Tarantino and his crew are manipulative asses -- and some Black folk will do anything for fame and fortune

Django Unchained dolls (Courtesy of NECA)

I'd been going back-and-forth about whether I even wanted to see this damned movie, but after seeing this tasteless madness first thing this morning --  Slaves For Sale: “Django Unchained” Action Figures Released -- I won't bother.

And I won't even waste another breath on the Three Inkspots amid the Lily Whites pictured above (it is to them that I alluded, in the second part of the title -- 'nuf said).  I went over to read more about this new, "slave auction" at the source piece here.  I just wanted to see how much of a huge fool Tarantino had made of them and, those of us whose cash he'd already pocketed.  As it turns out -- pret-t-t-y damned huge:

Academy Award-winner Quentin Tarantino is laughing all the way to the bank this week. The controversial film auteur and his longtime studio chief-partner Harvey Weinstein took a gamble on transforming the atrocities of American slavery into comedic, action-packed entertainment. And the new movie, Django Unchained, which opened Christmas day, bested the glitzy Les Miserables at the box office with numbers indicating that the flick could do as well as, or maybe even better than Tarantino’s top-grossers Inglourious Basterds ($120 million) and Pulp Fiction ($107 million). (emphasis mine)

And surprise, surprise -- these "Let's play slavery" action figures were always going to be part of the plan.  Per the piece:

Last fall, the National Entertainment Collectibles Association, Inc. (NECA), in tandem with the Weinstein Company, announced a full line of consumer products based on characters from the movie. First up are pose-able eight-inch action figures with tailored clothing, weaponry, and accessories in the likeness of characters played by Foxx, Kerry Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Leonardo DiCaprio, James Remar and Christoph Waltz. The dolls are currently on sale via Amazon.com. (emphasis mine)

Y'all can intellectualize until the cows come home about Tarantino's "artistic brilliance" (just so you can feel all hegemonic and shit) -- but I won't join you.  This is an insult to Black folk plain and simple.  Too bad so many of us don't realize it.

And how come he never rolled-out any Hitler/Nazi action figures, or Jews in the ghettos or the ovens action figures from his Inglorious Basterds piece of "art?"  Please!  This man just shined up some shit and called it gold, and Black folk just jumped in line for his gold rush! {smmfh}

"When you look at Roots, nothing about it rings true in the storytelling, and none of the performances ring true for me either,” Tarantino told The Daily Beast’s Allison Samuels. “I didn’t see it when it first came on, but when I did I couldn’t get over how oversimplified they made everything about that time. It didn’t move me because it claimed to be something it wasn’t.”

Oh, so now, he's "the authority" on telling our story.{smdh}  Reading his utterly, self-serving comments above, I'm reminded of something the Nigerian writer, Chimamanda Adichie said at a TED conference:

"It is impossible to talk about the single story without talking about power. There is a word, an Igbo word, that I think about whenever I think of the power structures of the world and it is "nkali," it's a noun that loosely translates to -- "to be greater than another." Like our economic and political worlds, stories, too are defined, by the principal of "nkali." How they are told, who tells them, when they are told, how many stories are told -- are really dependent on power.

Power is the ability not just to tell the story of another person but to make it the definitive story of that person." (emphasis mine)

Instead of racing to your keyboards to collect you some of this "awesome Negrobilia," (tongue planted firmly in cheek here) from Amazon, you might be better served in the long-run, trying to figure out how to get you some damned "nkali" -- and stop letting these white folk define who you are!

Spike sure was right.

Chatting with Sis. Carolyn in the comments made me think of this powerful, young sister and how what she had to say here, was so apropos to this topic:



Related:
- Freedom Rider: A Real Life Django
- A Few Thoughts on Django Unchained
- Quentin Tarantino: Slave Profiteer
- 5 Quick Points Against Django Unchained, Because It’s Not Worth 6.
- Civil War hero Robert Smalls seized the opportunity to be free

And this is why the NAACP can stop sending me solicitations...

NAACP Statement on the resignation of Shirley Sherrod:

With regard to the initial media coverage of the resignation of USDA Official Shirley Sherrod, we have come to the conclusion we were snookered by Fox News and Tea Party Activist Andrew Breitbart into believing she had harmed white farmers because of racial bias. 

Having reviewed the full tape, spoken to Ms. Sherrod, and most importantly heard the testimony of the white farmers mentioned in this story, we now believe the organization that edited the documents did so with the intention of deceiving millions of Americans. (emphasis mine)

When they start acting, instead of reacting - maybe I'll take them seriously.  "Snookered??"  Really??    (Who says that?)  Besides, shouldn't you have done all that shit in the second paragraph, BEFORE you put this out???

NAACP Slams Shirley Sherrod's Actions as 'Shameful':

"We are appalled by her actions, just as we are with abuses of power against farmers of color and female farmers. 

"Her actions were shameful. While she went on to explain in the story that she ultimately realized her mistake, as well as the common predicament of working people of all races, she gave no indication she had attempted to right the wrong she had done to this man."

First of all, let's just call it what it really is - Fox News just made a big, damn fool of you guys! And you fell for it - hook, line and sinker, tripping all over yourselves trying to look all Changeling-decreed "post-racial" with that knee-jerk, slamming of this sister for being honest about how she felt. You guys were in such a damn hurry to distance yourselves from this woman, that you initially MISSED the "teachable moment" she was trying to share!

Hell, if more of our people were truly honest about how they felt, maybe we could have a real conversation about race in this country!  But no-o-o, most of us just keep wearing that damn mask, tilting at windmills Don Quixote-style (instead of resolving to address the real issues with which our community struggles), being twisted in the wind by white folk, hell-bent on keeping that foot-on-neck scenario firmly in place by any means necessary. {smdh}

What she admitted feeling, was nothing short of what I, and I'm certain, plenty other Black folk would have felt - if we're honest.  And what she did, after feeling that, was again, nothing short of what I, and I'm certain, plenty other Black folk would have done in the end - the right damn thing.  It just blows my mind, that after damn-near 400 years (and counting) of white supremacy in this country, not only do plenty white folk still think that we don't have a right to our feelings - plenty of us do too!

Second of all, isn't this JULY?  This NAACP banquet (That's right - NAACP banquet!) happened in March!?!  But Mr. Jealous only got appalled, and felt all this shame about it now?   Please.  He should be appalled and ashamed that he got suckered into that knee-jerk statement.

There was no excuse for that attack.  None.  And they shouldn't have fired her (because we all know - that's what "agreeing to accept a resignation" really means).  Even though the tape had been edited, they still (I'm convinced, unwittingly - because that's not what they were looking for in the first place) left in the "teachable moment!":




It's obvious from the video, that she felt she was among "her own," having one of those conversations a lot of Black folk never have in "mixed company" (and never admit to having at all!). But c'mon ya'll - she had to know the cameras were rolling! Apparently, she didn't care to keep "wearing the damn mask" - preferring instead, to share an important, personal and necessary "teachable moment" with her people, in a way she was sure they'd feel and understand.  She was probably confident that if the shit hit the fan, her president, the NAACP and her kinfolk - at the very least - would "get it" and stand with her. As it turns out - that last part was her real mistake.

I've pretty much stopped watching the news in general, and CNN in particular but, I just had to put this video here:



See why I stopped watching CNN?  Have they no real researchers on staff? Look at how they killed the man while he was riding around on his Peterbilt!!

A-a-anyway, I posted the video because: 1) her, "if the staff were free to tell you" around the :58 click provides - despite all their blather about transparency - a very telling peek into how the Changeling's administration is no different than Shrub's or anybody else's, and 2) Eloise Spooner's call illustrates the importance of the "teachable moment" that Mr. Jealous, et al initially missed - because they chose to immediately believe the "lying eyes" of racist white men before even talking to the sister (patriarchy, after all is patriarchy) and they were too quick to "rush to judgement."

Instead of all these resolutions decreeing the obvious, young Mr. Jealous would do well to take a step back and stop - as the beautiful, "young, gifted and Black" Sunni Patterson says in the video below - "mistaking mimicry for mastery, or pretending for knowing."  Stop, as she says, giving "in to the empty threats and scare tactics of the powerless ones" and learn to "be faithful, strategic, victorious and free."  Maybe then, I'll actually open one of those solicitations for membership that keep coming in the mail - and respond.




UPDATE I:  Sherrod has her say!  Reminds me of another "Shirley" sister-warrior - Ms. Chisholm would be proud!

UPDATE II:  Yeah, the Changeling would have you believe it's the lunatics running the asylum.  Please!  As Jason Linkins so succinctly points out here - he's the HLIC (Head Lunatic In Charge)!:  Shirley Sherrod Scandal: How The White House Is Backing Away From The Decision To Fire Her.

Sunni Patterson - We Made It

Our Young People Get It!!!

Surveying the endless crowd of protesters on September 20th, I was struck by the number of young people - dressed in black, shouting, "No Justice, No Peace. No Racist Police." I was, admittedly, pleasantly surprised and my faith in our youth was certainly validated by the depth and breadth of their commitment to equal justice for the Jena 6.

I thought back to the many, many radio broadcasts by Al Sharpton and surprisingly, Michael Baisden, that continuously beat down (per Mr. Baisden – challenged) the young who did not fit into their particular mold of decency because of language, lyrics, attire, etc. As an old-head, prior blindly follow-the-rules kind of girl, I’ve always hated the hypocrisy of it all, particularly since kids didn’t just “come upon” any of the afore-mentioned but rather learned them at the knee of many an elder!

The shaming and blaming by this patriarchal society (Black and white) seems to know no end and as Blacks, we should give it a rest because it really doesn’t work. Sooner or later, the unintended consequences of our put-downs and scathing opinions only produces rebellion - and distance we may not have time to make up. At least that’s what I’ve found with my own two sons. There’s a much better approach that yields results: 1) Recognize that just like us, the youth today have a right to explore their own journey. Instead of constantly hammering the DESTINATION, we could: 2) offer our opinions, share our retrospectives and advice 3) explain accountability and the consequences of chosen actions and then, let them step out on faith. If they fail, let’s not beat them over the head with “I told you so.” They’ll, more often than not figure that one out. Whose life is it anyway really?

The number of young people I saw and spoke to in Jena - dedicated, committed to something larger than them, angry and in control, vocal and informed and so damn smart – was so affirming. I know I’m backing the right horse here!

As Gwen and I walked through the crowd, I stumbled into Sunni Patterson. I immediately recognized this powerful, young woman! She’d been on Def Poetry Jam and her poem about the Katrina experience touched me to the depths of my very soul. I asked if I could take her picture because SHE, in my mind, was a celebrity worth photographing.

Her performance had been so hot, and so spoke to the injustices Black folk continue to experience - it sent chills up and down my spine. She smiled and said, “Yes Ma’am and Thank you.”  Imagine that - a young person, not only with manners, but humility - chew on that, Rev. Al, et al!

I met some Baby Deltas at the event after the rally - beautiful, young Black women who could easily have been my own children (After all, I’d pledged 31 years ago!). I was proud to be their soror as they represented themselves, their people, their school and their sorority with unabashed fun, grace and style.  All the Greek organizations were represented. Kids from 2 – 20 were there. What a memory they will all have when we’re dead and gone. I have faith in the future of our young people. We all should, because they know what time it is.