This year's "Crash" and "Slumdog Millionaire" and I don't mean that as a compliment. There's something insincere about filmmaking like this. Yes, these things happen everyday and it's something that should be discussed and worked upon to improve and yes, there can be filmmakers expressing their anger about these issues through their craft. But the Paul Haggis and Lee Daniels of this world are not the right directors to helm these projects. I'll jump on the bandwagon of labeling these films "poverty porn" because it truly is what they are. There's a quality about them that seems they are aimed not at actual black audiences but at uppity white liberals who can sit there mouth agape, ready to fill out their Oscar ballots and hand every single Oscar they can think of to the cast & crew. These movies seem like they are made with the single intention of winning Oscars. And hey, they're smart. They know what sells. It's also quite amusing to see Oscar votes salivate over these directors that would otherwise NEVER be recognized. Lee Daniels' first directorial effort was the downright disaster few of you probably know, "Shadowboxer." It appeared to be a joke but no, this man was serious and was getting funded by untalented hip-hop moguls to produce his trash. His lighting effects, stylish editing, and cinematography would be overlooked if the film wasn't about this type of subject matter. Was "Requiem for a Dream" nominated for Best Picture? No. Was Ellen Burstyn robbed of her Oscar? Yes. Was the brilliant film editing, cinematography, or score recognized? Nope, overlooked again. Why? Because their film didn't get white Oscar voters hard enough to vote for it. I'm sure if the film focused more on Marlon Wayans' characters poor upbringing and how he actually turned to drug abuse, it might have garnered a few nominations. But, no they feel it's not socially relevant even though it in fact is. Granted "Spun", another film about junkies was no masterpiece but the film editing was. It was shot and executed in the same stylish, jumpy, borderline schizophrenic manner in which "Slumdog Millionaire" was. But no, no recognition there. These films are complete messes but no one recognizes that because they're so set on recognizing a film based solely on their political beliefs. "The Hurt Locker" is by far the best film of 2009 and one of the best films of this decade but it will probably have a hard time beating out the likes of "Precious" or "Invictus" this year. It's a shame a film like "Precious" can receive so much attention when a film like "Half Nelson" touches on similar issues and much more subtly and truthfully but is completely overlooked. Or that a show like "The Wire", possibly the most socially accurate and all around exceptional show ever put on television, was overlooked year after year in favor of trash that shouldn't even be put in the same category. I suppose you can say to just stop watching these shows or caring, but it becomes frustrating because they are supposed to recognize the best in the arts but year after year they fail to recognize a lot of quality filmmaking simply because their financial backers don't have enough money to properly campaign for them or they didn't make the movie about the fat black girl who is repeatedly raped by her father, has a child with down syndrome, eats out her mother to get her off, and then ends up with AIDS. I guess Anthony Mackie will be sitting at home watching the telecast wishing he would've played the nice nurse in "Precious" instead of the emotionally subdued sergeant in "The Hurt Locker." But he wouldn't have been cast anyway, he's too "dark." Which brings me to my final point about the actual racism within "Precious." Half way through the film I began to question the message this film was trying to get across to audiences. Precious is overweight, extremely dark, and can barely utter a fully eloquent sentence. But if you notice, all the people in her life that become positive outlets and influences are all light-skinned or mixed with thin, healthy bodies. It never embraces the idea of accepting who you are physically and the color of your skin and looking past those insecurities created by society and media. This is insincere filmmaking at it's worst, further regressing black filmmaking. It encourages white filmgoers to only seek out films in which the central character is suffering to no end while they sit back and bathe in the poverty porn created by these inept filmmakers. But apparently that's what you have to these days to gain critical and financial attention. Oh, and have Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey produce your film. That always works.
The Man Who Wasn't There
R
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
R
Boogie Nights
R
