Hustle & Fail

The Academy Awards recently nominated Terrence Howard as Best Actor for the lead in Hustle & Flow. Unfortunately, we had the honor of viewing the movie recently and came to the conclusion that it is, unequivocally, the absolute worst, most stereotype-laden movie we’ve seen in years. Let us add that about a month ago, we watched Four Brothers and thought ‘could a plotline be any thinner?’ We should’ve known. (Curiously, both of these movies have John Singleton in common, but we digress…)

 First, the folks at The Report are fans of Terrence Howard. And in a kinder, gentler pop-culture world, he’d be getting an Oscar nod for something of real substance Can you imagine a biopic of Langston Hughes? Or just a story chocked full of strong characters, who speak a language we all recognize, not co-starring Anthony Anderson. Well before we knew Terrence Howard, the actor— we all asked “who is that light-skinned brotha’ stealing all the scenes in such ‘afro-pleasiac’ roles as Quentin in The Best Man, and Gossie McKee in Ray?” And by the time we knew him as Cameron in Crash, we knew he had star quality.

 But Hustle & Flow replaces Howard’s gloss with grime. Forget the arguments we engaged in about
Halle’s Oscar (how many First Fridays-type events have you attended where a patchouli oiled, pseudo-intellectual argrued, 'Why did Halle  have to strip!?, Angela Bassett would have never done that!'). Or whether or not Denzel should’ve received the best actor award for playing a ‘villain’- we love Spike, but nobody outside of the HBCU circuit saw Mo’ Better Blues. As Leticia Musgrove and Detective Alonzo Harris, Halle and Denzel did what good actors do—they showed a humanity in their roles beyond which we might normally see.

 The Academy sprinkles its fairy dust on whomever in Black America they choose. Sometimes they get it perfectly right, but sometimes, they tease us with unrelenting sarcasm and mocking superiority. Can’t you hear them? “This is what Jessie Jackson asked for, so you people want an award? Here’s a nod for Terrence.”

Next up? We can only imagine. Maybe “Mr. Raydiation” aka Ray J will get one for Save the Last Dance 2, due out later this year.

Wink, wink Academy…We get it. Read more here.

Comments

[negroartist]

I implore you to mention link this website to your own website

I actually run, create and write all the code for the site(s) but want to keep my name and contact information private. This site was developed for everyone to use freely at no charge... in other words I will place an artist, dealer, writer etc. on here at no charge. I directly link to their site or provide their direct contact information. Feel Free to link me to your site.

Here is a short synopsis of my site:

The negroartist.com website is a presentation of people of color in America. An online portal if you will, for Black Entertainment that provides Information that will give you a better understanding of the problems we faced in the past to the problems we face as a nation today. The primary aim of negroartist.com is to encourage research activity on people of African descent and to provide vast amounts of information to the study of the African Diaspora. A historical perspective of a nation, its people, and its cultural evolution

visit the writing site(and my other sites below) for 18th and 19th century articles and letters by ad about famous African American's:

http://www.negroartist.com

http://www.negroartist.com/writings/writings.htm

http://www.negroartists.com/rare%20recordings%20and%20video.htm

and

http://www.negroartist.com
http://www.negroartists.com
http://www.almathomas.com
http://www.afroamericanartists.com
http://www.allanrohancrite.com
http://www.palmerhayden.com
http://www.eldziercortor.com
http://www.beauforddelaney.com
http://www.hughieleesmith.com
http://www.margaretburroughs.com
http://www.williamedouardscott.com
http://www.martinpuryear.com
http://www.josephdelaney.com
http://www.charlessebree.com
http://www.halewoodruff.com
http://www.archibaldmotley.com