At 15-years old, Coco Gauff is the youngest pro-tennis player to beat a reigning title holder at a Grand Slam tournament since 1991 and is the youngest to reach the last 16 at the Australian Open since Martina Hingis in 1996, according to ABC.
They say that “a dog who brings a bone will carry a bone.”
Amy Ziering and Kirby Dick unveiled their highly-anticipated and equally controversial documentary On The Record at Sundance and the crowd that gave it two standing ovations didn’t seem to mind that Oprah Winfrey pulled out of the project weeks before its debut.
The first film to dive into the numerous allegations of sexual assault against music mogul Russell Simmons lost its backing from Winfrey and its distribution deal with Apple+ on January 10 when Winfrey revealed she didn’t think it was ready. Producers persisted despite the highly-publicized fall out that threatened to call its credibility into question before anyone ever laid eyes on it.
‘I cannot be silenced by a Russell Simmons’: Oprah explains REAL reason she backed out of #MeToo doc
The documentary isn’t just about Russell Simmons and the numerous accusations against him but also highlights the troubling position Black women find themselves in when it comes to the #MeToo movement. Through several interviews from accusers, industry insiders, editors and #MeToo founder, Tarana Burke we see that the rules that have governed the movement don’t always apply to Black women.
Aside from enduring the trauma of the assaults, we’re forced to reckon with the damage done to the culture when a successful Black man is taken down. The film points out the ways Black women have put the protection of the Black man and the culture in front of their own needs for centuries and how that innate desire to hold up our men contributes to them getting away with atrocities against us.
On The Record also indicts a system that doesn’t believe Black women the way they believe white accusers. No one listens when a Black woman says no and no one listens when a Black woman says she was raped. Why and how that trend persists is traced back to slavery in one particularly poignant moment, but the film seems to go an inch deep and a mile wide with many of its assertions.
The same goes for the stories we get from Simmons’ accusers. There are certainly enough cringe-worthy details shared from the likes of former Def Jam exec Sil-Lai Abrams, Mercedes Ladies member Sherri Hines, and others to conclude that Simmons is a serial offender, but their stories seem rushed, their appearances limited, and the details scarce. It’s easy to understand why Oprah Winfrey felt the film wasn’t ready.
It’s strong, but not as strong as it could be. Perhaps not as strong as it needs to be to chip away at the rampant subjugation of women in the music industry. There could have been more. More women, more details, more examples of who covered this up and how. Also missing are the voices of men who undoubtedly witnessed, participated, or supported this toxic culture. In the 90-minute flick, we only hear from two men and I can’t help but wonder why the filmmakers felt the need to confine this very layered story into such a tight package. Why not make it a series a la Surviving R. Kelly?
Russell Simmons and 50 Cent accuse Oprah of bashing Black men in sexual misconduct documentary
We watch as Drew Dixon, a former A&R executive at Def Jam Recordings who accused Russell Simmons of numerous aggressions ranging from exposing himself to full-blown rape, wrestles with coming forward ahead of her 2017 New York Times interview. The Stanford graduate chronicles her rise to the top of the music game and how much she respected and admired Simmons as a mentor who believed in her talents. We hear how she endured so much and let so many wrongs slide for the greater good of the culture and her career, and we see the havoc her decision to share her experiences with Simmons has wreaked on her life.
On The Record is an important step in the right direction when it comes to giving voices to Black women. For many, it will illuminate just how deep these issues go and how race plays a part in our reluctance to come forward against our tormentors. It also barely scratches the surface when it comes to demanding justice and changing a long-established system of oppression.
The post SUNDANCE 2020: Russell Simmons accusers go ‘On The Record’ in controversial doc appeared first on TheGrio.
Good news for HBCU’s comes as Howard University receives its largest donation in the college’s 153-year history.
Justin Simien premiered his sophomore feature film Bad Hair on opening night at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival to a packed house at midnight.
The star-studded follow up to his first feature film, Dear White People, is another example of the director’s knack for satire and social commentary, but this time it was Black women, (or more specifically, the mainstream pressure for them to assimilate to mainstream beauty standards) that he put on blast.
5 reasons we know Sundance 2020 will be lit AF: Kerry Washington, Issa Rae, Lena Waithe to take over
In a film that features Lena Waithe, Vanessa Williams, Kelly Rowland, Robin Thede, Ashley Blaine Featherson, Laverne Cox, Blair Underwood, Jay Pharoah and MC Lyte, among others; there are plenty of hilarious moments and poignant points made about the way society has brainwashed Black women into believing their natural hair is a problem to be corrected at any cost.
The film’s breakout star, Elle Lorraine, is certainly a bright spot and her performance proves she’s poised to make a major mark in Hollywood. Her starring role as Anna Bludso, an ambitious young woman is pressured into getting a weave in order to succeed in 1989’s image-obsessed world of music television, serves as the foundation of the film that highlights how Black women have been forced to assimilate if they want to make it.
Culture is the fledgling music network where she has worked tirelessly for four years, making little progress toward her dream of becoming an on-air personality despite her hard work and groundbreaking ideas. When the network undergoes an overhaul mandated by the new boss Zora ( Vanessa Williams) it’s clear that the folks who don’t look the part will be terminated. The network’s authentic approach to highlighting Black culture wasn’t working, and Zora, with her straight hair, light skin, and lighter eyes, is the prototype of the look the employees should aim for. She and the rising pop star Sandra (played by Kelly Rowland) are setting the tone for what Black women should look like.
Anna is reluctant to fall in line thanks to a horrifying at-home relaxer she endured as a child left her mentally and physically scarred for life. Still, she wants to make her dreams a reality and that means forking over money she doesn’t have to get a weave from the renowned stylist Virgie (Laverne Cox).
While the rest of the film is peppered with full-blown horror sequences like people running through dark hallways and having their blood sucked out; the most horrifying moments of the movie happen when Anna is getting her first weave. Several squirm-inducing moments of watching those cornrows getting pulled so tight it breaks the skin, and the dreaded curved needle moving through the scalp as the weave is sewn in is a reminder of the pain we endure to feel good enough.
From there, we get into the ridiculous consequences and learn that this blood-thirsty weave will kill anyone in its path. At first, the weave is a bit of a vigilante, murdering Anna’s landlord who recently raped her in her apartment. Later, it sets its sights on anyone who gets in its way, including Anna.
Although this story is thoroughly entertaining it does get a little messy and when compared to the work of Jordan Peele (whose inspiration seems to be all over this project) Bad Hair falls a bit short. Still, it’s an innovative approach to demonstrating the horrors of what it means to be a Black woman in America and the price we all pay to play a game that is inevitably rigged against us.
The post SUNDANCE 2020: Justin Simien’s ‘Bad Hair’ is a wild, hair-raising horror flick appeared first on TheGrio.
