FILM(S) MONITORED
SNAKES ON A PLANE
IDLEWILD
CROSSOVER

Our summer break is over!   We had a wonderful trip to the Motherland otherwise known as Africa and went to the birthplace of humanity – Kmt or Kemet (some may be more familiar with its Greek-given name called Egypt).   We went with a small study group, which was very well organized and coordinated by Dr. Molefi Asante (www.asante.net) of Temple University and his wife Ana Asante.   They have done these study tours for quite a number of years, but they are taking a break for a while (hopefully it’ll only be a temporary one).   If you are, however, interested in attending another event sponsored by their organization – the Association for Kemetic Nubian Heritage (ANKH) – coming up in October is the 18^th annual Cheikh Anta Diop International Conference, which is a highly regarded conference named after the late African historian Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop.   Below is a link to the Web site with general information as well as the registration guidelines.   You will not be disappointed with this conference.

For this monitor, we saw “Snakes on a Plane,” “Idlewild,” and “Crossover,” all of which were overall disappointments and that information is farther down in this eNewsletter.

INTERESTING WEB SITES/LINKS/ARTICLES OF THE DAY :

Diop Conference - October 13-14 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop is well known in the African scholarly community, but his overall popularity worldwide – and certainly within the educational systems – is kept to a minimum because, amongst many crucial historical and factual truths he unveiled in his written works, he proved through his Melanin Dosage Test that the Royal mummies in the Cairo Museum were, indeed, Africans, and thereby also proving many of the facts about African history [such as it being the birthplace of civilization, the sciences, mathematics, astrology, etc.] when many in the European community practiced (and continue to do so) revisionist and manufactured history to deny, mute, muffle, and make as oblivious as possible the magnitude of the extensive African contributions to world history.   For more information on Dr. Diop please refer to BN-W #57, which provides more background details on him as well as a link to the 1974 UNESCO Symposium on “The Peopling of Ancient Egypt and the Deciphering of the Meroitic Script” held in Cairo and attended by Dr. Diop.

Association for the Study of Classical African Civilizations (ASCAC)
ASCAC will be holding its 24^th Annual Ancient Kemetic Conference on August 4-19, 2007 in Aswan, Kmt ( Egypt).   We’re big fans of founding member Dr. Asa Hilliard, so this is also one not to miss if you can make it.   In addition to BN-W #57 (same as for Dr. Diop above), which also has some great information on Dr. Hilliard, you can find more about him in BN-W #58 .

The Video - "A Girl Like Me"  
"A Girl Like Me" film by Kiri Davis about the Black/White doll test

Spike Lee: The Angriest Auteur -- New York magazine article

Tracey Edmonds (singer Babyface’s ex-wife) is overseeing shows about Blacks under the supervision of Robert Johnson – in a word, SCARY
What’s also interesting about this story is the posted comments link at the end of this EUR piece, so be sure to check that out.   The news article written by studentfilmmakers.com and referenced within the first few comments is here:   Our Stories Films.   Perhaps Edmonds will do better than what she’s been doing for BET (College Hill, Lil Kim:   Countdown to Lockdown, etc.), but with her energy seemingly focused on making shows with the goal of getting high ratings only – to hell with quality or any educational value – we certainly won’t make any bets on that.

If you’ve read the last three headline links – which you’ll have to read to fully understand our point here – doesn’t it seem rather silly to have a group of Blacks who consider themselves part of an “elite” social circle when there are Black little girls still preferring a White doll because they think it’s better than a Black one and when there’s overuse of the N-word in the 21^st century throughout the world?   What is trying to subtly brag about having an “elite” title doing for anyone if you don’t carry enough weight inside and outside of your social circles – especially business – to bring your community the respect and power it deserves?   You have a self-imposed so-called “elite” title put on you by your family social circle, yet the business professionals and partners you work with run all over you and your people – and you do nothing and say nothing.   Some may call that “elite” stupidity and ignorance that certainly deserve no bragging rights.

Late playwright August Wilson will have three of his plays performed through early next year at the Signature Theatre in New York City

Stanley Crouch, New York Daily News:   Give CBS black eye for ‘Survivor’ segregation

As we mentioned in BN-W #54 the conclusion of Part II:   Black-Jewish Relations will be included with our new bi-monthly 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).  

Rosa Brooks, Los Angeles Times:   Criticize Israel?   You’re an Anti-Semite

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) :

S N A K E S   O N   A   P L A N E

[Release Date:   8/18/06]

Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Julianna Margulies; screenplay written by John Heffernan, Sebastian Gutierrez; directed by David R. Ellis; produced by Gary Levinsohn, Don Granger, Craig Berenson; executive produced by Justis Greene, Stokely Chaffin, Toby Emmerich, George Waud; studio – New Line Cinema
 

NOTE :   If we didn’t have to monitor this film for BN-W purposes, we wouldn’t have.   Very corny and a classic scene where a Black guy loses his cool and does – what else? – pull a gun on another Black guy.   The subliminal message:   a Black man is willing to kill another Black man in a heartbeat.

I D L E W I L D

[Release Date:   8/25/06]

Starring Andre Benjamin, Antwan Patton, Terrence Howard; screenplay written by Bryan Barber; directed by Bryan Barber; produced by Charles Roven, Robert Guralnick; executive produced by William Green, Robin O’Hara, Scott Macaulay; studio – Universal Pictures/HBO Films
 

NOTE :   Excessive use of the N-word primarily by a Black man some would call big, fat, and greasy.  Whether this was intentional or not we’ll never know.   Also disappointing was seeing modern day dancing, slang, rap music, and melodies in a piece that’s supposed to be during the Depression era.   We were really kind of excited about this film and hoping to have fun, but along with the N-word usage, Black-on-Black violence, one too many modern day reminders in a “period” piece, and the weak script, we left feeling duped.

C R O S S O V E R

[Release Date:   9/1/06]

Starring Anthony Mackie, Wayne Brady, Eva Pigford; screenplay written by Preston A. Whitmore, II; directed by Preston A. Whitmore, II; produced by Frank Mancuso, Jr.; executive produced by Tom Gores, Johnny O. Lopez; studio – Tristar Pictures/360 Pictures (Sony)
 

NOTE :   The main concept of choosing education over sports is admirable.   Unfortunately, the overall script is weak and practically every, if not all, scene is a predictable cliché.   Again, however, the one plus is its push for choosing to get a college education over sports.   But then you have a female character prominently call her man the N-word and that takes it down another notch.

BN-W Monitor Coming Soon:  “The Last King of Scotland” [Forest Whitaker, James McAvoy]; “Gridiron Gang” [Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Xzibit]; “Catch A Fire” [Derek Luke, Tim Robbins]; “Déjà Vu” [Denzel Washington, Val Kilmer]; “Bobby” [Laurence Fishburne, Anthony Hopkins]; “Casino Royale” [Daniel Craig, Jeffrey Wright]; “Stranger Than Fiction” [Queen Latifah]; “Let’s Go To Prison” [Chi McBride]; “Slow Burn” [LL Cool J, Ray Liotta]; “Dreamgirls” [Beyonce Knowles, Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy]; “Blood Diamond” [Leonardo DiCaprio, Djimon Hounsou]; “The Pursuit of Happyness” [Will Smith, Thandie Newton]; “Pride” [Terrence Howard, Bernie Mac, Kimberly Elise]; “Home of the Brave” [Samuel L. Jackson, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson]

Also Coming :   Part II:   Black-Jewish Relations; Bi-Monthly Music Monitors