Well, the bomb dropped in Detroit last Tuesday. It's a bit anti-climactic, given that our first black president has taken out the terrorist with just one different letter in his name. (Wasn't FOX News was so happy that Osama had been killed?--until they realized they weren't hitting the "B" key on the computer.)
The Mitten Movie Festival is a monthly gathering of indie shorts, held in pleasant, affluent Royal Oak, Michigan. It actually had been held for some months in Detroit proper--the ACTUAL scary city that seemingly only black drug dealers and hip white artists seem to thrive in.
Unfortunately, the Detroit venue has been closed due to a rent dispute.
And wouldn't you know--the last time the Mitten was held at that Detroit venue, a racial issue broke out? I will post the details of it elsewhere. Suffice it to say, it's not pretty when a black boy cries "White Wolf!" when the white wolf has honestly been trying to help him out.
But I've digressed. The response to the MY AMERICA trailer was muted...I don't think they knew what they were getting...but they did laugh at the "tea-bagging WAY before Glenn Beck" line--which just goes to show that gay panic jokes play everywhere from Pawtucket to Peoria.
I decided to go with the "Joe Bellamy Going Crazy" trailer rather than the "Honest White Racist" trailer--because 1) I wanted to get something shown without being censored and 2) you have to ease into tough territory. I think Joe's monologue in fact gets to the heart of the movie much better (or much quicker) than the rant captured from the "90% of blacks are ruining it for the rest." There's very little context in the rant trailer, and I want people to give MY AMERICA a chance, rather than dismiss it outright.
The audience was polite. Mostly white. We didn't have time for Q & A that night but I hope everyone left a little disturbed and a little more thoughtful.
You know what I'd like? I'd love for a white audience and a black audience to watch the film in separate rooms and then come together afterward to compare notes. That would be a hell of a science experiment. Anyone interested in funding that?
Peace!
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