tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11122973.post113065179335020151..comments2024-02-08T05:04:18.484-08:00Comments on J'S THEATER: Franky GJohn Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08073378940347627766noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11122973.post-1131472711676821412005-11-08T09:58:00.000-08:002005-11-08T09:58:00.000-08:00A very incisive, thought-provoking entry on the st...A very incisive, thought-provoking entry on the struggles that actors of color still face. Franky G, who won critical acclaim in the movie Manito definitely deserves so much better than the thug roles he gets. However, I wonder how much of his typecasting is attributed to his oh-so-yummy powerful physique.Tarheelhombrehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05558867381870252853noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11122973.post-1131203873683515322005-11-05T07:17:00.000-08:002005-11-05T07:17:00.000-08:00I totally agree with you. As a black female I fou...I totally agree with you. As a black female I found Frankgy G so physically beauitful yet I knew that he would continue to end up with roles that relegated him to either a prisoner, thug, hit-man for some crime boss or a drug-dealer. I want to see more directors of color making films that depict the real lifes of us more and our "real" behavior pattern instead of the stereotypes that are consistently feed through the white media. That is why I absolutely loved "Love Jones", and "Selena" . They both depicted approriately the lives of people of color with respect.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11122973.post-1130796483458335222005-10-31T14:08:00.000-08:002005-10-31T14:08:00.000-08:00As I stated in my second post on "Noah's Arc," I i...<I>As I stated in my second post on "Noah's Arc," I intend to keep watching that show, despite how bad it is.</I><BR/><BR/>I'm a big fan of the box, in part because it <I>stills</I> me, and there are times that I want to be still. Kinda extracritical, that.<BR/><BR/>xobillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15201227059002249777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11122973.post-1130790908874094882005-10-31T12:35:00.000-08:002005-10-31T12:35:00.000-08:00Yes, I thank you, too, John. Am tempted to write a...Yes, I thank you, too, John. Am tempted to write about the problems I saw with One Night Stand, which I think was not "colorblind casting" at all, but rather a clumsy attempt at reversing the stereotypes. Clumsy, because, first of all, real people are not simply "opposites" of stereotypes, they are more complex than the stereotypes. Snipes was an opposite because he was a director and sensitive enough to cry (which black men aren't supposed to be), his wife was chatty & dominating (which Asian women aren't supposed to be), the woman he cheats with is "a rocket scientist" -- she literally defines herself in this way -- or smart (which blonde women are not supposed to be). But (not so interestingly) in bed, the black man is still oh so virile and the white woman is still oh so feminine. Ok, so this comment was not supposed to be about the problems of One Night Stand, and I have proven to be unable of resisting the temptation to engage. But I will say that these questions about what roles actors of color are supposed to play continue to intrigue.Mendi Obadikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06038610861985625589noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11122973.post-1130716978902414782005-10-30T16:02:00.000-08:002005-10-30T16:02:00.000-08:00J:Thanks for taking this beyond a discussion of Fr...J:<BR/><BR/>Thanks for taking this beyond a discussion of Franky's (stunning!) looks, and into one of how ill used men of color are by Hollywood (a discussion of women of color could be just as -- twice! -- as long). There's such a limited view of the possibilies of what we can be/are/what we can do. I know that we as a people have to believe, as Chip Delany put it, in the 'possiblity of possibilities', a wide range of paths for our own and our children's futures. But it makes it especially difficult if we never see those ranges reflected on the big or small screen.<BR/><BR/>I remember how Wesley Snipes was considered 'not believeable' as a director of commercials who gets into a One Night Stand with a white woman in the movie of the same name. To me, he seemed completely comfortable in the role...but the notion of a successful black director (of anything?) seemed to my mind what galled critics. And the role was 'colorblind casting' i.e. it wasn't written to be a black character when Snipes got the part (they may have then changed it and had an African American woman play the wife he cheats on). <BR/><BR/>I think about this a lot, the range of career and experience of the black, latino, and other people of color I know, and how that is seldom if ever reflected on film (or in much fiction for that matter). As you know, where I work or Director is an African American woman, there are a number of black top- and mid-level managers. Most of us in the Systems/Technology department is non-European (Af-Am, both Taiwanese and mainland Chinese, Indian...). Would we ever see this kind of diversity portayed in a movie when even in something 'minor' like this new horror show "Saw II" Hollywood can only think of having what looks like the only person of color, Franky, portraying (according to Ryan) a 'Latin Thug-type'? <BR/><BR/>Are we 'complaining too much'? Or do these images 'mean' something beyond their value as 'only a movie'?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com