tuckergurl

Something To Talk About

A few filmmaker friends have emailed this article to me. Neil LaBute wrote an editorial of sorts called "The Cast System". The caption under the title reads, "When great actors are denied great roles on the stage because of their skin color, there's a problem. Even if they are white."

At first I was going to put down this deep analysis but honestly I want to go to Mike's and have some pancakes. I had a crazy night last night where some crazy guy was banging on the front door of our building at 3am. He was ringing all of the doorbells looking for someone he was fighting with. We have no idea if he actually wanted to yell at someone in our building or if he had the wrong building. We're not sure. We called the police and he went away. (They did not come fast enough in my opinion.) I was really happy that I had a friend in my buiding. We were both pretty freaked out but were able to handle it.

I am curious what you guys think about this Neil LaBute editorial. It is at the bottom of this entry. My fast analysis is that it really is a window into some feelings people have about affirmative action. I have no problem with white actors playing roles by people of color in a world where people of color get equal consideration for all roles. This is not really the world we live in. I think it's cool every once in a while when a director is trying something really provocative. I for one would pay top dollar to see this Raisin in the Sun production that LaBute wants to do with Brad Pitt. I'm not sure he's right for Walter Lee at all, forget the fact that he is white! Walter Lee has a quiet desperation that Pitt just can not convey but it would be cool to see him try.

I am not aware of all of these instances where great white actors can not play all of these roles meant for people of color. If Liev Schrieber wants to play Othello, I am pretty sure he could find an investor who would help him do that. The question would be if he would want to take the heat. And I do think that because of the dearth of roles for people of color in the theater, there is a right for there to be some heat that people have to take for taking those roles away from them. In other words, you better have a damn good reason.

LaBute's problem in this article is that he a bit too glib. Comments like, "I understand about slavery and all that ..." and "Call me crazy or mad or just plain racist (I've already been called everything else). You can even call me "nappy-headed" if you'd like — just take a look at my picture sometime. It's true. But honestly, let's not waste any more valuable time in our lives fussing about something that doesn't really matter."

This actually came up a lot when I working on the Alvin Ailey documentary. I watched a lot of archival footage for the film. In some of it, the white dancers admitted having a hard time with the fact that there were dances they could never do. One of Alvin Ailey's most famous pieces, "Cry", created for Judith Jamison in 1971, is a solo set to music by Alice Coltrane, Laura Nyro and the Voices of East Harlem and dedicated to ''all black women everywhere - especially our mothers.'' When Ailey created this piece, he stipulated that it never be danced by anyone who is not of color. It is one of the greatest solo dances ever created. If I were an amazing Ailey dancer, I would want to do that dance. It's incredible. But Ailey created Cry to highlight African American women. It is just not appropriate for a White woman to do this dance no matter how good it is.

It's hard for me to see a white performer doing a piece meant for a person of color when the piece is specifically about race and opression specific to being that ethnicity. Plus, I sort of think it would downright strange to watch Alec Baldwin in an August Wilson play or Ryan Gosling playing Booth in Suzan Lori-Parks' Topdog/Underdog.

OK, now I am having my pancakes. The Forum on the LA Times is fascinating as well. Happy Sunday!

Reading More Slowly

"That is my problem with life, I rush through it, like I am being chased. Even things whose whole point is slowness, like drinking relaxing tea. When I drink relaxing tea, I suck it down as if I'm in a contest for who can drink relaxing tea the quickest. Or if I'm in a hot tub with some other people and we're all looking up at the stars, I'll be the first to say, It's so beautiful here. The sooner you say, it's so beautiful here, the quicker you can say, Wow, I'm getting overheated." -Miranda July, in her book of short stories, No one belongs here more than you.

Judd Apatow Rocks

I have said it before but Knocked Up rocks. It's not like Judd Apatow needs me to praise him but I loved this film. It was funny, funny, funny. It was corny but that does not bother me. I have a high tolerance for cheese.

The New York Times did an interesting piece on Apatow. It's one of those long, juicy pieces where you really feel like you get a sense of who someone is. Also, I love hearing the creative processes of successful people. He is super-neurotic which I just love.

Web 2.0?

I am going to be on a panel about Web 2.0 for Silverdocs, a documentary film festival in Washington D.C. I am putting a call out to folks about their thoughts on it. How many of you even know what it is? Web 2.0 hints at an improved form of the World Wide Web. Do you think this is true? What role does it all play in engaging new audiences? Instead of saying what I think our community is thinking, I'd love to hear it from you guys! Anyone who feels in a commenting mood, feel free to drop me a line.

My Summer Plans

This morning I was going back to Africa for an opportunity.

This afternoon it was gone.

For the most part I am ok with it. You know how a cool thing comes your way but deep in your heart you know that the drama that surrounds it makes it so not worth it. There are some situations where the drama is worth it. You can be disliked or envied or whatever but you want it. Bring the drama on. For example, if Wentworth Miller had a girlfriend that was a not so close friend of mine and he decided he wanted to dump her and give me the job, girl code be damned, I would do it! (Sorry ladies!)

This opportunity was not really on that level. Still I am left feeling like I lost something. I feel like I lost something that was not even mine. I think I feel this way because I did not take the opportunity because I felt like it would cause more friction that it was worth. It was a place I had been to before so it was not like I had not had the experience before. Still, I love to travel as anyone who reads this blog knows all too well.

Tomorrow I should feel better but tonight as I sit at Outpost drinking red wine and listening to a decent remix of The Killer's "Jealousy", I feel like I missed out on something.

I made a decision a while back to make a list of things I want to do this summer to really focus my energies. I want to enjoy the warm weather and take better care of myself. I feel inspired to do it now. Here it goes:

1. Do one of the walks on Time Out New York's Best Walks.

2. Take my learner's permit test.

3. Go to Hawaii!! (This is already planned.)

4. Go to PS 1's Warm Up .

5. Put mulch in my garden before my birthday.

6. Go to four outdoor concerts.

7. Eat pancakes at Mike's.

8. Finish my screenplay.

9. Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge every two weeks.

10. Visit my friends' babies.

11. Visit my brother.

12. Hear Fiona Apple and Nickel Creek at Summerstage.

13. See a bunch of films at Human Rights Watch International Film Festival and Sundance at BAM.

14. Watch Season One of The Wire on DVD. (I was given it as a present MONTHS ago and I am so embarrased that I have not watched it.)

There are 15 things on this list but I'm not mentioning the last one. Some things have to be personal!

Pushing Daisies

I can not wait for this show. It is from the creator of Wonderfalls, which I was late to love and now it is long gone. (He is also the creator of a little show called Heroes but I don't watch that one.) and stars cutie Lee Pace. I am so excited!

Two Hmms ...

After hearing Rebecca Walker on NPR, I wanted to say a little something. There was a controversy about her statement in her new book, Baby Love. I do not own the book so I cannot quote it directly. Basically she says that though she would do anything within reason for her adopted child (that she co-parents – a new term that sounds a little cold if you ask me – with Meshell Ndegeocello!!!), she would do absolutely anything for her biological child. (This is a pretty accurate paraphrase.) Though it seems like semantics, Walker does admit, in interviews, that what she is getting at is the fact that the love she feels for her biological child is a greater love than the love she feels for her adopted child.

The thing I have always liked about Rebecca Walker is that she does not back peddle. If she says something, she says it even if it is not popular or mainstream. She is her mother's daughter whether she sees it or likes it.

That said … WHAT?!?!?!

I find this a strange comment, an alienating comment, especially to her adopted child. This is on my mind, mainly because I just read Black, White and Jewish and was impressed by how well written and engaging it was. Memoirs are such strange things because you feel like you spent some quality time with a person when, well, you didn’t.

As I read reviews about Walker’s new book, Baby Love, I just wanted to sit her down and say, “Why would you make a comment like this when you were raised in an environment of such separation and alienation?” It seems like Walker is just perpetuating this. How is her adopted son going to feel when he is old enough to read this? She says she will explain it to him but what will she say?

My other moment was reading a review of Leonard Nimoy’s photography exhibit and upcoming book, The Full Body Project. It features several full figured women naked and proud. I knew Nimoy was a photographer but I had no idea how good he was.

I was excited by the article’s existence and it’s ability to shed light on these amazing photographs – right until the end.

And what of his own attitude toward fat women? “I do think they’re beautiful,” he said. “They’re full-bodied, full-blooded human beings.” He doesn’t necessarily find them sexually attractive. “But I do think they’re beautiful.”

I was irked by this comment and after a week of thinking about it, I figured out why. When are we as a society going to stop fetishizing plus sized women and treat them (us – I know there is a part of me that is feeling this personally whether that is legitimate or not) like real, live, breathing, sexy women? It just irks me. Honestly, I am not sure that was the subtext under Nimoy's comment but that is what I heard when I read it.

Addendum: L. Britt, I had an answer for your question and then I saw a strand of comments on Big Fat Blog and have changed my tune a bit about the whole thing. I will explain where I was and where I am at.

I was not suggesting that Nimoy has a fetish. I actually felt as if the writer asking the question about whether or not he found them sexually attractive was her way of implying that he had to have some strange fetish in order to want to take these pictures. Many other people felt this same way and talked about it. The writer of the article saw this and responded and now I understand a bit better what she meant. The web amazes me sometimes. Instant gratification!

An Article I Wrote

We are launching our video podcasts with an article that Beth and I wrote about SXSW. Check it out. We shot, directed and edited all of the pieces. I also composed the music! I decided I wanted to learn Garage Band and used this article as an opportunity. So fun! Hope you like it!

Keeping Track

create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

I have not done this in a while. I am at 31 states and want to go to all 50. This summer I am going to Hawaii so that will bring me to 32. It is interesting that most of the states I have not been to are all in one section of the country. One big trip could knock a lot of those states out. Good to know.

Update: 31 seemed wrong so I went back and did it again. I realized that I had forgotten to include Washington and South Dakota for some reason. So I am actually at 33 but will be at 34 in a few months. Also, I am torn about whether to include Missouri or not because though I have spent a night there, I was only passing through. So, for now, I am not including it.

This past week ...

On Monday, I was feeling blue. I had felt that way all the previous weekend. My anemia was acting up. In a big way. I was feeling tired and feeling tired from lack of iron quickly becomes the blues. I just have to remember that it is not all in my head.

On Tuesday, I went to the opening of Radio Golf, the new and last August Wilson play. I really liked it. It is so strange to watch something that someone wrote when they knew they were going to die. It was his most direct play. He knew exactly what he wanted to say and he said it in the most direct way he has ever said it. At the end, I started to cry. I was surprised. It was not a sad ending. It was a happy ending so my tears were unexpected.

On Thursday, I made a new friend which was cool.

On Friday, I saw Annie Sprinkle's show at Collective Unconscious. I had never heard of her until recently. I interviewed her for a doc that we are working on. I had maybe ten minutes with her and we made it count. There was the sketchiest (is that how you spell that?) guy there. Man, I can not even get into it.

On Saturday I finally saw Little Children. I read the book and was resistant to seeing the film because, well, I did not like In The Bedroom and was not really into seeing the next Todd Field film. I had some issue with the book and though I do think the movie is better, I just think Todd Field is not my cup of tea. I can see he is a good director, I am just not into it. I feel the same way about Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. Actually that is not true. I did like Amores Perros.

On Sunday I was shocked by the fact that Courtney was kicked out of Charm School. I wish I was not addicted to this show but I am. I really am. I don't know what this show is saying about race or class or gender or whatever. I have a feeling it is not good and honestly, I do not care.