Art and popular culture are two of the primary terrains upon which we wage a war for how we will be represented as a people. Sadly, on Friday, February 26, 2010, respectable negroes lost another engagement with the forces of coonery, black debasement, and poor taste. Tyler "Manchurian Candidate of Black Pathology and Moon Cricket Tomfoolery" Perry wins and Black folk lose--again.
This is an epic fail in the Age of Obama.
Behold how low the NAACP, what was once THE great defender of Black Freedom has slumped. The winners of the 2010 NAACP Image Awards include the following exemplars of the "greatness" that is African American arts and letters:
- Comedy Series: "Tyler Perry's House of Payne"
- Actress in a comedy series: Cassi Davis, "Tyler Perry's House of Payne"
- Supporting actor in a comedy series: Lance Gross, "Tyler Perry's House of Payne"
- Supporting actress in a comedy series: Keshia Knight Pulliam, "Tyler Perry's House of Payne"
- Actress in a motion picture: Gabourey Sidibe, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
- Supporting actor in a motion picture: Adam Rodriguez, "Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself"
- Supporting actress in a motion picture: MoNique, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
- Independent motion picture: "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
- Writing in a motion picture: Geoffrey Fletcher, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
7 comments:
That list is truly pathetic. What's equally pathetic is that it's no accident.
@Miles
No accident. You got that right. Is it corporate America forcing it on us--and also by extension deeply influencing how other folk see--or is it us choosing this garbage?
cd
It's both. Now that there is a black man who's not only the President, but is not a stereotype, this kind of thing serves as a corporate America's reminder of the "place" that black people are supposed to occupy.
Also, it's a concrete example of black people not getting it. Obama is showing America (and particularly black America) a different way. It's becoming more and more obvious each day that he's speaking a language that people stopped understanding a long time ago.
Spike puts himself into an interesting position as The Voice of Black Uplift. How long are we going to let him pretend not to be elitist?
Spike doesn't speak for the people, Spike speaks for Spike's audience, which is down the long tail because he's decided to be a cut above average. What does he think he's trying to be Goebbels? Sorry, there's no Ministry of Black Truth even in the vaunted Obama administration. He's just going to have to satisfy himself with minority status.
When are black people going to learn that they don't own black people?
I'm all for Tyler Perry getting his paper and expressing himself the way he wants. I've heard him say Madea was used to draw people in to give them a message of hope and uplift. That's great,but at what point does he turn the page? He has his own studio,why aren't we seeing serious shows with an all black cast in it on TBS? Unfortunately, our people may not support it because it's not Coonery. We would much rather watch Tiny & Toya or Frankie & Neffe or some other train wreck.
Answer to your question is no, the NAACP can't do better. Tyler Perry has a foothold in Hollywood that the NAACP admires and will do everything in their power to cultivate and maintain.
For people who don't take the NAACP seriously, this is fine.
[quote]. Is it corporate America forcing it on us--and also by extension deeply influencing how other folk see--or is it us choosing this garbage?[/quote]
Chauncey:
The fact that there are FAR, FAR, FAR more IGNORANT INDEPENDENT Black produced films that go straight to DVD this shows that the CORPORATE influence is NOT the critical force.
The fact that CLARENCE THOMAS, MICHAEL STEELE and SARAH PALIN receive far more focus and attack from the Biased Black Media should give you a hint about the problem.
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