BlackMan Time

Archive for September, 2009

Why does a black story have to be told through white eyes in order to get the green light in Hollywood? Or why is it more acceptable for an orange to tell the story of an egg?

I ask because I’ve just seen “District 9″ a well put together film which on the surface work as a sci fi but on a deeper level is really a social reality opus looking at the former apartheid regime in South Africa. That is a really net trick!

To pull this off director Neill Blomkamp had to enlist the help of Peter Jackson, of “Lord of the Rings” fame and it got support to become the number one film in America a few weeks ago.

Considering the not so very well hidden latent storyline I wondered if such a film would’ve even been considered if a black filmmaker had approached financers with the idea. You see there is a prevailing view that black films don’t make money at the box office.

Successful films from directors like Tyler Perry, Spike Lee and others dispel this rumour yet Hollywood continues to cling to it for dear life. Why? It seems black filmmakers need to make films about oranges if they want to talk about eggs.

Sad, but is it true?

You don’t get many “good boy!” points saying the unpopular thing: you just tend to get crucified, unless you’re someone who has earned the right and respect to say things others are too afraid to say.

Former US President Jimmy Carter dared to speak the name of the thing he thinks is plaguing current president Barack Obama: racism. Carter told a public meeting at the Carter Center in Atlanta yesterday there was “an inherent feeling among many in this country that an African-American should not be president”.

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Jimmy Carter: racism working against ObamaNow, if this feeling is really inherent why would a White House spokesman later deny that claim? Maybe diplomacy is the best way to be when you’re trying to push through the most ambitious health care plan in America’s history. Maybe you do have to kiss arse before you can kick it. If this is so Obama and his White House staff are doing some major sucking up!

On the one hand they don’t want to be seen agreeing with the racism crowd: after all they didn’t come to power campaigning on a colour ticket. On the other, to pretend racism is not a factor opposing their every move is like burying your head in the sand and pretending you’ve got a full view of the wider picture.

Perhaps at a later time Obama and his White House spokesman will acknowledge what Carter has so boldly stated. Or perhaps they have just decided to chart a more strategically diplomatic course to get the job done. Either way they will have to pull their head out of the sand sometime.

And that’s when it should get really interesting.

As soon as I saw the leaflet dropped through my letterbox I knew it was an advertising scam. I was very certain of it. “Third World Clothing Collection”, the headline screamed, advertising about a collection service it was running in my area tomorrow.

The reason for my sceptism is seeing an item on my apartment’s community notice board a few months back, warning me to be on the lookout for individuals or organisations perpetrating this exact scam.

I could see evidence this was a scam just looking at the amateurishly produced leaflet, outlining its plans to help others. They’re asking for donations of blankets, sheets, shoes, curtains, belts, bath and towels, underwear and other things. The words ‘Urgently Needed’ is centred and emboldened.

Curiously no details about the specific countries are listed…

I almost missed the company registered number in the bottom left hand corner, it is so small. Big mistake, I thought, because now I could check and prove that this company was a fake. Quickly I navigated to a site on the internet to verify the number. To my surprise it was a real company!

I stood there stunned for a while, somehow still believing I had uncovered a scam, yet with evidence, apparently, showing me this may not actually be so.

I’ll have to dig deeper into this. Stay tuned: of course there’s more to come…

It is big news that the Ukraine has refused singer Elton John’s request to adopt a 14 month old HIV positive boy. Elton, as is widely known, is homosexual and in fact has a partner who in every sense of the term is like a husband or wife.

The Ukraine government official has said Elton was refused because he didn’t fulfil the criteria for adopting a child. These include:-

1) Elton is not Ukranian.
2) He is not married.
3) He is too old.
4) At 62 there’s more than 45 years difference with child, apparently a Ukranian stipulation.

Same Sex Marriage

I have to admit I am struggling with the concept of people marrying other people of the same sex. To me it’s one of those jokes we used to run as a youth because we knew or at least thought it would never become reality. Boy, were we wrong! Not only has it become reality we have the laws of the land lining up behind this idea, making it illegal to discriminate against such unions while moral decay continue to spread.

Meanwhile, people yearn for the innocence of a previous era.

We cannot have it both ways: claiming the moral high ground while re-aligning the moral compass. Maybe the same liberal thinking should also apply to drugs, alcohol and all other taboo, banned or prohibited thing. I suspect this will not become a reality any time soon because if all things are equal then some are more equal than others.

Moral Rights

Once you grant the right to people to do something which, to some, might seem morally wrong then they can exercise their rights like any other normal citizen. Same sex couples living in an environment where this is legal and wanting to adopt children should not be prevented to do so based on their sexuality.

We do not know for sure whether this is really the reason behind this decision to deny Elton John the opportunity to adopt a Ukranian child, but it has provided food for thought on the issue.

It would be good to know what Elton’s thoughts on the matter are. We’ll have to wait and see…