FILM(S) MONITORED
BROKEN FLOWERS
FOUR BROTHERS
THE UNTOLD STORY OF EMMETT LOUIS TILL

Before getting to this week’s monitor of “Broken Flowers,” “Four Brothers,” and “The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till,” below is the complete and properly matched up list for the African American males that we gave in BN-W #41 and #42 as examples of careers and characters that Black male actors could play as opposed to pimps, hustlers, drug dealers, and rappers as displayed in “Hustle & Flow.”  Hope you enjoyed our little mix and match.   Following is the chart as well as three links that we included with BN-W #42.

www.aaregistry.com/categories.php
www.blackinventor.com/pages/history.html
www.black-collegian.com/african/inventors.shtm

We have another commentary on the N-word to share with you.   Click on this link for Gregory Kane’s piece which was on blackamericaweb.com:

Commentary: Think of Yourself as the N-Word,
and You'll Never Be More Than That

For those interested in learning about African American history in general and Malcolm X in particular, there is an excellent exhibit going on about his life (Malcolm X:   A Search for Truth) at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture ( 515 Malcolm X Boulevard, Harlem, NY – at 135^th Street – 212-491-2207 – www.schomburgcenter.org ).   This exhibit started this year on May 19^th (his birthday) and will run through December 31^st.   The Schomburg also has an excellent gift/book shop.   As we all know, if we don’t seek out historically factual information, the schools and many “educators” will neither teach it nor lead our kids in the right direction.   The Schomburg is also responsible for the www.inmotionaame.org Web site that we shared with you in BN-W #24.

A DVD we’d also like to recommend is “Africans in America:   America’s Journey Through Slavery.”   It’s excellent!   Narrated by Angela Bassett with surprising statements from Colin Powell (yes, indeed!), it’s a must for adults, kids, and the DVD/library collection.   One tip when viewing it is to turn the “Captions” feature on.   You can read and listen at the same time.   It really helps in keeping you riveted.   www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/home or to order by phone call 800-255-9424 .

With our new monitoring format, we will no longer put the range for the number of times the N-word is used in a film because once is too much, especially if it’s unnecessary and/or excessive usage.   Also, based on the history of White Supremacy in this country and the fact that there’s a connection between Blacks/Jews/White Supremacy that’s worth exploring in general, but specifically as it connects within the entertainment industry, we will include a column (for the monitored films only) that will note if any derogatory Jewish slang terms (kike, hymie, hooknose, etc.) are used.   [ NOTE:   If necessary, see BN-W #34 for a more detailed explanation of the unfortunate need to monitor this.]

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.   It’s very hard not to give any content critique on the films we monitor, so we will no longer even attempt to abide by that statement.   But we definitely do continue to 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 actors, 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) :

B R O K E N   F LO W E R S

[Release Date:   8/5/05]

Starring Bill Murray, Jeffrey Wright; screenplay written by Jim Jarmusch; directed by Jim Jarmusch; produced by Jon Kilik, Stacey Smith; executive produced by [not listed]; studio – Focus Features
 

NOTE :   Probably the best actor out there right now – Jeffrey Wright – is in this film and steals every scene he’s in.   He’s already won numerous awards for his acting (including a Tony, Golden Globe, Emmy).   If Terrence Howard is being pushed on us as a potential Oscar nominee for “Hustle & Flow” (gasp!!), then Wright should definitely be in the running for a best supporting actor nomination for this movie.   The soundtrack to this film also seems to be really good.

F O U R   B R O T H E R S

[Release Date:   8/12/05]

Starring Tyrese Gibson, Andre Benjamin, Mark Wahlberg; screenplay written by David Elliot, Paul Lovett; directed by John Singleton; produced by Lorenzo Di Bonaventura; executive produced by Ric Kidney, Erik Howsam; studio – Paramount Pictures
 

NOTE :   Mark Wahlberg is supposed to be the “man” and uses the terms “house nigger” and “midnight” when referring to Blacks.   There’s also excessive and ridiculous supposed vigilantism from regular guys who for some reason shoot at and actually shoot or kill the Black guys yet treat the White guy rather kindly, even picking him up from the snow and dusting off his coat and/or fixing his collar.   [In other words, they actually allow him to explain his side of the story.   Oh, how sweet!]   There’s also a scene where the brothers are arguing and the Wahlberg character gets pushed while the Gibson character gets punched in the face by the Benjamin character.   There’s also the heavy-accented, hot-blooded, highly sexed, loud talking Latina stereotype added to the mix.   As for the director John Singleton, after this movie and that “Hustle” one, Bruce Banter of playahata.com states it best:   “you have a promising career with the small cabal of Hollywood exec’s that send these subtle White power messages.   John just keep doing what you’re doing – they love you right about now.   I have now confirmed that for the right price you will use your brilliance to introduce and justify anything.”

T H E   U N T O L D   S T O R Y   OF   E M M E T T   L O U I S   T I L L

[Release Date:   8/17/05]

[Documentary]   Directed by Keith A. Beauchamp; produced by Keith A. Beauchamp; executive produced by Edgar Beauchamp, Ceola Beauchamp, Steve Laitmon, Ali Bey, Jacki Ochs; studio – THINKFilm
 

NOTE :   This documentary is a must see!   If you get a chance to see it, take note of its N-word usage.   Right now, it’s only playing at the Film Forum in New York City ( 209 W. Houston Street, Village area – off 6^th Avenue – 212-727-8110 – www.filmforum.org/films/untold.html) for two weeks August 17^th – 30^th.   It’s supposed to be released nationwide in September.   Let’s see if it gets the critical praise it deserves.   Let’s see if the critics push for a best documentary Oscar nomination on this film as well.   We await the outcome.   For a photo of Emmett Till's corpse, visit:   http://www.temple.edu/ .   For the official website, visit:   http://www.emmetttillstory.com/index1.html or http://maafa.org/emmett.html.   For the Democracy Now interview with producer/director Keith Beauchamp, visit:   http://democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/06/15/1345228

We’d also be remiss not to mention the connection of Emmett Till and John H. Johnson who decided to put the photo of the horribly and wrongfully murdered 14-year-old in Jet magazine, which helped get national exposure and be part of the catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement.   As everyone knows by now, Johnson passed away on August 8^th at 87 years old.   He had a long life and truly saw it all in terms of America’s strengths and weaknesses, especially as it relates to racism, which still continues to shine based on the scant coverage of his death.   As expected and as is typical of the American media, very little was said about Johnson – but stories on the death of Peter Jennings and all his “greatness” were overwhelming (meaning it left you wanting less, not more).   Not taking anything away from Jennings, but Johnson’s life and death certainly deserved just as much attention.   Following are some links that you might find interesting on Johnson’s life, accomplishments, triumphs, and stumbles that the media simply CHOSE not to publicize.   Please note that in the “Undercovering John H. Johnson” link there are links at the end of the piece that you might find interesting reading.  

http://www.johnsonpublishing.com

http://www.democracynow.org/  

"Undercovering John H. Johnson”:
http://www.maynardije.org

Guest Book for John H. Johnson:
http://www.legacy.com/Link.asp?

BN-W Monitor Coming Soon:   “The Man” [Samuel L. Jackson, Eugene Levy]; “Roll Bounce” [Bow Wow, Chi McBride]; “Underclassman” [Nick Cannon]; “The Gospel” [Clifton Davis, Tamyra Gray]; “Jarhead” [Jamie Foxx, Jake Gyllenhall]; “Get Rich or Die Tryin’” [Curtis ‘50 Cent’ Jackson]; “Rent” [Taye Diggs, Rosario Dawson, Jesse L. Martin]; “Dying for Dolly” [Usher]; “Syriana” [Jeffrey Wright, George Clooney, Matt Damon]; “An Unfinished Life” [Jennifer Lopez, Robert Redford, Morgan Freeman]; “Pink Panther” [Steve Martin, Beyonce Knowles];

Also Coming :   DVD Monitoring; Summer 2005 Music Monitoring