalance them. I would love to see the antidote to For Colored Girls, Precious and even films like Takers where Black men and women have great relationships, love each other, support each other, not without trials and tribulations but without the mental, physical and sexual abuse. Don’t tell me that this is a fairy tale because I see it everyday and I live it. I agree with my brothers because a brother need love too! And most of all I agree because I want my two daughters to know that Black men are beautiful, strong, supportive, dynamic and worthy of their love. I don’t want them to grow up to be Colored Girls who have considered Suicide when the rainbow is truly Enuf.

Is For Colored Girls Bad for Colored Guys?

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 18:11:04 -0500

Okay guys, get ready as the new Tyler Perry movie For Colored Girls machine begins to take over. In my view, this is not another male bashing film but it also doesn’t sing our praises. We are the villain and we look bad, real bad. And for those who will not look beyond the surface and I suspect there will be plenty men and women who do not, this film will be another in a long line of negative images of Black relationship. I can’t wait for someone to write the antidote to for Colored Girls. Don’t tell me that there aren’t positive Black relationships. Don’t tell me that all couples go through such drama. And don’t tell me that there are no good Black men. I’m not mad that they took a classic and made a movie, I’m just hopeful that someday my two daughters will see the other side of Black relationships, the loving one. Are movies like For Colored Girls bad For Colored Guys? Just Something to Ponder.

PRECIOUS MAKE A STATEMENT

Sat, 7 Nov 2009 06:33:21 -0600

Every once in a while there is a statement film, one that challenges the status quo, changes how people view you and maybe even how you view yourself. Precious is such a movie. This film is “deep’ in many ways. First, it sheds light on the disenfranchised and invisible people in our society. Believe it or not, there are many people like Precious in this world and like her, they plod through life day after day with pain, shame and somehow hope. Second, it compels you look at yourself and reevaluate how you feel and treat these people who haven’t fallen through the cracks in society—because they fill them. These are the people we run from, despise and declare; they deserve all that they get in life. But after seeing this film you are reminded that no one deserves to be treated this way—treated with indifference and disdain by others merely because they have suffered the ultimate indignities of life. Third, it reminds you that no matter how bleak life is, that hope is an underestimated weapon that can help you fight and never give up. Precious went through sexual, physical, mental and all the other abuses you can name, but hope prevailed. Finally, it is a call to action for people to become beacons of hope like Paula Patton’s character. Sometimes people need the encouragement, a helping hand or a shoulder to cry on and it can mean the world to them. What makes this film so precious is that we get a peek into Precious’ world and possibly a better understanding of her as well as ourselves. Just Something to Ponder.

Good Hair Is GOOD Business (for others)

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 22:09:55 -0500

Chris Rock has done it this time. He dared to talk about a Black woman’s hair and man are people talking. What I like about Rock is his uncanny ability to take a social issue make it funny and provocative all at the same time. In the documentary Good Hair it makes you question our self esteem, fiscal prudence and standard of beauty. And while these issues are deep rooted (pun intended) and probably hard to change in the short term, one issue he brings up can be addressed immediately -- Buying Black. I don’t know what you think but it sure is a shame that we spend so much money in the hair care industry but very little of it goes to Black businesses. This is something we can do something about and more than Something To Ponder, It is something to Do! What Do You Think?