It’s Hard Out Here For A Pimp
Cliche title, I know, but, still…
Okay, so people are getting pissed off because a song titled “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp” was nominated for and won the Oscar for Best Original Song? And that it was voted for by The Academy (bum-dum-DUMMMMM!)?
Let me take another stab at this… People, who could not vote and opted to watch an awards show to catch a glimpse at famous famousites (unlike those of us who have actually attended an awards show 
) are getting upset because a song, very relevant to the movie “Hustle & Flow” that it was a part of, got voted as an award winner?
Personally, I was pissed that Andy Milonakis’ “Nick and T-Dog’s P-H-Fat Rap” from “Waiting…” didn’t get a nod, but hey, that’s just me. I have a sense of humor about these things and a sense of “A Movie Isn’t Just About The Song, The Script, The Actors, ETc…. It’s About All Of It And How It Works Together To Give You What You Need To Suspend Disbelief And Get Into The Movie”.
Just saying.
Just like Juaquin Jessup says in the Washington Post article linked above, “It was another example of how they pick the worst aspects of black life and reward that. There are more important things in our culture that need focus more than the hardships of a pimp.”
Wow.
No shit, Juaquin? No shit, Washington Post author who possibly clipped up that quote?
Well, let me tell you, it’s not ALWAYS the worst aspects of black life that are trying to be exploited or turned into something. When it was “8 Mile” it was Eminem’s story.
This is someone else’s story.
Who happens to be black. And the music happens to work well and reflect accordingly.
Oh, and what about DJ Squalls being tapped as the “token white computer nerd guy”? Who’s getting up in arms about that?
C’mon, people. Why’s this HAVE to be about a race thing or an exploitation thing or anything else? Why can’t it simply be about a song that was in a movie that was about someone trying to climb their way out and make it.
Seriously. Why?
Get over yourselves.
March 7th, 2006 at 10:46 am
People want to find a purpose in pop culture.
“Brokeback Mountain” is the “gay cowboy movie,” for example. It’s very simple for people to try to compartmentalize existence. We want to categorize everything and break it down so we don’t have to take the time to appreciate a piece of art or entertainment for what it is. Everything has to have some kind of reason.
We’ll never escape it, unfortunately.
PS: Your pinging is working, as you showed up on my blogroll as updated.
March 7th, 2006 at 7:02 pm
My sentiments exactly…….
March 7th, 2006 at 9:53 pm
If ignorance were a crime, you would be behind bars.
The movie is not autobiographical as you seem to think. The script is a fictional work by a white male author from the South.
Nor are the concerns expressed in the WaPo article naive. There is a long history of black entertainers serving as comic relief. Having black people as minstrels allows the white majority to be dismissive of the problems that effect the black demographic disproportionately, such as crime, poor health and less access to quality education. People who are perceived as pathological laughingstocks are not taken seriously.
The message of the movie is also problemmatic. Using other people to ‘get over,’ is immoral. However, people like you seem to be oblivious to that aspect of “get rich, or die trying.”
Shallow people rarely have the insight to understand much of what they miss, so these remarks will likely be lost on you. However, perhaps other readers will take time to think about how and why this situation is one which indeed deserves criticism.
March 7th, 2006 at 10:22 pm
Oh, Diva…
Where did I say it was AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL? Stop it. I compared stories, one being Eminem’s, which may have been autobiographical to this story… both of which are stories, indeed.
They’re 2 different ones.
I don’t care WHO authored it–it’s a fucking story.
And yes, my opinion is that the opinions are naive…
Sometimes, a movie is just a movie. It’s someone’s attempt at writing something to make a name or money or both.
Doubt me? Then let’s look at recent books that were, oh, say fabricated, to make themselves more interesting. People often write stories to make their living.
I’ve a friend Rob who writes great plays, great stories–and they happen to deal with dark subjects a lot. But Rob is not victimizing murderers, psycho-killers or people with vulgar mouths.
He’s writing stories based on some ideas that pop into his head or ideas that he forces into stories that turn into characters that become much more real when people get all dressed-up as them, slip into their minds and ACT as them.
So, maybe–just maybe–it’s a story and not some big covert plan to cause harm to any type of person or person.
Maybe–just maybe–I’m not the naive one here.
Maybe–just maybe–someone didn’t get thrown into a dress and a fat body suit to look like a fat black woman for comic relief.
Calling me shallow is doing the same to yourself; I allow myself to think, “Gosh, maybe it’s not social commentary. Maybe it’s not something so bad and awful. Maybe it’s a bit of a… FUCKING STORY!” and you want to bash me with name calling.
Let’s count it up… You called me:
1) Ignorant
2) Shallow
And then you go so far as to assume that your comments would be lost on me, when clearly my own…what’s the word I’m looking for here… oh yeah… OPINION.
See, I was calling into question why this has to be about a “message” and why it cannot simply be a “movie”.
However, I get a response from someone trying so hard to be smart that they may have just out-smarted themselves.
I’m sorry if you don’t agree–you don’t have to, but to attack me because I question that this has to be about something other than a story that someone wrote and someone else liked enough to produce and put together as a movie with a great, great Chicago actor…
Well, that’s simply failing to read the actual post that I wrote and to put into it that there’s some “message” instead of an “opinion”.
And this is exactly why I think people need to get over themselves.
March 7th, 2006 at 10:30 pm
Interesting history on Mac Diva, from RichardPoe.com:
Oy Veh! I Mean… Ay, Carramba!
by Richard Poe
Well, here’s something different. In reaction to my blog entry, “Red-Brown Coalition Targets Mike Savage — and Richard Poe!” a commentator named “Mac Diva” has scornfully described me as, “Richard Poe, an obscure Chicano writer who has tried to raise his profile by brown-nosing reactionary white folks…”
Goodness gracious! I’ll have to think hard, but I do believe this is the first time anyone ever called me “Chicano” in print. I’m not quite sure how to take this.
After all these years wasting my breath trying to explain to neo-Nazis that I am only half-Jewish, will I now be called upon to explain to presumptuous neo-Bolsheviks who think they have a racial claim on my political loyalty that I am only half Chicano? It boggles the mind.
If I were the comic-book character Robin, I might exclaim something like, “Holy Mobius Strip, Batman!”
But instead, I am reminded inexplicably of self-styled “Jewcana” comedienne Tanya “Cha Cha” Sandoval, who — being half American-Jewish and half Mexican-Protestant — has adopted the trademark one-liner: “My jewelry’s fake, but my orgasms are real.”
Oy veh! I mean… Ay, carramba!
UPDATE (Saturday 3.15.03): It appears that “Mac Diva” has a history of trolling “conservative” forums, accusing people of racism, homophobia and insensitivity to the abortion industry. She sounds like a very unpleasant individual.
I deduce that “Mac Diva” is female from her e-mail address: escritora@mac.com. The word “escritora,” in Spanish, refers to a writer of the female sex.
UPDATE (Monday 4.7.03): Mac Diva now has her own blog site, Silver Rights, from which she spearheads her one-woman campaign to stamp out candid discussion of race on the Web.
UPDATE (Wednesday 4.16.03): My cyber-detective work is confirmed. Mac Diva is indeed a woman. In an April 8, 2003 blog (permlink broken), Roger Ailes writes, “Mac Diva has a very interesting post on the racist blog Gene Expression. I read her comment while thinking about the recent Supreme Court decision in Virginia v. Black, the `cross-burning case.’” (via godlesscapitalist)
Mac Diva habitually refers to Ailes as her “blog brother,” so I presume the two know each other.
And, if you would like to have a little fun, you can Google her email address of escritora@mac.com (http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2004-36,GGLD:en&q=escritora%40mac%2Ecom) to read up on the ol’ troll herself.
Troll thee not.
March 8th, 2006 at 7:24 pm
Russ, citing Richard Poe, a self-described ‘race realist’ i.e., someone who believes that people of color are genetically inferior, to try to criticize me is laughable. I’m going to have to describe you by a word stronger than ‘ignorant’ and ’shallow.’ You are STUPID.
(And, yes, your name is known, despite your efforts to mask it.)
March 8th, 2006 at 7:49 pm
Mask my name? I don’t attempt to do that at all. It’s RUSS. It says so on every post.
And, citing Richard Poe is just one example…
You’re famous, doll.
See ya later. No one cares so much about this as you.