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Hollywood is pushing back, at least a little, against the Washington power players and others who have put the squeeze on “Zero Dark Thirty.”

In the last week, Mark Boal, who is a producer of the film and wrote the screenplay, hired Jeffrey H. Smith, a prominent lawyer who specializes in domestic security and First Amendment issues, Mr. Smith confirmed on Friday. His mission is to represent Mr. Boal with regard to any approach from Congress or the executive branch in connection with their inquiries into the film’s depiction of torture in the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

I am so glad I didn’t spend my money on this movie at the theatre. It actually might be more f-cked up and problematic than Django Unchained and that’s saying something! Click the post title or that crazy screenshot of anti-Muslim tweets this movie seems to be stirring up to read the full New York Times article.

[via 546inthemorning]

This is really worth reading. A couple snips:

Adam Lanza killed 26 people; he destroyed the lives of many, but he also put in jeopardy the dreams and fallacies that led many to the suburbs. He put the allure and meaning of whiteness in jeopardy. “Is there anything more innocent than a child eating popcorn and sipping Coke with the lights of a movie screen reflecting off his face?” wrote Bert Weiss after the shooting in Aurora. “Is there any place I can feel my children are totally safe? Rather than being excited to share this movie together, now I’ll spend a considerable amount of time addressing what happened in that theater with my sons. Frankly, I wish someone could explain it to me. As a parent, I wish I could postpone the reality of conversations like this for just a little longer; keep my kids innocent for as long as possible.”

The “its suppose to happen” in inner-city communities reframe is not surprising. Places like Columbine, Aurora, and Newton exist because of the fear-industrial complex. The white middle-class flocked from cities into the suburbs and rural communities partially due to fear of black and Latino youth, integrated schools, and urban crime. The continuously deployed the narrative of “its not suppose to happen in Newton” and their neighborhoods mirroring “American family’s dream” embodies this entrenched belief. The efforts to imagine Holmes and Lanza as good kids turned evil, to scour the earth for reasons and potential solutions, works to preserve the illusion of safety, the allure of white suburbia, and the power of whiteness.

Click the post title or image to read the full article at Gawker.

Quentin Tarantino’s liberal use of the N-word over the course of his storied film directing career put in stark relief in this video anthology: is it context or subtext (or a more troubling racial fetishizing on his part)?

[via the DK FB page - LIKE US!]

2013 is going to be incredible, if for no other reason than because this will undoubtedly be the year the cultural discourse shifts from simple discussions of “race” or “racism” to the majestic land of “how we talk about and react to race in mixed settings.” While ideas of a “post-racial” society are but a single cute step below thinking the world was going to end on December 21 on the “awwww, that’s cute” scale, what we are in 2013 is post–”race and things typically associated with a single race existing only within that racial silo.” Finally.

As 2012 came to a close, a few things in the media’s racial-discourse sphere took place that hinted the cup was set to runneth over. In December, we had a black sports commentator call a black quarterback essentially “not black enough,” and the result was supporters of all races coming to the defense of the Third Griffin, telling this black commentator that he had no right to define what was black. And then, to top it off, he was reprimanded by his superiors, many of whom are white. Bonkers. In the past, passing judgment on a matter like this, whether against or in favor, could really only come from other esteemed blacks, because who else had the right to comment on what was “black” and what was not? That, as was made evident, is no longer the case.

Another example, one that has existed for years: white writers critiquing hip-hop. In a December 20 album review in Spin, writer Jordan Sargent gave young, misguided, controversial Chicago rapper Chief Keef’s album Finally Rich an above-average review. Upon reading the review, journalist Brian Miller, known in some circles as “B.Dot” of the hip-hop site Rap Radar, took to Twitter to air out his feelings about what he saw as Sargent’s (a white guy’s) take on hip-hop culture (a culture that he very much sees as in line with being black).

Click the post title or pic to read the full article by Rembert Brown at Grantland.

[Franklin Leonard via Issa Rae]

All evidence to the contrary, some people simply see it another way though. Smh….

(PS: I know I’m ‘late’ but I may post a few things on the Newtown, CT massacre over the next couple days too…)

[via Kim Katrin Crosby]

Classic, of course, being the operative word here. A “classic’ in the sense that it’s near perfect example of what would be considered the typical 1960’s drive-in or neighborhood theater exploitation film.

No subject was too crass, lowdown or offensive enough, and no budget was too low enough to make an exploitation B movie. Yet somehow I missed The Black Klansman when it was released in 1966, but you can now watch it below free of charge.

The story deals with a light skinned black man, played by white actor Richard Gilden (A white guy playing a black guy passing for a white guy? Just like Susan Kohner did in Dougals Sirk’s  1959 remake of Imitation of Life) who infiltrates the Klan after his daughter is killed in a church bombing all leading up to a violent action climax.

It has all the ingredients of a great exploitation movie - a controversial plot, cheapskate production values, terrible acting, especially by Gilden and laughable dialogue such as: “You got into my Klan! You dated my Carol Ann!” ( Kinda rhymes doesn’t it?)

Another Trayvon Martin? “In Florida last week, a gun enthusiast killed an unarmed teenager for playing his music too loud….” [Salon]

Here we go again. We haven’t even settled the Trayvon Martin case and another maniac is invoking FL’s asinine ‘Stand Your Ground’ law under very, very dubious circumstances. I am truly getting tired of asking, “When does this end?” Absolute.f-cking.travesty. Michael Dunn is out of his mind and deserves to be jailed for a long, long time. The fact that whether that will happen is in serious question is almost the saddest thing of all. Jordan Davis, R.I.P.

Click the post title to watch a video of Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC breaking down this insanity.