By Matt Brunson
GOOD HAIR
***
DIRECTED BY Jeff Stilson
STARS Chris Rock, Maya Angelou
Like most odysseys, Good Hair begins with a single, simple question. "Daddy, why don't I have good hair?" the little girl asks of her celebrity pop. And armed with that disturbing query, Chris Rock sets off to make a movie that turns out to be endlessly fascinating and funny.
Along with director Jeff Stilson, Rock uses his documentary to examine the complex relationship that African-American women and many men (Prince is the target of a well-timed jibe) have with their hair. And for a movie that runs just over 90 minutes, the pair cover an extraordinary amount of ground. Interviewing both celebrities and ordinary citizens alike, Rock manages to engage participants in discussions on the dangers of hair relaxers (aka "creamy crack"), the high cost of weaves, the distribution of the wealth earned by hair products created specifically for blacks (Asians and Caucasians benefit the most), the idiocy of straightening the hair of little girls (some as young as three), and, tying it all together, the cultural significance of hairstyles for black women and the drive among many to blend in (i.e. look more white) by any means necessary. On top of all this, Rock also manages to squeeze in a trip to India, home to the vast majority of hair purchased by African-American women (the hair is usually collected at temples where locks are shorn as a religious sacrifice, although one disturbing interlude finds a sleazy man discussing how hair is sometimes cut off women while they sleep).
Good Hair is such a marvelous movie for most of its running time and Rock proves to be such a good guide, both affable and eager to learn that it's a shame several missteps are taken toward the end. One bit finds Rock trying to sell to no avail bags of black women's hair, a silly stunt that smacks of Michael Moore grandstanding. The movie's climactic set piece revolves around a gaudy show in which various oddballs compete for the honor of being deemed the best hairstylist by a panel of supercilious judges an amusing sequence that's nevertheless too trite to anchor the home stretch. And, most jarringly, Rock unwisely chooses to end the picture with a rude remark by Ice-T, an insulting selection considering the movie is packed with choice quotes by the (female) likes of Maya Angelou and Tracie Thoms. On balance, though, Good Hair stands as an informative and entertaining documentary, and one that's pulled off with no small measure of style.
Before Sunday, I had seen exactly three Greek tragedies during my years of covering theatre for the Loaf two of them, Medea and The Bacchae, in New York. So it was with great relish that I went down to the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral on East Boulevard to see a third Euripides gem, The Trojan Women.
Some major problems plagued the Leonidas Loizides Theatrical Schema presentation. Apparently, the troupe and their baggage took different flights, and the flight of the players was severely delayed. We could see a lot of onstage pacing back and forth beneath the curtain before the play began. Then after the curtains parted and the situation was explained by Holy Trinity Greek School principal Larry Peroulas, a couple of other issues emerged.
As Paola Hadjilambri came forward to favor the audience with an introduction, there was no good light for her to stand in at the lip of the auditorium stage and no lighting crew to provide it. Intelligibility was on a par with visibility as the speakers accent confirmed her authentic Greek lineage. Not the most encouraging harbinger, since Hadjilambri would be portraying the protagonist in Euripides anti-war masterwork, the great Queen Hecuba.
Mostly, the technical problems and the language barriers mattered very little. Hadjilambri may still be working at her English, but she is a superlative actress. Nothing less will do if Hecuba is to remain compelling while bewailing her multitudinous woes in the aftermath of the Trojan War. Its no mean feat to retain your regal dignity after losing your husband, your sons, and swallowing the prospect of exile and slavery for yourself and your surviving daughters. She will be the humiliating spoils of Odysseus, mastermind of that accursed Trojan Horse! All of these massive sorrows are freshened during the action as news reaches her that her daughter is to be sacrificed at the tomb of Achilles, a mere preamble to the coup de grace when her grandson, Astyanax, is ripped out of her arms and tossed off Troys famed battlements.
Those of us with dogs can most likely sympathize with the long days they must have. Whether they are cooped up in the house or backyard, most dogs just dont have the freedom to wander (and we wouldnt want them to either, for fear of getting hurt or picked up by the pound). But along comes something like Barktoberfest. This annual festival happening this Saturday for dogs gives pet owners the chance to get them out and about for something other than just a walk. The festival includes a Just for Fun contest (with categories for Sloppiest Kisser, Best Trick, Biggest Dog, and Smallest Dog) and a Halloween Costume contest (with categories for Cutest Costume, Scariest Costume, Best Doggie/Owner Costume Duo, and Best in Show Costume) for dogs. In addition, pet goodies will be up for grabs, a silent auction will be held, and food (treats for humans and for dogs) and beverages will be available. The event is for a good cause too it raises money for the American Cancer Society and Carolina Veterinary Specialists. $10. 2 p.m.-5 p.m. Canine Cafe, 1447 S. Tryon St. 704-553-5364. www.caninecafe.net.
Freshman Congressman Alan Grayson, of Florida, is sick of the game-playing in Congress, and boy is it refreshing.
He's sick of hearing about how the insurance industry -- rolling in more cash than many countries -- will suffer if our lawmakers do the moral thing and revamp how health insurance is sold and doled out in our country. He's sick of the Republicans wasting time and cowing down to their insurance industry financial supporters.
He's sick of sick people getting sicker because they can't afford to go to the doctor. More, he's tired of people dropping dead because they can't afford adequate health care. In case you haven't heard, more than 44,000 people die EVERY YEAR because of the decisions made by insurance company death panels.
Grayson believes, in the very least, we should honor the dead by naming them. So, he's started a new Web site: NamesoftheDead.com. There you can enter the name of your friends and relatives who died because they didn't have enough insurance, or because they didn't have any at all.
He's also got a petition you can sign letting Congressman Harry Reid know to get crackin' on health care reform.
What are you waiting for? Click the links. Speak up.
Florida Congressman Alan Grayson keeps provoking congressional Republicans and their media allies with fact-based challenges to the lies being used to block health care reform.No matter how desperately Republicans in Congress and their amen corner in the media may try to censor the dissident Democrats, Grayson is reminding America about the trail of dead left by insurance-company greed and political neglect.
The Florida Democrat who drew national attention last month when he declared on the House floor that the Republican plan for uninsured Americans was "don't get sick, and if you do get sick, die quickly," was back on the House floor this week to announce the creation of a website to honor the victims of the current system.
Grayson, who has taken the lead in highlighting a Harvard study that shows 44,000 Americans die annually because they have no health insurance, told the House and the nation: "I think it dishonors all those Americans who have lost their lives because they had no health coverage, by ignoring them, by not paying attention to them, and by doing nothing to change the situation that led them to lose their live."
With that in mind, he announced the launch of a Names of the Dead website.
Watch Grayson in action:
"The Republican's health care plan was a blank piece of paper."
An interview with Maddow, after a reminder of some of the mean-spirited stuff Republicans have said about health care reform:
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, Oct. 23, 2009 as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
Carolina's Got Art exhibition at Atherton Mill
Erin McCarley at Tremont Music Hall
New Kid at ImaginOn's Wachovia Playhouse
Simon Fashion Now at SouthPark Mall
Ghost Tales in the Dark at Historic Latta Plantation
Check out these events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area this weekend as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
Stage Door Theater
Kahlil Ashantis one-man act, Basic Training, continues this weekend at Stage Door Theater. The show is based off of true events from Ashanti's life, including his army experiences and his own personal journey into finding himself and his biological father. Ashanti uses quick wit and pure talent, as he portrays 23 different characters -- and I mean characters.
Music Songstress and guitarist Erin McCarley has increasingly gained in popularity with her latest CD titled, Love, Save the Empty. You can see her perform live at Tremont Music Hall tonight. more...
Theater Carolina Actors Studio Theatres newest production, with a super-long title, Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade, is a play-within-a-play that revolves around some theatrical-performing-lunatics in a mental asylum. Heres to hoping that as they perform a play about the assassination of Jean-Paul Marat, no one gets stabbed that is, since Marat met his death oh so sharply with a knife. more...
Actor's Theatre
Charlotte improv troupe, The Chuckleheads will celebrate its two-year anniversary with a special show titled "2nd Anniversary Birthday Comedy Improv Variety Extravaganza" at Actor's Theatre of Charlotte tonight. The event will feature lots of improv, in forms that include singing, dancing, and heavy-duty audience participation.
Festival Barktoberfest, an annual festival for dogs, gives pet owners the chance to get their four-legged friend out and about for something other than just a walk. The festival includes a variety of contests for dogs. In addition, pet goodies will be up for grabs, a silent auction will be held, and food and beverages will be available. The event is for a good cause too it raises money for the American Cancer Society and Carolina Veterinary Specialists. more...
Festival Stop by Pura Vida Worldly Art today to celebrate Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos). The event will feature a special Day of the Dead art exhibit. Also, those attending can participate in a sugar-skull decorating contest. more...
The 2nd Annual Charlotte Fine Art Show
The Park
Folks looking for a variety of original art need look no further than The 2nd Annual Charlotte Fine Art Show. The two-day show at The Park, continues on Sunday (it kicks off on Sat. Oct. 24). It features juried artists from around the world selling art of all kinds of mediums, including things like paintings, sculptures, photography and other items made from glass, wood, fiber, clay and lots more.
Music Just because Bryan Adams has musically stripped down to bare bones for his solo-acoustic show at McGlohon Theatre, doesnt mean it wont rock. Using his powerful vocal chords to cut through hits like, "Summer of '69", and "Open Road," "Cuts Like A Knife", among others, he can still wake up the neighbors. more...
Theater Children's Theatre of Charlotte is touching on a serious issue in its upcoming performances of New Kid. The play tackles the hardships of moving to a new school and getting teased by peers. more...
The scientists involved in this study are equating junk food addiction to heroine addiction. I believe it.
Junk food elicits addictive behavior in rats similar to the behaviors of rats addicted to heroin, a new study finds. Pleasure centers in the brains of rats addicted to high-fat, high-calorie diets became less responsive as the binging wore on, making the rats consume more and more food. The results, presented October 20 at the Society for Neurosciences annual meeting, may help explain the changes in the brain that lead people to overeat.This is the most complete evidence to date that suggests obesity and drug addiction have common neurobiological underpinnings, says study coauthor Paul Johnson of the Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter, Fla.
To see how junk food affects the brains natural reward system the network of nerve cells that release feel-good chemicals Johnson started at the grocery store. He loaded up on typical Western fare, including Ho Hos, sausage, pound cake, bacon and cheesecake. Johnson fed rats either a standard diet of high-nutrient, low-calorie chow, or unlimited amounts of the palatable junk food. Rats that ate the junk food soon developed compulsive eating habits and became obese.
After just five days on the junk food diet, rats showed profound reductions in the sensitivity of their brains pleasure centers, suggesting that the animals quickly became habituated to the food. As a result, the rats ate more food to get the same amount of pleasure. Just as heroin addicts require more and more of the drug to feel good, rats needed more and more of the junk food. They lose control, Kenny says. This is the hallmark of addiction.
To see how strong the drive to eat junk food was, the researchers exposed the rats to a foot shock when they ate the high-fat food. Rats that had not been constantly exposed to the junk food quickly stopped eating. But the foot shock didnt faze rats accustomed to the junk food they continued to eat, even though they knew the shock was coming.
These reward pathway deficits persisted for weeks after the rats stopped eating the junk food, the researchers found. Its almost as if you break these things, its very, very hard to go back to the way things were before, Kenny says. When the junk food was taken away and the rats had access only to nutritious chow (what Kenny calls the salad option), the obese rats refused to eat.
Read the entire Science News article here.
Apparently this isn't a new problem. The Jackson Five and McKenzie Phillips weigh in:
Yesterday, my wife received a notice from Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, telling her that her premium is going up over 25 percent, and her co-pays are nearly doubling. Later in the day (at dinnertime, naturally), we got a voice mail from BCBSNC, warning of us of the dangers of health care reform and urging us to tell our representatives to oppose reform. As 30 Rocks Liz Lemon likes to say, kinda makes ya think, huh?
Dick Cheney keeps living up to his first name and reputation, with no signs of going away. Yesterday, the former Veep spoke to the conservative Center for Security Policy, where he accused Pres. Obama of dithering on Afghanistan and urged the Prez to hurry the hell up and send more troops pronto!. Yas, boss, right away, boss. Especially since foreign policy is your proven field of expertise, boss.
The greatest irony of Cheneys speech yesterday was in how he kept repeating the phrase, Make no mistake . . . If only hed thought about that before making his disastrous decisions while in office.
Finally, and once and for all, havent we all had enough of this incompetent blowhard? Heres a guy who was dead wrong about nearly everything related to foreign policy during his two terms in office as Dubyas string-puller. In fact, Cheney is the one person most responsible for wrecking Americas international reputation, shredding our armed forces, debasing our country by putting us in the same league as nations that torture prisoners, and frankly I could go on all day and night and on into the next day about how horrible this jerk was as a Vice President. Maybe hed finally plug up his crooked pie-hole if Obama would stop dithering about handing Cheney over to the International War Crimes Tribunal.
You will never find me encouraging anyone to watch Faux News. Instead, I'd like to recommend a documentary entitled "Outfoxed," which shines a light on what goes on behind Faux News' cameras.
All the same, this is America: If the nuts on Faux News want to fake-cry, lie, twist the facts, make shit up -- that's their right. If even more nuts want to watch that crap, pretend like it's actual news and never seek the facts, that's their right.
Never forget, in America, you're allowed to be as uninformed as you want to be; there are no non-nonsense limits.
So, White House officials, do us a big favor and stop telling us what to watch on TV. You're ticking off the people who like you and there's a pretty good chance all you're going to accomplish in your war on Faux is to encourage people who already hate you to hate you even more.
Focus POTUS. Focus on something else like, I dunno, the public option, climate change, unemployment, the two wars you need to get us out of, and on and on and on.
Pick different battles. Drop this one.
Theyre not really a news station, David Axelrod explained to George Stephanopoulos last Sunday. Its not just their commentators, but a lot of their news programming if you watch, its really not news The bigger thing is that other news organizations like yours ought not to treat them that way.The official White House position is that the rest of the media should join Team Obama in ostracizing a news outlet that the White House doesnt like. This raises several obvious questions:
Since when does the federal government get to make programming decisions, much less decide what is and what is not a legitimate news organization?
Where did political consultantspeople who spend their lives lying to reportersget the moral standing to make pronouncements about journalistic ethics?
When did liberals agree it was OK to use government power to muzzle opinions they dont agree with?
And, most of all, when did the press decide to go along with all of this?
Read the rest of this "Big Fat Story" from The Daily Beast here.
Further reading: The Conservative Media Bias
White House Communications Director Anita Dunn: "Fox News is the research arm of the Republican Party."
Here's a trailer for "Outfoxed," released in 2004. Oh, one more thing: Flipflop.