What's Up with Niki? (Co-Writer, Assistant Director)
Pops Got Game (Associate Producer, Editor)
Downtown Newark Partnership (Production Assistant, Boom Operator)
Video Portfolio
Professional and Amateur
What's Up with Niki? (Co-Writer, Assistant Director)
Perceptions (2nd Camera, Co-Writing Uncredited)
Pops Got Game (Associate Producer, Editor)
The Detective, Him, & Her (Director, Writer, Editor)
Downtown Newark Partnership (Production Assistant, Boom Operator)
"He Said Her Name" (Editor)
The Road Not Taken (Director, Writer, Editor)
Media Mentors Projects (Kid Produced)
Idiot Box Campaign Ad
Campaign Ad
Fresh Cut
What's Up with Niki? (Co-Writer, Assistant Director)
Perceptions (2nd Camera, Co-Writing Uncredited)
Pops Got Game (Associate Producer, Editor)
The Detective, Him, & Her (Director, Writer, Editor)
Downtown Newark Partnership (Production Assistant, Boom Operator)
"He Said Her Name" (Editor)
The Road Not Taken (Director, Writer, Editor)
Media Mentors Projects (Kid Produced)
Idiot Box Campaign Ad
Campaign Ad
Fresh Cut
The Futility of Not acknowledging the Consequences: An Analysis of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind for a Dumb Hipster
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| What this baby needs is a little emotional maturity. |
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| She was asking for it. Ironically. |
Not because I was mad at her. But because if I had calmly and carefully explained to her how wrong she was it would have had the same emotional impact on her for about half the effort.
This is because behind the idea that Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind has a happy ending is the same mental block that leads girls like her into the same miserable relationships again and again and again...
They don't want to learn from their mistakes.
Why? Because mistakes are fun.
And because its so much easier to make mistakes when you pretend the repercussions of those mistakes are somebody else's fault and not of your own making.
And then we make it worse when we hold onto all the good things about mistakes (The Highs) and purposely ignore the bad things (The Lows).
This the thematic base which makes up the foundation of 'Eternal Sunshine'.
A couple has such an emotionally devastating break-up that they try to erase the mistake that was their relationship from their memory.
But then when they realize that they'll lose all the good parts of their relationship too, they grasp for them like straws as they try to defeat the "evil" memory erasers (who are just doing what they payed them to do.)
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| How dare you render me the services I paid for? |
...They meet again.
Fall back in love.
Then learn that they were once in a relationship that ended so badly that...
...You guessed it. They had it erased from their memories.
So what they do with all this evidence of how terrible they are for each other dropped in their lap like next weeks lottery numbers...
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| I told you not to marry that woman. |
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| Pictured: Stupidity |
If you don't learn from your mistakes, you are destined to repeat them.
Three Small Gems From Great Directors
The Trouble With HarryDirected by Alfred Hitchcock
The name Alfred Hitchcock usually evokes a feeling of nostalgic terror. However, many of Hitchcock's most infamous thrillers are sprinkled with a lot of humor. So it's fitting that his only bona fide comedy would have such macabre subject matter. The Trouble With Harry is a study of the citizens of a small town as they separately discover the dead body of one of their fellow citizens. The eponymous 'Harry'. Assuming they or someone they love is responsible, they all come down with a case of unwarranted guilt and try to cover-up the murder. It is a very intriguing story populated with likable complex characters and peppered with classic subtle Hitchcock humor. If your a big Hitchcock fan or simply enjoy being entertained, I recommend this film.
The King of Comedy
Directed by Martin Scorsese
This dark comedy about the delusions of fame and those who crave it has the odd ability to smoothly alternate between moments that make you laugh uncontrollably or cringe uncomfortably. The film features two of my favorite film performances. Robert DeNiro, as Rupert Plumpkin, delivers an earnest and clever performance as a delusional and painfully unfunny comedian with oversized dreams. The film also features the usually wacky Jerry Lewis in an unconventional role as a straight edge Johnny Carson-like late night talk show host who is being stalked by the unbalanced Plumpkin. This film is a must see for Scorsese fans or Lewis fans who'd like to see him in a playing it straight for once.
Why Do Black People Reject Conservatism & Rock & Roll?
A lot of People Wonder...
Why don't black people for the most part listen to or produce Rock music?
Apparently, the music died on February 3rd, 1959 when Buddy Holly, Richie Valenz, and the Big Bopper died in a plane crash following a concert. Apparently, Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Howlin' Wolf, and Big Mamma Thornton were also on that plane, if in fact, the music had died. Oh they were not. Then what the Hell was that song about? Oh that song was about the day white music died. Got It.
Pictured: White music.
Unfortunately, Muddy, Chuck, Little Richard, Wolf, and Big Mamma did die that day. They were smothered in the ashes of their white successors. With Buddy dead and Elvis shipped off to war, the immediate "channelers" of Black blues and soul were gone. And so gone was the trail that led to the beginnings of Rock & Roll.
Be Thankful For Our Freedom
Remember that Africa is poor because she is not free. We must be thankful for ours and pray and fight for theirs.
Happy Thanksgiving,
Forgive my Deconstructive Post-Colonial Libertarianism
Hip Hop Conservatism: Part 1
"I would love to see a black President but this tax bracket is killing me, man."
Hip Hop Conservatism (Part 1)
During the 2008 Presidential Election, elite members of the hip-hop community came out in full support of the Democratic candidate, Barrack Obama. This was understandable. Barrack Obama was the most formidable black candidate for the oval office, (making Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson seem as relevant as a block of ice) and few black men and women wanted to miss out on the opportunity to see the election of our nation's first Black President. In a country where our people have suffered so many injustices, what had seemed improbable only a few years ago was suddenly inevitable.
Sharpton died as he lived. Obstructively.
Consequently, Hip-hop artists like Will.I.Am. were on the campaign trail with Barrack Obama from the beginning. After his election, Young Jeezy released the voracious "My President is Black", a bombastic track that aspired to be the new black anthem and seemed to imply a melding between Hip-Hop culture and mainstream society. On the night of the inauguration, Barrack Obama was showered in praises, blessings, and performances dedicated in his honor by powerful hip-hop luminaries like Jay-Z and Kanye West. Can you imagine the Juice Crew dedicating a rendition of "The Symphony" at the inauguration of Jesse Jackson in 88'? More likely it would have been The Four Tops or The Temptations. It certainly wouldn't have been Gil Scott Heron.
There's no half steppin' to the White House , Nephew.
These spectacles would appear to signify that American politics had moved so far left, that hip-hop and urban culture had become acceptable to political elites. But it is quite the opposite. Hip Hop culture has embraced political elitism, because Hip-Hop has become elitist. However it has more to do with Social status then political ideology. If you examine closely Hip Hop and urban black culture you will discover that hip-hop is less progressive than it appears in your rear view mirror.
Criticism of the use of Government Force
“Fuck the police comin straight
from the underground
A young nigga got it bad cause I'm brown
And not the other color so police think
they have the authority to kill a minority”
- Ice Cube “Fuck Da Police”
Hip-Hop originated as commercial party music that evolved from the late 70's disco scene. However, by the late 80’s many Hip Hop artist had developed what some would call a “conscious” content. Artist like Public Enemy, Common Sense, and KRS-One would rap about issues affecting the inner-city and black people specifically much like Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield did before them.
More importantly though, “conscious” hip hop had a defiant tone, not against commercial hip-hop, but against “The Man” and “”The Establishment”. Although, the man does not represent the government as it does to conservatives who fear the growing power of the state, but rather represents exploitative capitalists. The “The Man” would morph into the “Pol-Lice” whose excessive force and brutality in black neighborhoods became a focal point of Gangsta Rap. “The Sound of Da Police” by KRS-ONE, “Cop Killa” by Ice-T, and “Fuck da Police” by N.W.A. would dismiss the subtlety and verbally attack the institution of law enforcement with stark accusations and violent imagery. If white people hate being regulated and taxed, then black people hate being policed. They see the police as an arbitrary threat to their equal protection under the law.
Your Honor, My gun was registered. With the U.S. constitution, Bitch.
Pure Unregulated Capitalism
“The boys in blue who put greed before the badge.”
- Jay-z “Roc Boys (And the winner is…)
Black people hate being regulated, too. Nowhere is this view more fiercely espoused than in the Mafioso rap genre of the mid-90’s. Artist like Jay-Z, Notorious B.I.G., and Raekwon repeatedly expressed frustration with regulation of their “industry” by dirty cops and politicos with deep pockets.
“Got money and you know it. Take it out your pocket and show it.”
- Lil Wayne and T-Pain “Got Money”
No genre of music celebrates the excesses of capitalism and the rights of earners to do whatever they want with their money like Hip Hop. Turn on BET and watch rappers whose albums haven’t even sold a copy yet throwing hundred dollar bills in the air like they just won the lottery. In this political climate, this would seem like unacceptable behavior, but while Wall Street brokers would be butchered to death for behaving this way, it is perfectly acceptable behavior in Hip Hop fantasy land.
"For god sakes, will someone regulate this madness!"
(To Be Continued…)
A Post Colonial Explanation of Islamist Terrorism
The Racial Pscypathology of Terrorist; According to Fanon
Frantz Fanon supposes in her articles, “The Negro and Psychopathology”, that while race is a social construction, it is a very powerful and ubiquitous construction which psychologically affects persons from childhood onward. He builds his concept on Freud’s theories on the subconscious, but rather than focus on sexuality, Fanon states that racial conceptions of the self and others can be internalized from both the family and society as a whole. However, Fannon highlights a dilemma in which those two internalizations can conflict and cause psychological trauma. When a colonized person of color leaves their home and enters the white world they find that they are no longer signified by their nationality but by the color of their skin, and defined as such in opposition to and inferior to all whites.
Similar to Freud, Fanon believes that the family is internalized as the superego in the mind of the child; however, Freud supposes this to be the father, while Fanon proposes that the Negro home is a matriarchy. This will create one of many subconscious conflicts when the “Negro” enters the white world, who being treated once again like an inferior child, internalizes Western culture as a Superego. Therefore instead of having a stable superego which represses the subconscious, the Superego posses a conflict within itself that must be repressed. If the conflict is not repressed wholly, then one internalization may dominate the other, but either way the conflict will be externalized through psychopathological problems.
According to The Next Attack: The Failure of the War on Terror by Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon, the perpetrators on international terrorism are not poor dusty arabs we see on the news, but middle class expatriates of considerable education. These young men and women left their countries for a good education in the west only to be confronted with prejudice and hostility toward a race and religion they never really identified with, but were being classified as nonetheless. Thus these arab and Persian youth became home sick for a home they never thought they would miss.
These overeducated youth, underutilized in their home country, unappreciated in Europe, turn to fundamentalist Islam as a defense mechanism against their feelings of security. Very little else can explain why bourgeoisie educated and seemingly secular young men and women would adopt a means of expressing their frustration that is as psychopathic as terrorism. The inner conflict between their view of themselves from home and their lot cast as an outsider in Europe has resulted in these people becoming very defensive of their cultures and lashing out at those they see as the perpetrators or “infidels.”
Frantz Fanon supposes in her articles, “The Negro and Psychopathology”, that while race is a social construction, it is a very powerful and ubiquitous construction which psychologically affects persons from childhood onward. He builds his concept on Freud’s theories on the subconscious, but rather than focus on sexuality, Fanon states that racial conceptions of the self and others can be internalized from both the family and society as a whole. However, Fannon highlights a dilemma in which those two internalizations can conflict and cause psychological trauma. When a colonized person of color leaves their home and enters the white world they find that they are no longer signified by their nationality but by the color of their skin, and defined as such in opposition to and inferior to all whites.
Similar to Freud, Fanon believes that the family is internalized as the superego in the mind of the child; however, Freud supposes this to be the father, while Fanon proposes that the Negro home is a matriarchy. This will create one of many subconscious conflicts when the “Negro” enters the white world, who being treated once again like an inferior child, internalizes Western culture as a Superego. Therefore instead of having a stable superego which represses the subconscious, the Superego posses a conflict within itself that must be repressed. If the conflict is not repressed wholly, then one internalization may dominate the other, but either way the conflict will be externalized through psychopathological problems.
According to The Next Attack: The Failure of the War on Terror by Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon, the perpetrators on international terrorism are not poor dusty arabs we see on the news, but middle class expatriates of considerable education. These young men and women left their countries for a good education in the west only to be confronted with prejudice and hostility toward a race and religion they never really identified with, but were being classified as nonetheless. Thus these arab and Persian youth became home sick for a home they never thought they would miss.
These overeducated youth, underutilized in their home country, unappreciated in Europe, turn to fundamentalist Islam as a defense mechanism against their feelings of security. Very little else can explain why bourgeoisie educated and seemingly secular young men and women would adopt a means of expressing their frustration that is as psychopathic as terrorism. The inner conflict between their view of themselves from home and their lot cast as an outsider in Europe has resulted in these people becoming very defensive of their cultures and lashing out at those they see as the perpetrators or “infidels.”
Pizza Hut Is the Worst Food in America
I have a bit of a reputation for being a film buff. As a result, people tend to get the impression that I'm some kind of film snob. I beg to differ since my favorite films are horror, thrillers, and action flicks. Those are hardly the genres of a film snob. Even so, I am thought to be fastidious simply because I refuse to watch certain movies that I believe to be subpar. However, they just don't understand how I judge movies. I never understood why people try to categorize films as either being entertaining or artsy. I believe that is a moronic generalization. There are only good films and bad films. What makes a good film is the earnestness and effort in how they are constructed. Unfortunately, a lot of films are either lackadaisically made or purposely bad under the pretense that they're only supposed to be entertaining. People pay to go see these films and there excuse is that its mindless entertainment and that they'd rather watch them then something artsy and better made but not as entertaining.
I mean...It is called the Entertainment industry! All films are (or should be) trying to be entertaining. Movies that are mindless are just made to suck money out of stupid people. Can you think of any other industry where poor quality products are thought to be more enjoyable than well made ones. It's like these Pizza Hut commercials where they try to imply that there food is just as good as real italian food. It is a ludicrous argument because if you go to a really nice pizzeria you might pay 15 to 17 dollars for a large pie. But if you go to a Pizza Hut you might pay ten. Why? Because its not good pizza! In fact, Pizza Hut pizza may possibly be the worst mass produced food in America. Movies, however, all cost the same price in theaters no matter how good they are. They make bad movies and they market them in a certain way because they know that the masses can't resist. The movie industry is the only business I can think of in which customers habitually pay the same price for lower quality products as others pay for better ones. And the only reason the movie industry gets away with it is because everyone has bought into this idea that movies don't have to be well made to be entertaining. If it was that easy to entertain people, there would be no such thing as bad movies.
