Hanifah's show was extraordinary tonight. She played to a almost full 300 seat theatre (about 260) full of folks who were genuinely receptive and thoroughly enjoyed the show. Tomorrow we anticipate a completely packed house.
She has revamped sections of the show and it's even better than the DVD version. Who knew that was possible?
Anyway, I'm tired. 'Night!
P.S. - Cute story. We had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory this afternoon. I mentioned to our waiter that he should come check out Hanifah's show. Being modest, Hanifah kinda of protested to my telling him about the show but he had already gone on to ask what type of show it was. She mentioned that it's a one woman show and before she could even mention the venue, he goes: "OH! Black Folks Guide?!" We were like: Yeah! surprised that this white, frat-boy type was even familar. He said he was already planning on catching the show and he said now that he'd met her he'd DEFINITELY make sure he caught the show tonight.
We asked him how he'd heard about it and he said that National Public Radio has been announcing the show practically every hour so...pub on the show is solid and people are responding. In fact, most of the audience was non-African American straight couples. Great group, though, they laughed easily and often and I heard the older man to my right sniffling when Hanifah did her character Louie which is definitely a tear-jerker segment.
At any rate, that's it, just wanted to share our Cheesecake Factory waiter story.
Saturday, February 26, 2005
Friday, February 25, 2005
Simpson's Same Sex Episode/Seattle
Last Sunday, the popular animated series The Simpsons decided to deal with the issue of gay marriage, a bold and courageous move for any entertainment show in this poliical climate. I watched the show in anticipation of how they would deal with the issue and hoped that at the end, the millions of viewers who enjoy The Simpsons would draw a bit of enlightenment.
If you missed the show, let me recap the plot: After being the brunt of Bart and Milhouse's pranks, a tv personality rates Springfield the lowest of any city he's every reviewed on his list of cities to visit. Soon afterwards, tourism to Springfield fizzles and the town is left wondering how to bring the toursits back. At a town meeting, Lisa suggests legalizing gay marriage in an effort to capitalize on a new segment of the marriage market and to also strike a blow for civil rights. The town agrees and pretty soon gay folks are skipping all through Springfield.
When the new arrivals try to get married, Reverand Lovejoy quickly boards up the church, announcing that he refuses to marry any gay folks. Marge tries to engage him in a theological discussion, but he rings the church bell to drown her out.
With no one to marry gay people, Homer decides to get a preaching certificate and build a church in his garage. At $200 a couple, he will soon be able to buy a big screen tv. The gay folks show up in droves to get married and Homer is racking up.
With no more gay people to marry, Homer starts marrying straight folks. Soon after, Patty, Marge's sister, tells Marge she's getting married. When Marge asks the new guy's name, Patty tells her "Veronica". All of a sudden, Marge's liberal pro-gay stance turns into a liimp and she shows her discomfort over her sister's gayness.
Patty decides to introduce the Simpsons to her fiancee, Veronica, but during the meeting Marge keeps making side remarks. Patty finally tells Marge that if she isn't comfortable with this, she shouldn't come to the wedding. Marge then goes to the bathroom and walks in on "Veronica". Noticing the upturned tiolet seat and "Veronica" shaving, Marge realizes "Veronica" is a man. Tickled by this revelation, Marge decides to go to the wedding.
At the wedding, watching her sister profess her love for this imposter, Marge stops the wedding and announces that "Veronica" is a man. "Veronica" admits that it's true and tells Patty he had to pretend to be a woman to get on the PGA tour where they met and he couldn't tell her because he'd already fallen in love with her. He begs her to marry him anyway to which Patty responds: "Hell no, I like girls".
At the end of the episode, during the closing credits, Homer is still performing marriage, but with the gays and straights married, he's now left to marry people to whatever they walk through the door with.
So...I feel the Simpsons played it safe, playing to the beliefs and arguments to people on both sides of the marriage equality issue. The episode included an argument over the Bible and its silence on the gay issue and the religions figure's unwillingness to have a Bible discussion and Marge announcing that "love is love" yet at the same time it re-enforced typical gay stereotypes: gay men skipping through Springfield, typical "butch' women and of course Patty and Veronica had to meet on the PGA tour.
I also need to mention that the episode had a Parental Advisory announcement. "This episode of the Simpsons deals with the issue of same-sex marriage. Parental Advisory is advised."
I've been watching The Simpsons since I was in college. Actually, that's not true, the first time I watched The Simpsons I was so appalled I didn't watch it again for years. I couldn't believe that show: Itchy taking a chain saw to Scratchy, people being shot, child abuse (how many times is Homer going to choke the shit out of Bart?), alcoholism...all this during prime time. I thought The Simpsons were downright obscene. Now I'm older and little desensitized and it doesn't bother me so much, but really shouldn't ever episode of The Simpsons have a parental advisory? Sunday's programming included back to back Simpsons and the second episode concluded with a man being shot down in the street, blood everywhere, no parental advisory in sight.
So, what are we saying? The sight of two men or women holding hands is more traumatizing than seeing a person shot, a cat sawed in half, a man choking his child in every episode? South Park has the same elements and even that has a parental advisory and it comes on at 10PM ON CABLE. Yet The Simpsons are free to broadcast their violence and dysfunction as they see fit.
But I digress...
I don't understand the motivation behind the Parental Advisory disclaimer, I really don't and I at first thought that it had something to do with FCC regulations or the fear that the show would get boycotted or something, but The Simpsons have existed for 12 years without worry of how the show is percceived. It is one of the only shows on television that doesn't taken studio notes or worry about the public's response, it's why it's been successful for so long. Knowing this, I was very disappointed by its decision to give the episode the equivalent of a PG-13 rating.
I also didn't particularly appreciate the end of the episode where Homer was marrying anybody and anyTHING who would walk through his church doors. It gives credence to the argument of: what's next after marriage? What if people want to marry their cars or pets? I thought that was an irresponsible and disrespectful element of the episode. A friend said she thinks they were trying to argue the frivolity of marriage, but I seriously don't see The Simpsons being that evolved.
I guess I should at least pat The Simpsons on the back for making an effort, the episode wasn't all objectionable and now there is at lest one gay characer on the show.
In other news, I am currently in Seattle. Hanifah is performing her show here at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center. She performed last night to a very positive and receptive crowd and she's performing again tonight and tomorrow. We're going to check out the city in a little bit. After the show last night, the theatre's crew took us out to a black-owned (yes, there are black people in Seattle) restaurant called Marjorie's where they gave suggestions on what to check out. We're very close to the Needle so we'll do that and surprisingly they unanimously told us to check out the library - apparently the architecture there is just to absolutely die for.
The weather here is off, they said. They said that L.A. has their weather what with the rain and all, they are surprised to see the sun in February. No, I mean really, really surprised. I'm worried about being cold here, I brought L.A. clothes. Oh well.
If you missed the show, let me recap the plot: After being the brunt of Bart and Milhouse's pranks, a tv personality rates Springfield the lowest of any city he's every reviewed on his list of cities to visit. Soon afterwards, tourism to Springfield fizzles and the town is left wondering how to bring the toursits back. At a town meeting, Lisa suggests legalizing gay marriage in an effort to capitalize on a new segment of the marriage market and to also strike a blow for civil rights. The town agrees and pretty soon gay folks are skipping all through Springfield.
When the new arrivals try to get married, Reverand Lovejoy quickly boards up the church, announcing that he refuses to marry any gay folks. Marge tries to engage him in a theological discussion, but he rings the church bell to drown her out.
With no one to marry gay people, Homer decides to get a preaching certificate and build a church in his garage. At $200 a couple, he will soon be able to buy a big screen tv. The gay folks show up in droves to get married and Homer is racking up.
With no more gay people to marry, Homer starts marrying straight folks. Soon after, Patty, Marge's sister, tells Marge she's getting married. When Marge asks the new guy's name, Patty tells her "Veronica". All of a sudden, Marge's liberal pro-gay stance turns into a liimp and she shows her discomfort over her sister's gayness.
Patty decides to introduce the Simpsons to her fiancee, Veronica, but during the meeting Marge keeps making side remarks. Patty finally tells Marge that if she isn't comfortable with this, she shouldn't come to the wedding. Marge then goes to the bathroom and walks in on "Veronica". Noticing the upturned tiolet seat and "Veronica" shaving, Marge realizes "Veronica" is a man. Tickled by this revelation, Marge decides to go to the wedding.
At the wedding, watching her sister profess her love for this imposter, Marge stops the wedding and announces that "Veronica" is a man. "Veronica" admits that it's true and tells Patty he had to pretend to be a woman to get on the PGA tour where they met and he couldn't tell her because he'd already fallen in love with her. He begs her to marry him anyway to which Patty responds: "Hell no, I like girls".
At the end of the episode, during the closing credits, Homer is still performing marriage, but with the gays and straights married, he's now left to marry people to whatever they walk through the door with.
So...I feel the Simpsons played it safe, playing to the beliefs and arguments to people on both sides of the marriage equality issue. The episode included an argument over the Bible and its silence on the gay issue and the religions figure's unwillingness to have a Bible discussion and Marge announcing that "love is love" yet at the same time it re-enforced typical gay stereotypes: gay men skipping through Springfield, typical "butch' women and of course Patty and Veronica had to meet on the PGA tour.
I also need to mention that the episode had a Parental Advisory announcement. "This episode of the Simpsons deals with the issue of same-sex marriage. Parental Advisory is advised."
I've been watching The Simpsons since I was in college. Actually, that's not true, the first time I watched The Simpsons I was so appalled I didn't watch it again for years. I couldn't believe that show: Itchy taking a chain saw to Scratchy, people being shot, child abuse (how many times is Homer going to choke the shit out of Bart?), alcoholism...all this during prime time. I thought The Simpsons were downright obscene. Now I'm older and little desensitized and it doesn't bother me so much, but really shouldn't ever episode of The Simpsons have a parental advisory? Sunday's programming included back to back Simpsons and the second episode concluded with a man being shot down in the street, blood everywhere, no parental advisory in sight.
So, what are we saying? The sight of two men or women holding hands is more traumatizing than seeing a person shot, a cat sawed in half, a man choking his child in every episode? South Park has the same elements and even that has a parental advisory and it comes on at 10PM ON CABLE. Yet The Simpsons are free to broadcast their violence and dysfunction as they see fit.
But I digress...
I don't understand the motivation behind the Parental Advisory disclaimer, I really don't and I at first thought that it had something to do with FCC regulations or the fear that the show would get boycotted or something, but The Simpsons have existed for 12 years without worry of how the show is percceived. It is one of the only shows on television that doesn't taken studio notes or worry about the public's response, it's why it's been successful for so long. Knowing this, I was very disappointed by its decision to give the episode the equivalent of a PG-13 rating.
I also didn't particularly appreciate the end of the episode where Homer was marrying anybody and anyTHING who would walk through his church doors. It gives credence to the argument of: what's next after marriage? What if people want to marry their cars or pets? I thought that was an irresponsible and disrespectful element of the episode. A friend said she thinks they were trying to argue the frivolity of marriage, but I seriously don't see The Simpsons being that evolved.
I guess I should at least pat The Simpsons on the back for making an effort, the episode wasn't all objectionable and now there is at lest one gay characer on the show.
In other news, I am currently in Seattle. Hanifah is performing her show here at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center. She performed last night to a very positive and receptive crowd and she's performing again tonight and tomorrow. We're going to check out the city in a little bit. After the show last night, the theatre's crew took us out to a black-owned (yes, there are black people in Seattle) restaurant called Marjorie's where they gave suggestions on what to check out. We're very close to the Needle so we'll do that and surprisingly they unanimously told us to check out the library - apparently the architecture there is just to absolutely die for.
The weather here is off, they said. They said that L.A. has their weather what with the rain and all, they are surprised to see the sun in February. No, I mean really, really surprised. I'm worried about being cold here, I brought L.A. clothes. Oh well.
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
*oops*
So, I started typing this post on community support and I lost it in a reboot so I leave you with this until I have time to re-type it....
http://baconwhores.com/
Talk amongst yourselves...
http://baconwhores.com/
Talk amongst yourselves...
Friday, February 11, 2005
Where will you be?
Where will you be, When they come?
Boots are being polished...trumpeters clean their horns
Chains and locks forged...the crusade has begun.
Once again flags of Christ...are unfurled in the dawn
and cries of soul saviors...sing apocalyptic on air waves.
Citizens, good citizens all...parade into voting booths
and in self-righteous sanctity...X away our right to life.
I do not believe as some...that the vote is an end,
I fear even more...it is just a beginning.
So I must make assessment...look to you and ask:
Where will you be...when they come? [...]
Where will we _all be_
when they come?
And they will come-
they will come...because we are defined as opposite...perverse
and we are perverse.
Every time we watched...a queer hassled in the
street and said nothing...it was an act of perversion.
Every time we lied about...the boyfriend or girlfriend
at coffee break...it was an act of perversion. [...]
Every time we let straight relatives...bury our dead and push our
lovers away...it was an act of perversion.
And they will come.
They will come for...the perverts
& it won't matter...if you're
homosexual, not a faggot
lesbian, not a dyke
gay, not queer [...]
They will come...they will come
to the cities...and to the land
to your front rooms...and in _your_ closets.
They will come for...the perverts
and where will...you be
When they come?
by Pat Parker
Boots are being polished...trumpeters clean their horns
Chains and locks forged...the crusade has begun.
Once again flags of Christ...are unfurled in the dawn
and cries of soul saviors...sing apocalyptic on air waves.
Citizens, good citizens all...parade into voting booths
and in self-righteous sanctity...X away our right to life.
I do not believe as some...that the vote is an end,
I fear even more...it is just a beginning.
So I must make assessment...look to you and ask:
Where will you be...when they come? [...]
Where will we _all be_
when they come?
And they will come-
they will come...because we are defined as opposite...perverse
and we are perverse.
Every time we watched...a queer hassled in the
street and said nothing...it was an act of perversion.
Every time we lied about...the boyfriend or girlfriend
at coffee break...it was an act of perversion. [...]
Every time we let straight relatives...bury our dead and push our
lovers away...it was an act of perversion.
And they will come.
They will come for...the perverts
& it won't matter...if you're
homosexual, not a faggot
lesbian, not a dyke
gay, not queer [...]
They will come...they will come
to the cities...and to the land
to your front rooms...and in _your_ closets.
They will come for...the perverts
and where will...you be
When they come?
by Pat Parker
Monday, February 07, 2005
Cottenelle
Why does my tiolet paper have a website?
Why did I find that so hilarious I actually went to it?
That is all.
Why did I find that so hilarious I actually went to it?
That is all.
Friday, February 04, 2005
Hoodwinked
Last week, the black clergy was being wooed by the white conservatives on the issue of gay marriage. The story was covered by all major media including the L.A. Times.
I am so enraged over this I just can't see straight (no pun intended).
I am not only outraged over the complete waste of energy these "holy" men are putting forth to deny me and my counterparts the same quality of life they enjoy, but at the ignorance they are showing towards what I consider nothing more than a hoodwink.
Where were the white conservatives when black people started dying from AIDS? When the reports showed that black men and women were dying at disproportionate rate than White folks? Where were the white conservatives when our children didn't have books for school? during the riots? Where was their rhetoric in the fight to keep King-Drew open? Where are they when black boys are beaten by cops?
They are silent and oblivious because none of those issues are part of their political agenda.
I am stunned that the black clergy is shaking hands with the very men who most likely wouldn't let their black asses in their yacht club.
And what hurts me the most is that the black clergy is reaching a hand out to a stranger instead of embracing me because I am a lesbian. I am your sister, black clergy. I am the product of the same double-dutch, Al Green, Aretha Franklin black history you are. I am from the same Free Nelson Mandela, Fight the Power, No Justice, no Peace fight you fought in.
And yet you treat me like a stepchild.
The cornerstone of the black community has always been the church and white conservatives know this. They are using the black clergy to divide the black community and if you don't see that, you're just not paying attention. It's funny how money changes everything. How much "faith-based incentives" is your community worth, black clergy?
White conservatives told you there weren't a million men at the Million Man March, they told you affirmative action wasn't necessary and now you shake hands with them because they're writing you a check.
Somebody call Xzibit, he's got a new gig on "Pimp My Pastor".
I am so enraged over this I just can't see straight (no pun intended).
I am not only outraged over the complete waste of energy these "holy" men are putting forth to deny me and my counterparts the same quality of life they enjoy, but at the ignorance they are showing towards what I consider nothing more than a hoodwink.
Where were the white conservatives when black people started dying from AIDS? When the reports showed that black men and women were dying at disproportionate rate than White folks? Where were the white conservatives when our children didn't have books for school? during the riots? Where was their rhetoric in the fight to keep King-Drew open? Where are they when black boys are beaten by cops?
They are silent and oblivious because none of those issues are part of their political agenda.
I am stunned that the black clergy is shaking hands with the very men who most likely wouldn't let their black asses in their yacht club.
And what hurts me the most is that the black clergy is reaching a hand out to a stranger instead of embracing me because I am a lesbian. I am your sister, black clergy. I am the product of the same double-dutch, Al Green, Aretha Franklin black history you are. I am from the same Free Nelson Mandela, Fight the Power, No Justice, no Peace fight you fought in.
And yet you treat me like a stepchild.
The cornerstone of the black community has always been the church and white conservatives know this. They are using the black clergy to divide the black community and if you don't see that, you're just not paying attention. It's funny how money changes everything. How much "faith-based incentives" is your community worth, black clergy?
White conservatives told you there weren't a million men at the Million Man March, they told you affirmative action wasn't necessary and now you shake hands with them because they're writing you a check.
Somebody call Xzibit, he's got a new gig on "Pimp My Pastor".
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
I see two girls kissing...
The following email was sent out by Lisa Cox, promoter extraordinaire for
Girls In The Night. My response is beneath her email.
On Tue, 1 Feb 2005 22:47:55 EST , GINAGP69@aol.com sent:
I need to know if I'm the only one that is really puzzled and perplexed about all
the Lesbian Characters, and Love Scenes that are popping up all over Network and Cable TV?
My mentor, would tell me to stay neutral like a good promoter, she's a journalist and has
learned very valuable lessons about being too opinionated, ...but if you ladies know me at
all, and even if you don't, you will learn that I really don't care
what the rest of the world thinks, but I value your opinions,
I know I can keep it real with you, and trust that you will keep my ass
in check if I publish or produce anything that is
not a positive reflection of our community.
(Now that I made my public service announcement, and attempt at being politically correct
let me tell you how I really feel)
Lyric, Tai Boogie, CC Carter, maybe you ladies can help me, I have always been enlightened by
your insight, and I am truly puzzled. Because I'm really irritated, I don't know if I am just being
radical, or really have a legitimate concern about the mixed message this programming is
creating in our community. I think this programming gives those of us that don't know any
better a false sense of acceptance.
Every other television program has a Lesbian character, or two women kissing much
to the delight of High School, College boys, Frat Brothers, Drunken Men in Bars, and Even
Desperate Housewife's! There's lesbian interaction all over prime time television,
and really steamy stuff! Every other rap video has women making out???????
I'm on the computer about 18 hours a day for my real job, and the TV is usually watching me,
I just like the noise, however lately every time I look
up there are girls making noise. Why?
Isn't this the same country that just denied us the right to marry, the right to same sex
health benefits? Didn't the Equal rights amendment just get overturned in the state of Georgia,
didn't they just tell us we couldn't adopt children ?????
O.K. I get it...it's o.k. if we are Lesbians as long as it's entertaining? Like Spike Lee's Movie
"She Hate Me", Spike really has a fascination with Lesbians, and that movie is pure fantasy!
20 beautiful Lesbian women, paying 10,000 each to have sex with one man, and loving it???
Yeah right! They were watching it in my Barbershop today, which is usually extremely noisy,
it was My Barber and I, (The best female Barber in the World, Miriam at Finishing Touch) and
about 20 guys were watching Mr. Lee's masterpiece, you could hear a pin drop in that joint today!!
Maybe I'm being too radical, maybe you Ladies 18 to 25 can make me understand,
have things really changed that much, that's it's just kewl to be a Lesbian? Or are your
heterosexual friends, neighbors, and relatives just completely understanding and accepting
about your sexuality and lifestyle?
The L word premieres next week, and I know we are all waiting on a show
that really portrays our lifestyle in a positive light, I love the L word, and
I will be in front of the Television or at the Red Chair for the season premiere,
but it irritates me a little because why is the only African American Character
(Pam Grier), a recovering junkie, who may be bisexual? I'd really like to see
a positive beautiful portrayal of a woman of color, Asian, Latin, African American
what ever. Why won't they cast the L word with a Poet like Tai Freedom Ford or CC Carter,
a community activist like Lyric, a writer like Robyn Goines who heads up the gay youth program,
or even a sexy Bad Girl like OOHZEE,...Why?
Am I irritated for NO reason? What do you think?
I would have normally been able to post this on our message board, and was going
to wait until the new site was launched next month, but the T.V. was watching me
again tonight, and the chick on Law and Order just proclaimed she's a Lesbian !!!!!!
What?! A lesbian on Law&Order? I missed that and damn I love that show.
At any rate, I was watching VH1's "Best Week Ever" last week they proclaimed that "gay is out" due to the fact that Will&Grace and Queer Eye's ratings are dropping. They decided that the metrosexuals have been made over and are taking over the world so they no longer need gay folks to show them how it's done, but they were definitely talking about the men because I agree with you that lesbianism is the new black.
I think the discrepency between how accepting television is towards gayness and how the red states voted is due to how liberal the media is. The entertainment industry is run by gay folks, mostly men, and I think their inclusion of more and more gay characters is a direct response to the denial of gay rights.
I used to work for Spike Lee and I wanted to reach out to him and tell him he was on some straight bullshit with "She Hate Me". I never saw it because the premise of the movie disturbed me and the fact that he had a lesbian consultant on the movie disturbed me even more. Somebody needs to check that sistah, too, 'cause a paycheck is a paycheck but selling out your sistahs is something else. I forgot her name, but I'll find out.
All in all, I'm not so sure that more gay women characters on television is a bad thing. The red states voted against us because they didn't see us as people, they saw us as faceless deviants. I've been talking to some other social activists about this and I told them I want to have a Day of Recognition where gay folks everywhere wear some self-identifying article of clothing for an entire weekend so when people are out shopping, at the bank, pumping their gas or whatever,they see the faces of the people affected by the denial of marriage equality. I think if we'd done that before the voting, Joe Schmo would have gone into the voting booth with a clear view of who his vote was affecting and while I don't know if it would have changed anything, I'd like to think so.
So basically I'm all for more lesbians on television so long as it's done in a positive light (even though, keep it real, not everything going on in our community is positive). I can't deny that a lot of instances of lesbianism are nothing more than straight men's fantasy, but the other instances are gay Hollywood's strike back against the red states and an attempt to give a face, albeit fictional, to a sometimes faceless community.
Marquita
Girls In The Night. My response is beneath her email.
On Tue, 1 Feb 2005 22:47:55 EST , GINAGP69@aol.com sent:
I need to know if I'm the only one that is really puzzled and perplexed about all
the Lesbian Characters, and Love Scenes that are popping up all over Network and Cable TV?
My mentor, would tell me to stay neutral like a good promoter, she's a journalist and has
learned very valuable lessons about being too opinionated, ...but if you ladies know me at
all, and even if you don't, you will learn that I really don't care
what the rest of the world thinks, but I value your opinions,
I know I can keep it real with you, and trust that you will keep my ass
in check if I publish or produce anything that is
not a positive reflection of our community.
(Now that I made my public service announcement, and attempt at being politically correct
let me tell you how I really feel)
Lyric, Tai Boogie, CC Carter, maybe you ladies can help me, I have always been enlightened by
your insight, and I am truly puzzled. Because I'm really irritated, I don't know if I am just being
radical, or really have a legitimate concern about the mixed message this programming is
creating in our community. I think this programming gives those of us that don't know any
better a false sense of acceptance.
Every other television program has a Lesbian character, or two women kissing much
to the delight of High School, College boys, Frat Brothers, Drunken Men in Bars, and Even
Desperate Housewife's! There's lesbian interaction all over prime time television,
and really steamy stuff! Every other rap video has women making out???????
I'm on the computer about 18 hours a day for my real job, and the TV is usually watching me,
I just like the noise, however lately every time I look
up there are girls making noise. Why?
Isn't this the same country that just denied us the right to marry, the right to same sex
health benefits? Didn't the Equal rights amendment just get overturned in the state of Georgia,
didn't they just tell us we couldn't adopt children ?????
O.K. I get it...it's o.k. if we are Lesbians as long as it's entertaining? Like Spike Lee's Movie
"She Hate Me", Spike really has a fascination with Lesbians, and that movie is pure fantasy!
20 beautiful Lesbian women, paying 10,000 each to have sex with one man, and loving it???
Yeah right! They were watching it in my Barbershop today, which is usually extremely noisy,
it was My Barber and I, (The best female Barber in the World, Miriam at Finishing Touch) and
about 20 guys were watching Mr. Lee's masterpiece, you could hear a pin drop in that joint today!!
Maybe I'm being too radical, maybe you Ladies 18 to 25 can make me understand,
have things really changed that much, that's it's just kewl to be a Lesbian? Or are your
heterosexual friends, neighbors, and relatives just completely understanding and accepting
about your sexuality and lifestyle?
The L word premieres next week, and I know we are all waiting on a show
that really portrays our lifestyle in a positive light, I love the L word, and
I will be in front of the Television or at the Red Chair for the season premiere,
but it irritates me a little because why is the only African American Character
(Pam Grier), a recovering junkie, who may be bisexual? I'd really like to see
a positive beautiful portrayal of a woman of color, Asian, Latin, African American
what ever. Why won't they cast the L word with a Poet like Tai Freedom Ford or CC Carter,
a community activist like Lyric, a writer like Robyn Goines who heads up the gay youth program,
or even a sexy Bad Girl like OOHZEE,...Why?
Am I irritated for NO reason? What do you think?
I would have normally been able to post this on our message board, and was going
to wait until the new site was launched next month, but the T.V. was watching me
again tonight, and the chick on Law and Order just proclaimed she's a Lesbian !!!!!!
What?! A lesbian on Law&Order? I missed that and damn I love that show.
At any rate, I was watching VH1's "Best Week Ever" last week they proclaimed that "gay is out" due to the fact that Will&Grace and Queer Eye's ratings are dropping. They decided that the metrosexuals have been made over and are taking over the world so they no longer need gay folks to show them how it's done, but they were definitely talking about the men because I agree with you that lesbianism is the new black.
I think the discrepency between how accepting television is towards gayness and how the red states voted is due to how liberal the media is. The entertainment industry is run by gay folks, mostly men, and I think their inclusion of more and more gay characters is a direct response to the denial of gay rights.
I used to work for Spike Lee and I wanted to reach out to him and tell him he was on some straight bullshit with "She Hate Me". I never saw it because the premise of the movie disturbed me and the fact that he had a lesbian consultant on the movie disturbed me even more. Somebody needs to check that sistah, too, 'cause a paycheck is a paycheck but selling out your sistahs is something else. I forgot her name, but I'll find out.
All in all, I'm not so sure that more gay women characters on television is a bad thing. The red states voted against us because they didn't see us as people, they saw us as faceless deviants. I've been talking to some other social activists about this and I told them I want to have a Day of Recognition where gay folks everywhere wear some self-identifying article of clothing for an entire weekend so when people are out shopping, at the bank, pumping their gas or whatever,they see the faces of the people affected by the denial of marriage equality. I think if we'd done that before the voting, Joe Schmo would have gone into the voting booth with a clear view of who his vote was affecting and while I don't know if it would have changed anything, I'd like to think so.
So basically I'm all for more lesbians on television so long as it's done in a positive light (even though, keep it real, not everything going on in our community is positive). I can't deny that a lot of instances of lesbianism are nothing more than straight men's fantasy, but the other instances are gay Hollywood's strike back against the red states and an attempt to give a face, albeit fictional, to a sometimes faceless community.
Marquita
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