STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS TEASER AND THE VILLAIN IS...

Yes, I've allowed this blog to fall into neglect as I've moved on to other things, but it will still stand as it is and I will still post when the occasion calls for it.

...Like now.

You know my Trekkie behind could not let this teaser trailer go un-commented upon:

Yes, it's using the BRAAAAHHHHM!!! noise, like so many other trailers. It's the Inception effect...or perhaps I should say Nolan effect, given the poster's resemblance to The Dark Knight Rises'.

Anyway, I've made this post in order to air my theory on who the villain is.

NO, it's not Gary Mitchell.

NO, it's not Khan.

It's Joachim:

That's Khan's number one henchman, right there.

Why?  

Well, just check the resemblance:

The costume designer even took cues from the original. 

Check the lapel.

So, people need to drop the Gary Mitchell theories (no glowing eyes or omniscience to speak of in the trailer, plus it was covered in the comics) and the Khan theories (though he is still connected to him).

He wouldn't be Khan, because that would be some backwards white-washing b.s, especially considering that a man of color, Ricardo Montalban, played him to perfection back when whitewashing was slightly more prevalent than it is today.

Khan is an implied Indian Sikh and/or Mongol genetic mix.  Cumberbatch's pasty (but still talented) behind would be the LAST actor I'd cast to be him.

Anywho, I just wanted to put that out there, because yeah, Cumberbatch looks just like Joachim.

ON ZOE SALDANA PLAYING NINA SIMONE

Zoe Saldana is playing Nina Simone in an upcoming unauthorized biopic. Many have been up in arms about it, going as far as to create a petition to cast another (darker-skinned) actor.  

Zoe responded to it with a retweet from a fan claiming "reverse racism". While the terminology is wrong (where this discussion often gets derailed), the sentiment is accurate.

I think it's important to begin with the correct term for the controversy going on here. 

It's called colorism. 

It's colorism that Zoe Saldana, a black woman who is significantly lighter-skinned than the singer, was cast in the role. It's also colorism that many are claiming that Zoe Saldana is ill-suited to the role, because she's too light. 

...It boggles my mind that the vocally-opposed miss that self-defeating bit of irony.

For the uninitiated, colorism is discrimination based on how dark or how light one is. This term  is often used when there is deferential treatment given within an ethnic group because of the perceived differences in skin color (note: hair texture and facial features are also tangents of this issue). 

Though racism is the reason why colorism exists, it is people of color who continue to allow it to thrive. It is people of color who have the power to eliminate it. An outsider's perspective is always going to be flawed  by nature, so how we choose to define ourselves matters so much more.

I simply cannot determine whether she is ill-suited without having seen the final product. Though the reverse is rare in comparison, I have seen darker-skinned actors portray lighter-skinned black people (see: Angela Bassett as Tina Turner, Diana Ross as Billy Holiday, and Denzel Washington as Malcolm X) without much hullabaloo.

That this has touched such a nerve, I think, speaks to the depth of the hurt carried by many because of the rejection, bullying, and other abuses suffered because their blackness was the wrong kind. It's an untreated psychological disease within our ethnic group, that has caused or contributed to many a bitter black woman.

It's an odd burden, that we place upon ourselves, to root our opinions in extremes in order to authentically assert our "blackness".  

What a strange set of shackles we chose to wear.

On this issue, I stand in the middle, though, I do hope the criticism inspires Ms. Saldana to do her best, even better.

P.S. I have to admit, Viola Davis being cast would have gotten me a lot more excited about this biopic.

DEAR WHITE PEOPLE... AND THE UNWRITTEN RULES

Now, that Issa Rae of Awkward Black Girl fame is teaming with Shonda Rhimes to create a TV series(!)...

how this news makes me feel:

I think it's time to give some shine to a couple of other projects I hope also come to fruition and/or do well.  The first is another fantastic youtube series called The Unwritten Rules and the other is a film project called Dear White People...

Check them out!

Now, if you'd like to support the  Dear White People... film, please drop by their indiegogo page, here. I'll be back next week with some contest news!

WATCH THE DIDO BELLE FILM SHORT NOW

It only has four hundred and twenty-nine views right now. It also has the typical "evil-whitie" vs. "tread-upon black underling" dynamic but still, the fact that it even exists is heartening. 

Please, watch and pass it along!

P.S. I have yet to see Beasts of the Southern Wilds. Though, I must say comparisons to Miyazaki's work make me giddy! bell hooks' views on it though? ...Not so much.

Please, check NewBlackMan (In Exile)'s posting with bell as a featured writer, here.

ON CLOUD ATLAS' EVERYBODY-FACING

So, you might have seen this rather lush trailer for the film adaptation of the popular multi-life-spanning novel:

What year is it, again?

2012?

Just checking.

So, American audiences are still so stupid, in the eyes of Hollywood producers, that they cannot possibly connect the dots to come to the realization that some of these characters are the same people without the "everybody"-facing?

Despite every fiber of my being revolting right now, lets just ignore race for a second...

It's just unbelievably creepy.

I've been a huge advocate for the Wachowskis, because it warms my heart to know that there are people who have the courage to embrace their harmless preferences/ways of being regardless of ridicule, persecution, mocking, and sadly, possibly far more dangerous consequences.

Godspeed, Lana. ❤

But this??  What happened to the Wackowskis who would've gladly made a Matrix movie starring Will and Jada??

The only time the whole ethnicity-switheroo ever worked was in White Chicks (and I'll also allow the Jewish barbershop patron in Coming to America ), because well, that was a comedy. Part of the joke was the fact that these two black guys in white girl drag look like two black guys in white girl drag.

But, this mess...

This mess right here??

Halle Berry is looking worse than Jessica Alba looked in her white girl drag from Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.

in case you forgot

 how creepy that looked

...And don't get me started on the yellowface.  You know, this is a prime example of the fact that physical differences between white and the various east Asian ethnicities extend a bit further than simple "Asian eyes".  Because those actors in yellowface with their white guy face-shapes quite frankly, look like mutants.

Sturgess was already in 21. What, is this supposed to complete the racebending circle?!

Look. I get it.  Sometimes, Hollywood can't help but do too much just because it can (see: Benjamin Button, Terra Nova, etc.).  This is especially true when it comes to special effects.

In Hollywood, or if you're Michael Bay it becomes...

...But in the case of Cloud Atlas' racebending it's like Dr. Malcolm said:

Gotta admit, I'm still curious about this one. I just wish they hadn't already tripped a few times through the threshold.