#boondocks criticism

[blackautmedia]

One of the things I'm hoping to get across in this Boondocks video™ in progress is the way a lot of discussions about adult animation center less around genuinely engaging with the commentary these shows often make and more rationalizing and elevating blatant bigotries as an elaborate progressive satire.

I don't hate the Boondocks. In a lot of ways it's fantastic, but I also find that a lot of more left-leaning adult animated series like Bojack Horseman, Tuca and Bertie, Bob's Burgers and The Boondocks get placed in this deified space where they're placed in binary terms against the likes of the shows agreed upon to be the "bad" ones like South Park, Family Guy, etc.

It's especially valuable to be more critical about these as discussion pieces as they're often very impressionable and influential on younger viewers in their mid to late teens and early 20s.

Because it's not Family Guy, it must be progressive and how dare you ever speak critically of it in any capacity.

So much discourse around queer themes in The Boondocks only center around The Story of Gangstalicious Part 2 without looking at several other relevant episodes and themes throughout the show, which I think gives a very incomplete picture of the nature of the kind of commentary The Boondocks makes.

In particular, I think it does a major disservice to Black trans people and the way that misogynoir also influences the discussions of queerness in The Boondocks.

But it can also be difficult to have this conversation because of the ways that "it's a satire, they're intentionally awful people" is utilized.

Depiction is not endorsement, but just because a work is satirical or your cast are intentionally bad people doesn't mean you're magically free of the narrative implications behind how you frame your cast.

Depiction is one piece of the puzzle, but you can't discuss it without discussing framing.

In some way, shape, or form, these conversations often assert that criticisms of these works are unfounded because the use or inclusion of bigoted characters doesn't make the work itself bigoted, which...isn't the claim being made.

For example, Robert Freeman throughout much of the TV series is depicted as a blatant womanizer and is repeatedly mocked for that attitude. The entire episode Pause AKA the Tyler Perry episode is in part a long joke at his expense for his womanizing behavior and for overestimating his skills as an actor.

This idea isn't wrong, but it is incomplete. While you can certainly make that argument the episode is a joke at a womanizer's expense, it still doesn't grapple with how the narrative delivers his comeuppance within the confines of cisheteronormative ideas about queer and fat bodies.

You can only see Robert as being "punished" if you also agree with the framing that fat women's bodies are disgusting and worthless, thus they are thrust onto him as comeuppance for his sleazy behavior toward "actual" (i.e. conventionally attractive) women.

You can only see Robert as "getting what's coming to him" if you cosign the way that the episode frames and links the element of queerness or being publicly perceived as queer as gross and awful, with Robert even comparing the concept to the gross challenges done in Fear Factor.

Likewise, Pause runs into a lot of issues very quickly in how it depicts Winston Jerome, the Tyler Perry stand-in as a predatory gay man with the desire to be a woman "both inside and out" in his words. A Tyler Perry who deceives Robert with the promise of sexual gratification with beautiful women only to see he's being preying on Robert to trick him into having sex with a gay man.

It's not helped by the title of the episode being "Pause" and the episode also heavily referencing The Rocky Picture Horror Show.

A lot of Pause and several other episodes in the Boondocks lean into very homophobic and transphobic notions of fat and queer bodies and the idea of viewing Black queer people as predatory beasts.

This is also my issue with a lot of discussions about adult animation in how they center around if individual people are "meant" to be seen as bad.

To leave the episode as "Robert is a womanizer we're not meant to agree with" is to leave out the entire discussion of the portrayal and utilization of queerness and misogynoir within the Boondocks.

This also applies to discussions of Riley's homophobic beliefs within the series. Riley espousing homophobic views is not an endorsement of homophobia by the series proper nor the creators. He's designed to be a very specific form of critique about the bigoted attitudes normalized in the hip hop community as well as a commentary on the narratives normalized through Black media.

But leaving the conversation there without making further discussion on how the Boondocks frames those issues within its own storytelling oversimplifies the conversation and invalidates the very real grievances Black queer people have felt toward portrayals and narratives like this.

The video will discuss this in more depth than my light summary here since this is a preview of sorts and go into the historical precedent for these ideas, so this is just a taste of what's to come.

I'm almost through the research phase with only a few more books to read through and watching a few other series and films that the Boondocks is heavily inspired by, so I'm looking forward to rewatching the Cowboy Bebop movie this weekend!

[arteicetb]

[almacambiondaughterofsaleos]

Uncle ruckus for those who know his backstory is really sad. So the story explain why he become raging racist self loathing black man. Stolas a bigot character like him can still have sympathetic backstory but it end up we have to feel bad for him and excusing his behavior. Uncle ruckus on other hand when we go through on his backstory. We get to see his family his sibling his parent and his grandmother. Boondocks a show that have problematic way depicting sex worker and black female character can actually make bunny ruckus a good mom more than helluva boss small attempt. Bunny ruckus despite she only appear in one episode we get to know some from her character. Yes she also have self loathing against her blackness and married to her abusive husband but she have way more character. Her husband die she can finally have enjoy some fun stuff with her white lover. Uncle ruckus himself genuinenly loved her. With bunny ruckus call what you want about her but she definitely a mother whos loving toward her son even though her parenting is problematic

This.

[retrokid616]

no asmr ad y'all thanks the irsh gods for st pattys day this week

[tariah23]

Why did this random white person comment on my post talking how problematic and evil the boondocks is for black people to watch just because I mentioned it in the tags of a random old personal post-

[opinated-user]

"be as openly anti racist as possible"... so that's why you made this year alone a video in which you joked about using the n word two times? is that why you used the race of a Star Wars OC as a shield, while openly aknowledging and acting as if you never in your life made the bare minimum research into how to write black characters in any respectful way? always putting the burden of educating you into other black people or people who already did that research? is that why you made rey into a fetihisizer that swoons over exclusively black women? is that why you deleted the comment of the black non binary creator whose article you plagiarized for your SU original video? is that why you called "vultures and stalkers" to the black people who were calling you out for fetishizing black skin?

is that why you whitewashed "wellfare queen" by using it as an insult without any recognition of it's racist history? is that why you have been smearing and supporting Ginger into smearing POC who criticize you? is that why you actively ignored SEA when they talk about their own representation in the movie Raya? is that why you said that if people like Willow from TOH they had an "orientalism problem"? is that why you said that Japan's culture was completely colonized by the USA, that their cultures were practically the same, and you said it like it was a good thing? is that why you completely ignore the existence of asian people, except when you want to bash anime or Japan... something that asian people have called you out on, only for you to turn around and treat them as stalkers? is that why you insist that Japanese can be completely replaced with English without losing any of any importance? is that why you used your ex Carousel as your entire and sole defense as to why you couldn't possibly be a fetishizer of black women? basically making a "i can't be racist, i have a black friend", even though you weren't even friends at that point? is that why you lied for years about being Cherokee, but have no connection whatsoever to the culture, the Nation or even it's people, demostrated by the fact that you didn't even know that your grandfather was never Cherokee in the first place until Courtney, the sibling you molested for years, spoke out? is that why your avatar for years had a brown skin you never had? is that why you said you refused to watch shows like the Boondocks because it made songs with the n word too catchy for you to resist singing them all the time? because you were trying to be anti-racist? LO, if that was you trying to be anti-racist, then you failed. espectacularly so, and should be embarassed for yourself. mind you, i could keep going. but you only put two years as the timeframe in which you cared about racism, so i only concentrate on the things that happened in that time frame. thanks for telling everyone that the years that you were posturing as a leftist before 2021 are meaningless because you weren't even trying to be anti-racist then btw. i think this ask is a self send, but even if it's real... Carousel not talking about LO means nothing. it certainly doesn't mean that she has any positive or negative opinion about LO, despite the many times LO badmouthed her in public, and i believe it's self send because that's an increibly childish way of thinking in the first place. "this one person haven't said anything about this other person, then that means all the other bunch of people who talked about them must be wrong" is not rational thinking, it makes no sense. only a child would come out with that.

[samueldelany]

Bringing together contributors from a wide-range of critical perspectives, Black Comics: Politics of Race and Representation is an analytic history of the diverse contributions of Black artists to the medium of comics. Covering comic books, superhero comics, graphic novels and cartoon strips from the early 20th century to the present, the book explores the ways in which Black comic artists have grappled with such themes as the Black experience, gender identity, politics and social media.

Black Comics: Politics of Race and Representation introduces students to such key texts such as The work of Jackie Ormes, Black women superheroes from Vixen to Black Panther, Aaron McGruder’s strip The Boondocks

[sparklywatercolors]

did I catch yo having fun from boondocks but it's antis when proshippers actually do have one as well as when antis see somebody making a legitimate, valid and detailed reason why they dont like the antis' favorite character despite said criticism being properly tagged.

CORRECT

Anons you all have very good taste in memes / reactions to antis, never change pls 🥲❤

[beardedmrbean]

“Baby it’s cold outside is a rape song!” Bitch we radios still played R Kelly songs despite FUCKING FOOTAGE of him raping a teenage girl. Ugh, boondocks was a good middle finger to how my community acted

Also…do people forget that 40’s-50’s people were tongue in cheek about their sexual desires? You can easily pick up the innuendos if you remember pre sex revolution dynamics

Why do I got better critically thinking skills than grown ass adults? WHY, WHY, WHYYYY

Bored as hell and I wanna get I'll So I went to a place where my homeboys chill The fellows out there, making that dollar I pulled up in my 6-4 Impala They greet me with a 40 and I started drinking And from the 8-ball my breath start stinking Love to get my girl, to rock that body Before I left I hit the Bacardi Went to her house to get her out of the pad Dumb hoe says something stupid that made me mad She said somethin that I couldn't believe So I grabbed the stupid bitch by her nappy ass weave She started talkin shit, wouldn't you know? Reached back like a pimp and slapped the hoe Her father jumped out and he started to shout So I threw a right-cross cold knocked him out

Cause the boyz n tha hood are always hard You come talking that trash we'll pull your card Knowing nothing in life but to be legit Don't quote me boy, cause I ain't saying shit ____________

Eazy was the only one of the bunch that didn't sell out in the end, at least between him, Dre', and Cube.

MC Ren is low key enough that he doesn't pop up too much, so he may or may not have.

Eazy didn't know how to lay low, or wear a condom.

Cube doin the 'no vaseline' attempt at a diss track just sounded like him crying through gritted teeth, and the Antisemitism wasn't cool either you'd be dead if a Jewish dude hadn't picked y'all up and fought to make you famous.

I have a strangely high level of respect for E, him and Ice-T from that particular genera.

Shock -G too, but Digital Underground wasn't gangsta. Humpty Dance could fit in with the subject matter too though.

tangent over ________________

This is why I have so much trouble with people bitching and moaning about misogyny and shit in tv and movies an screaming and yelling about how women need to be treated as more than sex objects,

Then comes Cardi B to save the day in the CA wildfire season

they just want to be offended at things they don't understand, or care to look into.

None of the subject matters are anything new either, just stopped trying to be clever and dropped all subtext now.

[brenpthetoonman]

About me

Pronouns: He/him

Birthday: November 28, 1998

Ethnicity: Caucasian

Religion: Atheist

Zodiac sign: ♐

Gender: Male

Height: 5’7

Foot size: 10.5

Favorite animal: Cats, birds, sheep, turtles

Favorite food: Pizza, Chinese food, Mexican food, burgers, fries, mac and cheese, steak, chicken cutlets, swedish meatballs, goulash, pork chops, chicken fettuccine alfredo, waffles, pancakes, cornbread, poached eggs, sushi

Favorite fruit: Strawberries, apples, grapes, cherries, pineapples, kiwis, mangos, melons and bananas

Favorite drink: Coke, chocolate milk, lemonade, apple cider, tea, root beer and hot cocoa.

Favorite brand of cig: I despise cigarettes.

Favorite color: Purple

Favorite band: Queen, Pink Floyd, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Fleetwood Mac, Oasis, The Beatles, AC/DC, Green Day, Yes, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, Cheap Trick, The Who, Mother Love Bone, The Animals, Rage Against the Machine, Anthrax, Def Leppard, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, DMX, A Tribe Called Quest, The Beach Boys, The Velvet Underground, blink-182, The Doors, The Allman Brothers Band, Motley Crue.

Favorite cartoon: Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Owl House, Gravity Falls, The Simpsons, Looney Tunes, Tex Avery cartoons, Hilda, Classic Disney shorts, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Popeye, Walter Lantz cartoons, The Amazing World of Gumball, Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, Batman: TAS, Ed Edd n Eddy, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, OK KO, Powerpuff Girls '98, Samurai Jack, Megas XLR, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Futurama, Wander Over Yonder, King of the Hill, Amphibia, Beavis and Butt-Head, Dan vs, Gargoyles, Freakazoid, The Critic, Invader Zim, Teen Titans, Phineas and Ferb, Mission Hill, Time Squad, DuckTales/Darkwing Duck, Batman Beyond, Rocko's Modern Life, Angry Beavers, Kablam, Tiny Toon Adventures, Home Movies, ATHF, Animaniacs/Pinky and the Brain, Regular Show, Hey Arnold, Bojack Horseman, The Boondocks, The Ghost and Molly McGee, Clerks: TAS, Courage the Cowardly Dog, SWAT Kats, Top Cat, Superman: TAS, Celebrity Deathmatch, Kim Possible, Dave the Barbarian, South Park, Harvey Birdman, The Pink Panther, The Venture Bros.

Favorite movie: Gojira, Into the Spider-verse, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Aladdin '92, Hayao Miyazaki movies, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Batman '89, Ed Wood, Mel Brooks movies, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Big Lebowski, Akira, Quentin Tarantino movies, the classic Universal monster movies, Yellow Submarine, Dead Poet's Society, A Hard Day's Night, Monty Python movies, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Laurel and Hardy movies, Marx Brothers movies, The Book of Life, The LEGO Movie, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Edgar Wright's Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, Die Hard 1-3, Guardians of the Galaxy, Robocop, Kevin Smith movies, Corpse Bride, Halloween '78, Alfred Hitchcock movies, Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal, An American Tail, The Simpsons Movie, Willy Wonka, The Crow, The Mask, Suspiria '77, The Monster Squad, Kung Fu Panda 1-3, The Room, David Lynch movies, Wes Craven movies, Coraline, Babe, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Beetlejuice, Dazed and Confused, Inherit the Wind, Office Space, How to Train Your Dragon, Ernest and Celestine, Napoleon Dynamite, Liar Liar, Bruce Almighty, Kubo and the Two-Strings, ParaNorman, Coco, Frankenweenie, School of Rock, The Incredibles, Inside Out.

Favorite game: Banjo-Kazooie, Any Mario game, Animal Crossing, Legend of Zelda, Sonic 1-3, Any Kirby game, Pokemon Stadium 1&2, Spyro, Yooka-Laylee, Crash Bandicoot, Cuphead, the Kingdom Hearts series, The Simpsons: Hit & Run

Influence: Hayao Miyazaki, Wes Anderson, Matt Groening, Mike Judge, Dana Terrace, Tex Avery, Glen Keane, Eric Goldberg, Chuck Jones, Alfred Hitchcock, Edgar Wright, Wes Craven, Stephen Silver, Bruce W. Smith, Alex Hirsch, JG Quintel, Dan Povenmire, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, Joe Murray, Craig Bartlett, Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Craig McCracken, Lauren Faust, Matt Braly, John R. Dilworth, Mo Willems, Bob Clamlett, Max Fleischer, Walter Lantz, Don Bluth, Henry Selick, Genndy Tartokovsky, Rob Renzetti, Loren Bouchard, Bill Oakley, Josh Weinstein

Motto: “If you can dream it, do it!”

[andreablog2]

People from city centers are less rude then people from the outskirts of the city centers there’s like a peak in rudeness that happens almost at the border of the metropolitan section of a city area & a more residential area than there’s another spike when it comes to the outskirts of the suburbs reaching the boondocks. I hate this pathologizing of specific cities especially when it’s more so like a criticism of the cut throat professionals in the city than the average people & it’s the same thing w that like the people at the true epicenter of an industry are more comfortable so they are less protective while vaguely elitist they can be more like…just ignorant of what life is like for other people. While people sort of at the border of the managerial class and the idle class tend do be the most viscous then it peaks again at the lowest levels of management who control the true workers

[magicalgirlagency]

Since adults are the topic of the hour, I want to know which adult animations are your favourite. I know, not in topic with your blog, but I'm really curious!

Well, to maintain this blog's tradition, in the Magical Girl department, there are only three adult series that I liked:

Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt (basically, Japan making fun of the US and its gross western animation, with its own unique twist. Was supposed to have a second season, but the folks at Gainax couldn't keep their promise);

Bee & PuppyCat (if you ignore the lack of plot coherence and handle Toast's annoying antics, it should be fine for you to watch, I guess);

Super Drags (this one's brazilian! Yeah, it's rather crude and generic as an adult show, but it has some interesting queer topics to check out!)

Now, for the non-Magical Girl ones:

Inside Job (if you're depressed after seeing Velma's rendition of Fred Jones, Brett Hand will serve as a great palate cleanser for you);

Bojack Horseman (it starts off weird, but it solidifies as the time goes on and it gets quite philosophical, too);

Aggretsuko (yes, the one from Sanrio. Y'know, the kawaii empire behind Hello Kitty? Yeah, that's the one);

Tuca & Bertie (from the folks that have brought you Bojack Horseman);

The fifth and final season of Samurai Jack (the finale sucked, but the video game, Battle Through Time, has acted as damage control);

Harley Quinn (Velma tried to imitate this one, and failed so hard at it);

The earliest seasons of Rick & Morty (Seasons 1-3, imo. There's something about this show that tickles my wanderlust);

(Dis)Enchantment (haven't seen the later seasons just yet, but I loved it so far);

Daria (you'd be surprised at how relatable it has become in modern days. And people used to shame me for being cynical back then);

Futurama (haven't seen the new episodes, though. I'll stick to the classics);

Scoobynatural (ignore the fact that it's a Supernatural crossover. Seeing the Mystery, Inc. Gang have an existential crisis is always a treat);

Rob Zombie's The Haunted World of El Superbeasto (this one's a movie. Described as an "X-Rated Scooby-Doo", and you get to see nazi zombies being exterminated, predating South Park's The Stick of Truth);

Venture Bros. (again, this could act as a great palate cleanser if you've watched Velma);

Bob's Burgers (it's a better Nuclear Family-type of show than The Simpsons and Family Guy. 'Nuff said.);

I also remember watching Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law, Home Movies, The Critic and John Callahan's Quads as a teen, and they were quite solid from what I remember.

I haven't seen these ones, but I'm surely interested in Primal, Superjail!, Del Toro's Pinocchio, Solar Opposites, Peepoodo and the SuperFuck Friends and The Boondocks. I also wanna see Mortal Kombat's newest animated movies, they look so amazing!

Despite having S-tier animations, I absolutely hated Devilman Crybaby and Castlevania. Major buzzkill, those shows.

And I'm sure, positive and certain that Sam & Max: Freelance Police could've made a really neat adult show if Steve Purcell and crew weren't stuck dealing with censorship sensitivities (they were held back by Fox Kids censors back then).

[adultswim2021]

The Boondocks #21: “Attack of the Killer Kung-Fu Wolf-Bitch” | November 19, 2007 - 11:30PM | S02E06

In this episode, Granddad winds up on a blind internet date with a beautiful woman voiced by Aisha Tyler. What a wonderful turn of events for him; especially because he’s been on a string of dates with some DISHONEST WOMEN, who have shown up to dates not looking like their significantly more wankable myspace profile photograph. Could it be too good to be true?

Yes, it could. It turns out that the woman, Luna, is a deadly kung-fu martial artist with an affinity for wolves (hence the title). She spooks the entire family so bad that they feign an emergency trip out of town in order to ghost her. When she finds out she reacts poorly, mostly because of her bitchy-sounding friend who eggs her on to do some Kill Bill shit to them over the phone.

This is sort of a goofier one. Not really much hard-hitting satire to speak of, just a wacky plot about love gone wrong. There’s flashbacks to the woman’s past, including her time at a kumite, the underground tournament to the death from the motion picture Bloodsport. She won, in scenes that resemble the high video game Mortal Kombat. But will she bestow a Mortal Kombat 2 style “Friendship” on the Freeman family?

The goofiness of the episode is really essential. The main problem one might have with this episode is the way the family reacts to Luna’s confession that she is a deadly fighter. There doesn’t seem to be much of a downside to just accepting her and her past, especially since the alternative to that plays out so poorly for our favorite non-yellow family. The fact that this confrontation results in her undoing (spoilers: she dies at the end) is bothersome, because she’s a pretty likable character. She’s misguided in a way that shouldn’t be fatal, and yet she is. But the goofy tone sorta does away with that. I was genuinely curious if this episode was particularly disliked for this reason, but it gets fairly above average marks on IMDB, so I guess they succeeded. Speaking of yellow families, this almost works as a companion piece to “Homer’s Enemy” (aka the Frank Grimes episode). It’s comparable! I’ve compared the two, goddamn it.

I’m just glad this one didn’t have a bunch of rap references to read up on. Thank you, Boondocks.

EPHEMERA CORNER

MAIL BAG

I started my post two nights ago (sorry for missing a night I GOT UNEXPECTEDLY BUSY YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE ME) by telling you about my gastrointestinal distress. I am going to use this space to tell you that today I brought a bottle of astroglide to work with me because I did not shit all day yesterday, and I could tell that it was going to be an ordeal. I lubed my canal while in a clandestine public bathroom on my workroute. I let out an enormously long one, very sturdy I’m pleased to say. But then I dumped so much mud on top of it that it crested the surface of the water in the toilet. When I looked down, the solid log was laying across the hole, and the mud dump on top caused the resulting mess to look uncannily like a banana split. I’m pleased to say there was no strawberry sauce. I had to flush three times to get it all down.

Speaking of shit, here’s some letters I got reacting to yesterday’s Tim & Eric post:

90s SNL is just as bad as any other era of SNL. Mike Meyers and Rob Schneider just did straight up retarded shit every week, it just had cooler bands.

Oh, I think the SNL renaissance is real. But the quality is more negligible than most people realize. Watching full episodes of all but a few episodes of the show is a chore, always.

The John Landis remark on your absolutely scathing takedown of Vacation is astounding. I've seen nitpicking but that's a nit no one can scratch. Also theres like 20 incidents of that kind of pull way in Tom Goes To The Mayor.

Tom Goes to the Mayor is an inferior product compared to Awesome Show, and deserves a more critical eye. Especially since season one of Awesome Show dazzled this TV-obsessed Weldon.

yer vacation thing is nuts. some real hater/cinema sins shit. raz is funny!

I think I ultimately like the episode, I am pretty disappointed that the wraparound bits weren’t as strong. Season premiere, guys. Look alive. I yelled at a woman for you (one of the people who came over was a sexually active woman!)

[watching-pictures-move]

Movie Review | The Deer Hunter (Cimino, 1978)

After stepping through Heaven's Gate spending a couple of Desperate Hours over the last weekend, I was still in a Michael Cimino mood so I decided to... become The Deer Hunter... by rewatching The Deer Hunter. Sorry, that was terrible. I promise I won't partake in any more awful attempted wordplay in this review. Anyway, after my qualms with the construction of both of those movies, it was nice to be reminded, after probably fifteen years since my last viewing, how well paced this one is. I think one of the more common complaints about this is the length of the wedding sequence in the first hour, but I think it's a pretty essential part of the movie and the runtime is well used. Over this hour, you get the sense of the community the heroes come from, and the amount of time Cimino devotes to capturing life in this town allows us to grasp its rhythms and contradictions. A lesser movie would paint it in saccharine sentiment or glib generalizations (I think of one particularly on the nose moment from We Were Soldiers where characters mistake racism for strict laundry rules), but Cimino's camera does not shy away from uglier moments, like the depressing normalcy of violence against women. There's a novelistic richness here with the level of detail and specificity, the fact that the community is only a generation or two away from its immigrant roots, the fact that most of the men are employed by the steel mill and that there isn't much else to do around here, each character's virtues and flaws being slowly shaded in. This may not be a perfect town, or even every town, but it's theirs.

The languorous pacing of the first act also sets up the sledgehammer impact of the second act, when we're plunged into the thick of combat and then the notorious Russian Roulette torture scene. This stretch only lasts for around half an hour (and we maybe spend an hour in Vietnam, apologies if I'm off by a few minutes, my watch is low on batteries), but it casts a pall over the rest of the movie. Any semblance of normalcy we had in that first hour has been shattered. The movie has been criticized for its monstrous depiction of the Vietnamese, and I think the points leveled against it are fair. But the movie is upfront about channeling the Vietnam War from the American experience, and from that perspective there's maybe a certain emotional honesty in reveling in such ugliness. If you're going to depict characters struggling with PTSD and try to show the completeness of their experience, it makes sense to depict their time in combat with raw, unmitigated terror. I recognize this puts the movie in morally compromised territory, but on a gut level, I was moved.

Now, when I last watched this as a teenager, I'd found much of the last third, whereupon Robert De Niro returns from Vietnam and takes up with Meryl Streep, to be a little boring. I can offer two such reasons for having held this opinion. One, as all teenage boys can attest, all girls have cooties, and that extends to multiple Oscar Winner Meryl Streep. Two, I was very much hoping that the movie would get (back) to the Russian Roulette factory and found the return to small town Pennsylvania kinda slow. (Before you ask, I was and probably still am very much a film bro, although mostly but not entirely loving The Deer Hunter is hardly the worst opinion a film bro can have. The worst opinion a film bro can have is liking The Boondock Saints, of which I am still guilty as charged. Sorry, Willem Dafoe is so funny in that movie.) Thankfully, I've now atoned for my thoughtcrime, and now recognize that Streep, like practically everybody in this movie, is great, and that the offness of that last hour is integral to the movie's effect.

If we're gonna step back into the Cimino Corner, as far as female performance go, I think I preferred Isabelle Huppert in Heaven's Gate than Streep here, although Huppert's role is emotionally loadbearing while Streep's is auxiliary by definition. And I think the offness allows us to feel on a gut level the difficulty of readjusting to "normal" life when you've been through such a harrowing experience. The depictions of wilderness provide an easy to grasp example. The forest is breathtaking in its beauty in that first hour, but having been through the Vietnamese jungle and its evil aura, it is difficult to feel that same emotion when we go for another hunting trip after having come home. (De Niro finds himself unable to kill a deer upon his return, something Cimino compensated for by killing way more animals for real in his next movie.) We have a few characters whose versions of masculinity are not completely aligned but in close enough proximity before going to war, drift apart in this respect upon their return as they struggle to readjust in different ways. Christopher Walken, whose performance is probably the most showy, goes to one extreme, John Savage the most vulnerable, and De Niro the most withdrawn. I think the other performance of his that this most brings to mind is The Irishman. The characters in question are very different in most respects, but both lack the ability to articulate their experiences, benefit from that particular contemplative quietness De Niro brings.

So yeah, good movie. Check it out, folks.

[celebchatter360]

Ice Cube: From Rapper to Actor, Entrepreneur, and Political Activist - A Look at His Current Ventures

Ice Cube is a name that needs no introduction. He is an American rapper, actor, and filmmaker who has made significant contributions to the entertainment industry. Ice Cube's career has been a rollercoaster ride, starting as a member of the legendary rap group N.W.A., to branching out on his own as a solo artist, and then transitioning into acting and filmmaking.

So, what does Ice Cube do now?

Music Career

Ice Cube's music career spans over three decades, and he is still active in the music industry. He released his latest album, "Everythangs Corrupt," in 2018, which was his first album in eight years. The album features politically charged lyrics that address social issues such as police brutality, racism, and political corruption. The album was well received by fans and critics alike and cemented Ice Cube's place as a respected and influential rapper.

Film and TV Career

Ice Cube's acting career began in the early 90s, and he quickly made a name for himself as an actor. He has starred in numerous hit films, including "Friday," "Boyz n the Hood," "Are We There Yet?," "Barbershop," and "Ride Along." He has also produced and written several films, including the "Friday" series, "Barbershop," and "Straight Outta Compton," a biopic about his former group, N.W.A.

Ice Cube has also made several appearances on TV shows, including "Arrested Development," "The Boondocks," and "Black-ish." In 2017, he produced and starred in the TV series "Hip Hop Squares," which was a reboot of the classic game show "Hollywood Squares."

Business Ventures

Ice Cube is also an entrepreneur and has several business ventures. He is the founder of the Big3, a professional 3-on-3 basketball league that features retired NBA players. The league has gained a lot of popularity since its inception in 2017 and has even partnered with CBS Sports to broadcast its games.

In addition to the Big3, Ice Cube has also ventured into the liquor industry. He launched his own brand of E&J Brandy called "Fifth Generation," which he co-owns with his business partner, Jeff Kwatinetz. The brand has been successful, and Ice Cube has even created a cocktail called "The Big Cube" to promote the brand.

Political Activism

Ice Cube has always been vocal about social and political issues, and his latest album "Everythangs Corrupt" reflects that. In 2020, Ice Cube made headlines when he announced that he had worked with the Trump administration on a plan called the "Contract with Black America." The plan aimed to address systemic racism and inequality in America and included proposals for criminal justice reform, police reform, and economic reform.

Ice Cube faced backlash for working with the Trump administration, and many accused him of endorsing Trump. However, Ice Cube defended his actions, stating that he had worked with both parties and that his goal was to help the Black community, regardless of who was in power.

In conclusion, Ice Cube is a multi-talented artist who has made significant contributions to the music, film, and television industries. He is also an entrepreneur and political activist who is passionate about addressing social and political issues. Ice Cube's legacy continues to inspire generations, and his work and activism will undoubtedly continue to make an impact for years to come.

Deveondi Music

[clockwork-sparrow]

Coincidence

What of your own creative endeavors? What about you?

Florus has nothing to say to Rhea. He doesn’t trust the viera who, despite being nothing but sunshine and smiles, is also...ten times too physical, loud, and pushy for his tastes. Plus, the conversation is painfully one sided, like hearing about your achievements and failures through the filter of an overzealous and critical fanboy. Remember when you were hiding in a bunker in the boondocks? Remember when you set death robots on Eorzea, and you lost control of them? And don’t forget about when the evil Silver Scholars had found your hideout regardless, and the terrifying battles that ensued! I can’t believe you survived! You’re incredible!

Somehow, everything that fucking comes out of Rhea’s mouth feels like a thinly veiled attack. Even if the viera ends it with (literal) tearful sympathy for Florus, and says that an ‘intelligent virtuoso’ like him ought to be free instead of stuck at Heartwood, it just feels. Disingenuous. The viera is talking for him, telling him how he should feel, sharing a narrative that belongs to Florus. It pisses him off. 

It’s my life. I already know that it’s messed up, so I don’t need you to expose me like this! I’m well aware!

But Rhea leaves Florus with scant opportunities to interject. Every time he tries to say something (like fuck off), the viera either 1) doesn’t hear, 2) doesn’t seem to understand, or 3) talks right over him. And when it becomes clear that he won’t be able to say his piece, Florus tries to leave...But then, Rhea simply follows him. There’s no escape from the viera’s incessant chattering.

Plus, Florus can’t shake off the bad feeling he gets from Rhea. Every so often, Florus’s fight or flight instinct is triggered, but then he’ll check and Rhea is just. Praising Florus’s work ethic. Or complimenting his jacket (Cute! Where’d you get it?). Once, Florus saw the viera run into a pole. What the fuck is going on? Why is this complete stranger so familiar? And why is his body on the fritz, reacting as if the sweet-guzzling Rhea is a threat?

Florus can’t even think because the viera’s non stop talking fills his brain with noise. So much fucking noise.

I read that you used to work on an AI project called ANY. I thought it was super cool! Like, the intention to save lives by having an AI go through the wringer first. Very smart. But what happened to that?

Like any proper fanboy, of course ANY would come up eventually. Florus had worked on it for more than a decade after all, but the mention still causes him to flinch. Vague intentions to restart the project, despite being fully aware of the implications this time, swirl around in Florus’s head. Sour guilt bubbles back up. 

Don’t talk about it so cheerfully. Each ANY iteration is equivalent to you or me, but despite that, you’re reminding me of the uncomfortable fact that I still see their lives as lesser to ours. That when push comes to shove, if it means saving the ones I care about...if it’s the only fucking thing I’m good at. Then.

Then I would. I would.

Fuck. Butterflies and goddamn rainbows on the topic of death. It’s like Rhea is blindfolding him, handing him a bat, and leading him to a piñata. Hit it, why don’t you? Hit it until candy comes out! It’ll feel good and you’re so good at it! What’s there to feel bad about? Isn’t it just AI in the end?

Florus begins to feel faint while Rhea grins.

You know what, since I’m already grabbing auracite to help out my mother...would it help if I grabbed some extra for you? For ANY? Yes? No? Alright, be back in a jiffy!

As a stranger to Heartwood, Rhea doesn’t seem to be aware that materials handed off to him need to be vetted. Auracite in particular is hard to get a hold of, and the opportunity to have some extra secretly on the side is tempting. However, Florus can’t shake off the feeling that this is too convenient.

Right when he decides to restart work on ANY, a cordial stranger with a bleeding heart comes by to miraculously supply him with exactly what he needs, no strings attached. Really? Florus stands in stunned silence. Good things never happen to him, so there has to be some catch. Something that he’s missing. But he hasn’t told anyone about his intention to restart work on ANY...so how, then, could Rhea know?

Could it really be a coincidence?

Florus doesn’t have the answer, and he’s too tired to give a shit right now. Maybe he’s the one who’s going crazy.