Guess What We Are Still Talking About (Core Response #3)

Watching Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner in class the other day was very interesting. The film starring Sidney Poitier was groundbreaking at the time of its release because it handled the issues of interracial dating and marriage in a way that had not been seen before. I was just surprised while watching the film to find that what was acceptable to say back in that time period is no longer acceptable. The United States have been greatly affected by the political correctness bug as of late, as is reflected in the recent remake Guess Who which flips the conceit and a new similar movie entitled Our Family Wedding which focuses on intermarriage between Blacks and Latinos. The film seems outdated in the way it treats the subject, but at the same time, one begins to wonder if anything has ever really changed. The discourse may use a different language, but issues are still relevant today. Movies like Crash emphasize that race is still a factor in our daily lives, and even in the excerpt of James Baldwin’s The Devil Finds Work we find that the same issues repeat themselves over time, even when we think we have evolved as a culture. Baldwin points out that nothing has changed from the moment in the film Birth of a Nation where a black maid tells a black congressman that she doesn’t like “n-words” that set themselves up above their station to the moment in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner where the maid tells Sidney Poitier’s character the same exact thing in a more modern manner. It is just funny to realize that the only thing that has changed in the racial discourse is the way we say things. I am quite confident that if a film were to come out now with the same types of characters, they will continue this tradition. This also brings about a wider discussion about Blacks critiquing other Blacks, which tells that we may never be able to not have this conversation about race.


Questions
1.Is race really a big factor in Hollywood?
2.What are the repercussions of talking about race in Hollywood?
3.What would a true remake (not comic role-flip) of Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner look like today? Would it feature other races, or gay/lesbian relationships, etc.?

Supplemental Post #2

We have talked about Lady Gaga in class before, specifically regarding her star power. I think she is insane, but there's something about her that I (and millions of other worldwide) love about her. Not that she doesn't always have s"I would rather die than have my fans not see me in a pair of high heels," Lady Gaga recently said when she was interviewed on British television show.

This seems a little extreme-- I mean, have you seen the kind of heels we constantly see Lady Gaga wearing? This sort of baffled me. Isn't Lady Gaga the one always pushing her "monsters" to be who they are? Not to try to impress anyone? I was surprised with her justification though.

"You see legendary people taking out their trash, I think it's destroying show business," she said. "I'd never give up my wigs and hats for anything."

Depsite her extravagant get-ups, I think a lot of people do take Gaga seriously because she is consistent with her over-the-top looks. It's true: we have never seen her NOT perfectly coiffed and styled, whether she is accepting an award or walking through the airport. It seems that Gaga takes her image as seriously as her voice.

I think this could spawn an interesting discussion. In a time when we are used to paparazzi shots of even the biggest celebrities looking very un-glamourous, how has the way we look at celebrties changed? Yes, celebrites are just as entitled to a jeans and t-shirt day just as much as the rest of us, but is this ruining the Hollywood illusion?

Watch some of the interview:

Supplemental Post #1

I am commenting on Matt R.'s CORE POST about Elvis. He asked the question: Would Elvis Presley be successful today?

I think Elvis could definitely be successful today if he were the teenage/young twenties Elvis just starting out. We all saw this when we watched King Creole in class, but I wanted to post this particular scene again. It's the scene where Elvis plays his guitar and sings so the shopgoers won't realize a robbery is going on:



This song, "Lover Doll" is like many of his songs at this point in his career. It's catchy, cute, and all the girls (and even women) can't help but find his singing and guitar playing irresistable. I could definitely see him garnering the same type of attention as the Jonas Brothers today, for example. Young Elvis was attractive, charming and had just enough rebel and sensuality about him that would be just as appealing today. I think he would be viewed very similarly as many of today's singer songwriters and could definitely be a great success. The Jonas Brothers have movies where thing sing too, don't they? Movies showcasing his music could still be made today, and as his career went on, he could end up with a long term gig in Vegas. Elvis' music is still very much enjoyed today and I think that's it is very possible that he would be successful today.

EDIT: I just searched the Jonas Brothers on youtube and came across a recent music video of theirs which at one point, shows them as singers in a club, like Elvis in King Creole. The song is very simple, sung and accompanied by guitar. I am not in any way trying to compare Elvis' music with that of the Jonas Brothers, but do believe there are certain traits the two have in common. My opinion stands: I believe Elvis would be successful today.

The Celebrity Cult post #3

This weekend I was fortunate enough to overhear a conversation that could have surprised Richard Dyer himself. I sat somewhere on La Brea at a restaurant on Saturday night. My friend and I were outside at a table next to what appeared to be two couples and a single woman. They caught my attention discussing how one of the women had worked at Kanye West’s previous album release party, apparently one of about fifteen naked models in afros to adorn the room. What struck me were not her elaborate descriptions of the party, but her absolute familiarity when talking about Kanye West. “Well I was surprised he wasn’t taller,” she said, “but he just had this presence.” Then one of the men chimed in with, “ It’s all in the ego. He’s just selfish, just too proud, but great music.”

To my surprise, the celebrity gossip didn’t end here, but instead wandered from one star to another, some comments and analyses based on personal insight, others pure speculation based on whatever the latest photos by the newsstand were or who saw what on E!, but the most surprising aspect of the conversation was the conviction that each person spoke with, as if these celebrities were family members or close friends. Up until this night, the only other time I’d experienced this kind of celebrity hunger was when I ran into Lindsay Lohan outside of a movie theater. Though I had seen celebrities before in New York, never had I witnessed the true insanity of the press, unleashing their full force on an overly skinny, but wholly boring Lohan. And movie-goers paused all around to gawk at the absolutely pointless spectacle.

It seems that celebrity culture no longer consists of a public lusting after an unreachable class of celebrity, but instead, at least in L.A., we have come to thrive on the proximity of celebrity and the joy of witnessing celebrities in their most humble and normal states as well as the glamorous. It is this voyeuristic quality that drives celebrity discussion all over, but nowhere is this discussion of such great importance as in Los Angeles.

Elvis Presley: What Could have been. Supplemental Post #2

There is no doubt that Elvis Presley is one of the most influential musicians of all time. In fact, John Lennon once said that without Presley's music, there would be no Beatles. Despite the hit after hit that Presley churned out for decades, many recognize the 1960's as a lost decade for "The King". I am currently in a film class called "Rock n Roll in Film", which deals with how the medium has portrayed and furthered the music genre of rock n roll and obviously Elvis is one of the main points of focus. Although we watched some of his better films like the 1957 "Jailhouse Rock" which contain quality songs and a decent love story, we also watched some of his hokier films like 1965's "Girl Happy". In this film Elvis does a pretty silly song and dance called "The Clam". In the class I'm in we discussed how Elvis' agent and manager "Colonel" Parker was more after money for himself and his client instead of allowing Elvis to explore his art and better it. Presley became quite content with just churning out mediocre to terrible films with generic songs and cashing in on them rather than write his own music, which he clearly was quite talented at. Although Elvis had a legendary career, one can only imagine how much greater it could have been if he had focused on his music rather than just seek money and become complacent.

reading post 3 -- white trash and rock and roll

The article by Sweeny makes the point that Elvis is an icon of the white class culture. As a white male from a working class family in the South, Elvis clearly fits the stereotype of what the author describes as "white trash." His extravagant costumes and performances contribute to the carnivalistic attitude of wanting things in excess. Elvis' continual substance abuse problems and weight gains toward the end of his career are also characterized by wanting things in excess, and it is this excess that led to his death. The only area where Elvis might not fit the "white trash" description is in a sense of laziness--most of his film characters were blue collar workers and Elvis himself had to work as performer and eventually joined the army.

But if you asked people what Elvis as an iconic figure represented, it would almost surely not be white trash--Elvis is first and foremost an icon of rock and roll. What is strange, however, is that the traits that Sweeny describes as white trash are some of the most dominant characteristics of rock and roll. Rock and roll is closely linked to delinquency and youth's struggle to get by when authorities seem to be against them and what their music stands for. Rock and roll figures in film often have issues with violence and respecting boundaries, expressing most of the characteristic that Sweeny ties to carnival. They act freely and in excess, reacting emotionally and physically to most situations.

Rock and roll, much like the white trash stereotype is also linked with with African Americans, many of whom were from the South. Many rock and roll songs were very self-reflexive and refer to rock and roll itself as a very primitive form. Rock and roll took the working class labor, which is also associated with African American slaves, and added sex and music to the equation. Elvis became known as white man singing black music to many audiences because of his connection to rhythm and blues and gospel roots.

Does this mean, however, that rock and roll is synonymous with white trash? Despite the defining difference that white trash society has an amount of laziness to it that is not present in rock and roll culture, they appear to be almost exactly the same as Sweeny presents them. Even in rock and roll, the idea of delinquency could be interpreted as a kind of laziness, which would make their characteristic almost identical. so are white trash culture and rock and roll culture the same?