The Prince of Airbending: Donald Glover

Last week this article and this site got me very angry at Hollywood and myself. Two huge tent pole movies this summer have been completely whitewashed and I was about to lie down and accept it. The movies I speak of are Disney’s Prince of Persia (released last Friday) and Paramount’s The Last Airbender.  Both films would have called for some ethnic lead characters, and yet, neither of these studios cast any Persians or Asians in the respective roles. Ultimately, I was not going to do this blog because I could not come up with a counter to the argument of why it was even important to have racial diversity in America cinema. But a comedian and a few Facebook users gave me incentive and motivation to stop being lazy and speak up! In short, I am heated.

It could happen.

A few days ago Donald Glover’s (Derrick Comedy and Community) name came up as a possible candidate to play the next Peter Parker after Marc Bernadin, a writer for the sci-fi site io9.com said: “In this day and age, why does Spidey have to be a white guy?” When I first heard reports of Glover as Spider Man I thought it was funny and I jokingly supported the idea but after reading Bernadin’s article I asked myself why does Spidey have to be a white guy? So via Twitter/Facebook I posted, “If The Last Airbender & Prince of Persia can be white. Then GODDAMNIT [Donald Glover] can be Spider Man!” I expected to get a lot of likes and agreements but I was shocked to see comments like “What!? He is an iconic character known for a certain look: The geeky white boy” and “Spider Man 3 was the last disaster, I don’t want to see another. “ WHAT!? I could not believe what I was reading! Movies like Dragon Ball: Evolution, Prince of Persia and The Last Airbender have leads that are completely whitewashed and no one seems to care but the second someone proposes the idea of a black Spider Man and people go mad! It does not make sense to me!

Some say that casting a black Spider Man would be a form of reverse discrimination and my respond to that is codswallop! Spider Man (and more notably Peter Parker) is the epitome of the “everyman character.” If ever there were a character that could be any race, whether it were African, Asian or Latin American, Spider Man is the one. On the other hand, the Prince of PERSIA is specifically Persian. Aang and Goku are specifically Asian, and yet, they are whitewashed without anyone batting an eyelash. I take great issue with the fact that we overlook the importance of racial diversity in today’s movies. If we cannot accept a minority Spider Man but allow several whitewashed movies something is terribly wrong with our current state-of-minds.

Aang in "The Last Airbender" (2010)

It upsets me that the only time we can get an ethnic character in any semi-leading role is as the villain. This year’s The Last Airbender previously had an all-white leading cast. Formally, Jesse McCarty was set to play the villain Prince Zuko but was then replaced by Slumdog Millionaire’s Dev Patel. Paramount claims, “Night’s vision of ‘The Last Airbender’ includes a large and ethnically diverse cast that represents cultures from around the world.” The problem is that most of that diversity only seems suitable for the minor characters, background performers and antagonists.

American cinema should reflect American society. After all, art imitates life, right? It is important that we see more ethnic faces on the screen, especially as leading roles. At the very least we should see the same ratio of movies as we have in our population, but studies from racebender.com show that Paramount can’t even managed that! I don’t think it is important so much for adults as it is for kids. My favorite super heroes growing up were Blank Man and Meteor Man, though I’m sure most of you don’t know who either of those two are. For me, it’s really important to see someone on screen that I can relate to, whether that is socially or racially. I’m more prone to relate to the outcast character or the token black guy because I’ve grown up “playing” those roles in life. Kids are very easy to mold and manipulate and I don’t like the message the media is sending to them.

Meteor Man (Jefferson Reed, 1993)

There is some good being done in Hollywood and entertainment as well, don’t get me wrong. Green Lantern recently was depicted as a black man instead of a white one in one of the latest Justice League cartoons, Power Rangers has had a few ethnic leaders and recently we had our first black Disney princess in The Princess and the Frog (though we still have no black prince!). Still, it took me awfully too long to come up with those names and titles when I can spout off several heroes like Superman, Iron Man, Batman, Spiderman, James Bond, Neo, Rocky, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones and Luke Skywalker off the top of my head. But I want to see more characters like Blade, El Mariachi and Bruce Lee and I feel some of the recent movies and television shows we’ve been receiving have not met that standard. At the end of the day, it does not matter if Donald Glover is the next Spider Man or not but I feel it’s really important that the entertainment industry sees past this as media hype and look more into its racial relevance.

UPDATE (6-26-10): One of my friends and mentors, Damian Gonzalez, has brought it to my attention that one of my statements was wrong and inaccurate. The blame should not fall on Paramount and Hollywood solely. Paramount, other movie and television studios are a business, they pander to the almighty dollar. As great web shows like Beyond the Trailer and Movie Preview Critic would say, it is up to us, the audience, to decide what movies we watch. Whenever we pay for a movie ticket we are voluntarily supporting that movie, though in the vast sum of ticket sales our purchase may seem small. So it is up to you and me to be the change we want to see in the world. For me, I want to see a change in white-washing practices in Hollywood. Therefore, I will not be watching The Last Airbender when it does come out and if you feel the same, you should too. In the great words of the movie preview critic: “Hollywood gives more of what we pay for so choose wisely.”

QUOTES OF THE DAY:

“It’s not enough to say that “everyone is equal” or “discrimination is wrong.” Those concepts are too complex for young kids to understand. Explicit, direct statements about race and skin color work best. “

- Racebending.com

“Be the change you want to see in the world.”

- Mahatma Ghandi

Bruce Lee

Peace and Much <3

Billimarie

I think it was two years ago when I met Billimarie. Initially, I met her through a mutual friend, Ashten ‘Whoopi” Winger, via the internet, which, oddly enough, is how I meet a majority of my friends. We were supposed to meet one another on several occasions but they all fell through. It wasn’t until CampusMovieFest came to Cal State Northridge in 2008 that we met each other and ended up making a short in one week!

I directed and she edited.  It was my first time ever shooting a movie and not editing the footage. In fact, it was my first time solely directing and having no direct hand in shooting or editing (Christian Valle directed and operated camera). It was a great experience and Billimarie was very nice and compromising. She never gave off an ego and never talked down to me.

She had trophies aplenty; most of them were achievements in filmmaking from festivals and such. Never once did she point them out to me, even when I asked she answered in a passing manner but with no tone of arrogance or conceit. Though her films and videos might not reflect it, she is very down-to-earth. I expect this was because of her parents’ guidance. They too were easy-going and friendly. She was the perfect role model for me and still is. She had all the qualities I wanted to have. She was gracious, humble, relaxed and most of all talented! In yet, I never felt jealous. I could only feel inspired.

A year ago she told me she was planning on making a then untitled film about people with box heads. At first, I thought of Jack in the Box (but then I realized that he had an orb for a head … I digress) but she was picturing something a little different. When I read the script for the first time, I admit, I didn’t get it. It took her several discussions and a few more drafts  until I was blown away. I had pictured a world beyond the page, not just the story that was presented. I really felt Billimarie created a nice and familiar yet unfamiliar world with a grand Matrix-like back story (at least for me). But what really got me was the theme of love; a theme that I think is championed when coupled with artificial intelligence and robots. I enjoy the thought that love can conquer all, whether it be hate, violence, war, tyranny or even a droid . There are also some underlining motifs about government control and regulation, which was also thrilling for me.

The production of the film was really fun. I don’t necessarily think there were bad days on the set, maybe a hot day or a cold day but never a bad one. Everyone had a lot of energy and was especially friendly with each other. Billimarie put together a fine cast and crew, notably Sean Hill who was just as gracious and amiable as she. I remember the night shoot being particularly fun, especially with the visits from the cops and such. Just like most directors, Billimarie was frantic and scatter-brained but she never lost her cool, never raised her voice, always keeping into perspective that she was doing this because she loved it. She respected us and we respected her. More than that, she liked us as people and we liked her back for being her!

Production ended and we all parted ways and Billimarie went into a fortress of solitude and edited away! A little less than a year later and now she’s released her baby to the world. This past Sunday she had a small screening for the cast and crew (as well as a graduation/birthday part celebration) and I had forgotten how much I missed and admired her.

So this is to you Billimarie! For being such a great filmmaker and a great friend! Congratulations to your release of “Corrugated Hearts!”

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

“Hide not your talents, they for use were made. What’s a sun-dial in the shade?”

- Benjamin Franklin

Peace & Much <3

*Please be sure to repost/retweet the film if you enjoy it.*

Opening & Carmen

It’s been a long time coming. Thanks to Ricky Elliott, over the next few weeks you’ll be seeing a lot of scenes posted up here. The film as a whole will be uncompleted but I will post up most of the scenes that I can get behind. It will make me feel complete and I can move on. I’ve mentioned already that I was not happy with the outcome of the film but I felt it was a good experience. Read more of that here.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

“And baby girl, what does it matter where your purse from?
Your hurr done, your nails did, your ass fat, but you’re dumb
Mix Melyssa Ford with Maya Angelou
Become a top model and Sojourner too” – Lupe Fiasco

Peace & Much <3

VB 3-28-10

This weeks I see Hot Tub Time Machine which was the definition of mediocre comedy! I also ask you all if comedies are even worth watching in the theater … especially since ticket prices can get really high around Los Angeles. That and I’ve got some Whoopi vs. SilentBat II stuff for you all to view! Enjoy!

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

“The best doctor in the world is the veterinarian. He can’t ask his patients what is the matter, he’s got to just know.” – Will Rogers

Peace & Much <3

Will Rogers

VBs 7,14,21!

It’s been a while … but that’s okay, I know you guys didn’t miss me. Well I think I’m going back to my old video blogging days and stepping back from written blogs. I’ll write a blog if I feel stirred enough to do so (like Jamba vs. Robek’s) or if I every get a still camera again and take pictures. Like always, just follow me on Twitter and you can get updates from me almost every hour.

Enjoy the videoblogs below!

Sundance Days

The video is a playlist. In all it’s 20 minutes. Enjoy!

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

“Truth is beautiful, without doubt; but so are lies.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Peace & Much <3

Head Throb!

My head is throbbing right now! I’ve got a flight to Salt Lake City, Utah at 7:15 AM and I’m leaving my house at 4:30 AM (it’s currently 2:26 AM as I write this). I haven’t slept since 12 PM because I was working all day and I’m starting to feel it. Worst of all, the project I was working on isn’t even exporting correctly (Final Cut Pro decided to be mean, I’m going to use After Effects now). The project in question was the storyboard animatics for Mrs. Red, which may or may not start shooting the week I come back from Sundance. OMG Sundance!

I don’t think it’s really hit that I’m going quite yet. It won’t hit until I’m actually settling into our hotel room. The hotel/condo we are staying at has WiFi but I am unsure if it’s free so I don’t know if I’ll be able to post very frequently (as if I post frequently as it is). However, I will be doing daily videoblogs and I’ll find a way to upload those to YouTube and I also will be tweeting like a madman so those will be the best places to follow me and my daily events while I’m over there! Within my videoblogs I hope to review the films I see as well so look out for those. Below I will put the list of the films I’m most anticipating. I don’t have the time to state why they are my most anticipated but I’ll post their blurbs below each name:

#1 Tucker & Dale vs. Evil

“The hillbillies from the store captured Alison!”

Tucker and Dale, two hillbillies heading to their “fixer-upper” cabin for some relaxin’, discover they ain’t alone in them woods. They encounter an SUV full of vacationing college kids, and Dale unintentionally creeps them out. But later, as he and Tucker are fishing, Dale rescues one of them—the pretty blond Alison—after she falls into the lake. Assuming she’s been captured, the indomitably preppy college kids rally to find her.

A comically macabre battle between Izods and overalls, Eli Craig’s ingenious send-up of the horror genre recounts a simple misunderstanding gone grotesquely wrong. Our hillbilly psycho killers are actually sweet as pie; it’s the judgmental college kids who have “issues.”

Craig lovingly embraces clichés, dispensing humor and gore in equal parts as we watch the educated class blunder to its demise. Nature, beer, and a rising body count—what better way to spend Memorial Day?

#2 Shorts Program V

From an unplanned pregnancy and a lesbian couple’s foray into parenthood, to a man’s intimate moment in a bathtub gone awry, these shorts take you on that wondrous journey between childhood and adultdom. With stops at the sweet innocence of a tyke hunting wabbits and someone facing mature decisions between family and self-determinism, to discovering inappropriate young love, this program is an unpredictably exhilarating , disturbing, and touching ride. Buckle up.

#3 Boy

It’s 1984, and Michael Jackson is king—even in Waihau Bay, New Zealand. Here we meet Boy, an 11-year-old who lives on a farm with his gran, a goat, and his younger brother, Rocky (who thinks he has magic powers). Shortly after Gran leaves for a week, Boy’s father, Alamein, appears out of the blue. Having imagined a heroic version of his father during his absence, Boy comes face to face with the real version—an incompetent hoodlum who has returned to find a bag of money he buried years before. This is where the goat enters.

Inspired by his Oscar-nominated short, Two Cars, One Night, Taika Waititi offers a charming, funny, and earnest coming-of-age story where everybody has some coming of age to do—particularly Alamein (affably played by Waititi himself). Never short on humor, Waititi’s story is ultimately about three boys (one grown) reconciling fantasy with reality.

#4 The Killer Inside Me

Based on the novel by legendary pulp writer Jim Thompson, The Killer Inside Me tells the story of handsome, charming, unassuming small-town deputy sheriff Lou Ford, who has a bunch of problems. Women problems. Law-enforcement problems. And an ever-growing pile of murder victims in his west Texas jurisdiction. All the while Lou manages to remain his stoic self. However, as evidence is discovered over the course of the investigation, suspicion begins to fall on Lou. But in this savage and bleak universe, nothing is ever what it seems.

In this film, Michael Winterbottom continues to show his immense prowess as a director. Pushing noir to its darkest extreme, he has fashioned a star vehicle for Casey Affleck, who delivers a powerful performance that resonates with a quiet ferocity that evokes shades of Robert Mitchum. This violent, stylish psychosexual thriller is imbued with all the amoral energy of its genre and is sure to shock some and dazzle all.

#5 Obselidia

Based on the novel by legendary pulp writer Jim Thompson, The Killer Inside Me tells the story of handsome, charming, unassuming small-town deputy sheriff Lou Ford, who has a bunch of problems. Women problems. Law-enforcement problems. And an ever-growing pile of murder victims in his west Texas jurisdiction. All the while Lou manages to remain his stoic self. However, as evidence is discovered over the course of the investigation, suspicion begins to fall on Lou. But in this savage and bleak universe, nothing is ever what it seems.

In this film, Michael Winterbottom continues to show his immense prowess as a director. Pushing noir to its darkest extreme, he has fashioned a star vehicle for Casey Affleck, who delivers a powerful performance that resonates with a quiet ferocity that evokes shades of Robert Mitchum. This violent, stylish psychosexual thriller is imbued with all the amoral energy of its genre and is sure to shock some and dazzle all.

#6 Night Catches Us

In the summer of ’76, as President Jimmy Carter pledges to give government back to the people, tensions run high in a working-class Philadelphia neighborhood where the Black Panthers once flourished. When Marcus returns—having bolted years earlier—his homecoming isn’t exactly met with fanfare. His former movement brothers blame him for an unspeakable betrayal. Only his best friend’s widow, Patricia, appreciates Marcus’s predicament, which both unites and paralyzes them. As Patricia’s daughter compels the two comrades to confront their past, history repeats itself in dangerous ways.

Night Catches Us masterfully reckons with the complexity of its characters’ revolutionary ideologies and internal desires. Bell-bottoms, Afros, potlucks, and Caddies set the scene as the film potently interweaves political media with an evocative soul-inspired score, summoning a vivid sense of place and time. The golden light that bathes characters’ faces seems to express the promise—and elusiveness—of the necessary change Marcus and Patricia struggle for so dearly—each by separate means.

#7 Shorts Program I

This is the one about love: love, greed, misery, and tearing the whole thing down. Yes, in it you will find a salacious proposition, some massive corruption, and a whole bunch of betrayal. Plus the xenophobia, the robots, and maybe also the end of civilization (or at least the part that’s in Los Angeles). But through all of it, remember one thing: this is the one about love.

#8 Animation Spotlight

Ladies and gentlemen, step right up! Step right up, folks, and be the first to catch a glimpse of the finest animated oddities under the big top tonight! Bold! Daring! Shocking! True! That’s right, a thousand thrills await! You’ll see horrifying visions plucked from the future and mined from the past! We’ve got the exclusive reincarnation of Bruce Lee! Visit exotic locales on runaway trains! Tremble to lonely love songs! Look upon terrifying beasts and experience torrential downpours never before seen! All things Beautiful, Bizarre, and Barbaric can be found within. Void where prohibited, satisfaction guaranteed!

#9 The Dry Land

James (Ryan O’Nan) returns from Iraq to face a new battle—reintegrating into his small-town life in Texas. His wife (America Ferrera), his mother (Melissa Leo), and his friend (Jason Ritter) provide support, but they can’t fully understand the pain and suffering he feels since his tour of duty ended. Lonely, James reconnects with an army buddy (Wilmer Valderrama), who provides him with compassion and camaraderie during his battle to process his experiences in Iraq. But their reunion also exposes the different ways that war affects people—at least on the surface.

This moving, taut story of redemption and reconstruction extends beyond a post-traumatic-stress-disorder narrative. O’Nan is heartbreaking as he explores the depths of his internal struggle; Ferrera fearlessly tackles her role of a young wife in turmoil. The Dry Land is about one man’s fight within his own terrain—his country, home, and mind—and his journey to rebuild what he’s lost.

#10 Bilal’s Stand

Bilal is an upright black Muslim teen who works at his family’s taxi stand in Detroit. “The Stand,” as they affectionately call it, has been the family’s social and financial hub for the past 60 years, and Bilal is in line to carry the torch. But Bilal, who burns the midnight oil to keep up both the family business and his grades, develops a secret life designed to enable him to attend a top university. When his two lives collide, Bilal is forced to decide between keeping The Stand alive—and living the only life he has ever known—or taking a shot at social mobility.

Based on a true story, Bilal’s Stand radiates warmth, humor, and originality. Sultan Sharrief’s debut feature is a freshly crafted film filled with heart and authenticity that transports audiences to a world rarely seen on-screen and heralds the arrival of its filmmaker as a new voice in American independent cinema.

There you go! I’m outtie! I’ve gotta be on the plane in a few hours! Oh and watch this video before you close out of the blog.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

“Never let a fool kiss you or a kiss fool you.” – Mardy Grothe

Peace & Much <3