So is anybody going to go see "The Help"?

Hat Tip to Shadow and Act.

"The Help" stars Emma Stone, Viola Davis, and Octavia Spencer.The movie is based on book of the same name. 

So i've been following the development of the roll out of the movie, The Help. I also saw a trailer for the movie in theaters. So who is going to go see it? Why, why not?

I'm on the fence. I am not this movie's target audience. I suspect the target audience is similar to the audience for Eat, Pray, Love, and I didn't go to see that either.

 Many of us have mothers, grandmothers and aunts who were maids to White families so it IS a legitimate part of our history... BUT I'm so sick and tired of movies with long suffering overcoming Black women with no makeup or movie-star glam.  Where is our escapist crap?

I guess I'm in a rut right now and I want to see Black women flying around in capes in full makeup with glamour lighting. I think I wouldn't be irritated as much by the "long suffering Black women" roles if there was more variety.  

I wouldn't even mind a Civil War/ Slavery movie it was an action adventure movie... and don't tell me Black folks running away to seek freedom in the North didn't have some adventures along the way that wouldn't make good movies...

So its poll time. How likely are you to go see "The Help" when arrives in theatres this August... I'm leaning towards NOT. But then again, I haven't seen Thor, Kungfu Panda, Fast and the Furious, The Green Hornet, Green Lantern et all, I did see both Jumping the Broom and Something Borrowed and they were both on the opposite end of the spectrum of DREADFUL.

Counting down until someone leaves a cooment  saying he HAAAAAAAVE to go see this movie or Hollywood will never make another movie featuring Black women ever ever ever eveeeer! Hogwash!

Somebody Declared A Black Culture War and Didn't Let Me Know About it- NAACP Endorses Tyler Perry

I am a bit irritated that Entertainment Weekly didn't give me credit for saying that there is a looming war in Black America between Black folks with common sense... and those without. THEY STOLE THIS FROM ME!!! :) This article is about Tyler Perry and his movies:

At a time when Barack Obama is presenting the world with a bold new image of black America, Perry is being slammed for filling his films with regressive, down-market archetypes. In many of his films there's a junkie prostitute, a malaprop-dropping uncle, and Madea, a tough-talking grandma the size of a linebacker (''Jemima the Hutt,'' one character calls her). ''Tyler keeps saying that Madea is based on black women he's known. [NO Comment]

Do y'all remember whent he NAACP protested The Color Purple? - A story about domestic violence and sexual abuse of women and girls? But they then turned around hand nominated R Kelly. Well now they are endorsing Tyler Perry's anti-professional Black woman propaganda... Why am I not surprised:

'And I know for a fact that they have helped, inspired, and encouraged millions of people.'' In truth, the films are laced with moral lessons trumpeting forgiveness and personal responsibility. ''He's not out there promoting gangster culture,'' says Vicangelo Bulluck, executive director of the NAACP's Hollywood bureau. ''If anything, he's trying to make us think about family values.''

If by family values, you mean promoting gun violence, illegal drug use, making Black women with advanced degrees villains, I guess some family has those values.

''All of his productions demonize educated, successful African-Americans,'' says Todd Boyd, professor of critical studies at USC School of Cinematic Arts. ''It's a demonization that has long existed in certain segments of the black community.''

BINGO. DING! DING! DING ! DING! DING!

In Madea Goes to Jail, for instance, the ambitious light-skinned female district attorney (Ion Overman) who puts Madea behind bars is not only a snob but a conniving, corrupt criminal. ..the pattern recurs in Perry's comedies: In Diary of a Mad Black Woman, the successful black businessman (Steve Harris) is a wife abuser, and in Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Reunion, the social-climbing mother-in-law (Lynn Whitfield) gets sneered at by Madea for committing the ultimate sin of trying to look ''bourgie,'' as in bourgeois.

I can't even hate Tyler Perry's hustle. Why not? because the professional Black folks he is demonizing aren't launching their own counter revolution. As long as we sit here whining and not producing the images we want to see, he'll keep walking straight to the bank because we will settle for anything because we are just "grateful" to see a Black face on the screen. The article goes on to show why Tyler is so powerful... BECAUSE HE HAS A MONOPOLY! That's why he can get some of the most acclaimed Black actresses to play roles in his movie... that may be the only chance they get. There is no culture war. In order for there to be a war, two sides have to fight. There is no fight here. Only appeasement and retreat.

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Viola Davis and Taraji P. Henson Nominated for Oscars

Whew! I guess the Hollywood branch of the NAACP will be mothballing their picket signs this year. Two Black folks(the annual Oscar minimum) got nominated for acting awards, Viola Davis and Taraji P Henson.  They both were nominated for roles that did not involve them going topless and having relationship with Billy Bob Thornton or sanging so winning is a long shot, but I did want to mention that two Black women were nominated for acting awards. Davis was only in 'Doubt' for 11 minutes, but she is getting rave reviews:

Davis is on screen for only 11 minutes but to watch her is to understand an entire life. It is an object lesson in what an actor can convey in a short space of time. She seems to carry her family history in her face: the violence at home and her unswerving love for her child. And she looks dowdily embattled but unassailable in her shabby fawn overcoat. Source

I saw Benjamin Button. It was basically Forrest Gump with really great makeup.I won't say anything more. In other news, Tyler Perry's "A Family That Preys" failed to garner a single nomination, But you can pick up the DVD at Walmart for $14. Getting your DVD to Wal-mart shelves is much better than winning the Oscar.

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