Ronnie Coleman said "Everyone wants to be a bodybuilder, but no one wants to lift these heavy ass weights." That's the problem, no one wants to put in the work.
Hillary has never put in the work, she's been gifted everything, every time. And she has confused this with doing the work, because why not? It's worked for her every time.
Like every politician, she is surrounded by yes-men, grifters and boot-lickers.
Tex, wtr to Philly Magazine credibility, we average more than 10 murders a week and over 2,000 shooting victims a year; and Philly Magazine doesn’t dive into that. Assaults and robberies are order of magnitude greater than shootings too.
That was weird. I read through that sentence, stumbled, then my brain went back and I re-read it. Somehow it made it through as the thought "wrt" but ... it was like a glitch in The Matrix.
And thank you for posting on my Substack that this was in the inbox. That was helpful. It is well worth reading. I'm constantly humbled by how much more the people around me know than I do.
I have many reasons for being late to the party so often - a thousand pardons! - but all y'all write stuff that gets to my Gmail Promotions tab and I can't quite fully promote it to Not Junk yet.
It would be impossible to claim racism in college sports, such as football and basketball, because the teams have all the same composition, for lack of a better word. But I know that wouldn't really stop them. "Racism" doesn't have to make sense.
As I was reading Halle Barry's whining about having to work for parts, I thought to myself, "I bet Denzel Washington never has to 'work for parts,' or Viola Davis." And why? They're all black, but Washington and Davis are incredibly versatile and talented actors whereas Halley Berry is good but not their level. And I say that being somewhat fond of Halle Berry.
I saw Chukwu's comments in another article a couple weeks before the Oscars. She was whining about how Till didn't even get nominated. So I went through the trailers for all the nominees. You know the one thing all the rest of the movies had that Till didn't? Society-wide or universal themes rather than narrow experience (out of date in Till's case) of one group. The Banshee of Inisherin (which I've watched about half of) is, as much as I can gather at the point I'm at, about friendship and midlife crisis and human foibles. The crazy "Triangle of Sadness" makes fun of wealthy people. Tar, The Fablemans, and Elvis are about once in a generation creative geniuses, in Tar's case, a woman in a man's world (and half of us are women, so that's about as universal a struggle as you can get). All Quiet on the Western Front, Women Talking, and Everything Everywhere All at Once . . . again, universal experiences. And finally Avatar and Maverick were box office successes. I have seen none of these, by the way, other than half of the first. As I said, I'm going off the trailers. But then I watch the trailer for Till and I suppose it's an okay movie, but its appeal is very limited to a small group that still buys the idea that to be black in America is to be ultimately oppressed and constantly beaten down and that that is somehow "hidden" and "unacknowledged," when some of the most privileged people in our society are black and some have been elevated far above what they have to offer society, which means they only got there because they were, in fact, black. Similarly, Hillary Clinton, both because she was a woman and because she was a Clinton, was elevated far above what she had to offer because of connections and wealth augmented by gender. Of course, she was a tool of the Uniparty or the Establishment, whatever you want to call it, and when people chose Trump instead, they threw a tantrum because the masses didn't go along with the script.
And that's what it is, a script. And woe to you if you refuse to follow it.
But when it comes to #OscarsSoWhite, if there is such a thing as systemic white privilege, it is this: white people, particularly straight white people, even white women these days, are bashed over the head constantly with the idea that we need to get out of our own heads and bubbles and take into account other perspectives and the larger, "diverse" picture. And that has been a blessing, honestly, in ways. We have had to learn to see and understand and we're been forced to reflect on how other's see us. We're not allowed to stay in our bubble. Asians these days are being forced to do the same thing, as are your average lesbian and gay people (the LG part of alphabet label). They have to expand their perspectives or be accused of being an "ist" of some kind. And none of this is bad. They too start to create works that have meaning for a whole society rather than just their group.
But the majority of black creators have yet to do this. They want to only talk about themselves and not even all of them. They want to talk about a very narrowly curated version of what it is to be "black." And most of the time, as with Till, they have to go back sixty years or, in the case of Peele, they have to resort to ridiculous cliches. And society has allowed them to get away with this lack of self-reflection on why it has to be that they have to go so far back or be so cliched.
But society is changing. We have problems that cross id-pol lines and I think many of us are tired of the division (and see it as a deliberate distraction) and we're not going to give money to people who keep pushing those divisions. And so there are some "self-entitled" people who in for a rude awakening. And they can react in one of two ways: learn what white people have had to learn (get out of your bubble and engage in some self-reflection) or get even crazier and more hyperbolic. I look for the second, but hope for the first.
"Till" is a tragic story, no doubt, but only people in Chicago know of it, and fewer care. To your point, it's stories that appeal to wider, more common, if not universal themes, that make for the best stories.
Halle Berry is not stupid (not that it was being suggested), but she has other lucrative endeavours – she's modeled (I know that window of opportunity for that is small, but she can still do some, just maybe not Haute Coture), she also has a spokesperson capacity w/ Revlon, she has talent beyond acting – she ought to be encouraging prospective actors/actresses to leverage their talents. Not every ball player can go pro – those that can't but still have something to contribute enter the coaching ranks, or they use their experience to gain entry on the business side.
"And that's what it is, a script. And woe to you if you refuse to follow it."
As Trump, Gen. Flynn, Roger Stone, and others are finding out...
"...bashed over the head constantly with the idea that we need to get out of our own heads and bubbles and take into account other perspectives and the larger, 'diverse' picture. And that has been a blessing, honestly, in ways."
I'll mostly agree, w/ this difference: really, the best we (read as, I) can do is acknowledge that anyone else's experience is not my own, but that is not good enough. I cannot truly appreciate a black person's plight who has truly been on the receiving end of racist behaviour or comments, but as a white oppressor, I am expected to do so. MY experience w/ my now ex-wife was that simply wasn't enough – I needed to empathise, and then apologise for my being part of a white ethnicity that would enslave others. She truly believed that blacks could not be racist, or bigoted, because as she said, "we don't have the power." When I asked her about modern-day muslim colonies that enslaved other blacks, she engaged in whataboutism in masterful fashion.
"I don’t suppose it ever occurs to anyone that after all is said and done, and despite its best efforts, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a meritocracy, does it?"
I doubt anyone every said to Jimi Hendrix, "You're a great guitar. For a black guy."
But I still don't understand why no one wants to pay $Millions to watch a Short, 57 yo White Guy who likes Geometry play basketball.
Different outcomes are the sure signs of prejudice. Am I right?
Ronnie Coleman said "Everyone wants to be a bodybuilder, but no one wants to lift these heavy ass weights." That's the problem, no one wants to put in the work.
Hillary has never put in the work, she's been gifted everything, every time. And she has confused this with doing the work, because why not? It's worked for her every time.
Like every politician, she is surrounded by yes-men, grifters and boot-lickers.
Tex, wtr to Philly Magazine credibility, we average more than 10 murders a week and over 2,000 shooting victims a year; and Philly Magazine doesn’t dive into that. Assaults and robberies are order of magnitude greater than shootings too.
"wtr"? Can't figure it out...
Sorry! My mistake. I meant “wrt” (with regard to).
Ah! Thank you!!
That was weird. I read through that sentence, stumbled, then my brain went back and I re-read it. Somehow it made it through as the thought "wrt" but ... it was like a glitch in The Matrix.
It was almost right but not quite. Now I know.
And thank you for posting on my Substack that this was in the inbox. That was helpful. It is well worth reading. I'm constantly humbled by how much more the people around me know than I do.
But, of course!
Now that I know that's where you look first!
Thank you, for your kind words!
I have many reasons for being late to the party so often - a thousand pardons! - but all y'all write stuff that gets to my Gmail Promotions tab and I can't quite fully promote it to Not Junk yet.
Fuhgeddaboudid!
Oh, that's funny.
I can't speak for NFT, obviously, but I love having you here whenever you get here.
I feel the same!
Aw... shucks
It would be impossible to claim racism in college sports, such as football and basketball, because the teams have all the same composition, for lack of a better word. But I know that wouldn't really stop them. "Racism" doesn't have to make sense.
As I was reading Halle Barry's whining about having to work for parts, I thought to myself, "I bet Denzel Washington never has to 'work for parts,' or Viola Davis." And why? They're all black, but Washington and Davis are incredibly versatile and talented actors whereas Halley Berry is good but not their level. And I say that being somewhat fond of Halle Berry.
I saw Chukwu's comments in another article a couple weeks before the Oscars. She was whining about how Till didn't even get nominated. So I went through the trailers for all the nominees. You know the one thing all the rest of the movies had that Till didn't? Society-wide or universal themes rather than narrow experience (out of date in Till's case) of one group. The Banshee of Inisherin (which I've watched about half of) is, as much as I can gather at the point I'm at, about friendship and midlife crisis and human foibles. The crazy "Triangle of Sadness" makes fun of wealthy people. Tar, The Fablemans, and Elvis are about once in a generation creative geniuses, in Tar's case, a woman in a man's world (and half of us are women, so that's about as universal a struggle as you can get). All Quiet on the Western Front, Women Talking, and Everything Everywhere All at Once . . . again, universal experiences. And finally Avatar and Maverick were box office successes. I have seen none of these, by the way, other than half of the first. As I said, I'm going off the trailers. But then I watch the trailer for Till and I suppose it's an okay movie, but its appeal is very limited to a small group that still buys the idea that to be black in America is to be ultimately oppressed and constantly beaten down and that that is somehow "hidden" and "unacknowledged," when some of the most privileged people in our society are black and some have been elevated far above what they have to offer society, which means they only got there because they were, in fact, black. Similarly, Hillary Clinton, both because she was a woman and because she was a Clinton, was elevated far above what she had to offer because of connections and wealth augmented by gender. Of course, she was a tool of the Uniparty or the Establishment, whatever you want to call it, and when people chose Trump instead, they threw a tantrum because the masses didn't go along with the script.
And that's what it is, a script. And woe to you if you refuse to follow it.
But when it comes to #OscarsSoWhite, if there is such a thing as systemic white privilege, it is this: white people, particularly straight white people, even white women these days, are bashed over the head constantly with the idea that we need to get out of our own heads and bubbles and take into account other perspectives and the larger, "diverse" picture. And that has been a blessing, honestly, in ways. We have had to learn to see and understand and we're been forced to reflect on how other's see us. We're not allowed to stay in our bubble. Asians these days are being forced to do the same thing, as are your average lesbian and gay people (the LG part of alphabet label). They have to expand their perspectives or be accused of being an "ist" of some kind. And none of this is bad. They too start to create works that have meaning for a whole society rather than just their group.
But the majority of black creators have yet to do this. They want to only talk about themselves and not even all of them. They want to talk about a very narrowly curated version of what it is to be "black." And most of the time, as with Till, they have to go back sixty years or, in the case of Peele, they have to resort to ridiculous cliches. And society has allowed them to get away with this lack of self-reflection on why it has to be that they have to go so far back or be so cliched.
But society is changing. We have problems that cross id-pol lines and I think many of us are tired of the division (and see it as a deliberate distraction) and we're not going to give money to people who keep pushing those divisions. And so there are some "self-entitled" people who in for a rude awakening. And they can react in one of two ways: learn what white people have had to learn (get out of your bubble and engage in some self-reflection) or get even crazier and more hyperbolic. I look for the second, but hope for the first.
"Till" is a tragic story, no doubt, but only people in Chicago know of it, and fewer care. To your point, it's stories that appeal to wider, more common, if not universal themes, that make for the best stories.
"'Racism' doesn't have to make sense."
No, it does not.
Halle Berry is not stupid (not that it was being suggested), but she has other lucrative endeavours – she's modeled (I know that window of opportunity for that is small, but she can still do some, just maybe not Haute Coture), she also has a spokesperson capacity w/ Revlon, she has talent beyond acting – she ought to be encouraging prospective actors/actresses to leverage their talents. Not every ball player can go pro – those that can't but still have something to contribute enter the coaching ranks, or they use their experience to gain entry on the business side.
"And that's what it is, a script. And woe to you if you refuse to follow it."
As Trump, Gen. Flynn, Roger Stone, and others are finding out...
"...bashed over the head constantly with the idea that we need to get out of our own heads and bubbles and take into account other perspectives and the larger, 'diverse' picture. And that has been a blessing, honestly, in ways."
I'll mostly agree, w/ this difference: really, the best we (read as, I) can do is acknowledge that anyone else's experience is not my own, but that is not good enough. I cannot truly appreciate a black person's plight who has truly been on the receiving end of racist behaviour or comments, but as a white oppressor, I am expected to do so. MY experience w/ my now ex-wife was that simply wasn't enough – I needed to empathise, and then apologise for my being part of a white ethnicity that would enslave others. She truly believed that blacks could not be racist, or bigoted, because as she said, "we don't have the power." When I asked her about modern-day muslim colonies that enslaved other blacks, she engaged in whataboutism in masterful fashion.
Holy Crap - I only just now realize that Craig T "Coach" Nelson was prosecutor. I didn't know who he was then, I guess.
Glad I didn't jump straight to the 1:24 mark.
Wild, huh? I don't believe he was even shaving, yet...
"Surely, owning the culture meant that being elected the first female President of the United States was all but a formality, wasn’t it?"
*whispers* Wisconsin
"I submit that the only reason she was made a partner in the Rose Law Firm was because her husband was the governor of the State of Arkansas."
Strong, independent woman.
"I don’t suppose it ever occurs to anyone that after all is said and done, and despite its best efforts, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a meritocracy, does it?"
I doubt anyone every said to Jimi Hendrix, "You're a great guitar. For a black guy."
But I still don't understand why no one wants to pay $Millions to watch a Short, 57 yo White Guy who likes Geometry play basketball.
Different outcomes are the sure signs of prejudice. Am I right?
Clearly, it's ageist racism...
You know... I make jokes about being a nerd but I assure you that the Mathists are some of the Worst Purveyors of Mean Things.
They just _assume_ things about us.
Indeed, clearly.