Noteworthy Plays (Click text for information):
Black Angels over Tuskegee-
Black Angels Over Tuskegee Begins Off-Broadway Run Jan. 29 - Playbill.com
Fences-
Denzel Washington returns to Broadway in 'Fences' by August Wilson
Color Purple-
The Color Purple Featuring Fantasia Barrino (Celie),La Toya London (Nettie)
FELA-
FELA Produced by Will and Jada Pinkett Smith and Jay-Z
African-Americans line up for 2009 Oscar nominations:
Avatar-
Lead Actress
Zoe Saldana
Blind Side-
Lead Actor-Quinton Aaron
Precious-
Lead Actress-Gabourey Sidibe as an abused,molested "350 Pound" teenager
Mo'nique-Supporting actress as an abusive unsupportive mother
Director Lee Daniels
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Invictus-
Morgan Freeman-Lead Actor-as Nelson Mandela (Great Actor Bad South African Accent)
The Princess and the Frog-Best Animated Feature Film-Starring Anika Noni Rose as Disney's first Black Princess
The roles that we have tackled are surely diverse this Oscar season.
While we have 6 Oscar Nominations for Precious (I despise this role and feel that it portrays Black life so pitifully without even giving Precious and the audience a happy ending) I am happy to see Mo'Nique and Gabourey recognized for their roles. While Precious pulled on heartstrings, it is a reminder that we need also to see more African-Americans in favorable everyday roles. The life of Precious only illustrates a string in the quilt that is our culture.
Blindside is also a repeated role of an African-American homeless teen taken in by a white savior. Said better by a summary on the Internet Movie Database,"A poor, oversized and under-educated teenager is recruited by a major college football program where he is groomed into an athletically and academically successful NFL prospect." That's nothing new.
What is new however is Zoe Saldana in Avatar. The academy didn't know what to do with Zoe and she was surely snubbed for her role in Avatar. Avatar didn't even receive a nom for Best Animation. Zoe Saldana also played a lead role in Star Trek. Hats off to Zoe.
African-American's lives are rich and diverse and deserve to be showcased accordingly. I'd say that the presence of African-Americans is sourly lacking in Hollywood as Black culture influences every fabric of American culture from dress, to sports, to music and now politics. It is worth mentioning here that while we have a Black President our presence in the entertainment arena has been dramatically scaled back. There are a few Blacks speckled on television here and there but for the most part we have been taking a back seat in popular culture.
Musically the list of Blacks taking home Grammys was lacking as well. Maybe Kanye is psychic. Things that make you go hmmm.
Because mainstream will not provide opportunities for African-Americans with fairness. We must determine that we will become self reliant. Collectively we have capital to do just that.
Tyler Perry
Love him or not he's breaking ground and paving the way for the next generation of artists with his unprecedented creation of his own movie studio.
There are amazing stories that have yet to be told. Roles that are so much apart of African-American history and thereby American History. This is the true purpose of art. To demonstrate the human story. In order to truly have an accurate depiction of American culture we must demand that the stories of yesterday and today be told so that we can be remembered for our accomplishments while setting reminders of our potential. We have to make room for those untold stories with new and fresh characters so the stereotyped overused roles can take a backseat to allow for this innovation.
I am glad you began this entry with some of the spotlight cast upon the stage where acting, like music I feel, is at its most honest and, thus, its best: live and with no outtakes.
ReplyDeleteAs for the motion picture in this country, it has been a foregone conclusion that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences really does little to celebrate and thus encourage neither art nor science in this country's cinematic landscape.
That having been said, reading your comments left me wondering what Hollywood will do or try to with Danny Glover's epic biopic about Carribbean revolutionary Toussaint L'Ouverture - especially since Hollywood wanted to kill the project from the outset.
*¿Can we share some popcorn once the houselights go down?
What will they ever do with Toussaint? I suppose when I wrote this I was being optimistic and hoping that there would be room eventually, even if we had to squeeze our way into the Academy, for roles that portray us as human beings in all of our glory, pain and sorrow. There will come a time when we won't rely so heavily on color but it will only come after we've acknowledged the damage done by the transatlantic slave trade. The transatlantic slave trade has created such a stigma that people all over the world will imitate Black culture but then deny the origin of the culture. Forget it if they have even a drop of Black blood they'd rather be anything but. Although this is true I believe that when Black people begin to embrace Blackness then we will be able to securely occupy roles that cross color lines simply because we are above and beyond all human.
ReplyDelete