FILM(S) MONITORED
AKEELAH AND THE BEE
“Akeelah and the Bee’ is the film to see this year; it’s the best so far this year. It’s appropriate for everyone – adults, children, all “races”/ethnicities, and religions. Unfortunately, people (and it’s obviously not just Blacks!) didn’t support it this weekend and therefore it only grossed $6.2 million. It opened in 2,195 theatres, so to keep it from being greatly reduced this coming weekend, if you can see it during the week by all means do so. Some “educators” took groups of their students to see “Take the Lead” and other such films, so where are they for a film that really relates to education? Some churches organized busloads of people to go see Tyler Perry’s films (by the way, even Perry gave “Akeelah” a big push), so where are they now in getting their congregations organized to go see a film that encourages education? And, finally, why aren’t parents (Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, etc.) lining up to take their kids – remember, all ages from kids to adults can see this one – to support a film that emphasizes education? There’s really no excuse not to support this movie! Most of the reviews we read on this one were positive and this is an A+ review from playahata.com:
We can’t emphasize enough that “Akeelah and the Bee” is a must-see quality film that will disappear from the theatres if you don’t support it!
Another film that opened this weekend, which we didn’t monitor and don’t intend to is “United 93.”
Before you invest too much emotion into the supposed “facts” about this one, please be aware of the potential propaganda.
Yes, there were definitely many deaths surrounding 9/11, but the question of exactly who’s behind it all truly does remain a mystery.
When you think about it, what do we really know?
Most film reviews of this film fell right into the trap of believing whatever they’ve been told, but playahata.com gave a review that acknowledges “everything in the movie that takes place on board the flight is speculation,” which we totally agree with.
How can any of us know what really happened?
Here’s the complete review:
There’s also an excellent DVD – “Loose Change” – on the many inconsistencies and inaccuracies of the information that was put out about 9/11.
It’s very much worth the time and price.
You’ll find yourself looking at it again and again.
Following are some links to the DVD:
http://www.loosechange911.com/
http://www.loosechange911.com/evidence.htm
As we mentioned in
BN-W #54
the conclusion of Part II: Black-Jewish Relations will be included with the Winter/Spring 2006 Music Monitor. As we also stated, we’ve got a lot of information, and, for that reason, until Part II comes out, we’ll be filtering stuff to you so it won’t be too overwhelming in the buildup to Part II’s conclusions. Refer to
BN-W #53/54
if you need a repeat of our feelings on the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
In a sea of individuals who are mostly followers and usually stick to the status quo, especially when it comes to the need to assimilate, two socially active Jewish writers/speakers – Noam Chomsky and Tim Wise – speak out prominently about White supremacy and issues related to
Noam Chomsky:
http://www.chomsky.info/
Chomsky has had an ongoing debate with attorney Alan Dershowitz over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and in this debate, which aired on Democracy Now! in December 2005, he states many interesting things, but one standout quote is Chomsky’s response to
Tim Wise:
http://www.timwise.org/
We mentioned Tim Wise in the BN-W Historical Timeline (ED/DD #10A/B) and since then he’s set up his Web site.
An article that remains a standout by Wise is Whites Swim in Racial Preference where he writes:
“We [Whites] strike the pose of self-sufficiency while ignoring the advantages we have been afforded in every realm of activity:
housing, education, employment, criminal justice, politics, banking and business.
We ignore the fact that at almost every turn, our hard work has been met with access to an opportunity structure denied to millions of others.
Privilege, to us, is like water to the fish:
invisible precisely because we cannot imagine life without it.”
Here it is:
http://www.alternet.org/story/15223/
On a BN-W music note, India.Arie’s new album has been pushed back once again, but here’s her new video/lyrics for I Am Not My Hair.
Please note that there’s a 30-second commercial before the video connection kicks in.
Following are the video and lyrics links:
http://music.yahoo.com/video/default.asp?vid=31128850
[Video]
http://www.lyrics4all.net/i/indiaarie/u/i-am-not-my-hair.php
[Lyrics]
The new White House spokesperson Tony Snow also had some quotes on his radio program that Blacks are “constantly victims” and that the Black underclass represents the “most dangerous thing in our lifetime.”
On the culture of hip-hop he stated:
“You have people glorifying failure.
You have a bunch of gold-toothed hot dogs become millionaires by running around and telling everybody else that they oughta be miserable failures and if they’re really lucky maybe they can get gunned down in a diner somewhere, like Eminem’s old running mate.”
Anybody still doubt the power of the media – and those controlling it and what gets put out as “fact” as well as those participating as talking heads – to make an image into a positive or a negative?
Here’s the full link from, once again, playahata.com:
http://playahata.com/hatablog/?p=1509.
Snow also references Jesse Jackson in this article and
If you missed any other BN-W monitors, just send an e-mail to bannword2@yahoo.com and request that it be sent to you. As always, we highly encourage you to see these films for yourself and, if applicable, make your own judgment call on the N-word usage – appropriate/inappropriate? necessary/unnecessary? sensible/nonsensical? does it add to or take away from the film’s concept? does the N-word have to be used at all? is there a valid reason for doing so? is it mandatory for the scene(s) to be effective? what are the circumstances/situation that necessitate any use of the word? is it just thrown in for humor, fear, crime, insult? are other culturally insulting slang terms used as much as the N-word in the film? Lots of questions and a whole lot of reasons to wonder what’s the real purpose and thought process behind why these entertainers, writers, directors, producers, executive producers, distributors, and studios/studio heads and executives give the “greenlight” for these crews to liberally use (or allow to be used) the N-word.
FEATURE FILM(S)
:
A K E E L A H
A N D
T H E
B E E
[Release Date:
4/28/06]
Starring
Laurence Fishburne, Angela Bassett, KeKe Palmer
; screenplay written by Doug Atchison; directed by Doug Atchison; produced by Laurence Fishburne, Sid Ganis, Nancy Hult Ganis, Michael Romersa, Daniel Llewelyn; executive produced by Michael Paseornek, Mark Cuban, Helen Sugland, Marc Butan, Tom Ortenberg, Michael Burns; studio – Lionsgate
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NONE [0]
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LOW TO EXCESSIVE [1+]
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XXXXX
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NOTE
:
Excellent movie that MUST BE SUPPORTED at the box office with the almighty dollar.
Not supporting this film gives so-called “executives” the last laugh and allows them to continue thinking it’s OK to give us an onslaught of “Hustle & Flow” and shoot-em-up type films and images.
BN-W Monitor Coming Soon:
“
Also Coming : Part II: Black-Jewish Relations; Winter 2006 Music Monitor; Spring 2006 Music Monitor; Summer 2006 Music Monitor
