Pics from Elizabeth

Blaxploitation

The Soul Samurai workshop approaches.  

One of the best parts about working with Vampire Cowboys is that in the researching of roles for the show you fall in love with the genres you're mashing up.  I have recently taken in the delights of Shaft, Superfly, Black Mama White Mama, Foxy Brown, Samurai Champloo, and Hara Kiri.  The Mack, Shogun Assassin, and (my favorite title so far) Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song are lined up for this weekend. 

 

Blaxploitation.  The genre is controversial, and a few people have come up to me saying is it cool to do that in this day and age? Didn't that genre cherry-pick the worst aspects of black culture and then help codify and normalize those stereotypes nationwide?  Well, yes and no.  In my opinion, the answer needs to be contextualized.  

In the beginning (as I understand from the documentary Badassss Cinema--absolutely required viewing), the films coming out reflected the revolutionary energy of the times. They featured potent, powerful and proud black characters who were impervious to racists and suffered no fools.  They offered performers of color the opportunity to play lead roles of substance that Hollywood had always denied them.  Because these were initially independent movies, they afforded entrepeneurial outlets, a sense of cultural ownership, and again, pride in black craftsmanship.   They celebrated the slogan "Black is Beautiful" and put the day-to-day worlds of Harlem and the ghettos of LA on the big screen.  

(Superfly has a still photography montage that is basically a photo essay on Harlem in the 70's.)  Combined with the soul and funk music of the legendary artists Isaac Hayes and Curtis Mayfield, the result was a profound experience at the movies for people of color who were desperate for stories and images that spoke to them and their lives.  

As with most film, the characters were larger-than-life icons.  Shaft was a detective who was cooler and badder than anyone in the room--a black 007.  Preacher, the pusher from Superfly, commanded a small army and lived like a king, enjoying clothes, money, women, and prestige.  Foxy Brown was a sexy afro'd independent woman who could infiltrate and take down a prostitution ring (and whose boyfriend was a black DEA agent!  What?)

A lot of characters were pimps and ho's, crime bosses and hitmen, this is true.  However, that negativity was usually counter-balanced by the appearance of Black Power activist characters and/or community watch groups who confronted the underworld figures about the damage they were doing to the neighborhood.  

To me, these are usually the best scenes and provide the most dramatic fireworks.  In Superfly, the confrontation is in a diner.  A watchdog gang in daishikis accost Preacher about his peddling drugs and his disregard for his own people, as it is blacks who are buying his cocaine.  Characteristically, Preacher responds, "What you need to do is get a gun.  And then get guns for all those blacks you care so much about.  And when you do that, I'll join you and be there on the front line shootin' whitey.  But until then, stay the fuck outta my way."  Or something similar, but the politics and concern with social justice and cultural elevation was usually put front and center at some point.   John Shaft enlists the aid of his former friend, now an activist, in the rescue of a mobster's daughter, and they spar over who's helping the people the most.  There's an incredibly powerful scene in The Mack where the pimp's brother says that instead of visiting him in jail, he created a people's movement that would actually do some good.  The empowerment of the people was worth more than some phone calls or envelopes of money because it would truly help his brother when he got out.  He argues that the pimp is essentially still in a prison of the mind because he's playing right into The Man's hands by selling drugs and women.  The Mack responds by saying he has a right to pursue his business anyway he likes. . . because this is America.  He says, "Being rich and black means something, don't you know that? It's crazy to stay in the ghetto once you've seen the way out." Or something similar, but essentially, huge questions are raised and social justice is prioritized in the middle of a film about an unrepentent pimp.

After this initial period, Hollywood saw how popular the movies were and how much they made.  They began cranking out shitty versions of their own, replacing the black artistic staff behind the camera, and turning the style into formulaic crap and wildly over the top characterizations.  The negative aspects were seized upon, commoditized, and encouraged by the industry (not unlike the gangstery thuggish hip-hop of the past ten years).  

Eventually people cooled to the nonsense.  This is the heartbreaking part, because they eventually screwed the black artists.  When they saw that they had taken an art form and turned it into a trend--and that that trend had run it's course--they again shut the door in the faces of actors they had made famous.  Many were never hired again despite being matinee idols and stars in their own right.

So, yes and no.  Blaxploitation, in my opinion, began as something incredibly empowering and beautiful and devolved into something cheap and harmful.  There was always a sense of whimsy and silliness and overblown characterization, but with the influx of money and studio interference, the movement got away from its roots and became another cliche of hollywood genres like the western and the romantic comedy.

I think what we are setting out to do with Soul Samurai is honor the essence of this tradition and have a lot of fun with a style that is inherently theatrical and dramatic.  Everyone is doing research on their own to inform the characters they play.  We talk a lot about what Pam Grier movie we saw last night or what we're excited about incorporating and how it relates to what we have to play in our scenes.  Who should see X to get an example of Y.  

It's a challenging task, but we're endeavoring to do it with honor and respect. 

We're aiming to blow your mind.  

And your soooul.

This Year's Outstanding Featured Actor is . . .

. . . Napoleon Beazley!

  

Well, some sweet day, I guess.  

However, (among others!!) the whole cast did win the Outstanding Ensemble IT Award last night, and considering the nature of the show and how hard we all worked, I'm glad none of us was recognized above the others.  I was going to accept on behalf of the cast, anyway :-)

Since only six of the nine of us were there and it was an ensemble thing, it was a bittersweet victory.  But to be onstage in the bright lights, to be in such great company, to have Kate there, and to receive the award from the legendary Bill Irwin (clown genius, guys)... Man, it was like winning the lotto.  

I should know.  Because I did win.  Today.  This morning.

Joanie and Charlie Benson (Kate's aunt and uncle) sent me five scratch tickets for my birthday and, by God, I won 55 bucks!  I wanted to do a Howard Dean "Yeeeargh!"  (First stop on the money train?  Oasis Falafel: $3.  Nice.)

So: I'm Moneyman instead of Featured Actorman.  I'm cool with that.  For now.  Some of that mojo or karma or whatever is definitely in the air.    

Don't we look young?

Don't dream it--be it, people!

The Winners

Stand Up to Cancer Telethon

I'm in the show's opening segment . . . the star-studded one :-)

(Note: the show has moved from streaming on ABC.com to streaming on the SU2C website which is not as fast.)

  

SU2C

Can You Find Me?

Things I've Been Doing

There are a bunch of things that have not made their way into the blog this month, so I'm smooshing them all together here in this post.

1.  IPod

I've been really into using my IPod to its fullest potential.  

Audiobooks:  Kate has been listening to actual books and novels while at work, but I have been getting Shakespeare plays I haven't yet read.  Shakespeare (depending on how picky you are about acting) is tailor-made for headphones.  If what you want is to hear the words, baby, you got 'em.  Richard Burton's Hamlet I bought for pleasure and found it to be very engaging, so I thought I'd brush up on the rest of the canon--whatever I'd never seen live before.  Julius Caesar, for example, is awesome and the one I downloaded from ITunes had a really great cast (some of the recordings have casts that are sucky).  Some others on the list to get are Macbeth and Pericles.  

Voice Memos:  While working with Mark Sitko on prepping Van Cougar, it came to my attention that the ITalk (which is a tiny dictaphone that unobtrusively attaches to the USB port) is an incredible tool for actors.  I've been using it to memorize lines and try my hand at voice-over technique.  You know, like Rosewitha or Shikoku.  The ITalk is by Griffin, but they're a little harder to find.  There's another model by Bose that's more popular but it has speakers jutting out of it on either side that look like buboes on a plague victim.  Not sexy or discreet.  If you get the ITalk, check its compatibility since on mine I have to select record from an onscreen menu instead of just pushing the big button in the center.  That's pretty upsetting because what I want to do is push a big button if it's right there in front of me, you know?

Podcasts:  There's a Comic News Insider podcast floating around out there from Men of Steel and Fight Girl which I was a guest on, and that got me started on a bunch of cool podcasts that I listen to everyday (although they're a day behind).   The one I'm really into right now is The Rachel Maddow Show.  She's smart and funny and translates a lot of political obfuscation into concise, biting clarity.  Nine Inch Nails also has a pretty revolutionary podcast where users can take the source material, remix it on Garageband, and then put it up their own versions.  It's called remixnin and the podcasts are the various songs themselves.  It's a great way around having to pay for them individually as songs on ITunes (which is what they would do if they could--"Fuck the pigs!").  Brilliant.  You can also do video podcasts like Meet the Press and Countdown, but that shit tires me out.  Also the screen is so small, it's almost not even worth it.

Videos:  Again, rarely is it that great to watch something on such a small screen (especially difficult on the subway).  I have been watching a lot of pilots that can be found on the "Free on ITunes" section of the store, though.  One of the shows I thought would be awesome was Man vs. Wild with Bear Grylls, but he seems to be in the mountains too much for me.  More Jungle!  Unfortunately a lot of the pilots are bad which is why they're free.  Actually, the Primeval pilot was pretty good for killing half an hour.

So good, there's the IPod section.  On to:

2.  Theatre

Summer and Smoke at Theatre Row:  My friend Tlaloc Rivas is directing this and has got one of the best performances I've seen this year in Mary Sheridan's Alma.  I have told everyone who will listen that I have never liked Tennessee Williams, and this is the show that has turned me around.  A spare, physical, beautifully designed show that highlights the text and the relationships--which is right up my alley as an audience member.  And my friend Harry Barandes is in it as a loveable loser, too.  Drink some coffee beforehand and bring a sweater.  It's really cold in there.

Self-Portrait as Schiele in the Fringe Festival:  Gerritt Turner directed Mark Lindberg's play about a painter haunted by Austrian young-girl-portraitist Egon Schiele.  It's closed now, but it had some really penetrating insights into the nature of art and sexuality and the transmission of knowledge.  I've been thinking a lot lately about what can be taken away from seeing plays,  and sometimes a line will stick out and stay with you for days (now weeks).  One from this show was something like:  "Just because you depict death does not make you master of it."  

A Day in Dig Nation at P.S.122:  You could see this show and appreciate it for the sheer discipline it took Michael McQuilken to perform it.  But again, it's deeper and more profound than it appears behind its bells and whistles of projected scenery and mise en scene.  It's performed by McQuilken solo as he navigates a surreal day-dream life accompanied by voice actors who play a host of other characters.  The voice over talent is incredible in this show, and may not have been matched or used so effectively in my past experience.  It's all foley sound-work like Dogville where you see the actor's hand mime opening an invisible door and from the speakers you hear the sound.  Well, here all the sounds dictate the actors's movements and it's pretty amazing to witness live.  The deepness I mentioned above comes from experiencing some no-shit human condition at work in comical but loaded scenes--like in the bunker with the radio.  I can't say more until you see it, but sometimes you see something and you say, "By god, there is something that is a fundamental truth of life."  Seriously.  That particular scene is pretty bleak, but the ending of the show leaves you with some real hope for human compassion and potential.  Great things lie in all of us, no matter what has come before.  The future is completely ours to make for ourselves and that is crazy to think possible.  Especially with November looming.  As Omar might say, "You feel me?"  There's also singing and dancing and multiple conceptual set-pieces that dazzle.

3. Cooking

Kate and I are cooking up a blizzard of rice at our little apartment, and everything that can go on top of it we throwing on it and then serving it up for dinner or putting into containers to take in with us for lunch.  Now, I have never liked cooking.  However, in this day and age it has become a monetary necessity.  It has its good points.  It's pretty fun as activities go (until you're done eating and you see the dishes in the sink), you get to chop and dice out your aggressions, and we play music and have drinks while we do it.  (Not drinks like Donna Reed martinis for Mr. Stone when he gets home from work drinks, but fun, youthful-abandon drinks like Rum and Coke or margaritas.)  Plus, it's healthier and cheaper than going out.  And considering I only ate things that were crispy and brown before this that's saying a lot. 

4.  Finances

I know shit about money, but I'm working on it.  I kind of knew going into it that acting and theatre were not about the glamour but the work... but can't a guy have nice things?  Can't he pay his bills and think about retirement?  This guys is.  My job offers matching on their 401k, and I should have been putting in there since I started and now have to catch up.  I'm getting on top of my bills, my debt and my spending habits (with Kate's enormous help and encouragement) and that is tangible power.  I recommend it to anyone who is an artist and hates numbers or anyone who has sought out being poor for the cred or anyone who has somehow found themselves paying off the interest instead of the principal.  I'm not home-free, but I'm getting out from under it just like the rest of the country.  I can see a distant light!

Stay tuned cause I'm drafting a post that will cure American politics.

SWAT Team

I wrote a post about my love/hate relationship with TV work that I have now erased because it was, upon reflection, too bilious.  Kate tells me that unless I change my attitude about money (it's the root of all evil) I will subconsciously avoid having it and do things to prevent it from entering my life.  By extension, my hard feelings about the sitting around on commercial sets and the impersonal nature of the work and the feeling like an automaton and the lack of dignity can easily influence (subconsciously, according to her and some unnamed theorists) my actions, and can prevent me from actually being successful in the work itself.  One, so that I avoid having money, and two, so that I avoid the drudgery that most of that work consists of.  

This state of affairs cannot be; so I am turning it all around.  I am going to try to open my heart to the idea of being a rich fart who actually does some good with the money he makes in this world and consider the drudgery as a part of the whole process.  Because, as the man said, baby needs a new pair of shoes.