Posted on Wednesday, March 5, 2014

10 Reasons Why the 2014 Oscars is One to Remember…

Hello World,

Lupita dancing with Pharrell as he sang “Happy!”

Three days later and I’m still unpacking the cultural celebration that was the 2014 Oscars this past Sunday…There were so many entertaining moments during the actual telecast and as the days go by, more and more drama is unfolding about the backstory featuring the winners of the golden statues…So without further ado, let me share 10 reasons why the 86th Academy Awards is one I will remember…

1. Matthew McConaughey. First of all, Mr. McConaughey is one of those rare actors that women of all races and backgrounds tend to find fetching…to say the least..He has managed to harness a mix of braggadacio aka swag and unaffectedness that makes him seem like the perfect boyfriend…But I digress…The fact that he thanked God first of all in his Oscar acceptance speech just pushed him in a different stratosphere…literally and figuratively…It seemed so genuine unlike some of the rappers who thank God in their acceptance speeches at music awards shows…How you gon thank God when your music is anything BUT godly…

2. Lupita. Yes, I know her full name is Lupita Nyong’o, but her beauty, intelligence and overall effervescence has made her this year’s it girl and capable of being recognized by one name only. Seeing this dark-skinned Kenyan beauty flit about the red carpet in a pale blue Prada whimsy of a dress made me want to time travel back to my 8-year-old self. I would say, “there is a black Cinderella after all” as Cinderella was one of my favorite childhood stories. After seeing Lupita as the dehumanized Patsey in “12 Years a Slave” and seeing that same woman who portrayed her celebrated by winning an Oscar was like watching the Cinderella story come to life. And then her speech about dreams being valid no matter where you come from…her story is evidence that dreams don’t only come true in fairy tales.

3. Steve McQueen. First of all, am I the only one who kept expecting to see the white American actor instead of a black man from the UK every time his name was mentioned? How did dude get his name? Was he named after the actor? (Aside: Doesn’t Steve McQueen look like he could be the separated-at-birth twin brother of “Saturday Night Live” cast member Kenan Thompson?) Anywho, “12 Years a Slave” director Steve McQueen became the first black man to win an Academy Award for Best Picture on Sunday! Unfortunately, since then it has been revealed that McQueen is allegedly behind-the-scenes beefing with John Ridley, the screenwriter of the film.

4. John Travolta. Like Cinderella, his name brings back happy memories of my childhood. His flowing thick raven hair and ice-blue but vacant eyes made him the hottest stupid guy on “Welcome Back Kotter!” But as the years have past, he seems to have become Hollyweird. What was up with his mispronunciation of Idina Menzel’s name? He introduced her as Adele Dazeem. And said the name with some weird accent! Hopefully, she has been able to “let it go” since then. My apologies to anyone out there who actually has that name! And if you want to Travoltify your name, go to this link. My name Travoltified is “Jasmine Herdson!” Ha!

5. Pharrell Williams. His Oscar-nominated ditty “Happy” has been one of my favorites since I first heard the song this summer. I swear if you hear this song, you automatically start doing a jig like you’re an Irish person in a St. Patty’s Day Parade…But his tux short set didn’t make me happy. It made me sad… 🙁

6. Ellen. For various reasons including the two I name below, Ellen was one of the best hosts of the Oscars ever! I love that she doesn’t use her humor to put down people. Only the best comedians can do this!

7. Carbs. Nowadays, everyone, particularly the celebrity crowd, is going gluten free and forsaking flour…But I still eat sub sandwiches and pizza and unless God tells me otherwise, I will keep loving my dough…So the fact that Ellen (who hosted this year’s Oscars) ordered pizza for the celebrities in the audience AND they actually ate the pizza is a miracle akin to two fish and fives loaves of bread feeding 5,000!

8. Selfies. Usually, actors take themselves way too seriously, but Ellen was able to get some A-list celebrities to just be regular people in this selfie seen around the world.

9. Peter Nyong’o. Do you see Lupita in this selfie? If you don’t, she’s up there on the far right in between Angelia Jolie and Brad Pitt…And the black guy in the FRONT is her younger brother…How you gon upstage your Oscar-winning sister by positioning yourself in front of her in the selfie that broke Twitter? Have several seats baby brother…

10. Cheryl Boone Isaacs. She was elected president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences last summer. She is the first black woman to be elected to this position and the third woman to helm the Academy altogether! I’m proud to recognize her achievement on this blog during Women’s History Month! In my imagination, she was like Lupita’s fairy godmother who made sure that Lupita was the belle of the ball on Oscar night!

So will you remember this year’s Oscars? Why?

Any thoughts?

Posted on Saturday, February 1, 2014

Watch “The Gabby Douglas Story” on Lifetime on Saturday, Feb. 1!!!

Hello World,

Gabby Douglas!

I cannot believe it was nearly two years ago when Gabby Douglas wowed the world in the gymnastics competition in the 2012 Summer Olympics! If you don’t remember, below is a refresher…

A prodigy from a very young age, Gabby Douglas originally made her mark on the world of competitive gymnastics at age eight. She won numerous state championship titles in her age group throughout her early competitive career. While her star was fast rising in the arena, Gabby and her family faced economic challenges at home and she made the difficult decision to leave her mother Natalie, three siblings and grandmother in Virginia Beach and move to Des Moines, Iowa, to train with renowned coach Liang Chow to pursue her dream of Olympic glory.

Buoyed by her early success, dedication and unyielding love from her family, Gabby made it onto the 2012 U.S. Women’s Gymnastics team, with whom she faced intense competition in the London Games. Her sacrifice and perseverance were triumphantly rewarded with Team Competition and Individual All-round gold medals, placing Gabby and her teammates – known as “The Fierce Five” — among the world’s all-time greats in gymnastics.

Gabby Douglas as portrayed by Imani Hakim.

And now her story will be dramatized on television! “The Gabby Douglas Story” will air Saturday, Feb. 1 at 8pm/7pm Central on Lifetime!

Below is a preview clip of the movie!

Any thoughts?

P.S. I also wrote a post about Gabby Douglas’ memoir “Grace, Gold & Glory: My Leap of Faith.” Check it out!

Posted on Sunday, November 24, 2013

Three The White Way – Why Three of the Black Male Actors in ‘The Best Man Holiday’ Married White Women…

Hello World,

The ’90s were the golden age of black cinema…Let me hit you with just a few — “House Party” (1990) “Boyz in the Hood” (1991), “New Jack City” (1991), “Juice” (1992), “Menace to Society” (1993),”Jason’s Lyric” (1993) “Friday” (1995), “Above the Rim” (1995), “Waiting to Exhale” (1995), “Love Jones” (1997) and “The Best Man” in 1999…Although during the ’90s, I was a poor high school and college student and later a brand new journalist, a considerable portion of my non-existent budget was spent seeing these pop culture classics…

I think that’s why so many of us who came of age in this golden age of black cinema bombarded the box office last weekend, making “The Best Man Holiday,” the sequel to “The Best Man” rank second during its opening weekend, earning just over $30 million to the surprise of Hollywood…When we met Harper, Jordan, Lance, Julian, Quentin, Robin, Mia, Shelby and Candy in 1999, many of us where right where they were…We were recent college graduates and newly minted professionals…Many of us were getting married or watching our boys and girls from college days become other people’s husbands and wives…I identified the most with Jordan…I was more excited about nurturing a career than nurturing relationships and was often shocked when I watched my male buddies that I once had in abundance get married…

So when I started hearing the rumblings about a sequel to “The Best Man” a couple of years ago, I knew I would be among the first seeing just what happened to these beloved characters over the years…And my high expectations were exceeded! Dare I say “The Best Man Holiday” was better than the original! And like, that never happens! Can you name any other sequel that was better than the original?! I can’t. At least right now. Let me know if I’m wrong. These characters became even more rich with time, wisdom, hilarity and — tragedy. As in real life, when you are young, you live in a bubble in which life makes sense and your parents are always there to nurse your boo boos. After you’ve been an adult for a while, you realize that life, while beautiful, is less than sensible and some hurts never truly heal…I won’t spoil the movie because I still want others to see it…But I now consider it a classic…A definite must-see…

However, in spite of this movie’s brilliance, there have been unfortunate efforts to diminish this movie’s shine…And I just don’t get it…but I will write about it…We’ve all heard about USA Today and it’s “race-themed” commentary on the movie’s success..Also, the next day after I saw the movie last Saturday, I saw a Facebook post by one of my friends in which he noted that three of the four lead actors in the movie have been or are married to white women…As if to say, that the black on black love that we saw in the movie was just movie magic, hardly a depiction of real life…Okay, so you know what I’m talking about – Taye Diggs, who plays Harper, is married to Idina Menzel, who is white. Harold Perrineau who plays Julian, is married to Brittany Perrineau, who is white. Terrance Howard, who plays Quentin, has been married to white women…So what, I say?!! I didn’t watch a movie about Taye Diggs, Harold Perrineau and Terrance Howard! I’m watched a movie about Harper, Julian and Quentin….And yes, in real life, some black men marry white women, but I will not fall for the okey doke and not speak well of the movie because some of its actors didn’t marry women that look like me…And furthermore, there is nothing wrong with interracial relationships…So they married outside of the black race, but they didn’t marry outside of the human race!!!

And now let me address the Taye Diggs issue…Over the years, I have read that Taye Diggs has an issue with black women…I don’t know if this is true or not as I’ve never spoken to the man, but I am aware of the rumor…And yesterday, I read an article someone posted on Facebook about how Taye Diggs was happy to get back to his white wife after being with all of those black women on the set of “The Best Man Holiday.” And now, I’ve seen Facebook posts in which people declared they will no longer support Taye Diggs nor the movie. Maybe it’s because I’m a journalist that I know that first you have to consider the source…I have seen no mention of this statement from any reputable news outlet. Secondly, seeing a movie is not a sweeping endorsement of the every single life choice or belief of every actor in a movie. Thirdly, while I am no conspiracy theorist, I do believe there are forces at work that try to tear down legitimate successes…just who released this supposed story about Taye Diggs and why? Just something to ponder…

If you want to see a great movie with multidimensional characters that manage to touch every emotion on the spectrum, see “The Best Man Holiday.” And for those who want to get into Black Power arguments, have several seats (at the movies) at “12 Years a Slave,” which is the proper forum for this kind of conversation…

In sum, support.black.cinema.

Any thoughts?

P.S. Just a snippet of the fine black men in the movie…