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Melody Gulliver

Arts & EntertainmentCulture

Black Panther: A Film Review

by Melody Gulliver
written by Melody Gulliver

By Sydney Matthews

Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther is more than just a well-done, commercially successful super hero film. In the midst of our white nationalist climate, its narrative emboldens imperative notions of Black nuance, prosperity, and utility.

For instance, in one aspect the characters Black Panther and N’jobu demonstrates how being black does not encapsulate one set of values. Mainstream media has often failed to represent Black characters as multi-dimensional entities with nuanced thought and powerful development. Black Panther successfully destabilizes these tropes through its rich depiction of black culture and identity. This is complexity is illustrated in the divergence of Wakandan thought, ideologies, and leadership. For T’Challa, Wakandan prosperity was grounded in ideals of secrecy and suppression of national knowledge. To the contrary, N’jobu asserted black identity was rooted in philanthropic efforts to protect racial minorities outside Wakandan borders. The conflict of borders and resource allocation echoes political trends today. These strong parallels collapse the space between fiction and reality and forces audience members to ask uncomfortable questions. When your life is in jeopardy how willing are you to aid those who are also suffering? Could it be solely a divisive strategy of American government, fear of own security, or are we so blinded by each other’s contrast that we don’t feel inclined to help one another?

But, I digress.

The Interplay of the Black Panther’s and Okoye’s politically and athletically inclination highlighted the unparalleled strength embedded within black culture.

Ultimately, inclusivity in the media echoes on a on broader scope ,a global understanding of the true capacity and representation of a myriad of people.

Conclusively, the antagonist N’jobu had good intentions to aid those who were disenfranchised but the execution was overly aggressive-burning of the garden of flowers that give the black panther its power. Comparable to our current invasive tactics within the Black Lives Matter movement. The intentions of the movements is honorable -advocation for equal value, but the destruction of neighborhood resources during Trayvon martin protests and other senseless black deaths from police brutality is counter intuitive. Essentially, destroying our own resources is simply is a disservice because we become our own impediment for prosperity.

Black Panther made me feel proud to be black and this movie embodied fearlessness and grace of Black people that is usually overlooked in media .

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Opinion

Candyman and Irresponsible Storytelling

by Melody Gulliver
written by Melody Gulliver

It seems like everyone has a “Candyman” story. When I was seven, I would sneak into my sister’s room after my parents fell asleep. We would watch all sorts of films and when we were too afraid to fall asleep, we would talk ourselves into oblivion. Horror films brought us together in a way other movies couldn’t. Maybe it was the thrill of childhood rebellion. Or, maybe it was the security of not being alone. As a child, Candyman was nothing more than a scary story that amplified a fear of bees and slashers. After watching it again nearly fifteen years later, my fondness for it has faded into unabashed discomfort. It is no longer a movie that evoked childhood thrill. I cannot separate the merit of the work from the irresponsibility of its storytelling. The characterization of Candyman as a grotesque, hostile, and threatening black man obsessed with a white woman perpetuates dangerous racial stereotypes. The consequence of this depiction fortifies the racial fears and constructs that people of color have worked so ardently to dismantle.

While the film incorporates a backstory that helps humanize Candyman’s rage, the complexity and emotional impact of his trauma is largely left unexplored. This is illustrated in the way Helen Lyle learns Candyman was murdered in a vicious hate act. The film makes no attempt to expand and emotionalize this atrocity through a visual depiction. Visual depiction increases credibility and urges audience members to confront uncomfortable truths, sympathize with the victim, and condemn the perpetrators. The effect of oral storytelling is that it reinforces a disconnect and inhibits villainous forces like racism from being properly acknowledged in the story’s context. Through this incident, the film failed to substantiate Candyman’s actions by underlining complex emotionality. Candyman’s apparent one-sidedness eroded the potential for audience sympathy and intensified racial fears. After Helen learns of Candyman’s trauma, she develops a thesis that invalidates the authenticity of Candyman for her anthropological dissertation. Helen’s consumption of Candyman’s narrative and subsequent skepticism emboldens the narrative’s racial inequalities. It appears the study of Candyman and Cabrini-Green, the poverty-stricken neighborhood he terrorizes, is merely a mechanism to her advance anthropological pursuits. It is not genuine concern, but rather, a curiosity that propels Helen’s work.

In addition to the white consumption of black tragedy for personal benefit, Candyman promotes a racial caricature reminiscent of D.W Griffith’s “Birth of a Nation.” Similar to Candyman, reception of Griffith’s 1915 film differed on two accounts: the artistic merit and its appallingly racist content. For some, Griffith’s bold cinematic choices revolutionized the motion picture industry and thus, warranted it a historic artifact despite its disturbingly racist narrative. Birth of a Nation relied on racist tropes including the hypersexualized and violent savagery of African American men to intensify social fears and validate racial anxiety. Specifically, it championed a notion that black men pose a dangerous threat to white women. Although Candyman isn’t as explicit as Birth of a Nation, it echoes similar sentiments. While Candyman was summoned by Helen’s naïve accord (i.e. she said his name five times), he terrorizes her for an elongated period because of her resemblance to his late lover. At one point, Candyman deliberately acknowledges this obsession, stating, “it was always you.” The film’s horror is contingent upon this irrational obsession. Candyman’s actions are guided in part because of his myth (i.e. “needs to shed innocent blood”) and his fascination with Helen. Worse than just irresponsible storytelling, Candyman augments racist tropes for commercial gain. For that reason, any creative value is compromised almost entirely.

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Campus

Oscar Nominee, Jordan Peele, Teaches “Get Out” Inspired Class at UCLA

by Melody Gulliver
written by Melody Gulliver

Students rushed into a crowded lecture hall, shuffled through aisles, grasped their phones in eager anticipation, and scanned the room impatiently. Just a few days earlier Jordan Peele’s directorial debut ‘Get Out’ received an astonishing four Oscar nominations. And in just a few moments Peele was to walk through the door and lead a class discussion on the film.

Before answering any questions, Peele recited a touching anecdote about the impact representation has on young artists.

In 1991, a twelve-year-old Peele watched Whoopi Goldberg accept an Academy Award for her role in ‘Ghost.’ The moment was groundbreaking because it shattered notions that Black artists cannot succeed in a white-dominated industry. For it was not lack of ability, it was lack of opportunity.

“I remember internalizing that. Like wow, she’s speaking to me ‘cause this is something I want to do, I feel like I can do,” said Peele. “When the nominations came together last week, I realized the awards and the acknowledgment is bigger than me, and bigger than my personal accomplishment.”

The students applauded enthusiastically as if everyone in the room understood the historical weight of the film.

What distinguishes the film from other Oscar contenders is its unapologetic depiction of the modern Black experience. Instead of conforming to mainstream motion picture pressures, Peele actively opposed it. He knew it was a story that needed to be told. Told well and more importantly, told honestly.

Students asked several questions about the film’s process including artistic influences and production disagreements. One student inquired about the success of Black films and filmmakers in recent years including Barry Jenkin’s ‘Moonlight,’ Peele’s ‘Get Out, and Ryan Coogler’s ‘Black Panther.’ He wondered if this momentum reflected a temporary trend or stable progress.

Peele contended it was the latter.

“I think there is an ebb and flow. There are backlashes but I do feel…right now is the greatest time in Black film. We might be in the greatest time in film.”

Afrofuturist writer and professor, Tananarive Due, launched the pilot Get Out course last spring. Conveniently titled “The Sunken Place: Racism, Survival, and the Black Aesthetic,” the course explores the overlooked nuances, history, and pioneers of the genre, including William Du Bois and Octavia Butler. It investigates the social utility of black horror and its cathartic approach to “real life trauma.”

Octavia explicates this point in an interview with New York City-based newsmagazine The Indypendent.

“I was attracted to science fiction because it was so wide open,” explained Butler, “I was able to do anything and there were no walls to hem you in and there was no human condition that you were stopped from examining.”

Unlike other genres, science fiction and horror provide an unparalleled opportunity for social activism because artists are able to intelligently embed the fantastical narratives with social critique. The covertness allows these ideas not readily accepted by mainstream media to enter society without sacrificing its reception.

One student asked Peele about his experience navigating the tropes of science fiction “without disenfranchising the very real and serious issues of the film?”

“I am not someone who likes to be told the truth. I like to find the truth in what is presented to me. And that’s where the benefit of genre comes to me,” explained Peele, “I can engage the audience on this level of imagination, this level of entertainment, this level of emotion, and within that…you have left the bread crumbs for people to acknowledge the truth that they’ve found.”

Get Out is brimmed with bread crumbs. Arguably, it’s Peele’s ingenious use of symbolism that emboldens viewers to watch the film over and over again and find those hidden truths.

Whether or not Get Out triumphs this Oscar season—which it should—there is no doubt it was the most influential film of 2017. It prevailed economically, visually, artistically, and socially. It helped augment the genre of Black horror while underlining uncomfortable social truths.

Get Out prompted a mainstream dialogue concerning racial suppression and the various ways it manifests: prison industrial system, micro-aggressions, white complicity. But Peele’s greatest accomplishment was giving a name to the normalized conquest of minority groups. By defining racial suppression as “the sunken place,” Peele allows viewers to understand, approach, and dismantle its hold on modern society.

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News

Ivanka Trump Tweets Insensitive Remarks Regarding Black History Month

by Melody Gulliver
written by Melody Gulliver

By Sydney Matthews

February 1st marks the beginning of Black History Month — 28 days dedicated to celebrating Black individuality and achievement. Not only does February celebrate Black excellence, it promotes a complex dialogue about race in America. A dialogue that acknowledges struggle, survival, and success.

Ivanka Trump does not share these sentiments.

On February 1st, the fashion designer tweeted, “During #BlackHistoryMonth, we celebrate heroes like Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who were sojourners for freedom – and we resolve to continue to bring greater equality, dignity, and opportunity to all Americans, regardless of race or background.”

Following its publication, users vehemently criticized the tweet’s inopportune timing and racial undertones. Even worse than a half-hearted attempt to acknowledge the month’s social significance, the statement was interpreted as a oblique promotion of “All Lives Matter” rhetoric and values.

Additionally, opponents critiqued Ivanka’s sheer insensitivity to Black culture. Trump’s use of “all Americans” was seen as a deliberate attempt to whitewash the month and demean its fight to acknowledge and commemorate the Black experience.

The tweet’s racial insensitivity underlined the current administration’s disappointing lack of effort to bridge the gap between equality and minorities. Dissenter’s underlined the long history of minority disenfranchisement during the Trump era. These criticisms included the insufficient allocation of resources during the Puerto Rico following the Hurricane Maria.

The lack of acknowledgment and protection of people of color is detrimental. It is a direct constraint to progress, dreams, and the naturalized right to equality.

Black History month is one month out of the year that we recognize the fight against racial discrimination and celebrate the culture and history we worked so hard to preserve. Happy Black History Month, I thank leaders, activists and anyone from all spectrums of living who stood up against racial injustice and stood strong to secure our Black history

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Arts & Entertainment

Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” Receives Four Oscar Nominations

by Melody Gulliver
written by Melody Gulliver

Jordan Peele’s 2017 social thriller, “Get Out,” received four Academy Award Nominations including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay.

Following the Oscar reveal, Peele expressed his gratitude via Twitter. “Right now I’m just thinking about everyone who bought a ticket and told someone else to. You did this. Thank you,” wrote Peele.

Peele’s directorial debut, Get Out, is a testament to the black survival aesthetic. Through horror, comedy, and satire, the film underscores the multitude of ways racism persists in post-Obama America, including (such as through??) microaggressions and the continued commodification of Black bodies.

Since its 2017 premiere, the film has amassed much critical and financial success. With a 99% Rotten Tomato rating, two Golden Globe nominations, four Oscar nominations, and a “630% return on investment,” Get Out has proven to be one—if not the—most successful movies of the year.

Tune into the 90th Academy Awards on March 4th to see if Get Out will triumph this Oscar season.

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Opinion

The Problematic Politics of the Women’s March

by Melody Gulliver
written by Melody Gulliver

This past Saturday, January 20th, thousands of people and hundreds of cities participated in the 2018 Women’s March to rally against the Trump administration and its divisive politics. Feelings of resistance and solidarity were fortified through multitudes of signs, chants, organized treading, and riveting speeches.

For many, the march instilled feelings of hope and progress. But for others, the march preserved the same divisiveness it sought to dismantle.

Writer, S.T Holloway articulates this problematic incongruity in her Huffington Post op-ed, “Why This Black Girl Will Not Be Returning To The Women’s March.” In the article, Holloway recounts her discomfort with the lack of intersectionality at the 2017 Women’s March. She writes, “the reason I’m not going is because after having attended the march last year, I am well aware that the Women’s March is not for women like me.”

According to the Women’s March, its mission is to “harness the political power of diverse women and their communities to create transformative social change… [and to dismantle] systems of oppression through nonviolent resistance and building inclusive structures.”

Despite the Women’s March intent, its execution fails to provide adequate spaces and platforms for persons of color. The event speaks scarcely and vaguely about the complex experiences and biases endured by persons of color. It is dominated by heteronormative white women who at best, are not aware their pussy-power and “future is female” rhetoric is exclusionary. There is little strive to keep women of color in the conversation, and even less desire to have Black and Brown women lead the discussion.

So, who is the Women’s March for?

If it’s not for women of color, like Holloway, whose lives the current administration is so intent on displacing, diminishing, and deteriorating, then who?

If it’s not for Black transgender women like Mesha Caldwell who have been terrorized and brutally murdered without hope of political justice, then who?

If it’s not for women like Sandra Bland who have suffered unforgivable acts of police brutality, then who?

If it’s not for women like Recy Taylor who have fought bravely to have their stories of sexual abuse heard and validated, then who?

The march is marketed as a rally against the politics that concretize disparities in power including gender, race, and ability—both, physical and mental. With the march’s mission and magnitude, it had the potential to be revolutionary. And in some ways, it was. But any triumph is eclipsed by the self-serving white feminism by which it operates.

We need to do better.

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News

H&M Criticized For Racially Insensitive Ad Featuring A Black Child Wearing A ‘Coolest Monkey in the Jungle’ Hoodie

by Melody Gulliver
written by Melody Gulliver

Multi-national clothing company, H&M has faced immense criticism and backlash for a racially insensitive online advertisement which features a Black child wearing a green ‘Coolest Monkey in the Jungle’ hoodie.

H&M’s marketing mishap is particularly disturbing considering the long and horrific history of the racial slur. Since the 1800s, white individuals have augmented racial hierarchies by comparing Black individuals to simian species. To this day Black individuals are still actively resisting these racially prejudiced caricatures.

Immediately following the controversial ad, celebrity musicians the Weeknd and G-Eazy publicly withdrew their partnerships with the clothing giant.

The Beautiful & Damned Musician wrote, “After seeing the disturbing image yesterday, my excitement over our global campaign evaporated, and I’ve decided at this time our partnership needs to end.”

Despite the overwhelming outrage over the ad, many discredited the criticism and accused dissenters of being overly sensitive.

The mother of the H&M child model called the controversy an “unnecessary issue” and suggested criticizers “get over it.”

While the debate is still ongoing, this H&M scandal is not an isolated incident. Over the years, major companies have come under fire for promoting prejudiced and racially charged ideas in their advertisements.

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Black HistoryCulture

Recy Taylor, Rape Survivor and Civil Rights Activist, Dies Days Before 98th Birthday

by Melody Gulliver
written by Melody Gulliver

Recy Taylor, daughter of Alabama sharecroppers, passed away ten days before her 98th birthday in her Abbeville nursing home. Taylor had become a prominent civil and women’s rights activist after surviving a traumatic rape during the Jim Crow era.

In 1944, 24-year old Recy Taylor was brutally raped by six white men while walking home from church in Alabama. With the aid of the N.A.A.C.P, Taylor fought to have the men prosecuted for their crime. Despite Taylor’s efforts and the confession of one assailant, the attackers were not indicted.

The injustice against Recy Taylor mobilized individuals to protest and continue seeking justice for Taylor and other victims of sexually violent crimes.

In 2010, historian Danielle L. McGuire prompted further discussion of the crime in her book, “At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance — a New History of the Civil Rights Movement From Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power.” In the novel McGuire underlines the complicated and unspoken ways Black women resisted sexual violence during the Civil Rights Movement.

“It seemed as if every front page of every black newspaper between 1940 and 1950 featured the same story: a black woman was walking home from school, work or church when a group of white men abducted her at gunpoint, took her outside of town, and brutally assaulted her,” stated McGuire in a discussion with The Huffington Post.

Most recently, Oprah Winfrey urged Golden Globe viewers to learn Recy Taylor’s name and story during her powerful Cecil B. DeMille Award acceptance speech.

“[Taylor] lived, as we all have lived, too many years in a culture broken by brutally powerful men,” said Winfrey, “and for too long, women have not been heard or believed if they dared to speak their truth to the power of those men. But their time is up.”

Taylor transformed her pain into the revolutionary movement that we now call “#metoo.” As the movement develops and pervades modern dialogue, we must not forget how it started.

It began in Abbeville, Alabama after a humble, underprivileged Black woman refused to stay silent. In fighting for her own justice, Taylor demanded that the experiences, pain, and sexual trauma endured everyday by women of color be recognized and validated.

Thank you, Recy Taylor, for your bravery.

Thank you for your fight.

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