FINALLY, HE SPEAKS TO ME - Thoughts on "For Colored Girls" Trailer

The Broadway production poster of For Colored Girls Who Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf was in my aunt’s home when I was a kid. The image makes me think of her but more importantly, I have always considered the poster the illustration of what it means to be an African American Woman. Strong. Powerful. Bold. I have memories of seeing parts of TV Movie when I was barely four years old and I also read the book in college but I have never seen the play. Bits and pieces form my memory of Ntozake Shange’s play but I’ve always held the play very close to me and seen it as one of the very few pieces of art that Black Women could consider their own. So as you can imagine, when I heard that Tyler Perry was directing and writing I got nervous. And a little offended. This was not a piece of work that you can write in 3 days and then shoot in 4. This is not a movie you can throw towards a movie theater in hopes of a big opening weekend. For Colored Girl’s needed to be treated with care and praise. The thousands of black women who carried the same memory of the work like I did needed to be considered.

Today the trailer was released and I have to say, finally I feel like Tyler Perry is speaking to me. Even though I am a black female with spirituality, I never related to his characters or films. They felt just as foreign to my experience as The Royal Tenenbaums. The trailer presents an experience that I can possibly relate to. The story of various black women and their relationships in America. Of course the jury is still out but off of this trailer, I am going to this film and I am getting a group of women to go with me on opening weekend. I'm intrigued and a proud supporter. 

Check out the trailer below: 

DARK ROOMS AND POPCORN!!

I've been lucky enough to cover the Los Angeles Film Festival for Venus Zine Magazine. This is pretty much my first journalism endeavor since my days of wanting to be a reporter in high school. Before I got bit by the screenwriting bug. It's been a really great experience. The best part has been having a press pass! So many people WANT to talk to me for possible exposure and when there is a long line for a screening my beautiful yellow pass gets me "priority seating". Can't tell you the last time I felt so special!

Even though, I have been participating as "press", as a writer it's also been a really great experience. For years, I have avoided attending film festivals. I just got soo tired of all the thirsty people. Most filmmakers, writers, directors that are there are so hungry for their careers to take off they are so aggressively looking for the person to change their life. No one is really interested in who you are. They just  want to know what you do and what you can do for them. This is why I hate "Networking Events". Working as a directors assistant was when I experienced some of the worst times at a film festival. People throwing cards, constant emails, scripts at me all for a chance. And the Director I worked for wasn't that interested in helping someone else than he was in pushing his career forward. The problem is most people at film festivals are more interested in seeing what someone can do for them instead of learning their craft. I am a firm believer if you do a great job, then chance and opportunity come to you. When your work is great, you don't have to shove it down peoples throats. One of my favorite Prince songs, "Baby I'm A Star" says it oh so perfectly:

Nothing come to easy, but when you got it baby, nothing come to hard 


This experience at a film festival was different because I just focused on celebrating film making. It's funny because as many people who move to Los Angeles to work in the business, I don't know that many that actually love films. Most people are chasing fame and validation then really understanding and loving the art of story. The following films have been ones that I have enjoyed and are worth seeing at the Film Festival this week.

The New Year - A very simplistic coming of age story of Sunny, a college drop out who moved back home to Pensacola, Fl to take of her cancer ridden father. Two years later, her life is still on pause. She's stuck between doing what's good for her and doing what's safe.

Everyday Sunshine, The Story of Fishbone -- The title says it all. As teenager in the 90's, I remember Fishbone but had NO IDEA that their story was so dramatic and interesting. The documentary itself is good but its the band members candid interviews that make it soo great. If you are not a fan when you see the film, you'll definitely be one when you leave.

Cyrus - I saw this film without knowing really anything about the whole "mumblecore" phenom. I had been waiting to see this film because of the fact that the filmmakers (Duplass brothers) found a way to spin a romantic comedy. Any romantic comedy writer is in constant pursuit of how to tell the same love story differently. Well, the Duplass brothers do and succeed.

Tonight I see Waiting For Superman, the documentary about our failing school system made by Davis Guggenheim, the Oscar winning director of an Inconvenient Truth. Followed by a pool side discussion about how to possibly save public education.

Later this week I see:

 Revolucion - the culmination of 10 short films by the most prominent Mexican directors. All have a perspective of Mexico's growth since the Mexican Revolution.

Welcome To The Rileys - The Jake Scott directed tale of rebirth and reinvention in New Orleans. Starring James Gandolfini, Melissa Leo and Kristen Stewart.

Animal Kingdom - The Australian gangster movie that was a Sundance favorite.

The King of Pastry - Anyone who watches the Food Network knows that making Pastries can deal with a lot of drama. This french documentary follows 16 chefs over 3 days as they compete for the Meilleurs Ouvriers de France - one of the highest accolade for a Pastry Chef.

All reviews of these films will be on www.venuszine.com as the week continues.

Off to the movies!

JUST WRIGHT - ARE WE REALLY THAT DIFFERENT?

I’m frustrated. Irritated.

I saw Just Wright today and set out to write about the relationship between Queen Latifah and Common and got pissed off and sidetracked by a CNN video of a panelists (including Phylicia Rashad and Roland Martin) discussing the movie. 

Why is it such a big deal that Black People have jobs?

Why is it such a big deal that an actually well made romantic comedy has two black leads in it?

It just infuriates me that Hollywood has pinned us up so far in a box that once we get a great movie with real non stereotypical shuckin and jivin characters were “defying the rules”. Guess what Hollywood, Black people come in all shapes and sizes, different parts of the country, even come from different social economic backgrounds. And guess what sometimes the big black girl wins! You know the chick with a job, a house, and a father that loves her!

I don’t know why I am surprised. As a black female screenwriter, I deal with this all the time. I once received coverage of a script where the reader said my dialogue wasn’t real because the educated lead character went from being professional to using words like “aint” with her friends. Recently, a hollywood producer was afraid to read my pilot about dysfunctional private school parents because he had a project with an African American writer about an African girl in boarding school. Because we're both black woman obviously the ideas have to be similar, right? There are thousands of Leslie Wright's walking this earth who deserve to see their stories. Tyler Perry is not the authority of the Black American experience. Mike Elliot has been doing this a lot longer then he has. So has Sanaa Hamri. There are thousands of Black industry professionals out there that deserve to be heard. And as shocking as it might seem, all of our stories are NOT the same.

The rant is coming from the fact that I enjoyed “Just Wright”. It was a feel good movie about black people that had nothing to do with race. It’s true sometimes we have a day where we don’t discuss how black we are, or how much race affects our every waking moment. Sometimes our race is just that, so deeply rooted in who we are that there isn’t a separation that even needs to be discussed. I’m thankful for “Just Wright” and hopefully this movie begins to open doors for other folks but CNN, as much as I thankful for the publicity, black people with jobs that fall in love is NOT news. As much as the WASHINGTON POST, NIGHTLINE, and all the other media outlets want you to believe the opposite, black people fall in love, get married and stay together, more often then not.

Towards the end Phylicia Rashad looks just as irritated with the conversation as I am. Just like the Queen she is, she brings the discussion to an end with:

" We were being human, we were being ourselves... People, and I mean people all over this planet, are much more alike then we can ever be different" 

Maybe the only thing we need to do is stop making the possibility of having universally relatable films with African American leads a conundrum and the rest of the world will follow.