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WTF??!?

Talk about an #EPICFAIL!

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]

Director Spike Lee came out early to condemn Quentin Tarantino’s hit slavery-themed film Django Unchained, admittedly without having even seen it.

Now the outspoken figure is facing a backlash of his own, as a growing chorus of black entertainers have called him out for his criticism of the Academy-Award-nominated movie.

Luke, I’m not surprised at but Dick Gregory’s comments seem out of character to me. I wonder how accurately this Grio article was sourced and verified??

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!]

So I actually ended going to see the movie Django Unchained despite massive reservations but this, if its legit (and it seems to be), is way beyond the pale of anything that could be considered even close to being in good taste. Smdh….

[via DK Facebook page]

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]