Feminist Film Moment - Brown Sugar

BROWN SUGAR (2002)

(Note: If this post is your first encounter with my Feminist Film Moment postings, kindly read the rules of engagement before reading, commenting, etc.)

Written by Michael Elliot and Rick Famuyiwa

Directed by Rick Famuyiwa

Synopsis:   Best friends Sydney (Sanaa Lathan) and Andre (Taye Diggs) love hip-hop... and possibly each other.  

Moment: Andre's wife Reese confronts Sydney with her love for Andre. 

Rationale:

The two women in this scene are deeply emotionally attached to the same man. Reese (Nicole Ari Parker) is his wife. The other is Sydney (Sanaa Lathan) is his best friend. And here they cross paths at a boxing class. Naturally, their sparring match is going to devolve quickly into a catfight, especially 'cause, you know, they're Black women, right? Wrong!  Daps to screenwriters Michael Elliot and Rick Famuyiwa for resisting lurid expectations by depicting not one but two multidimensional female characters in conflict who handle the matter with maturity and dignity. 

You may argue, "Well, they're just behaving like adults." The fact that they're Black women in love with the same man - one of those proverbial good Black men - makes theirs a feminist interaction because of the racist (both overt and internalized) pearl-clutching over (1) the number of marriageable Black men available and the (2) desirability of Black women.  I have no doubt that if Black women were given more opportunities to write and direct narrative features, scenes such as these would be the norm, reality TV housewives be damned.  Still it's nice to see that some brothers can take the opportunity that male privilege has afforded them and represent the sisters right.  Too few of 'em do. 

And I have to say as a screenwriter, I though this was an effective example of giving characters an interesting context for their conversation, especially when they're characters in conflict. 

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Feminist Film Moment - He's Not That Into You

HE’S NOT THAT INTO YOU (2009)

(Note: If this post is your first encounter with my Feminist Film Moment posting, kindly read the rules of engagement before reading, commenting, etc.)

Written by Abby Kohn, Marc Silverstein, Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo based on the book of the same name by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo

Directed by Ken Kwapis

Synopsis:   The film follows several characters of different relationship statuses as they experiences the trials and tribulations of finding and/or sustaining love.

Moment: Beth (Jennifer Aniston) realizes that a wedding and marriage does not a husband make.

Rationale:

He’s Not That Into You is one of the rare relationship books with a male author (comic Greg Behrendt co-written with his wife Liz Tuccillo) where you get the sense, “This guy really likes women and wants them to be happy on their terms.”  Not being a work of fiction, the screenwriters had to work overtime to create characters and relationships that reflect some of the book’s insights. The result: a rare rom-com that both men and women can watch, enjoy and discuss. For the most part, all the relationships are realistic and nuanced, and my favorite relationship is the 7-year romance between Beth and Neil. She breaks up with him because he loves her but doesn’t believe in marriage (which is a dumb saying when you think about it. I mean, marriage exists. It’s not like, you know, a unicorn or the tooth fairy.)  When Neil is there for Beth when she needs him most despite their split, she realizes that he already embodies everything she wants in a partner without marriage. This is not to say that marriage doesn’t have its benefits and charms. It certainly has its privileges for those who can marry. That said, it’s pretty damn feminist for a heterosexual woman to just appreciate and enjoy the partnership she has co-created with the man in her life, and especially to let go of the societal pressure to legally hitch herself to him.

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Feminist Film Moments - Rules of Engagement

In celebration of Women’s History Month 2013, I’ll be posting what I call a Feminist Film Moment every Tuesday and Friday for the month of March. I welcome comments and suggestions. However, I ask that you keep in mind the following rules of engagement.

1. A selection is not an endorsement of the overall film in general neither with respect to content nor craft.  Chances are if I deeply appreciate the film, I’ll most likely say so in my summary.  If I can’t stand the movie otherwise, I’ll probably say that, too.  Suffice it to say, the only thing you can presume is I do appreciate the moment as an image that advances gender equality even if that's all the movie has going for it. 
2. Don't assume that the clip I selected is reflective of the film's feminist bona fides.  This moment might be all the film has to offer in that regard. And it may just be the case that if you put the moment in its narrative context, it just might not be that feminist at all. None of this means, however, that the film lacks other elements of sociopolitical or artistic merit. 
3.  Just because I deem this to be a feminist moment does not mean it gets a pass with respect to other social constructions and identities.  Sometimes I'll speak to this in my summary if I have the time and inclination. I'd like these posts both to be short and leave room for discussion. Hence, my intention is not to write thorough cinematic essays that cover all the intersections or lack thereof.  If anything, I encourage you to post comments and have discussions in that regard.  All I ask is that you don’t assume that by my posting the clip and not commenting on something like race, class, sexual orientation etc. necessarily means I missed it. I mean, I might have...  which is why I invite you to comment. What you're not allowed to do is attack me on the assumption that I don't "get" it.
4. You’re not allowed to attack me or anyone else at all. Point, blank, period. Respectfully and even vigorously disagree, question, challenge… all of this is a great. If I think your tone or language is any way trolly, I'll publish your comment just to call you out and warn you to check yourself. I won’t boot you without a warning, and I'll do my best to be nice about it, but you’ll only get that treatment once. 
5. I like the Bechdel test. As a screenwriter, I use it. I’m not using it, however, to choose clips.  While a good exercise to begin discussion, it's not a fail-proof litmus test for rating the depth of female characters in film.

6.  The clip may be a spoiler or contain triggers. When it comes to the latter, I'll make a good faith effort to consider that and warn you. As for spoilers, you read the blog and watch the clips at your own risk. We’re grown here.

7.  By all means, share and comment via Twitter. Please mention me @sofiaquintero so I see it and use the hashtag #feministfilmmoment. If you’re inspired to elaborate on your own blog, awesome. It’d be a tremendously appreciative show of integrity to acknowledge what sparked your musings with a mention and link back to the posting. 

8.   Have fun with this! Sure, I’d love for these blogs to be a springboard to thorough and critical discussions about media literacy, depictions of women in popular media, and all that good stuff. There’s no reason, however, that we can’t have a few laughs as we respectfully push each other to expand our understanding of these things.

9.  The rules of engagement are subject to change because, you know, it’s my blog and shit.

10.  Of course, I welcome suggestions, especially those that are strong on intersectionality, complexly depict underrerepresented communities, are well-crafted etc. I mean, just because I’m not going to narrowly restrict myself to these criteria (‘cause you know what that’d mean if I did) doesn't mean I don't care about these things. So if you have a recommendation fill out this survey. Please be concise and precise.

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"I Should've Been Motherfuckin' Black Mamba:" What the Poetic License of Quentin Tarantino Reveals about His Racial Politics

In the midst of all the online debates over DJANGO UNCHAINED, I had an epiphany.

It was inspired by something a gentleman had posted on a friend’s Facebook wall. He had written that he had listened to an NPR interview with Quentin Tarantino in early January where Tarantino described himself as amoral, said that he wanted to remake the 1966 film DJANGO and chose to set it during slavery because he needed a setting that was appropriate for the kind of violence he wants in his films. In other words, the gentleman concluded, “It is the violence [for Tarantino] that is cathartic. It’s not a matter of principle, but a matter of violent reaction, revenge. He is using our story for his get-off…” 

Of all the takes on DJANGO UNCHAINED and Tarantino’s intentions for creating it, this is the one that has stuck with me most.  I have very mixed feelings about his films and major issues with the man himself that would require another post to elaborate.  Not yet having seen DJANGO UNCHAINED, I’ve only lurked discussions except to comment on the filmmaker based on things he himself has said. You know, shit like this everything-but-the-burden comment about his past lives to BRITISH GQ:

“I know I must have been a writer in a few other lives. I know I was a black slave in America. I think maybe even like three lives. Yeah, I know that. And I know that I was Japanese in another life and I was Chinese in another life."  

So even though I have yet to see DJANGO UNCHAINED, comments like these made this fellow’s theory about what really drives Tarantino as a filmmaker resonate.

Then I woke up one morning and realized that all the understanding we need regarding the intersection of Tarantino’s racial politics and artistic impulses can be found in one line from KILL BILL VOL 1.

I should've been motherfuckin' Black Mamba. 

I’m no stranger to the use of poetic license. But license not only engenders responsibility, it also casts more transparency than even the most deliberate artist may realize. Whether a media maker is aware of the deeper motivations influencing the way s/he wields poetic license is irrelevant. Poetic license is gonna tell on you.

And what does the Black Mamba moment say about QT? 

Let me ask you this.

Do you think for a second in the Real World Vernita Green wouldn’t have been Black Mamba?

On the surface, it’s a hilarious line. An effective one, too, saying a great deal about not only Vernita and Beatrix’s relationship but also about their respective standing in the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad.  And that's precisely why it’s bullshit. It reveals that when it comes to race, Quentin Tarantino just ain’t that fuckin’ knowledgeable or deep, er, his past life as an enslaved African in the United States notwithstanding.

For all the racial messiness that often insidiously permeates even the most progressive of multicultural organizations, there’s no way that a woman like Vernita would have allowed Beatrix to take on the moniker of Black Mamba. No. Freakin’. Way. Beatrix could’ve been turning Bill out three times a day and all-day Sunday. Never would’ve happened. The minute Blondie would’ve piped up at the meeting talkin’bout, “I wanna be Black Mamba,” Vernita would’ve said – say it with me – …

“Bitch, please. I’m motherfuckin’ Black Mamba.”

And that would’ve been the end of that. She either would’ve been Black Mamba or she would’ve been out. With the skills she had, Vernita had plenty of opportunities in the underground economy to bounce to an organization where this never would’ve been a question.  The Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, after all, is not a member of the Nonprofit Industrial Complex. Or the left for that matter.

The fact that Vernita Green was not Black Mamba and is sore enough still so many years later to even mention it is proof-positive to the extent Tarantino will flex his poetic license to pursue the superficial laugh at the expense of accuracy.  “I should’ve been Black Mamba” reveals he either has a flimsy understanding of how racial dynamics play out in an organization or doesn’t care about depicting those dynamics accurately.  Rather he only wants to approximate the truth to that delicate point where it can be named without being disrupted. Therein lies the shits and giggles for him, and the rest of us if we don’t give it a second thought. The bottom line: it was far more important to Tarantino to solidify the Bride’s superiority over Vernita, physical and racial, and for that superiority to be so obvious and impervious, the Black woman is the one who has to complain about it.

Don’t even get me started on the shit that comes out of Tracie Thom's mouth in DEATH PROOF.