The Help and Links

The Help is probably one of the most universally hated films in a really long time.Everyone admits that that acting is great but the screenplay should be set on fire. Weird, I'm so used to being the only one on this side that I tried (hard) to find good in this movie just to work up against the crowd.
Anyway I'll let everybody else talk about this movie....
1. Melissa Harris-Perry on MSNBC (video)

2. Thoughts on The Help  

 If given dignity, it’s a kind of unrealistic selflessness that further excuses her [black female characters] character from having the same drives and ambitions as the other characters. She is tired, hard and so used to her low station that someone more privileged must sweep in to let her know how badly she’s being treated. The biggest injustice is that whatever their personal integrity, black female characters are continually shown as the sidekick in their own story, always within the context of race, with their voices used to provide teaching moments for the real characters. 


Take, for example, recent female-driven films like The Devil Wears Prada and Nanny Diaries, in which the helpful black friend (Tracie Thoms and Alicia Keys, respectively) appears on screen solely to assist the central white character (Anne Hathaway and Scarlett Johansson) through life and love. Or consider the 2009 Oscar season: Sandra Bullock took home the Best Actress Academy Award (The Blindside) for playing a white woman who takes on the role of mother to an unwanted black male football player, whose “non-racism” was continually held up as an standing-ovation worthy virtue instead of a basic tenet of human dignity. Meanwhile, Mo’Nique won Best Supporting Actress (Precious) for portraying one of the worst mothers ever seen on film. She not only physically, emotionally and sexually abused her daughter on a regular basis, but she also encouraged her “man” to as well. 


These are the roles that Hollywood rewards and, in the process, reinforces

3. The Help Tidies Up Alot (for some reason this link isn't working)

There are ridiculously few black production executives in Hollywood, none of whom have anything resembling greenlight power. DreamWorks, for example, does not have a black production executive, though it is the only major studio to have an African American marketing head. So while Hollywood has an abundance of white liberals, it is an insular world, full of executives who have little firsthand understanding of the black experience.
Perhaps that’s why “The Help,” despite its earnest, colorblind intentions, feels like such a naive piece of feel-good storytelling.

I bet plenty of people will be beating the drum for Davis’ performance, and rightly so. It would be terrific to see her win an Oscar for her part, just as Hattie McDaniel did more than 70 years ago for her role as a black maid called Mammy in “Gone With the Wind.” In Hollywood, I guess that’s what they call progress.

Women Holding Cameras (My Unapologetic Self Advertising)

I entered into the Lunapads video contest. If you don't know what Lunapads are they are reusable menstrual products. The idea of the Luna Revolution Contest was that women would talk about how using these product has effect their lives. You'll be surprised how much they help women.

What I like about this(aside from the cash prize and how it gave me a chance to learn about video editing) is that made it so women are holding cameras and telling their stories.  It also forces other people (possible just women) to watch the videos because one way to when is to get votes. It's also amazing marketing. The biggest hurdle I would imagine for the company is that people think it's disgusting so now there are women actively saying "It's not disgusting. You should try it."

This is where my unapologetic adverting comes in....


To vote for my video click here


...you can also vote for my friends video.

While I am advertising I do encourage you to see all the wonderful videos. 
UPDATE: I didn't win (awwww) but it was fun.. 

Videos To Make You SO SO SO Happy

I'm always late with things: blog posts (*apologizes*) , movies coming out (*apologizes*) and everything that has ever been hot on the internet. So, these are some that I found. If I had seen these originally I probably wouldn't be nearly as angry as I am. (First four videos courtesy of the amazing Sociological Images website)

1. A(nglos) V(aliantly) A(iding) T(ragic) A(we-inspiring) R(aces)

This video is my favorite and in all honesty the most important and the best. It informative and really well edited.Genius. If you watch no other watch this one.


2. Trailer For Every Oscar Winning Movie Ever
(The word "retard" is this videos only fault.)


3. Random Black Girl [singing the soulllllll]


4. 300: This is Revision!
The person who did the Avatar this this one. The only problem with it is that it's way more direct. Not wrong though. I love the knowledge of movie history that this person has. It's just nice to find people as angry about what I see an see it the same way. It can get tiring having people know and not care.


5. 300 Ponies
If your interested in a light mockery of the movie 300...

You're Watching Switched At Birth Tommorrow. End of Discussion.

I've dedicated my summer to learning as much ASL (American Sign Language) as I can. In the course of that I've watched See What I'm Saying on Netflix and discovered the show Switched At Birth. Tomorrow is their season finale and luckily they are renewed for a second season. This show is fantastic. Now, it's not Breaking Bad fantastic ie the writing isn't the best I've EVER seen, but it is quite complex. As the title suggests this is a show about two girls who were switched but that's not all. These two families are of a different class and race. Bay, who lived with a rich white family, finds out she's part Puerto Rican. That is just one of the many surprises that this show offers. Tomorrow at 11am on ABC Family they are having a marathon of all the episodes that leads up to the finale at 9pm. But, can always start with the first 4 episodes already on Hulu. :)



There's a lot about this show that I like, but I'll have to wait to share after season finale.

And don't forget to check out Smile For The Camera on Tumblr. I post pictures of things I'm watching or have watched. So are I've posted about this show quite a bit.

Feminst Frequency Tropes

Feminist Frequency has been doing a list of 5 tropes. They are actually pretty useful and one will come in handy for my next review.

While I love Feminist Frequency these videos I don't suggest you watch all of these in one sitting. She tells you what a trope is in every video and after a while it can get annoying (for lack of a better word). Either way I thought these were interesting and make me wonder where all the clever words are for racial tropes on television. Don't forget to comment. Let me know which of these you found the most interesting.