FOR THE BROTHAS: AN INTRODUCTION

It must have been about 20 years ago when I first began thinking about creating a "Cultural Salon" as a reaction to the mundane social circles In Washington D.C. The richness of intellectual and artistic interchange had died, college friends had moved, the internet had not yet become the phenomenon it now is... I romanticised about the Salons of the mid to late 1800's in Paris, London and Berlin and the cultural dynamo of the Harlem Rennaisance. I was fortunate enough to meet a gentleman, an artist who lived and traveled with James Baldwin... Jimmy he affectionately called him, and he spoke often of their small cottage in southern France and of the many Artists, Poets and Luminaries that dropped in to chat and relax. Well, the impressionists, cubists, modernists, etc. all hung out together famously in those days and shared their ideas with one another creating a creative greenhouse in a world that was rapidly changing. I longed to have lived in those times, to have met Cassat, Rodin, Ellington, Fitzgerald, Baker, Balwin, well I did finally meet Baldwin and others purely for the joy of intellection upon the arts. This was in the late 1980's and by the mid 2000's I happened to run into a friend of mine from Hampton University who had been living in New York since he graduated in the early 90s. Well, I was surprised to hear him comment that in all of the wonder that is New York he never met anyone who ever really had anything interesting to say about art, literature, architecture, science, fashion or anything... I was so surprised to hear this since it had also been my experience. Well here I am in 2011 attempting the Virtual Salon...

Sunday, January 22, 2012

RED TAILS, THRILLING, HISTORIC, SEXY... A MUST SEE!



I just got back in from seeing the most amazing film/documentary since "The Great Debators" and guess what it was... "RED TAILS"!!!! No doubt one of the best produced films it showcased George Lucas' unrivaled expertise with the use of flying machinery, in this case... WWT Fighter planes.  The costumes were amazingly reproduced and in many cases it was clear that vintage items were used.  The set was the picturesque landscape of Italy, Germany and various places in Eastern Europe I ascertained from the end credits.  The lighting was soft and crisp... yes a difficult combination but well suited to the story which was at once four different sub-plots woven into one amazing story as follows:



1. The struggle against and defeat of racism in the military.

2. The saga of how the Allied forces ultimately defeated the Facist Axis powers.

3. The personal challenges of 3 key personas to rise to the occasion of manhood

    and ultimately to heroic legend.

4. The love story of a key persona in the film... ironically a Black man who

    mutually finds love in the person of a beautiful Italian woman.

5. The thrilling, daring and practically lost art of air combat.



Ok... I added a 5th sub-plot... but the beauty of this film is that the closer you look the more detail  and complexity one begins to see.  The acting is superb...  Early on in the film the viewer gets to know and understand each of the key characters including their fears and aspirations;  the things they cherish most having been thrust into a reality where deaths breath is felt heavily upon the neck at every step.  The screenplay is also wonderfully adapted with artful adaptation of what would surely have been 1940's vernacular for a group of Tuskegee Collegians.  One airman is an avid blues singer and guitarist who finally gets to have his showcase... an amazing folk-blues performance.  The actors have given us some of their very best performances in this film... and it all comes back to the quality of acting which was also a fabulous hallmark of this film. 



The reason why I so enjoyed this beautifully made film was because it explicated an important genre of the American experience that is in great need of clarification and revision…  The real experience and voice of the Black man in America!  This film gives the Tuskegee Airmen texture, intelligence, dimension, and as if it were not already provided… it gives them the color of humanity.  These are real and tangible heroes for young American men to see!



 The film does not heavily delve into history facts and figures and it has minimal graphic violence considering that compared to the First World War, WWII would have been the 2nd bloodiest and most casualty ridden wars of human history at the time it played out.  I think that the real horror of war was sufficiently portrayed without taking away from the story line which was a real layering of rich human experiences and not just a blood bath. 



I will definitely go see this movie again just to show my support for film that incorporates positive credible and well developed Black male characters… Then I’ll buy it on Blue Ray…



After the movie I overheard two young men who appeared to be collegians studying history.  They began to discuss how they were amazed that this significant portion of Americana was never taught or even mentioned in any of the courses they had taken to date.  They were amazed and clearly had enjoyed the movie.  I heard in their voices a frustration with what is taught in America and what has actually happened here… They greatly inspired me… because they proved that the human experience is truly universal… not segregated into white, black, yellow, brown or red… but simply universal…







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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousFebruary 18, 2012 at 1:09 AM

    I too enjoyed the film but for some reason felt it lacking in intensity and depth. For me this version of the Tuskeegee Air story was more of a "white washed, feel good, get it out during Black history month movie." I much prefer the film Staring Laurence Fishbourn. Check that one out compare and share your thought on its portrayal of the airmen. I think you will agree with me that the substance and the acting is far better and give a more concrete expression of the time. Chef Gregg

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  2. Bigdaddy BluesFebruary 21, 2012 at 6:40 PM

    Anonymous... I just want to clarify that this was not a documentary... rather it was a drama... furthermore there were little or no real historical references to any particular events in the war except when they airmen got new planes as a result of nearly being nixed as a unit, the first real mission they got escorting the fleet and the last escort they made at the end of the war with the bombing of Berlin. Otherwise the purpose of this film was to dramatise the more personal aspect of the Airmens story... their romances, hopes dreams and struggles... this was not a documentary at all... the men were stationed in the Italian countryside far from civilization it was an attempt to humanize the characters and show their vulnerabilies rather than celebrate them as stoic, dimensioneless heroic icons... we must be receptive of both genres of film...

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