Django Decoded - Chris "Preach" Smith

If there were awards for controversy handed out at the Oscars, ‘Django Unchained’
would’ve won hands down. Quentin Tarentino’s film has gotten a lot of debates started,
a lot of verbal fisticuffs thrown and most of all, a lot of people thinking. The temptation is
to start immediately dissecting all of the talk and controversy around it, but that will come
later throughout this article.

‘Django Unchained’, to begin, is a GREAT film. I had my skepticisms, but once sitting down
to catch the screener, I immediately got pulled into the film’s energy. For nearly three
hours, which with some films these days can be hit or miss. Jamie Foxx as Django gives 
a measured, stoic performance throughout. Christoph Waltz shines brightly as Dr.King 
Schultz, the German bounty hunter who emancipates, then trains Django to be a bounty
hunter and his partner. Leonardo DiCaprio alternatively intrigues and disgusts as the 
genteel sociopathic plantatation owner, Calvin J. Candie. But Samuel L. Jackson as the
cloying house slave Stephen? Wickedly genius. Tarantino’s knack for being a cultural
remixer in film is secured with ‘Django’ being that near-perfect blend of blaxploitation and
spaghetti western. There’s odes to both genres galore in the film. Look at the soundtrack
featuring songs by John Legend and music maestro Ennio Morricone. The scene where
Django and Schultz ride off to the mountains? You’ll find that influenced by a set scene
from ‘Red Sun’ featuring another Western with an unlikely duo, gunslinger and robber
Charles Bronson and noble samurai Toshiro Mifune. The mandingo fight harkens back to
former heavyweight champion Ken Norton’s acting debuts in ‘Mandingo’ and its sequel,
‘Drum’. The scene where Schultz shoots one of the overseers on Big Daddy’s plantation
and you glimpse the blood upon the cotton? An ode to Chang Cheh’s violent cutscenes
for his films at the Shaw Brothers studios we all know and love. Even the supporting cast
is a who’s who of TV and film fame. Don Johnson as Big Daddy? Even having Franco Nero,
the original Django appear and in subtle fashion hand the mantle off to Jamie Foxx? Pretty
damn masterful.



That doesn’t mean ‘Django Unchained’ doesn’t have it’s flaws. For one, I would have
liked to see Kerry Washington’s Broomhilda Von Shaft a little bit more outside of the
flashbacks prior to her showing up in full later in the film. Also, the scene with the 
LeQuint Dickey Mining Company could’ve been chopped down a bit; I know Quentin
likes his cameos, but he could’ve taken a cue from Hitchcock in this case. Outside of
that, ‘Django’ is quality. It’s also a study in acting, where you have four actors at 
different stages in their careers all pushing each other and enriching the dialogue. For
example, Waltz’s Schultz is at once charming, crafty and in the later stages of the film,
so conflicted by what he experiences with Django that it is worthy of all of the accolades
he can get. Jamie’s Django is cool, methodical with just enough fortitude and attitude 
to represent the new Black man in a South - and an America - on the brink of major 
change. Both DiCaprio and Jackson’s roles are so skillfully played that they make you
squirm at the depths of depravity both exude. And yet, you know two things due to
their roles. One, that actors really bring out the best in their craft when playing the 
role of the villain. Up to this point Leo had never played a villain outright (no, J.Edgar
doesn’t count; blame Eastwood for that) with such venom. And Sam Jackson’s role
is probably one of his top ten roles EVER. The second thing is, no matter what they
portrayed on the screen, the reality was and is ten times worse.

Which brings me to all of the exterior issues clouding ‘Django Unchained’. First up, the
violence. To put it plainly, the criticisms concerning that are a bit overwrought. The
old pistols and rifles back then in the mid-1800’s caused that extreme amount of 
damage. Look into any Civil War battle and note the amputation rates. With regards
to the trials of slavery, Tarantino and his team have to be commended for accuracy
with the portrayals of the tortures, the chains and the mandingo fighting. I had a talk
with a dear friend of mine who saw the film and she remarked that there would be 
some white audience members who felt that it never happened. To them I say, ‘this
is the history they DON’T show you. Welcome to the dark side of America.’ Now, this
also leads me right to Spike Lee’s criticism. Spike’s entitled to his opinion. And we’re 
entitled to disagree. But some of the flack he caught was unnecessary, disrespectful
and also reveals that some of us have a little bit more self-hate and misguided sense
of self than we let on. 


To Spike’s inference that a movie about slavery in the United States is offensive and
shouldn’t have comedic elements, his words ignore what has taken place before. For
example, ‘Skin Game’, shot in 1971 featuring James Garner and Lou Gossett Jr., can
be considered the archetype for ‘Django Unchained’. Seven years before ‘Roots’ and
three years before Mel Brooks’ iconic ‘Blazing Saddles’, this film portrayed Garner and
Gossett as two con men running game on unwary slave traders and ranchers before
one hustle goes awry and Gossett REALLY becomes enslaved. It balanced out the 
themes of buddy film, drama and comedy all in the setting of the slavery era. Even 
had a John Brown appearance. Look at ‘Blazing Saddles’. Without the work of Cleavon
Little AND Richard Pryor’s screenwriting, that movie wouldn’t be the classic it is. Now,
is Spike upset at the ease of which this film was made? I would wager so. Here’s a man
who had to get outside funding for ‘Malcolm X’, & still needs that help for other projects
because he’s not a ‘Hollywood’ director. He’s going to make movies and documentaries
for people of color because that’s the audience that nurtured him. Ask Uncle Luke what
he’s nutured outside of underaged strippers. To one or two of you out there who claim
and I quote, ‘this is the movie Spike wished he had the balls to make’, stop being jackasses.
The Hollywood movie structure is far too  complicated and does not bow to tell stories we
want to see. Look at George Lucas’  struggles with ‘Red Tails’. ‘Django’ is a moneymaker;
cross-promotion with ‘Roots’ on BET, and the MECO figures is all about profit and more
profit for the studio, crummy and exploitative as it is. All the ire for a man who many
praised not more than a couple of weeks prior for the ‘BAD25’ documentary about Michael 
Jackson reeks. Another thing is, Reginald Hudlin should be getting more publicity than he
is being an executive producer and assisting in the screenwriting. But that doesn’t work
well on the front page of Variety.

‘Django Unchained’ is a magnetic film, one that will get you talking and thinking. And
art, at it’s most basic, is supposed to do that. It’s not a ‘Black’ film in the sense some
think it is. It is, an American spaghetti western that should sit up there with the efforts of
John Ford and others. And we should recognize it as such…and maybe encourage another
filmmaker to top it.

Cereal and Slapboxing - Chris 'Preach' Smith

Full disclaimer: I had Honey Nut Cheerios this morning for breakfast.

Breakfast cereal and allegation’s about a man’s wife have now become the
main story out of the Boston Celtics’ win over the New York Knicks this past
Monday night. Knicks star Carmelo Anthony got so pissed after Boston’s Kevin
Garnett allegedly said his wife, LaLa Vasquez tasted like the aforementioned 
cereal, that ‘Melo basically let the ‘hood out. Cursing Garnett repeatedly, even
waiting by the Boston bus after the game; ‘Melo was visibly upset. Some would
say KG got into ‘Melo’s head with that comment, and I agree. But Boston was 
already in his head from the beginning of the game because Anthony had a 
lousy shooting night, and KG played a part along with Jared Sullinger’s defense.
The KG comment just added extra to it. But we’re here to talk about NBA fights
and cereal.

I’ve seen a lot of comments as to why ‘Melo, if he was so offended, didn’t lay 
into KG right then and there. It’s simple. He didn’t want to be the next Ron
Artest aka Metta World Peace. Getting into a fight on the court means fines
and definite suspensions. For both teams, it’s a costly situation. The Knicks,
team that I love, have that history of ruckus on the court. I still can’t look at
Jeff Van Gundy without remembering him hanging on for dear life onto Alonzo
Mourning’s leg when the Miami Heat and New York had their battle in MSG that
time. And truthfully, we’ve had some years after where that swagger evaporated
like Pabst Blue Ribbon at a dive bar off Lorimer Street. But this situation is a 
sign it’s coming back. Boston thrives on toughness under Doc Rivers. That’s 
how they won their ‘chip in 2009. Garnett is their tough guy who also has a 
rep for saying outlandish and callous things to get under an opponent’s skin.
He told Tim Duncan ‘Happy Mother’s Day’ during a game with the Spurs. Duncan
lost his mother to cancer when he was 14. Most notably, he called Charlie Villanueva
of the Detroit Pistons a ‘cancer patient’ in a game a couple of years ago and was
vilified for it. I mean, he slapped a player in the onions before while he was 
taking a shot. TWICE. Garnett is a competitor, so it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary
for him to say what LaLa tasted like. 

There are those that will say ‘Melo is a fake tough guy. That belief stems from 
some still angry about the trade that brought him here to New York plus his 
apparent conflict with rising star Jeremy Lin, a former teammate. The other part
some might not remember. ‘Melo was at the center of the last big brawl the NBA
witnessed, right on the Madison Square Garden floor about seven years ago. See,
throwing a punch heard throughout the stadium, then backpedaling? Not a good
look.



When that went down, 2 years after the famous brawl between the Indiana Pacers 
and the Detroit Pistons where Metta World Peace went Queensbridge loco into the
stands, the NBA was enraged. Seven players involved got suspended for 47 games
total, ‘Melo getting the longest time out with 15 games. Both teams got fined about
$500,000. That tarnished Anthony for a time, and was one of the many lowlights of
the Isian Thomas era in New York, with heavy suspicion that he instigated the whole
thing because of a cryptic comment he made to ‘Melo before the incident. So it’s no
wonder ‘Melo held back on throwing blows even though his anger got people on edge.
A side note: two of the officials from that game back in 2006 were working Monday’s
game too. For a while after, the NBA dealt with the stigma, a portion of it racial. I can
recall hearing a few comments about ‘monkeys with basketballs’ made in the months
after. It was a taste of what being an NBA fan must’ve been like in those days before
Magic and Bird got on the scene. 

‘Melo and KG weren’t going to fight. Not with all that looming behind them. Questioning
their toughness is an exercise best suited for YouTube comment streams and front
porch hangout sessions. Both of their backgrounds lead me to believe they can scrap,
Garnett having that edge. But that’s not part of the NBA ticket. KG was wrong for
saying LaLa tasted like Cheerios, and ‘Melo approached that man because that’s his
wife being talked about. If he didn’t say anything, he would’ve still been labeled a
chump. But these dudes are millionaires in the end. And millionaires don’t throw away
money quite like the rest of us. But if it’s the playoffs? Then you might see hands fly.

And for the record? I thought Apple Jacks would’ve been mentioned before Cheerios.
Oh well. 

When Ratchet Reigns - Chris 'Preach' Smith

America, meet the newest member of the burgeoning circus show that is
modern day ‘reality’ television: Shawty Lo.

If his name doesn’t ring a bell off the top of the head, let’s refresh your memory.
Remember the group D4L? They had a major radio hit, ‘Laffy Taffy’ which was
EVERYWHERE. I remember being down in their hometown of Atlanta and it was
on about every 15 minutes.  Since then, this cat has gone solo, recently signing
his label, D4L Records with 50 Cent’s G-Unit. But this latest news has gotten a
ton of people upset. Shawty Lo is at the center of a new reality show that is being
pitched by Oxygen, home to ‘Bad Girls Club’ and ‘Snapped.’ The name of the show?
‘ALL MY BABIES MAMAS’. No, you haven’t stumbled upon a downloadble script for
a future episode of ‘The Boondocks’. This really exists. The premise is that the show
will follow the rapper as he manages his career and his eleven children by ten different
mothers. I’ll allow you a minute to get your breath.

The trailer offered up gives us a rundown of some of the women, starting with Ecreia
the former fiancée known as the “First Lady” because she controls the cash flow. There
there’s Angela aka “Chocolate” who is the ‘Fighter Baby Mama,’ Amanda is the “Jealous
Baby Mama,” Sujuan is the ‘Wanna-Be Bougie Baby Mama,’ Tamara is the ‘No Drama Baby
Mama,’ Serena who is the “Shady Baby Mama,” and Liana aka “Pebbles” who’s the “Baby
Mama from Hell. Oxygen, the network co-founded and formerly owned by mogul Oprah
Winfrey is ecstatic about this, with their senior vice president of development, Cori 
Abraham, offering this endorsement: “All My Babies’ Mamas’ will be filled with outrageous
and authentic over-the-top moments that our young, diverse female audience can tweet
and gossip about.”

Because make no mistake, that’s what this crap is all about. Buzz. Buzz that drives up
ratings, ratings which translate to profits. Oxygen already has ordered a one hour episode
that is set to debut next spring. They already have joined the reality show frey, but after
seeing the success of shows like ‘Love & Hip Hop’ and ‘Basketball Wives’. they wanted
some of that action. They couldn’t resist creating a show that was sure to contain all of
the ‘ratchet’ entertainment that we talk about, blog about and share on social media.
Yes, we are to blame for this. Let’s be real. They analyze who watches these shows, they
check out what’s trending on Twitter when those shows air. They know that there’s a
number of us addicted to women of color fighting, cursing and acting a damn fool on the
small screen as entertainment. What it is, is reinforcement of stereotypes. What it is, is
a new explotiation. Digital minstrelsy that you can even watch streaming online that comes
with hashtags. And now, we’ve got this show. A show which by its approval, says again
that Black women and Latinas are ‘baby mamas’, not mothers. A show which will, whether
we choose to focus on it or not, will showcase and put the lives of eleven children up for
display for the world to see. A show which will give a pass to impressionable young Black
and Latino men that this is ‘pimpin’. And there will some of you that watch, and act as if
that act won’t mean much. But indifference feeds machines just as well. Oxygen realizes
how bad this looks, releasing the press statement the day after Christmas when they
figured people would snooze. Make no mistake, the fact that this show was approved and
filmed is a certain kind of crazy only a rapper - anyone - with few options would entertain.
And this kind of craziness is NOT entertainment. Especially when ratcher reigns over the
television tube. It’s time to stop letting it hold court over yours.

Disturbia on Display - Chris 'Preach' Smith

I admit, I wasn’t going to write about this at first.

By now, the world has seen the latest photo from the on-again/off-again
sideshow that the bond between Chris Brown and Rihanna has become. This
picture was from Riri’s Instagram account, from after a show in Germany last
week. Like everyone else, I shook my head. Under different circumstances, 
this would be one of those ‘awwwwww’ pictures we expect and cherish from
young lovers with a lifetime of promise ahead of them. But not with a duo 
that has become today’s version of Ike & Tina Turner in some way. And we
do know they don’t care what others think - outside of what publicity it will 
get them that they can translate to fans and dollars. Writing an article about
the whole thing got slightly tiresome and didn’t hold my interest.

Until yesterday morning, at 10:18 A.M.


That was when I first got wind of the tragedy that took place in Kansas City. 
That was when we all got news that Jovan Belcher, a linebacker for the Chiefs
football team, had shot and killed his girlfriend, Kassandra Perkins at their
home in front of his own mother at the height of an argument. He then drove
15 minutes to the team’s practice facility at Arrowhead Stadium where, in front
of his head coach and general manager with police pulling up, he killed himself.
This tragedy has one immediate victim left in its wake, the couple’s infant daughter,
Zoe. There are still so many questions unanswered, but there is an unsettling
tone throughout it all. One that links these two situations together.

We can sit and look at Chris Brown & RiRi and throw our hands up in the air or
as some do, ask why they’re being reviled for their behavior. But one thing that
can’t happen is, we can’t cast this aside because it’s a visible, teachable moment.
One that says that there sometimes are no red flags as to who can be prone to
commit acts of domestic violence. By all accounts, Belcher was a good dude that
made it to the NFL undrafted out of the University of Maine. Likeable, helpful. But
as news reports came in, it became apparent that he was prone to fits of anger.
Mostly related to relationship issues. We have to ask if people took note of this 
and if so, let it slide because he was a good dude. The pregame tribute at the game
in Kansas City made no mention of his name, simply honoring those who lost their
lives due to domestic violence. His suicide doesn’t and can’t blot out the fact that
he killed the mother of his child over an argument over a concert. Jovan Belcher
couldn’t control his anger and destroyed lives in the process, including his own.

Which brings me back to Chris Brown. Why I think these two situations are linked
is due to the fact that Breezy has shown that he is volatile. Just a week and a half
ago, he got into a Twitter spat with a comedienne and had to deactivate his account
after threatening to ‘s—- in her eye.’ What he did to Rihanna is inexcuasble. But it
all stems from his own mounting anger issues and being consoled by people, even
Rihanna, who won’t pull his coat to talk to him about it. We’re all looking at Chris &
Rihanna publicly reconciling and hoping nothing horrible will happen, but expecting
that byline that will validate our fears. I write about these two because they should
be held up as a visual lesson. We can stand aside and be indifferent and cynical, but
when we do that, we run that risk of bad things taking place. There’s thousands of
women and men going through this situation right now and it is imperative that we
do not remain silent. Talk to the young men and stress to them how they need to
control that rage and let go of machismo. Talk to the young women and teach them
how to recognize increasing signs of domestic violence and how to act. Because 
domestic violence is still a huge part of this American disturbia that is on display
for all to see. Let’s not be passive bystanders anymore.  

Brand Lost, No Filling - Chris 'Preach' Smith

Let me tell you a story about a snack cake. One that may be overlooked.

Like a million or more others in America, I grew up with Twinkies and other
Hostess snack cakes in my household. They were as abundant in my ‘hood
as bodegas and storefront churches. But for those of us who grew up in the
Southeast part of Queens, you could also get your Hostess snack cakes AND
Wonder Bread from the Hostess Bakery Outlet right on Douglas Avenue by
the National Guard Armory. Every so often we’d go there and get bread for
the house, and a box of Twinkies or Cupcakes. My grandmother and two of
my aunts lived a few blocks away off the Ave. You couldn’t miss the building,
huddled up against the elevated tracks of the Long Island Railroad above it,
no neon, beckoning with bright sales posters. It’s a part of my childhood like
many other things. Most of all, I remember all the folks that worked there.
Some of them from the same immediate neighborhood. So the news that 
Hostess Brands is closing its doors and shutting down on Friday hit me in a
way I didn’t expect.

Sure, I’ve joked about it. I’ve seen the obituary of Huffington Post and had a
chuckle or two. Some folks have cited ‘Zombieland’ again and again. Others
are circulating memes of Hostess cakes in different stages of burial. And yet
others wanting to snap on people for lamenting the loss of a junk food brand.
But all of them don’t see the real side of it. Hostess decided to close and in turn,
liquidate its assets. A process that closes 33 bakeries, 555 distribution centers
and leaves 18,000 people out of a job in these hard times 6 days before
Thanksgiving. Hostess made this decision claiming they could not survive a 
prolonged strike by unionized workers. Some would blame the unions for this,
but it’s hard to do so given that Hostess filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2004
and managed to come back. And in the process, the CEO at the time gave himself
a 300% RAISE along with raising the pay of 9 other executives as this was going
down. All of this while stopping payments to the pension of employees, owing them
160 million dollars. It’s another case of the rich getting richer while the poor get
their crumbs snatched. Even if they sell to another company, those people won’t
get their jobs back. And those execs in place will probably keep their salaries.

It’s a story that’s well known around these parts, and somehow not surprising. I
remember 2004 when Hostess was on the brink. Folks got worried because the
Hostess outlets actually were a good alternative to get bread at a cost that wouldn’t
dent their pockets too much. There’s some who’ll front like they didn’t get down
with Wonder Bread or Nature’s Pride in their house, but we all know better. When
there were no shutdowns, people kept buying from there. The saddest thing about
Hostess shouldn’t be that people lost a brand that made their favorite snack cakes.
The saddest thing is that Hostess is another age-old company that bought into the
‘greed is good’ mentality at the top of the corpoate ladder and in the process, means
it caused its own demise with the only victors being the private equity investors who
took over. Think about that while trying to make a killing on eBay with those boxes
of Ding Dongs you were saving for a rainy day.