Clutch Magazine: The Fixer-Upper and the Disappearing Dad

Last weekend on Clutch I had not one, but two stories running about relationships. Namely how the New York Times' forgot all about fathers in a piece about single mothers and how looking for a Fixer-Upper is a romantic fallacy foisted upon us by Hollywood to make women (and men) miserable.

First up: Fathers! I have one. And he raised me to the best of his abilities, continues to love and support me and defines himself by his ability to be there for his wife, adult children and now, brand new grandchild. You know? He's basically a "responsible human being" who "values the people he loves and who loves him." Typical decent person stuff.

Yet, for some people a man shirking his parental responsibilities is just "a man being a man," which is an insult to men like my father and countless other men who stand up and do what they're supposed to do.

It's more like "Humans being humans and some humans are crappy and should wear condoms."

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Hollywood Fast-Tracking "Killing Bin Laden" Film

President Obama, Secy. of State Hillary Clinton and others at briefing on Osama bin Laden's killing and capture. (Credit: White House Flickr)When she found out there was going to be a movie, Hillary Clinton thought to herself, "My God. This shit just got real."

More after the jump.

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Kurt Warner Is On To Something With This "Denzel Should Play Me" Thing

NFL quarterback (or if you're from St. Louis and a Rams fan -- "hero") Kurt Warner of the Arizona Cardinals has said many times that if someone decides to make a film of his life story he (per his wife's suggestion) would like Oscar Award-winning actor Denzel Washington to play him.

And what man wouldn't? Amiright? That Denzel is golden. But seriously, Denzel not being a white dude aside, that Kurt Warner is on to something.

More after the jump.

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Casting Cleopatra: Angelina Jolie Is The New Go-To "Person of Color"

You know? As long as that color is anything but black or brown.

From Essence.com:

Film producer Scott Rudin has purchased the film rights to upcoming biography 'Queen of the Nile, Cleopatra: A Life,' and has confirmed that the movie "is being developed for and with [Angelina] Jolie." Jolie, a Hollywood A-lister, will do her best in bringing the story of the famed Egyptian queen to life, and it appears no one doubts she can do it... including Pulitzer prize-winning author Stacy Schiff, who penned the biography, "Cleopatra: A Life," a book that won't be on shelves until the fall.

Schiff already heavily endorses Jolie, stating, "I think she'd be perfect for it and I can see a possible Oscar in her future. Physically, she's got the perfect look."

Gasp, the nerve! "She's got the perfect look?" Honestly, I don't care how full Angelina Jolie's lips are, how many African children she adopts, or how bronzed her skin will become for the film, I firmly believe this role should have gone to a Black woman. I mean, isn't it enough that 47 years ago, dame Elizabeth Taylor was cast to portray Cleopatra in one of the most expensive films ever made? That Elizabeth Taylor was actually the third White woman to be tapped for the Cleopatra role -- following Vivien Leigh and Claudette Colbert -- just makes this all the more comical.

More after the jump.

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Jaden Smith, Son of Will Smith, Will Someday Be Your Overlord

Despite the fact that the name "The Karate Kid" was only kept for brand identification (the new film takes place in China and star Jaden Smith learns a style of Kung Fu, not the Japanese art of Karate), little Jaden Smith has his first big box office smash! "The Karate Kid" remake was number one at the box office this weekend and pulled in $56 million, beating the crap out of that other 80s remake -- the one no one wanted to see -- "A-Team."

More after the jump.

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Afronerd: Why Would Anyone Want to Be Black? And Other Stupid Questions.

By Afronerd

Why would anyone want to be black? This is the question Breitbart's Burt Prelutsky is asking! We can't be in the 21st Century....

 

From an Oct. 22 post by Burt Prelutsky at Andrew Breitbart's Big Hollywood blog:

My final question is, why, in 2009 America, are mulattoes invariably identified as blacks? Surely there is nothing wrong with being a mulatto. There is no stigma attached, as once there was. It merely refers to those who have one white parent and one black. There are many notable individuals who are mulattoes, including Halle Berry, Derek Jeter, Lisa Bonet and Barack Obama. Tiger Woods, on the other hand, is a true amalgamation, being one-quarter Chinese, one-quarter Thai, one-quarter black, one-eighth Native American and one-eighth Dutch. And, yet, with the possible exception of the New York Yankee shortstop, we insist on identifying all of them as black.

It's as if there is something shameful about their being half or even one-eighth white. If there is, I'd sure like to know what it is. If, on the other hand, there isn't, why do we insist on acting as if there were?

More after the jump.

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Vanity Fair: My Excuse to Show Pictures of Gorgeous Black People

Actor Lance Gross, model/actress Eva Pigford, director Tyler Perry, actress Angela Bassett at Thursday nights premiere of Tyler Perry's "Meet the Browns" (Wire Image)

In case you didn't know notice, The Snob really loves black people. Sure, I snark on them from time to time, but black people know I care. I once dragged my sister to see "White Chicks." It was summer and I was bored. I figured, hey, if was going to blow $6 on a movie, why not help the Wayans Bros. out. As I told her, crappy black movies pay for good black movies. They convince Hollywood that risking some millions on a "black" project is worth it.

"We have to see this so Angela Bassett will get a job again!" I cried.

I don't always make those sort of sacrifices. I hate almost all non-Denzel Washington vehicles on the big screen. Black comedies are often so lampoonish, borderline "coonish" that I just can't watch them. The Wayans are hard enough on the senses. So while I probably won't go see Tyler Perry's "Meet the Browns" because I have a moratorium on "Black men in a dresses" films, I don't hate Tyler Perry so much to not show pictures of really gorgeous black people attending the premiere of his film last night.

Shine, beautiful people! Shine!

Angela Bassett

It worked! My viewing of "White Chicks" didn't go in vain! Angela works! Angela lives! And damn, Angela does not age! That's ridiculous! In the last three pictures, Angela is with actor/ex-Laker Rick Fox and her husband, actor Courtney B. Vance.

Eva Pigford

I don't get the Eva the Diva love, but I don't get the hate either. She's pretty. She's harmless. If white Hollywood can have characters like Nikki Cox and Demi Moore who exist solely as gorgeous window dressing, why not Eva? That, and she's working the shit out of that dress. I do not recommend that other women try to pull this off, but she looks stunning. (The last picture is of Eva and Tyler Perry)

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Random Bits of Hotness

Jill Marie Jones
Someone please give Toni Childs a job. I miss her so.

Jennifer Lewis
I won't post the rest of your ugly-ass outfit out of respect of your face, which is sill very lovely.

Kenya Moore
Former Miss USA, I kind of lost a little respect for you after "Trois." (Seriously, I didn't get the hype about that movie, but considering Hollywood doesn't do intriguing black sexual thrillers I guess it was filling a vacuum.)

Vanessa Williams
I'm a fan through and through. If there was a black Vanity Fair, she'd live on the cover twice a year. Of course if I did have a black version of Vanity Fair, I'd have to share some of those covers with Halle Berry and Beyonce, but it would be worth it.

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Terry Crews
Wow. I didn't know Terry Crews was dating Jane Child! Is Terry's love like a knife? Does he make the knife feel good? Are you scaring her to death now, baby? (I keed. I keed. Unless that is Jane Child. That would HILARIOUS! She was like the punk Tina Marie meets Taylor Dane.)

Tasha Smith (above) Tasha and Sidra Smith (below)

Sidra is rocking that bald fade. Not many women could pull that off and still look fierce. They're both very beautiful women.

The Other Vanessa Williams, with Angela Bassett

She had the nerve to show up with Tasha Smith's spiral curls. The Other Vanessa looks pretty fab, although I'm not feeling that black and white, Hawaiian flower, black lace topped dress.

Last night on "The Colbert Report"

Normally I don't watch Stephen Colbert's show after The Daily Show. Not because it isn't a good show, but sometimes Stephen's Bill O'Reilly-meets-a-three-ringed-circus act wears on me. It's exhausting. Plus the show isn't so much an infotainment show (like "The Daily Show"), but a character driven show, and the character who drives it is annoying. But since Colbert's been without his writers I've actually enjoyed the show more. It's hard to be a manufactured nutbag for 22 minutes when you have to come up with everything yourself. So now he's just a half-ass instead of a whole ass. But, because of the heart in last night's show, it was especially good.

I'd read about Colbert and his father in, of all things, Parade Magazine. It was nice to know something about the guy who used to be the other funny reporter on "The Daily Show." It was also nice that he shared that slice of Civil Rights history. There are so many stories out of the Civil Rights movement that it's impossible to know them all. This medical aid strike in Charleston, SC was one I wasn't familiar with. My mother remembered it. Hell, she was able to go word-for-word with Abernathy on his "perish as fools" speech (which, BTW, did ring familiar to me, as I think it was a notable quip).

The most amazing thing though was seeing a young (and skinny) Andy Young encouraging the workers and the blacks in Charleston to boycott white businesses to show solidarity. Young may irritate me from time to time, but you have to give the guy credit for his body of work as a Civil Rights Activist. Someone had to risk getting killed for the plight of disenfranchised and oppressed people. I'm glad he did what he did. Young was also on the Colbert Report last night and they had a half joking, half serious conversation about worker's rights and Colbert's father.

Then, very strangely, they sang one of my favorite Negro Spirituals in honor of the striking writers in Hollywood.

So while I loved this episode of Colbert (even the earlier half discussing the irrelevance of IQ tests), I couldn't help but notice and not be surprised that the bulk of the pictures of the striking writers of his show were slightly chubby, hairy, 30-something-year-old white dudes. There was one white women in there. But the rest, white dudes. I wasn't surprised because for all the legend about "Hollywood Liberals" this and progressive that, Hollywood is a town owned, run by and employed with nothing but white men. Especially in the Writer's Guild of America which is as white as an Augusta, Georgia golf club.

I don't know how many stories I've read about the frustrations of black writers to get hired on ANY show, let alone a show that's "perceived" as a white show (see "Friends" and "Seinfield" for most heinous examples). And I love how the producers do the "if we could find qualified blacks we'd hire them" garbage. I didn't believe that bull crap when my editors told me that as a journalist. I don't believe that crap either about Hollywood. How can a black writer get any "clout" and rep without getting on a show? It's like a Chinese finger trap in there. You can't get hired because you don't have experience, you can't get experience because you can't get hired. And then you end up some where in the Hollywood ghetto of BET and the CW's of the world and even if you prove yourself (see Mara Brock Akil of "Girlfriends" or Yvette Lee Bowser of "Half & Half" and "Living Single") they still look askance.

It's amazing that Shonda Rhimes ever got "Grey's Anatomy" on the air.