Rappers Turned Actors

I truly believe that acting is a talent and a skill. Not many people can act but have other talents such as dancing, singing, and other skills. When I see rappers such as Snoop Dog, DMX and Ludacris make an attempt to act I question whether or not you need actual talent to act anymore. I listen to each of these individuals as artist in their field and I am not saying that they don’t have the opportunity to expand but they are not meant to be multi-talented. Because actual talented actors are now being over looked for roles because artist who are already previously famous and can bring in extra revenue I think the search for good actors is lost. There are some actors who are successful as artist and vice versa such as Will Smith. He effectively proved that he could be thriving in both fields. But an actor such as Samuel L Jackson knows that he is good at what he does and as a professional in his field can respectfully admit that his talents stop there. Musical artist seem to not be able to grasp that concept as much and are always trying to make the leap from their industry to the film and television business. The choice for these producers and directors to give them the opportunity to be an actor I think is strictly an economic decision. Only a few people can actually make the transition. When you put an artist in a movie full of well-known actors I think that the pressure is on them to prove themselves and shine. But they kind of have to work harder than the other actors in the movie to stand out. If they don’t it just proves the point that actors can not be successful at being multi-talented.

Slumdog Millionarie

I have not yet seen the film Slumdog Millionaire. I’ve only seen the commercials, read articles and heard people’s personal critique of the film. From the reviews I read it was a very excellent movie and was the must see and best movie of 2008. The premise I believe is a poor Indian young man who gets the opportunity to participate in the Indian version of, Who Wants to be a Millionaire. I’m not sure if he won the actual million dollars but the story essentially seems like a fairytale of an underprivileged young man given a chance to better himself. I would assume that he didn’t cheat but it seems like a young man in his situation wouldn’t be able to make it as far as he did in the competition. He wasn’t some wiz kid from a prestigious school in the United States and I think that is what made the movie so successful. Everyday people could relate to the main character. Race is a clear and concise key element to the portrayal of the story. In comparison to the Golden Girls scene when they sat down and discussed race with each other to the movie I however, am not sure what they have to do with in relation to each other. The game show element really added to the story because it was already a successful show on television that people could already identify with. How the relationship element tied into that story of a rise from the slums I am also not sure of but I realize that it doesn’t take much to attach a love story into films. I look forward to viewing the movie in some coming weeks but I believe now after listening to the podcast that I have some questions up front about the film.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

I agree with the positive feedback from The Curious Case of Benjamin Button because it was a very unique story with a challenging plot. A boy is born as an elderly man and the plot consist of his body aging forward however he aged backwards from older to younger. The characters in the movie are very genuine an allowed the audience viewing it to really connect with the story. Taraji P. Henson is the mother of Button reminded me a lot of a character from the Color Purple. As a mother figure she resembled the character of Ms. Sophie and was nominated for an Academy Award. I truly believed she deserved her nomination because unlike her usual roles of the typical black female in movies such as Baby Boy and Hustle and Flow she portrayed a different type of character that challenged her. In my opinion I saw more than a Mamie figure but a powerful black woman because she was able to take care of Button and raise him as her own while running her own successful in home business. She was definitely the heart of the story and it had nothing to do with being in the category of a Mamie type. Button had the opportunity to live his life fully providing his condition. He knew what it was to have a family and a real love that he met when he was a child. A sense of a sort of magic is implied to tell this very unique story of Benjamin Button. As far as recent films go it was inimitable in the fact that it didn’t include an action packed scheme. Though it did incorporate the typical love story the fairy-tale told was more focused on the life of Button and his development in the world.

Head of State

Head of State was I think a comedy that could be used to see into our potential future that no one took into consideration. Chris Rock was thrown into the presidential candidacy after the nominee ruining passes away. Within the movie lies a typical love story about a woman who if course doesn’t want to be with Rocks character until he is up for the democratic presidential nomination. I don’t believe anyway truly thought about the possibility of a black president. A connection is made between the character of Rock and current president Barack Obama and the character of the late Bernie Mac to Sarah Palin. As a laid back comedy the film portrays a comical side to the government and the possibility of the first black president.
When this movie first came out even though it was in 2003 I’m sure that people took the movie as a just that, a comedy. A black president no matter how far advanced in race relations would not be possible in most peoples eyes. Such as Obama, Rocks character has no problem with public speaking and large crowds and does exceptionally well. So many things have changed since the movie has been released but the concept of the story is still valid. The idea that the white house can be another house to party in such as every other and hip-hop was an important factor of both of the Rock and Obama election. Now the election process is something I believe youth is more involved in because it was modernized. It is now perceived as a good thing to care about the elections and I think movies such as Head of State helped with that concept. The concept of a black president is no longer completely far fetched. It can’t be used as a punch line anymore.

Death of Soul Music

I believe that soul music is not the only thing that is dead. In the year 2009 there are not that many artist that put out music worth listening to. For my parent’s generation they cannot understand what my generation sees in the music that we listen to. R & B is some of the last music that has any type of substance to music made after the 90s. The Motown era had artist that all put out music with messages in them. It was music with substance worth listening to. If you ask someone who is a singer of her generation it would take them several minutes to name one. Though there are several it is not many and not many good ones. Artist such as Alicia Keys are one of the last few to actually have music with a message and talk about something other than the usual topic of women, money and power. Beyonce is one of the few artists left that has a positive message of being an independent women and being a role model but majority of the music she puts out I feel like lacks soul. Music has no soul, depth and meaning anymore. I think some of my favorite artist with soul who isn’t from the Motown is Jill Scott, Lauryn Hill and Alicia Keys. Most of the artist who are out are very watered down pop singers such as Rihanna, Keri Hilson, Usher and Chris Brown. I’m not at all trying to say that they are not entertaining but their music means less than the music that is from the Motown generation.
I appreciate being born in the household I was because even though music now is less than about a message and more about a beat and entertainment I know what real music is. Real music is Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, and Diana Ross.

MisEducation of Lauryn Hill

Lauryn Hill is a legend in her own right. She has a beautiful voice and is very talented. The music she sung about was so real and relatable and versatile. Hill is multitalented with the ability to act, sing and even be able to rap. Songs such as His eye is on the sparrow and can literally bring tears to her audience’s eyes with the connection she brings. Over a decade ago she put out the CD The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill that had a lot of successful tracks that a lot of radio plays. As an artist she was able to branch off from the Fugees and create a successful career.
When it is said on the podcast that Hill didn’t reach her full potential of how good she could sound in comparison to her role on the movie Sister Act II I would have to disagree. She has a very unique voice and style when she sings. Depending on what an artist sings I believe is how you perceive them. For her album it’s a composition of her style of music and her distinctive voice. As appose to when she sings other songs she I think adjust her voice for the type of song she sings. I find myself vibing and nodding my head to Lauryn Hill a lot but I also listen to the words of the song she is singing in comparison to music now where you listen more for the beat because the lyrics have no substance. You have to incorporate I think the whole package when you judge a person’s talent. With just listening to her CD I can image her performance and ability to entertain as well as the situation she is singing about. I believe that it all counts. I think with each CD she put out she did sing to her potential and she was able to entertain and had actual talent.

Boys In The Hood

It actually took me until a couple of months ago to see the movie Boys In The Hood. I had seen the spoof of it, Don’t Be A Menace, before I saw the actual movie it was majority based off of. The movie had a lot of recognizable actors that I didn’t know were in the movie such as Morris Chestnut, Cuba Gooding Jr., Nia Long, Regina King, Ice Cube, Laurence Fishburne, and Angela Bassett with director John Singleton. I’ve seen a lot of positive black movies with Morris Chestnut that I think had a lot to do with his role in the movie. Ice Cube made a successful transition from the music industry as a rapper/ gangster into film as a respected actor. Angela Bassett became a highly respected actress in her own right.
The reference to the similarities in Boys In the Hood and Cooley High is actually interesting. I haven’t seen Cooley High in a while but it does have the same characters, the typical athlete and boy that comes out of the hood. I appreciate the plot of the story and how Chestnut’s character was struggling to get out of the hood and get into college. When he was shot and killed I think a lot of the audience watching identified with the character. Some people cried and others became enraged at the fact that he was killed when he deserved to leave the hood the most. The delivery of the movie was such a powerful one from all of the actors. As a spectator you could feel the pain Cuba Gooding Jr. went through and you wanted to get up and punch a wall as well. It made you upset that the protagonist couldn’t reach his goal of making it to college. As a underlying goal of the movie it was the goal that couldn’t be reached and maybe that was the point of the film. I enjoyed the blog because it depicted each character and the message in ways that I wouldn’t have noticed by myself.