Merry Christmas everyone!!! Until next year!!🎄🎅🤶
Retro Gurl
Remembering all things retro because today's entertainment is pure bs!!
Monday, December 25, 2023
Saturday, March 25, 2023
Coming to America and Colorism in Hollywood!!
(www.imdb.com)
Hello everyone!! How's the year treating you so far? I can't believe it's March already. Black History Month may be over but I still have to post about a classic movie which stood the test of time and that is Coming to America! To me, it's one of those movies that put black people in a more positive light, instead of the usual slave and struggle movies concerning black people. It is one of the highest box office hits worldwide and it's still a gem till this day. It goes to show that romance comedy with black people can still be successful!! While it was a good film, I've noticed a lot of colourism, especially among the female casts. I'll get to that later.
Coming to America, is a romantic comedy based on an African prince Akeem (Eddie Murphy), who is from a fictional African country, Zamunda. Determined to escape an arranged marriage, Akeem and his best friend, Semmi (Arsenio Hall), traveled to the United States, Queens, New York to be exact, to find his bride. The prince and his friend have to hide their identities pretending to be poor international students, plus you don't really want to get robbed especially in those days. Along the way, they met a various group of zany characters but he finally got his bride, Lisa McDowell and they lived happily ever after, after a few hiccups along the way. The movie has a famous cast, which includes Eddie Murphy as Prince Akeem, James Earl Jones as King Joffer, the late Madge Sinclair as Queen Aoleon, John Amos as Cleo Mcdowell and Shari Headley as Akeem's girlfriend and future wife, Lisa McDowell. Erik La Salle, Vanessa Bell, Louise Anderson, and Samuel L. Jackson also starred in the movie.
www.hollywoodreporter.com
Coming to America, was directed by John Landis and the story line was created by Eddie Murphy. Eddie and John worked together in another hilarious movie Trading Places, so it was natural that they worked together in Coming to America. Even though they bumped heads during filming, they managed to create a box-office hit and they collaborated again in another hit Beverly Hills Cop III, (Wikipedia). The movie was released on June 29, 1988 and it became a national and international hit!! The film made almost made $29, 000,000 in 5 days, $128, 152, 301 in the United States and worldwide, total $288,752, 301. It was third highest earning film and third highest grossing film that year (Wikipedia). Reviews were mixed but nonetheless, it became one of the highest grossing films and even a classic. See, black comedies can do very well with mainstream audiences. There was even a real restaurant in L.A called McDowells a few years ago in tribute to the movie.
Now onto a serious issue that have been plaguing the movie and the entertainment industry as a whole; colourism. Even though I enjoyed the film and had a good laugh, I've noticed something really interesting in the movie. Dark-skinned female characters in the film are portrayed as either comical, idiotic or promiscuous while the light-skinned female characters are portrayed as feminine and more worthy women. For example, Vanessa Bell's character Imani Izzi, Prince Akeem's former bride to be as simple minded, only raised to serve the prince. Lisa McDowell's dark-skinned sister, Patrice (Allison Dean) is portrayed as the promiscuous younger sister, as we say in Trinidad, jumping from man to man, e.g Semmi and Eric La Salle's Darryl Jenks with those damn jherri curls. Meanwhile, Shari Headley's character, a light-skinned Lisa McDowell is portrayed as a strong, compassionate and feminine woman. I would add though, that Queen Aoleon, played by Madge Sinclair (RIP), was dark-skinned yet a regal woman.
Still, colorism plays a major role in Hollyweird and I already posted this in my previous post. And it's also sad that some black directors are also caught in this trend. A You-tuber mentioned this in her channel, where dark-skinned black women are often portrayed as downtrodden, slaves and recently the stereotypical strong black woman warrior as in The Woman King, starring Viola Davis. Meanwhile, light skinned black women are portrayed as feminine as in the upcoming controversial Disney movie, The Little Mermaid, starring Halle Bailey. Thank goodness for shows like Issa Rae's Insecure and Girlfriends where dark-skinned black women are portrayed as feminine and they are allowed to be vulnerable and complex. I also started to look at more African movies and shows where dark-skinned people are portrayed in a positive light. I just wished that Hollywood would get it together but that's wishful thinking.
Monday, February 21, 2022
Living it Single!!
(www.amazon.com)
Sunday, February 20, 2022
Thank You for Being A Friend!!
(www.inmagazine.ca)
Happy New Year, everyone!! I know the month is almost over but it's not too late to mention that. It's been awhile, but the real world has taken over my life lately and I mean employment. Since the passing of Betty White last year, I figured that I can pay homage to her and the other ladies who made the show, The Golden Girls, iconic and timeless that every generation can enjoy.
The Golden Girls, created by writer, Susan Harris, aired on NBC from September 14, 1985 to May 9, 1992, spanning to seven seasons in total. Lead by iconic actresses, Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle, the show centers around four elderly women, sharing a home in Miami Florida. In the plot, the widowed owner of the house, Blanche Devereaux placed an ad in a grocery and three other women, fellow widow, Rose Nylund, divorcee Dorothy Zbornak and her widowed mother, Sophia Petrillo, after the retirement home was burned down (Wikipedia).
Golden Girls was so successful that it won several awards, including Primetime Emmy Award and three Golden Globe Awards. Even the actresses received Emmy Awards and it is the only show to achieve this feat (Wikipedia). The cast have various characteristics among themselves yet they seem to balance the show. Dorothy Zbornak, (Beatrice Arthur), a sarcastic and realistic character has to put up with naive Rose Nylund (Betty White), the ever romantic (and a bit thirsty) southern belle, Blanche Devereaux, (Rue McClanahan) and Dorothy's witty mother, Sophia Petrillo, (Estelle Getty).
Golden Girls is also a boost to the actresses' careers especially Estelle Getty whose stardom started pretty late in her age but as they say age is just a number. Sadly, all the actresses passed away with Betty White (Rose) being the last member, who passed away at 99. RIP to all the actresses who made the show a success and now all the Golden Girls are together again. Thank you for all the funny and fond memories ladies.
Thursday, July 29, 2021
He-man!!
( www.scroll.in.com)
He-man and The Masters of The Universe!!! One of my favorite cartoons in the 80s, He-man stood the test of time, becoming a classic and even inspired new cartoons of He-man, even a movie and now we have a controversial show, Masters of The Universe: Revelation, which had a lot of fans triggered. I have seen the new show on Netflix and I'm gonna give my review later in this point. Warning, spoilers ahead. But before we do that, let's go back in time as to why this show is so special.
He-man and The Masters of The Universe, is located on a planet of Eternia, where magic and technology coexist peacefully for the most part. He-man and his friends, Man-at-Arms (Duncan), Teela, Orko and the Sorceress among others, help defend Eternia from the villainous Skeletor and his allies, Beastman, Evil-lyn and Trapjaw from gaining control of the planet and learning the secrets of Castle Gray-skull. Speaking of secrets, He-man's alter ego is Prince Adam who only shares his secret with Duncan, Orko and the Sorceress. King Randor and Teela have no idea about Prince Adam's secret identity and they were both condescending and disappointed in Adam at times, especially King Randor, who wishes that his son Adam was more brave and courageous as He-man, not realizing that He-man and Adam is the same person. However, Adam's mother Queen Marlena may know Adam's secret as it was hinted in an episode, The Rainbow Warrior.
Ah the 80s, where consumerism was taking off. And what I mean by that is the manufacturing, promoting and buying toys. Fast fashion today had nothing on toy manufacturing, Mother Earth be damned! He-man like other cartoons, started out as toys, so why not make cartoons and promote the toys at the same time? Marketing genius! The He-man action figure was released by Mattel in 1982 and the creation of the cartoon series followed thanks to Filmation. He-man and The Masters of The Universe became syndicated in September 1983, making it the first syndicated cartoon show based on a toy line (Wikipedia). The show has become so successful that it began to show worldwide, even in Trinidad and Tobago!! Compared to the comics of the toys, the show was not allowed to promote violence, including sword fighting which was rather strange to me. What's the sense of having a sword if you can't use it to fight and defend yourself? He-man's spinoff series, She-ra: Princess of Power, (no, not that travesty) suffered the same fate as sword violence was not allowed as well.
Lack of violence aside, the series is pretty good and there were some standout episodes such as, Teela's Quest, House of Shokoti pt. 1 &2, The Origins of The Sorceress, The Problem with Power where someone died (supposedly) in the episode and the aforementioned The Rainbow Warrior. Each episode also has morals at the end of an episode which actually makes sense in the real world. The show was eventually cancelled and its sister show She-ra: Princess of Power to appeal to young girls. Not to mention the pretty She-ra dolls for girls to play with. Again, marketing for kids.
(www.knowyourmeme.com)
(www.imdb.com)
He-man and even She-ra has been cemented in pop culture of the 80s and beyond so much so, there were many reboots of the cartoons. Shows such as futuristic The New Adventures of He-man in the 90s, the 2000s He-man and even a movie and cult favorite Masters of The Universe was created. She-ra on the other hand was rebooted only once and sadly it wasn't all that. I highly recommend watching the Netflix documentary, Power of Grayskull for more history of the show. Speaking of Netflix, it's time for my review of the new He-man series, Masters of The Universe: Revelation.
(www.screenrant.com)
After all that bacchanal with the all those fans who basically bombed the show (I bet some of them didn't bother to watch it to begin with), I've decided to watch all 5 episodes and honestly, it wasn't even that bad. Unlike that mess called She-ra and The Princesses of Power, Masters of The Universe: Revelation by Kevin Smith, is a continuation of the original series, instead of completely changing the whole premise of a series, which is something that I can appreciate.
(www.screenrant.com)
It's start with usual, He-man and his friends battle to defend Eternia from Skeletor and his goons. Teela gets promoted to Man-at Arms (or is it Woman-at-Arms) and Duncan is ready for retirement. The Sorceress asks for help from the heroes and they show up to stop Skeletor from invading Castle Grayskull. Well drama really started where He-man had to save Castle Grayskull from Skeletor and to do so, he had to split the sword in half, eliminating himself and Skeletor but not before turning back to Adam. Teela was shocked and even pissed at her father Duncan and Cringer for keeping Adam's identity a secret. Even King Randor was pissed and banish Duncan from kingdom and threatens to execute him if he returns. I wasn't expecting all of this bacchanal already and the show barely started. Teela went into self-exile, shaves her hair and befriended Audra and they both went on many adventures and I'll stop there. Please check out the show, it's really good. I really appreciate classic characters such as Clamp Champ, Stinkor, Scareglow and Roboto were added to the show. Also the animation is gorgeous and if you think that it looks familiar, it was done by Powerhouse Animation, who also created Castlevania and Blood of Zeus. With that being said, here are my critiques.
Teela is mad annoying in the show. I understand that she was upset that Duncan and Adam kept the secret from her but I really think she was being irrational. So was King Randor. After all, they were always disappointed in Adam so I'm not surprised that he would keep it a secret. The transformation to He-man, reminds me too much of Sailor Moon. Evil-lyn's voice was too soft for my liking. I missed the harsh and powerful voice of Evil-lyn in the original, voiced by the late great Linda Gary. I'm going to ruffle some feathers but I really don't think it's necessary to change King Graskulls' race even though he is fine as hell. I find that they should have kept King Grayskull as is and create a black warrior-king. I mean they added the token black friend, Audra as Teela's best friend, so why not do the same with King Grayskull? Also, Teela's voice actor, Sarah Michelle Gellar was a mismatch in my opinion. Other than that, the show was pretty good. I'm praying that Mr. Smith and crew will not make Teela a new He-man. Please don't! She was supposed to be a new Sorceress as it was stated in the original episode, Teela's Quest. I guess we'll have to wait and see in season 2.
I really think the reasons that the fans were upset were false advertising and a female lead. I really understand the false advertising part. In the preview, He-man was large and center, and with his friends, ready to defend Castle Grayskull! The part that Adam died made fans, extremely upset! How dare they kill off Adam? Maybe if they added that part to the preview, the fans wouldn't be as upset, at least be transparent about it. Teela, being the lead character really triggered some fans, accusing Kevin Smith of creating a too woke show. Mr. Smith naturally told them to grow the fudge up! Other than the advertising part, I really don't think that it's a big deal to be so triggered. Don't these so-call fans realize that female characters play a major role in the He-man franchise? Well hopefully, season 2 will be better, once everyone calmed down.
He-man will always be a classic! No matter, how times it has been rebooted, He-man and The Masters of The Universe, is one of the cartoons that stood the test of time and thank you Filmation for making such a gem. Until next time, By the Power of Grayskull!!
Monday, June 14, 2021
Has BET Gone Through?
(www.nexttv.com)
Hello my lovelies, it's been awhile. I've moved to a new place recently, so it took me awhile to get adjusted, including all the packing and stuff. I've also decided not to get cable because it's too expensive and frankly, it's overrated. Especially when you got so much streaming services (now getting very crowded) to choose from. Speaking of cable, there's one cable station which has major importance in the black community and that's BET. However, over the years it has become less relevant to black viewers and I'm wondering if BET is losing its steam and concerns about its relevance in these times.
To understand why BET is the way it is now, we have to go back in time in its creation. BET was created by Robert Johnson, who wanted to launch a cable network for black audiences. He received a $15,000 loan and $500,000 investment from John Malone, an investor. This new network, named Black Entertainment Television was launched on January 25th, 1980 and the famous logo was created by Cheryl D. Miller. It didn't start as its own network per se, it was broadcasted for 2 hours a week on USA Network, which was called Madison Square Garden Sports Network back then. BET's lineup at that time consisted of music videos and black sitcoms re-runs. BET became so popular with its audiences that it became its own cable station in 1983 (Wikipedia).
Trying to add variety in the network, BET added BET News starring Ed Gordon in 1988. BET's talk show BET Tonight debuted in 1996 with Tavis Smiley as host and in 2001 Ed Gordon replaced him as host. It also created other networks such as BET on Jazz (BET J) and BET Her. I didn't even know that BET was in the New York Stock Exchange in 1991! Sadly, in 2001, BET is no longer black owned and it was purchased by Viacom for $3 billion, which also has MTV, CBS and VH1 in its wings. BET also had BET Gospel and even went international, in places such as Canada, Europe, Middle East and Africa. Robert Johnson eventually retired from the network and Debra L. Lee became president of the network. Sadly, things went downhill from there (Wikipedia).
Now don't get me wrong, BET does have some gems, especially in the 90s. Growing up, I would watch some music videos from R&B and Hip-Hop stars in the day. I also looked forward to the show, Video Soul, hosted by the foine Donny Simpson. Teen Summit, Caribbean Rhythms, Rap City and 106 and Park, and the hilarious Cita's World and Comic View were my go to shows. Despite the success of these shows, BET was beginning to lose its luster, especially since Viacom took over the network.
(www.bet.com)
(www.wikipedia.com)
Naturally, there were many critics of BET. Many has accused BET of promoting negative stereotypes of black people. Critics such as rapper Chuck D and filmmaker Spike Lee accused the network of upholding negative stereotypes in its programming. Aaron McGruder of the famous The Boondocks, also protested the network by cleverly creating two episodes, "The Hunger Strike," casting Debra Lee as the villain and "The Uncle Ruckus Reality Show" where the main character, Uncle Ruckus criticizes the network and its portrayal of black people. Many viewers were also outraged when BET didn't show Coretta Scott King's funeral in 2006. Instead, it played music videos. Now, that was a disrespectful thing to do in her honor. The same woman who supported her husband, Dr. Martin Luther King jr. in his fight for equality and this is the thanks she got. Malcolm X really said the most disrespected woman is a black woman and sadly Mrs. King was no exception especially by a network which was supposed to show positive aspects of African-Americans.
Even Sheila Johnson, who was the co-founder, was "ashamed" of the network and she and her kids don't watch it. Can't really blame her when the network has become a joke sadly. There are shows such as Being Mary Jane, starring Gabriel Union which was a hit but quite frankly, it was not enough to save the network. BET got into the streaming game by creating BET+ in collaboration with Tyler Perry Studios and BET: ViacomCBS. Might as well call it Tyler Perry+. At this point, BET is a shell of its owner self and it's in danger of becoming irrelevant. The same can be said for MTV. With the younger generation turning to social media, especially TikTok, BET has been struggling to attract younger viewers. Then again cable itself is losing its grasp in viewership, not only is it expensive, it has to compete with a lot of streaming services which portrayed exciting shows which are definitely talked about in the media. Game of Thrones anyone? When was the last time anyone has so much excitement about a show on a cable network?
It might be too late for BET but it can still play an important role in black society but it still has to adapt to attract all viewers in today's times. Can y'all bring back Teen Summit in this day and age? A wide variety of topics can be discussed on the show such as racism, sexuality, police brutality etc. Bring back Comic View please...never mind, cancel culture will not have it, so comedians have to be careful with what they say. Lastly, create a show to expose viewers to the African diaspora and its culture with Afrobeat and Kwaito as examples. Viewers should also be exposed to other Caribbean music such as Soca, Calypso, Kompas, Zouk, Bouyon etc. Caribbean Rhythms was a good start but it mostly promoted Reggae and dance-hall music. Maybe create a travel show to show places and culture around the world, including the diaspora. Has BET gone through? Not necessarily. It is not as relevant today as it was in the past but it still plays an important role in the entertainment industry. Hopefully, this time BET will do the right thing and stop putting black people in a negative night, after all, it was black people who made BET the way it was before it was sold to Viacom. Hopefully it can adapt before it's too late!!
Monday, January 18, 2021
Can we please stop sanitizing Dr. King?
C'est Noel!!
Merry Christmas everyone!!! Until next year!! 🎄🎅🤶
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www.comettv.com Hello, my lovelies! It's been a while I know and I'll try to be consistent from now on but no promises though...
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(People.com) Hello darlings, I'm back (for now). Summer is here and I'm enjoying it while it lasts because this year is goin...