Trinidad James is going to destroy hip-hop.
Tyler Perry’s films are an abomination and a blight on black cinema.
Making a fictionalized Western set during the era of slavery is an insult to my ancestors. Oh — and they use the “N-word” in the film, as well? Such disrespect.
This is what the criticism of black-themed popular art sounds like in the digital age. Every artist, song, film or television show that you don’t like is treated like it will single-handedly destroy an entire race of people’s self-respect and image. It doesn’t matter how varied hip-hop is or how much Tyler Perry’s audience loves his films; somebody doesn’t like them. And if the Conscious Black Cavalry rides in to say it’s bad, then they should be allowed to decide what the rest of us watch and listen to.
Hope you’re picking up on the sarcasm, ‘cuz I’m laying it on pretty thick.
We’ve allowed overstatement and hand-wringing to become the go-to responses when art and entertainment should require more nuanced discussions. Instead we throw bombs at anything we deem detrimental. And it usually doesn’t take much to be declared “part of the problem.”
As I pointed out in a previous piece, Trinidad James is not the first rapper to have a hit with a song that’s, let’s face it, kind of dumb. “Pop That Coochie” wasn’t exactly It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, now was it? But of course, when 2 Live Crew was in their heyday, there weren’t a million blogs sharing a million opinions and there wasn’t social media giving every critic thousands of receptive eyes and ears on which to declare their disdain. The Web exacerbates everything.
So instead of Trinidad James simply being dismissed as a goofy rapper with a novelty hit, he becomes the bane of our existence. Indicative of a much deeper problem that forces us to ponder where hip-hop is headed. Despite the fact that there may be umpteen other rappers who don’t sound like him.
And we don’t care that Tyler Perry is just one filmmaker with one voice and an audience who adores his work. No, he is the scourge of black Hollywood. Never mind the people who like his work, they are only lost, misguided souls desperately in need of the enlightened elite to swoop down and condescendingly explain to them why they shouldn’t like what they like. Because, obviously, no smart people could ever go to Tyler Perry movies.
Pretentious, much?
And in the case of Django Unchained, there have been people claiming that they’re angry at a movie daring to fictionalize a period in Black history while no one tells the real stories. But “Roots” and Amistad were based on true events. And the 1993 film Posse covered somewhat similar territory, by telling the story of a freed-slave-turned-soldier-turned cowboy. And some others acted like it was horrific that a white man would dare direct a film about slavery. But three of “Roots” four directors were white. So was Amistad’s director. Not to mention other black-themed films like The Color Purple and the popular TV miniseries “Shaka Zulu.”
And the controversy over the N-word? What do we think racist slave owners called slaves in the 1800s? “Afro-Americans?” It was an ugly time. Stop being fake-shocked by the ugliness when it’s reflected in art.
These are all very polarizing issues, to say the least. But let’s try to remember that we don’t have to be outraged to question and we don’t have to use hyperbole to criticize. It’s OK to say “I don’t like this,” without indicting everyone who does.
And stop letting the Web turn every film, song and reality show into the end of the world as we know it.
–stereo williams
