Django

Angry Uncle Tom

I am a big fan of Quentin Tarantino. Pulp Fiction was a (there are no 10’s) 9.5 for its blatant disregard for the tried and true formula of the first, second, and third act used in Hollywood since…forever. Kill Bill 2 was a 9, and Inglorious Basterds (my personal favorite was as close to a 10 as humanly possible: 9,9?) With that out of the way, I went in to the theater with the best intentions and in a wonderful mood only to come out befuddled and feeling let down. Jamie Fox all but called upon the spirit of Clint Eastwood (wait, is he still alive?), Leonardo DiCaprio played his Southern Dandy to a T, and the Jew Hunter is the greatest actor to spew dialogue since Kevin Spacey hit the scene. Much has been said of the overly spoken N-word throughout the film but I sincerely believe that Tarantino toned it down to what it could have been. This was 1858 you see, so the squeamish or easily offended need not knowingly buy a ticket to such a display and then claim insult. The blood, however, was a tad overdone I will admit. From the first scene of chattel slaves drudging through the cold and mud as they march to their fate, we are treated to blood spurts and splatters fit only for a gory horror film. I actually thought it unique at first; but alas, by film’s end, and especially the final gunfight with Fox, I felt like Stephen King did when he reviewed Kill Bill for Entertainment Weekly and panned its cartoon like amputations via Uma Thurman’s Hattori Hanzo. I am not squeamish myself mind you, but I just felt that it all took away from the weight of the material…which brings me to the soundtrack: Tupac and Rick Ross in 1858? Really?

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The defender of the “N” word.

Like a tandem-duo of righteousness, Spike Lee and Jesse Jackson are here to set American whites on the right path to the attributes and rules of justified white guilt. Jackson gets them as they walk to his office; with head down and hat in hand, and only after an ill advised career choice via a public spewing of the N-word from the latest celebrity. While on knee before his Royal Blackness he gingerly touches their slumped and regretful shoulders, and only after kissing his I-was-standing-next-to-Martin-Luther-on-that-fateful-day-ring, do they stand a better person, more attuned to the plight of the American Black. Spike, on the other hand, wants no apology for such transgressions. He simply does not want anyone, save for Spike Lee and any other black, to be allowed to reference this word, even if it is in the form of art or that of an outright denouncement of America’s most tabooed moniker. This from a man who criticized Clint Eastwood’s -double-feature of sorts- Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima, and their collective lack of any black cast members. Eastwood argued- before telling Lee to “shut his face”, that, unfortunately, Jim Crow was still far from loosening his racist grip upon the nation and blacks were sadly (or maybe this was a good thing for them), not as prevalent as in the later Vietnam War. As Quentin Tarantino pondered with the seedlings of idea for his slavery era epic, I am sure the first thing he wrote in the corner of the title page column was a handwritten reminder not to use the N-word when referring to slaves of the 19^th century lest Spike Lee take offense. Is this not why copies of the American masterpiece Huckleberry Finn have been burned and banned for decades? In Spike’s defense, perhaps he does not mind the occasional peppering of this ugly word strewn about when placed by a white writer, but it does seem that Tarantino has a special place in his heart for it.

The N- word itself is copyrighted by anyone of color in this nation and any infringement upon this contract of ownership, by a non-pigmented citizen, will result in a verbal assault by Lee; and after he tags him into the ring, a mandatory butt-kissing session with Jackson for good measure. Never mind that blacks of a more recent generation are adamant in upholding the ridiculous practice of changing the ending inflection of the word “Nigger” to that of “Nigga”. It would seem that rap music is the proverbial fly in the ointment when it comes to finally burying this ugly word once and for all. The one and only event of note that the “Reverend” Al Sharpton (along with the help of the NAACP) has ever held that I agree with whole-heartedly was his mock funeral for the N-word back in 2007. Like a previous event from years past in which black leaders held a “funeral” for the laws of Jim Crow, so too was Sharpton on the right track to ending the nonsense of it all.

With the recent Christmas release of Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained, Tarantino is back with his specific brand of N-word laced dialogue, and Lee is up in arms once again at the white director’s nerve in doing so. After the release of Pulp Fiction in 1994, Spike Lee was more than irate at the audacity that this Caucasian artist showed in his obvious affection for the word. I myself remember the scene in which Tarantino, along with Samuel Jackson and John Travolta, asked Jackson directly if there was a sign above his house that read: “Dead nigger storage?” At the time I thought this brave and a tad quizzical that Jackson would be a part of such dialogue. Fast forward to Tuesday’s release of Django, and many an article was written on the difficulty that Jamie Fox and Leonardo DiCaprio had at uttering the word so many times at one another on set. Ironically, it was Samuel Jackson, also among the cast once again, to comment to DiCaprio to “get over it” as it was spoken in a professional setting and therefore acceptable. Spike Lee would disagree and his central problem with all this is that the colorful speech within the film is not Tarantino’s business, nor has he a right to speak of such matters concerning Lee’s people’s “Holocaust”. Never mind that Jews may be offended that Lee has compared his race’s tumultuous past to that of theirs. Comparing genocides is never a good situation. I sincerely like Spike Lee and the majority of his work over the years. I remember going to the theater with my wife (then girlfriend) to see Do the Right Thing back in 1989, and feeling a bit uneasy as Spike threw his trash can of agitation through the window of Sal’s pizza on that stifling hot summer day. The sold out theater crowd seemed to hold their breaths- or perhaps it was just myself and my wife and our whiteness- regardless, there was indeed a thick tension in the room as blacks and whites seemed worlds apart. My advice for Spike Lee is simple: take a deep breath, exhale, shut your face, and make more Do The Right Thing type movies.

BTW: This young man gets it…

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-831931

W.

The entry that follows was a comment left by JLG on a different post, but, it was so good, so poignant, that it deserved it’s very own showcase:

On the evening of his farewell address to this great Nation of mine, I can’t help but feel a deep sense of loss, like that of losing my grandfather. For the past eight years I have felt safe in knowing the man who I am honored to call My President is looking out for me. A recent comment made by a colleague affirmed my true faith in My President. According to her, “the best thing Bush ever did was change daylight savings.” As the words passed her lips, I couldn’t help but recall all of the hatred that has vilified George W. Bush nearly all the days of his presidency. Such sentiments only served to damage and divide our country these past eight years. Really? The best thing? How about the fact that you have been able to sleep at night knowing that your children will live to see another day?

My President has risen to stare down unspeakable challenges and held fast to his convictions in the face of it all. I give Mr. Bush my deepest thanks. I am, and forever will be, eternally grateful for his service, his strength, his courage, his leadership, his resolve, his generosity, and his integrity. As he leaves office, my heart is heavy. But it is also full. Tonight, I’m saying goodbye to My President, my keeper, my ally, my fellow American. I take comfort in the fact that he’s still out there, under Texas skies, keeping us all in his prayers. May God Bless You and Keep You Mr. President.

~JLG

The only thing I will add to this, the only way I can possibly make the thick-skulled amongst us to truly understand what JLG is saying about her President is this 35 sec. clip:

I do not agree with 95% of what Obama stands for, his past voting records, his new health care initiatives, and so on…however…

This may seem radical to all of the boneheads who took to the streets with, “NOT MY PRESIDENT” signs after Bush won re-election  in ’04, BUT, Obama is MY President. If dividing your home country was your intentions, good job! I applaud you. Taking to the streets with your own selfish agenda did nothing but create a divide that we are still living with today. I have high hopes for President Obama as I truly believe in the antiquated verbiage, Innocent until proven guilty. Let’s give the man a chance to prove himself and lend a moment for his programs promised on the election stump to find their feet. He will undoubtedly have a much easier go at the Presidency considering half the country voted him in, and the almost -fact, that most Republicans will not take to the streets with signs arguing to the contrary. Where would they find the time anyway, what with making money at the expensive of minorities and the disenfranchised, and the thinking up new social plagues to spread through America’s ghettos?

For Jennifer ;)

Doesn’t get any better than this. Another Hippie bites the dust.

Dear Protester,

I know it’s your Constitutional right to assembly; to take to the streets and disrupt services; to put the police and the public in harms way to push your views on all of us. Turning over and lighting cars on fire definitely makes people do a double take. Burning the American Flag is very smart, since doing so most offends the people who fought with their own blood so you and your comrades would have the right to do so in the first place. I can see the hipness of your irony. Very progressive and cutting edge.

Please do not be disgruntled though, for there may be some who take offense to their car on fire, their store windows broken, their beloved Stars and Stripes set ablaze so you may prove your warped point at the expense of on looking Veterans, saddened and wondering where their country has gone.

Call me a Fascist, you won’t be the first, but I do so thoroughly enjoy watching you be beaten in the very streets that you are congesting with your filth. Tear gas, pudding sticks, those white plastic ties the police bind your hands with; that is how we at home protest against you. I, we, live vicariously through Johnny Law.

 

Civil Liberties for all (except those oppressive white Christians).

“I am for Socialism, disarmament and ultimately, for the abolishing of the State itself…I seek the social ownership of property, the abolition of the propertied class and sole control of those who produce wealth. Communism is the goal.”

-Roger Baldwin – Founder of The ACLU

The ACLU:

~Supports legalizing prostitution.

~Supports Child Pornography as, “Free Speech.”

~They defend the National Boy Man Love Association….NAMBLA.

Under FAQ on their website, aclu.org, they pose this question:

Why did the ACLU defend NAMBLA?

In representing NAMBLA, the ACLU does not advocate sexual relationships between adults and children. What we do advocate is robust freedom of speech. This lawsuit strikes at the heart of freedom of speech. The defense of freedom of speech is most critical when the message is one most people find repulsive. (ACLU)

“The defense of freedom of speech is most critical when the message is one most people find repulsive.” In otherwords, “We’re very sorry about your neighbor molesting your six year old boy, but, he was just expressing his First Ammendmant rights, and by golly, that’s what really counts!

~They oppose tax exemptions for all churches but then fight for those very same rights for Wiccans.

~They fight to remove porn filters on public computers in libraries.

~Perhaps the most famous cause for this wonderful group is their never-ending battle with their arch-Nemesis: The Boy Scouts of America. They, the ACLU, say that homosexuals should be allowed to hold leadership positions even though the BCA is a PRIVATE group and Christian based. The bible says that homosexuality is a sin and whether you agree or not, the BCA is, again, a private organization and sincerely believes this to be true.

Cited:

http://www.aclu.org/info/18852res20040107.html#3_4 – broken link

We are alone.

“Those who want to live, let them fight, and those who do not want to fight in this world of eternal struggle do not deserve to live.”
-Adolf Hitler.

Here’s a newsflash for everyone: We are alone; least ways in this world we are. Hitler told you in print, radio and via the silver screen as well. He afforded the world with more than enough fair warning and none of us would listen to the ramblings of a mad man. There are people, he said, like me, who will kill you if you do not put up a struggle; if you do not value life; if you do not defiantly stand up to tyranny and oppression. Look at the people in the photos above, God help them, but they deserved to die. Both 

see their fate before them, one by rope, and the other by bullet, and yet they are polite and complacent. Are they kicking, screaming, and scratching? As far as I can tell the gentleman about to be shot does not even have his hands bound. Although thin, he does not appear to be a Camp victim, starving and emaciated to the point of no hope, of no strength. His fate lies before him in a crumpled heap of dead bodies and stench, each one more than likely as cowardly as him; the air thick with death. The biggest question we ask ourselves all our lives, for him, are to be answered shortly: When and how will I die? The mystery is over. His hopes of passing in his sleep, an old man of ninety next to the woman he loves are dashed as he feels the warm steel of the pistol muzzle on the back of his head. Why did he not quickly ponder and act? “My hands are not bound, are they? Perhaps my fate is sealed just the same, but must it be on my knees a coward, staring into the camera lens waiting for the burn and then darkness? Where is God’s hand, and where in the Hell are the police or the army to come to my rescue? An eclipse perhaps? Fellow Jewish people! Let us use our greater numbers to overcome our death dealers and end this madness”… Nothing. Why not stand the Hell up, turn to your executioner and spit in his Fascist eye, and in your mother tongue tell him to F**k off! Anything. Hitler himself, Mussolini, Pol Pot, Idi Amin, even Osama and Saddam all gave fair warning to the world and yet no one listened until it was too late.