Tag Archives: #OscarsSoWhite

The People’s Oscars 2016: Chi-Raq (2015)

01 Mon Feb 2016

Posted by in Fiction, Police State, Racism (phenotype)

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

ChiRaqMoviePosterLUMPENPROLETARIAT—With the complaints against the all-white 2016 Oscars making headlines, we might wonder which movies may have actually been snubbed by the nearly all-white, and all-male, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).  Of course, this inquiry necessitates screening as many of the 2016 Oscar-nominated, and not nominated, contenders as possible.

This worthy contender, although not nominated for anything during the 88th Academy Awards contest for 2015 films, is directed by Spike Lee, who was deemed worthy of an Academy Honorary Award.  Chi-Raq has been described as a “modern day adaptation of the ancient Greek play Lysistrata by Aristophanes, set against the backdrop of gang violence in Chicago.”  When in Chicago visiting family in 2015, I made it a point to see the poorest areas of Chicago.  I was shown much of Chicago, including neighbour hoods, such as Englewood, which is featured in Chi-Raq.  This film captures Chicago, as a symbol for any American city, in, both, its majesty and its travesty.

Chi-Raq is an “American satirical musical drama film” based on Aristophanes‘ Lysistrata, a Classical Greek comedy play in which women withhold sex from their husbands as punishment for fighting in the Peloponnesian War.”  As I watched the film, I must admit, as the notion of a sex strike appeared, and as the protagonist Lysistrata appeared, Aristophanes never came to mind.  More influential to actualising the concept, in my mind, were the poetic lyrics of Stevie Wonder [1]:

That girl thinks that she’s so bad
She’ll change my tears to joy from sad
She says she keeps the upper hand
‘Cause she can please her man
She doesn’t use her love to make him weak
She uses love to keep him strong
And inside me there’s no room for doubt
That it won’t be too long
Before I tell her

But, in any case, Academy Honorary Award winning film director Spike Lee seems to be discouraged from producing the type of provocative films he’s been creating and directing more recently.

Yet, after some screenings and comparing the work, one can see how Spike Lee and Kevin Willmott may very well edge out most, if not all, of the nominees for Best Screenplay.  And one might see how Angela Bassett, as Miss Helen in Chi-Raq, may very well beat some, if not all, of the nominees in the Best Actress category.  But, perhaps, there really is a white supremacist culture, which discriminates against films populated with people of colour, which precludes a powerful actor, such as Angela Bassett from being fairly recognised for her work by the Academy.  Or maybe not.  Check out this and other 2015 films and decide for yourself.

Messina

***

“Chi-Raq” (2015, official trailer)

***

“Capitalism is a failed system.  Capitalism does not permit an even flow of economic resources.  With this system, a small privileged few are rich beyond conscience.  And almost all others are doomed to be poor at some level.  That’s the way this system works.  And, since we know that the system will not change the rules, we are going to have to change the system.”  Martin Luther King, Jr. in a communication to Andrew Young, one of his associates

***

[1]  “That Girl” by Stevie Wonder

***

[2 FEB 2016  00:02]

[Last modified 2 FEB 2016  00:22]

The People’s Oscars 2016: The Big Short (2015)

30 Sat Jan 2016

Posted by in Anti-Capitalism, Fiction

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , ,

The_Big_Short_teaser_posterLUMPENPROLETARIAT—With the complaints against the all-white 2016 Oscars gaining headlines, we might wonder which movies may have actually been snubbed by the nearly all-white, and all-male, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).  Of course, this requires watching as many of the 2016 Oscar-nominated, and not nominated, contenders as possible.

This worthy contender, with five Oscar award nominations, is directed by Adam McKay. One of the nice things about this film is that it is remarkably accurate in terms of the actual historical facts, in terms of describing the financial components of the 2007/2008 Global Financial Crisis.  A notable example is evidenced in one scene when Christian Bale’s character describes an economic marker of a looming housing market collapse.  He argues, invoking the work of celebrated economist Dr. Hyman Minsky, which argues early on that spikes in the complexity of financial instruments as well as in fraud are key indicators of a potential market crash.  One of the downsides of The Big Short is that, although it focuses quite well into the private sector players, hedge fund managers, stock traders, and such, it has little time for developing the role of the public sector, the role of government officials, in the GFC.  It seems to let figures, such as Ben Bernanke and Hank Paulson, as well as the institutions they represent, off the hook (and, in so doing, much of the audience as well).

Furthermore, the film also avoids the fact that the Clinton administration, under the Reinventing Government agenda, gutted important financial regulatory agencies and dramatically deregulated the financial sector, laying the groundwork for the disaster that would be the GFC of 2007/2008 after nearly a decade of eroding government oversight.  This helps explain why real estate appraisers and brokers were able to perpetually inflate prices and sell predatory loans.  It’s not the most radical, or honest, film it could have been.  But it’s not the worst film it could have been, either.

Nevertheless, this is a must-see film, which offers a much needed alternate perspective on the GFC, which saw millions of people defaulting on their home mortgages, losing their homes, losing their savings, their jobs, and pensions.  This is a good film, arguably a clearer portrait of the GFC than is offered in 2011’s Margin Call.  Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, and a slew of other strong actors delivered fine performances in Margin Call, giving some shape to the GFC. [1]  But director Adam McKay‘s The Big Short provides the clearest picture yet, in a non-documentary film, of the machinery at play in the profit-seeking trades, which caused the worst economic crisis to hit the American and global economies since the Great Depression.  The Big Short develops many central definitions and concepts, such as collateralised debt obligations (CDOs), debt default swaps, NINJA loans, and so on.  The Big Short maintains quite a fast-pace, despite the complexity of the subject matter.  Hopefully, the film will catch enough of the public’s attention to increase public awareness of the consequences of allowing our flawed capitalist system to blindly run its course without some degree of checks and balances.

As Martin Luther King, Jr. once communicated to Andrew Young, one of his associates [2]:

“Capitalism is a failed system.  Capitalism does not permit an even flow of economic resources.  With this system, a small privileged few are rich beyond conscience.  And almost all others are doomed to be poor at some level.  That’s the way this system works.  And, since we know that the system will not change the rules, we are going to have to change the system.”

Messina

***

The Big Short (2015, official trailer)

***

[1]  Also, see The Flaw (2010), Capitalism: A Love Story (2009), Inside Job (2010), and Too Big To Fail (2011).  Substandard, in my opinion, with many more glaring omissions and problematic arguments, yet still a must-see are films, such as Money For Nothing: Inside the Federal Reserve (2013).

[2]  Quoted by economist, author, and professor, Dr. Richard Wolff during his weekly radio broadcast, Economic Update.  Dr. Wolff was one of my UMKC economics professor’s professor.

***

[31 JAN 2016]

[Last modified 31 JAN 2016  01:38 PDT]

The People’s Oscars 2016: Concussion (2015)

25 Mon Jan 2016

Posted by in Fiction, Medicine, Racism (phenotype), Science

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , ,

Oscars_poster_2016LUMPENPROLETARIAT—With the burgeoning complaints against the all-white 2016 Oscars, family, friends, and colleagues have been discussing which movies may have actually been snubbed by the nearly all-white, and all-male, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).  Of course, this requires watching as many of the 2016 Oscar-nominated, and not nominated, contenders as possible. [1]

A stand out film of 2015, which was not nominated for anything by the 2016 Academy, is Concussion, starring Will Smith.  I’m not a huge Will Smith fan; but he does a good job here, reminiscent of his earnestness in The Pursuit of Happyness (2006).  Will Smith plays Dr. Bennet Omalu, a hard-working, disciplined doctor, pathologist, and scientist, who holds some eight different academic degrees, and makes a medical discovery relevant to sports medicine, which he publishes in a medical journal.  Dr. Omalu coins the disorder he discovered CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy).  Armed with the knowledge of CTE, athletes with symptoms of CTE could better manage the disorder, or save, their own lives.  But because it poses an inconvenient truth for the powerful NFL, associated corporations, and other profiteers, not to mention sports fans, whose identity is often bound up in a fantastic cradle-to-grave romanticization of sports, Dr. Omalu’s truth-telling rendered him persona non grata.

Concussion_posterConcussion tackles the somewhat censored topic of repetitive traumatic head injuries in sports, particularly American football.  This provocative and compelling film challenges us to question the prevailing wisdom found in our traditional American values while also delivering some powerful performances, including the supporting actors, such as Albert Brooks as Dr. Cyril Wecht, Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Prema Mutiso, and David Morse, as former Pittsburgh Steelers center Mike Webster.

Messina

***

“Concussion” (Official Trailer, 2015)

***

USA TODAY—[18 JAN 2016]  #OscarsSoWhite that Jada Pinkett Smith and Spike Lee will not be attending them, as the two announced via social media on Monday.

Smith initially contemplated skipping the 88th annual Academy Awards after her husband, Will, failed to net a best actor nomination for his turn as Dr. Bennet Omalu in Concussion. The actress confirmed her intent to boycott in a video posted to Facebook.

Learn more at USA TODAY.

***

[1]  Will Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett, released a statement that she would be boycotting the 2016 Oscars for being all white and, essentially, racist or white supremacist, albeit this decision is interwoven with her personal stake in her husband’s failure to win a nomination.  Similarly, Spike Lee said he appreciated the honorary Oscar he received in November of 2015, but said he was boycotting the Oscars as well, taking the Academy to task for its lack of diversity, reflected in its top nominations.  Baptist minister, civil rights activist, and Obama Administration insider, Reverend Al Sharpton also recently slammed the predominantly white Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for its lack of diversity:  ““Hollywood is like the Rocky Mountains, the higher up you get the whiter it gets and this year’s Academy Awards will be yet another Rocky Mountain Oscars,” Sharpton said in a statement provided by the National Action Network.”.  We’ll see if Chris Rock takes the cause seriously enough to boycott the gig, too, or if he’ll approach it simply sour grapes on the part of Jada Pinkett, as Concussion wasn’t nominated for anything.

***

[28 JAN 2016]

[Last modified 28 JAN 2016  06:58 PDT]