Category Archives: Popular Culture

Popular Culture: Style, Swag, Trends

Entertainment, Logic, Popular Culture

Freedom Writers or Dangerous Minds

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I was ready & fired up to write a scathing piece on the movie ‘Freedom Writers’, starring Hilary Swank. After watching the previews on T.V., I came to the presumption that this is just another classic ‘white savior’ flick. You know the rhetoric, the Hollywood formula is comprised of:
Step 1 – An inner-city public school w/ poor learning conditions
Step 2 – Troubled black & Hispanic youth who have socio-economic & behavioral problems
Step 3- A ‘white’ protagonist who enters the environment & ‘saves’ the troubled youth from destruction

Whether it is manifested as a teacher, student, or friend, the white protagonist enters an environment & ‘shows’ the troubled youth a better ‘life’ or teaches the troubled youth how to ‘appropriate’ to society or normalcy. These types of movies kind of imply that the ethnic youth are ‘savages’, ‘misinformed’, ‘delinquents’ — and only a ‘white’ figure can change their ways, or ‘civilize’ them. Kinda sounds like the Missionary period & world exploration period all over again.

I will acknowledge that there are also black protagonists in such films (Coach Carter), but I can’t recall any films where a Black protagonist ‘civilized’ white youth delinquents …. if they exist, please let me know.

I could name countless examples of white protagonists such as:
– Michelle Pfifer in ‘Dangerous Minds’
– Julia Stiles in ‘Save the Last Dance’
– Jessica Alba in ‘Honey’
– Sean Connery in ‘Finding Forrester’

However …..

Back to my opening statement, I was going to blast ‘Freedom Writers’, but a co-worker of mines schooled me & said that this flick is nothing like ‘Dangerous Minds’, and I realized that I was going to make a gross assumption about this flick, without viewing the film first hand.

Thus, I guess the moral of this lil’ piece is not about the ‘Great White Savior’ of inner-city ethnic youth – which is a valid point by the way, but the moral is not to ASSume something, because it’ll make an ASS out of U and Me ….. yes i know, its a kinda cheesy phrase, but it is very fitting!

Peace.

Swag

VLot Case #120: "Leave my cologne alone, its a little too strong for you to be putting on"

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“Leave my cologne alone, its a little too strong for you to be putting on”


From Lupe Fiasco ‘I Gotcha’ (2006)
a case study from www.vacantlot.org

Relates to ‘swagger jacking’. Swagger jacking can be described in adoring and borrowing one’s style, charisma; but more importantly, claiming that style and charisma as your own. Back in the day it would one would be labelled a ‘biter’.

Furthermore, this quote goes a bit deeper and suggests that one can not hold one’s weight; which is a direct shot to ‘swagger jackers’. Because if you are going to emulate someone; one best do a damn good job at being similar or better than the original, because if one does not look similar or better, the public will easily be able to identify the ‘fakeness’ in the perpetraitor. In the entertainment industry, many try to copy style of another, but it rarely works:
– New York imitating the Dirty South (i.e. Chicken Noodle soup, very wack)
– Everybody trying to get shot 9 times like 50 Cent (Beanie, Fabolous, and others)
– Madonna trying to adopt children, just like Angelina
– In the early 2000’s everybody was trying to get the ‘Neptunes’ sound (wack notables; Angie Martinez, Ray J)

On a lower-profile scale, many people have to go through the process of deciding whether to step in the shoes of another, primarily when it comes to filling roles: for example, becoming a responsible father, taking over the family business, a new job position, whatever the case is, assuming a new role whether by choice or not, can be a challenge.

As Lupe suggests, if it is a little too strong for you to handle, then symptoms will follow, commonly known as ‘coping’. Coping may manifest itself into certain types of behavior; withdrawal from certain social settings, anxiety, depressants (drugs, alcohol), and other behavior that is usually damaging. Thus, if one can not cope with the ‘cologne’ then another quote comes to mind; ‘If you can’t handle the heat, get out of the kitchen’.

Summation:
For the ones that are being bitten, there is a quote that suggests that ‘imitation is the greatest form of flattery’; however, this flattery may be indirectly (meaning, the one who is imitating will not likely directly admit to admiring the source’s). So, instead of getting mad or irrate because someone is ‘biting your style’, think of it as an accomplishment that someone would try to emulate your behaviour.

.: More lyrics and quotes at http://www.vacantlot.org/

Media

What do we own?

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What do we own?

A simple question with a not-so simple answer. I was trying to think
of what we actually own; what we as black people can call ‘our own’.
My immediate focus was BET, Black Entertainment Television, then I
realised it was bought out by Viacom. Still concentrating on
entertainment, I gathered that as musicians we own our masters to our
songs. However, upon further research, only a handful of artists
actually own their music. Classic nostalgic artists such as Michael
Jackson and Chaka Khan are still fighting with their respective labels
to own their music.

I subsequently thought about the financial industry, but to no finding
of any black ownership. It’s rare to find a convenience store that is
black owned, or a gas station, franchised grocery stores, or
restaurant. Furthermore, if there is a black-owned restaurant, it
will only sell food that we can relate too. In theory that is
acceptable, however why can’t we sell to others? Meaning instead of
the Asian selling us our food & clothing, we should sell the Asian his
food & clothing. Our businesses are to niche; not utilising a full
spectrum approach. As a people we need to be concerned of business
ownership that sells to a wide-range of folk.

Furthermore, not only concentrating on entertainment, but also media, financial, amongst others. Only when we start owning a bigger piece of the pie, then we can demand how the pie is baked.

Think about that …

—
DesieB