This is one movie I intend to miss, simply because I’m so tired of unarmed, law-abiding blacks being hunted by cops all over America, with impunity. I live this stuff ever day, don’t need to pay money and spend time watching this on the big screen. I wish them the best, but I just can’t.
1
I love your columns, Michelle, but can you please provide a spoiler alert. I have not watched the movie, and I proceeded to read your column without the alert, and I'm dissapointed that you left that out. I stopped reading it, because I'm planning to see the movie.
1
Slave Play was a one line excuse for putting white-black sex on stage provocatively. Basically a one -liner, boring. I do hope I fine Queen and Slim, in contrast, is as good as advertised. Michelle:I thought you hadbetter taste.
Have you never seen the movie ‘Crash’. Police injustices against blacks have been prominent in many movies. This may be powerful and I will go see it, but stop acting like Hollywood are endangering themselves by challenging the system. This is the same culture that nurtured and defended Harvey Weinstein.
2
Thanks so much for this - I was blown away by the film because I felt that the writer Lena Waithe and the director Melina Matsoukas were rewriting their own rules for movie making. I was amazed at how well written the lead female is - you never see that in movies. She was complex, difficult, brilliant and flawed. Wow. This was one of the best films of the year.
2
Every police officer and prison guard in America and their families should see this movie. Why? Because it is basically a documentary of how America's law enforcement impacts innocent people of color, especially Black people, and makes one subject to arrest when one asserts one's right to be free. Know your place. Don't be to loose. Keep in lock step conformity. It also happens to indigenous peoples, Native Americans being Native American are also subject to arrest, for praying at their holy places, for living traditionally like so many Amish people, or other orthodox religious traditions are able to do, except that it is considered to be a crime when Indians do it. America has a racial law enforcement pecking order and it isn't about prevention of crime or justice. The current President and his Congressional allies are proving everyday what the documentary film, Queen and Slim illustrates in dramatic form, freedom and liberty in America is bought and paid for and reserved for the few.
6
I saw the film this past weekend and the theatre had only a few people and we were all Black. I loved it and am dying to see it again. I think, the reason is how beautiful the cinematography is and how beautiful the characters were, both in a physical way and in a tragic way. I love the lense of the camera from my perspective. I came away feeling like I did when I saw Malcom X, Love Jones, Moonlight and the new Netflix reboot of She's Gotta Have It, Get Out and US. I felt seen and heard as a Black woman. The film depicted rage, love, family, sensuality, and respect for the Black audience. In this age of bold hate and bigotry, this film, with all of the tragic themes, felt like a cool breeze on a hot, summer night.
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@Brenda Kennedy What a wonderful comment, especially the beautiful last line. I saw a preview I think here at NYT in an article about the director and I lapped it up, especially when she went over the first dance scene and described how she came up with all the different things, then I watched some of her music videos and was even more enchanted. I love, love her attention to detail and her homage to other directors. It was so uplifting to me to hear how she works creatively. And boy was that dance segment spectacular!
31
@Brenda Kennedy - your comment makes a beautiful review!
31
@Brenda Kennedy All black audience? That's sad. Why do so many white people assume that a movie starring black people is somehow of no interest to them? I'm old and black and love movies. And I do not limit my viewing to movies about old black people, which is a good thing as I don't think one has ever been made.
31
As a grey, and purple caucasian 70 year old, I have been mistreated by police, disrespectful tone and demands, as the victim of a hit and run!
3
If Louis CK’s dates are already sold out... and he’s in the news for a testy joke... maybe he hasn’t actually lost his place at the cultural cutting edge.
In which case: maybe the culture that shunned him... isn’t the cultural cutting edge. Maybe the culture that demands unequal treatment doesn’t actually have the kind of hegemony Twitter and the NYT make it look like. Maybe demanding that representations of gay or black or female people be both the only show in town, and at the same time exclusively virtuous, is not actually art at all. Maybe it’s just another kind of bigotry. Maybe ordinary people of all backgrounds couldn’t care less who the author of a piece is and where they came from. Maybe the culture that does is actually, through a different lens, deeply parochial, conservative, small-minded, and puritanical.
Maybe this vile phase of progressivism has all been a nasty little storm in a teacup and we can all get back to living like human beings with more than just reactionary ethical values to live for. But I’m not counting on it.
7
Thanks for ruining this movie for me. Please give a spoiler alert message before the article.
3
Black victims against a bad guy cop. The plot appeals to stereotype. A black cop and a Jewish cop undercover to expose the Klan, utterly void of stereotype, making the point, and thoroughly entertaining. In the process, we get unorthodox heroic cops, black and white, against the REAL bad guys. Now that's a movie and a half. BlackkKlansman.
3
Our current artistic climate feels obsessed with issues -- issue plays, issue films, issue art, issue photography, issue books -- and critics are equally obsessed in attaching their glowing reviews. "Issue porn" I call it (oh, wait, porn is another issue). It feels increasingly as if writers and artists are out to pummel you, daring you to come to the theater, the cinema, the art gallery. There doesn't feel like there's much room these days to consider and to find enlightenment in the subtle and the nuanced.
6
A group newly-empowered “to have the power to create and enforce taboos” risks abusing that power, so new, fresh and intoxicating. The risk is grave; the consequences, including the election of Mr. Trump, severe. In exercising their power, that group, for example, black American activists, should take particular care not to burn down the houses of those who came before, and certainly not to seek to characterize other groups, particularly those losing power, like whites, as inherently evil or somehow tainted merely by virtue of complexion, ethnicity or ‘race’.
A case in point is the tendency to characterize any consideration, even basic decency, towards the group whose power is declining with prejudicial verbs “pandering, pampering, coddling”. Even as respected figures as the Obamas are characterized as “oreos” when they counsel moderation and criticize “woke” culture. In the NY Times, Mr. Blow takes aim at all Thanksgivings, even the first one, celebrated by a small, desperate group of European refugees, grateful even a few survived, and grateful to their Native American benefactors.
White people don’t care about Louis C. K.; we care about Rembrandt, Tolstoy, Shakespeare and Bach; that our many contributions (e.g. medicine) be celebrated as much as our failures are deplored. And that our successes and failures be seen clearly as human; there’s nothing special about us, beyond the wildly unlikely chance of stumbling onto the Renaissance and the Enlightenment back-to-back.
3
So, do they both die at the end or what!?
2
A: Can you come up with a plot to get white audiences to come to a black movie?
B: How about a really bad white cop who gets killed during a routine stop.
A: Too obvious and too manipulative.
B: No such thing.
4
A fabulous movie called Traffic
Who is 'we' and 'our' and 'I'?
The two native unnatural American holocausts aka enslavement and separate and unequal black African and brown aboriginal indigenous colonization and conquest are typically ignored or seen through a white European Judeo-Christian context perspective lens aka the Tarzan syndrome.
Or via thinly concealed white supremacist bigoted prejudiced caricatures full of despicable negative canards and tropes.
You obviously don't get out much to see any black-centric films that have mass audience appeal. And even if they don't there is enough of a black audience to make them profitable.
From '12 Years A Slave', 'Get Out', 'Us' , 'Moonlight', 'Blindspotting' , 'BlacKkKlannsmen', 'Sorry to Bother You' , 'Brown Girl Begins', Black Panther', 'Fences', 'Widows', 'Girl's Trip', 'Black and Blue".
Plus the ubiquitous Denzel Washington, Dwayne Johnson, Tiffany Haddish, Will Smith, Kevin Hart, Chiwitel Eljiofor, Idris Elba, John Boyega, Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Daniel Kaluya, Morgan Freeman, Samuel Jackson, Forrest Whitaker, Vin Diesel, Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington, Regina King, Don Cheadle, Terence Howard, Taraji Henson, Zoe Saldana, Naomie Harris etc.
Spike Lee has been joined by the likes of Will Packer, Ryan Coogler, Jordan Peele, Barry Jenkins, Lee Daniels, Tyler Perry, Malcolm Lee, Shonda Rimes, Lena Waithe,
1
White people shying away from films like this remind me of the German people after their beloved leader slinked away and killed himself...leaving them to face the horror of his...and THEIR deeds, apathy, ignorance, and bewilderment. They couldn't bring themselves to "look at what was happening around them". They were really funny to watch. Of course they knew. They just didn't want to see the damage that was done.
6
In the world of the NYT and the similarly-opined, it doesn't take any courage at all to idolize black killers of white cops. Such people have been celebrated for decades now, and films about them have a guaranteed audience of right-thinking "progressives."
7
Thank you for defending freedom of expression. This is becoming a rare thing at the NYT. Everyone should be able to express what they believe to be true and criticize what they think is wrong. Aren't you glad Lewis CK is allowed to speak so that you can point out what you think is wrong or crude about it. Otherwise he's a martyr of cancel culture. This is how it's supposed to work. Now tell your cohorts this applies to political speech as well.
2
I'd like to know what Goldberg means when she attributes to undefined others a feeling that "our culture has become too safe, and that no one can say anything provocative anymore." We now live in a world where the President tells crazy, bald-faced lies about things that are easily and instantly debunked, as if he believes Americans have no memories. Racist and sexist slurs, insulting nicknames (including one endlessly repeated lame pun on Adam Schiff's last name) are everywhere. Orwellian Newspeak is considered the "new normal" and nothing -- NOTHING -- is provocative, because nothing is transgressive. There are no boundaries. When everything is permitted, nothing matters, and no one is accountable for anything they say or do.
Bill Maher, a smug hack who wouldn't stand a chance in a political argument with Don Rickles, is the favorite stand-up of Fox News viewers. (Their web site reports glowingly on his monologue every week because he's so slippery his words can mean anything anyone wants them to mean.) The right took up the PC mantle with its use of propaganda phrases like "freedom fries" and "Presidential Harassment" and "the i-word" -- desperate attempts to use language to shut down debate and re-frame discussions.
2
Two legal notes: 1. Some 25 years ago, a San Jose Police Task Force broke down the front door of my black friend’s home, threw a stun grenade, and then gunned him down at 7:13 am in front of his two small daughters getting ready for school and his wife preparing breakfast. They were looking for drugs; there weren’t any. I handled his legal case. The notable feature of the City’s posture was that they would never even broach settling the case, never admit to any error in judgment or procedure. Finally got a halfway decent settlement out of the insurance company. And the department did end up changing their procedures.
2. A black woman attorney who I’d gone to law school with at Stanford took her son to the polling station with her to teach him about Presidential elections. They turned her away – she’d been scrubbed off the rolls by one of the firms Florida had hired to cleanse the rolls of supposed felons. Turned out more blacks than felons got scrubbed.
I don’t think anything has changed in the intervening decades.
44
I like concept of Queen & Slim, however the real point of the story is that there has never been a day in the over 400 year history of chattel slavery in the Americas where this story could not happen.
A black couple goes on a date,
- a slave overseer/slave patrol 1600-1865
- a truancy/police officer 1865-1960
- a racist police officer 1960-Present Day
During that entire time the white officer/overseer can question, harass, stop & frisk, rape, torture, and murder the black couple for ANY reason. If the black couple can get away from the officer/overseer they are considered fugitives indefinitely and receive the same punishments stated above. I don't see any changes other than the date on this story, and with Trump owned GOP & SCOTUS white America wants this story to play out indefinitely.
4
All of us in “white America” are not like trump and his treasonous minions.
The Times becomes progressively more egregious in committing the ultimate transgression of a nominal news outlet--it spends far more time attempting to change the society its mission is to report on.
3
How did Maher get lumped in with Louis C.K. at the end there?
2
As a professional screenwriter who has sold many scripts to the studios, I can assure you there is no surprise that Queen & Slim got made. The critical and commercial success of Get Out and Black KKKlansman make it a safe bet.
But to suggest this is the new cutting edge of the culture is silly. The success of those previous films (and others like Beale Street) mean this film is now a staple of a genre, not a breakthrough.
I suspect the backlash to the Woke culture that Louis C.K. and Bill Maher represent is closer to the cutting edge right now than Queen and Slim.
6
The police are not our enemies; criminals are. The police keep me and those I love safe. I have no interest in any theater or movie that portrays the police as the bad guys.
31
Doctors are not our enemies, sickness is the enemy!
Yet- when a surgeon makes a mistake or a hospital infects a patient, we have systems in place to review the facts and award damages as necessary. In egregious cases an MD may lose the license to practice.
The self policing of our constabulary time after time shows a propensity to Whitewash. There are few national standards, cozy relationships with prosecutors and little appetite for political leaders to address the issues raised especially as police unions have shown themselves to be effective political agents come election.
I doubt very much this film sees police officers as indelibly corrupt but a significant minority recognizes that they need not all be enemies for injustice to go on and on and on.
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@Olivia Well, sadly, the police aren't always the good guys, and that's what this film portrays. If you believe they are, you are gullible.
I won't be going to see it. A lot of movies have been made in the same genre.
17
@Olivia
Sadly many peoples lives prove this to be not always the case.
There was a reason Pres. O's Justice Dept. had many cities police undergoing reforms.
46
Great to read Michelle Goldberg writing about this important film. One angle that she has missed, however, is the film's relationship to its immediate forerunner: the 2018 film "If Beale Street Could Talk," written and directed by Barry Jenkins and faithfully based on the 1974 novel of the same title by no one less than the great James Baldwin. In Baldwin's story an aggressive white racist police officer wrecks the lives of an innocent hardworking black couple. Hardly any white people were ready for that story in 1974, and it's still back-burner for most of them today.
9
I think there's a big chunk of white liberals who fall over themselves to praise a work of black cinema. I understand why, and I don't think it's necessarily a bad impulse.
But, after reading a couple reviews, I haven't heard anyone explain why Queen & Slim isn't anything more than Thelma & Louise with police brutality. It's like a Law & Order episode: a crime story ripped from the headlines.
And while that sounds like it would be an enjoyable movie experience, it also doesn't sound like much of a cinematic achievement. So, it's a bit uncomfortable watching Goldberg and others stumble over themselves to praise it.
Not everything has to be Get Out, Black Panther or Moonlight. Not everything has to be Oscar-worthy. It's like, after fifty years of ignoring black cinema outside of Do the Right Thing, certain liberals want to make up for it by giving everything five stars.
3
Bill Maher's no longer on the cutting edge? Tell that to Trump.
2
Michelle Goldberg reminds us of one important factoid in this piece - that the current social justice warrior class believes that they represent the "cultural cutting edge", as she puts it, and that everyone else, especially those who do not subscribe to the same world view, are "behind the times". This, of course, is a matter of opinion, not fact. Ms. Goldberg is certainly entitled to this opinion, but her approach, like many before her is flawed because it does not account for or acknowledge that resistance to such views and claims is legitimate and actually quite widespread.
This worldview also allows Ms. Goldberg the freedom to make inflammatory and unsubstantiated comments in her own work. Take, for example, this line from the article:
"Of course, white artists and performers aggrieved by political correctness may not be comforted that artists of color are able to create daring work."
Here Ms. Goldberg weaves together two seemingly disparate concepts/issues into a single point for the purpose of simultaneously diminishing the concerns of the anti-PC crowd while framing them as racists. Ms. Goldberg slips in the word "may" intentionally here, to create just enough space for her to note that she cannot support this view with facts, but has no problem saying it all the same. While none of this is surprising, it betrays a narrow worldview that advances the ideology of one side being wholly good and the other being wholly evil. This is folly and irresponsible.
35
@John. A very insightful comment!
3
@John Lots of people and movements, from white power crusaders to environmental activists, believe that they are the 'cultural cutting edge.' The fact that social justice warriors believe it as well should not be surprising.
But it seems to me that Ms. Goldberg's central message is that, despite the mutterings of PC Police and Evangelical Christians, we have greater freedom now, not less, to tell 'transgressive stories'-- stories that offend some and force many to think.
That's the true 'cutting edge.' And always has been.
8
@John: Your comment seems to me to possess many of the characteristics for which you criticize Ms. Goldberg's essay: presenting factoids, weaving together disparate concepts, diminishing concerns, framing the opposition, betraying a narrow worldview, advancing an ideology. But certainly I agree that you are as entitled to your opinion as you say Ms. Goldberg is entitled to hers.
9
The film sounds great but $20? I can rent it online in a few months....
1
Queen & Slim regurgitates Black death
and trauma for Hollywood profit—and yes, for the profit and cultural capital of its Black director and screenwriter. White liberals will cry and consume it. Black and brown viewers might applaud its cast and crew. Representation! But a film that regurgitates the violent status quo—Black bodies being murdered every day, on video, on live feeds—without offering any genuine critique and/or libratory possibility (indeed, that features instead a black boy shooting a black cop in the face) is simply trash. The Black traitor at the end counts his cash. As do all the Black “artists” who made this film.
1
@jamie The director is Jewish/African American/Greek/Arab.
I think I have pretty good taste in movies, and "Queen and Slim" was one of the lousiest I've seen in a long time. (I don't see that many). This I blame largely on the director, Melina Matsoukas, who is no better than an earnest amateur. "Queen and Slim" is her first feature film, and it's obvious. Clearly the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU makes mistakes.
The blame does not fall entirely on Matsoukas, however. The screenplay, by Lena Waithe, also is amateurish. Waithe does not have an ear for dialogue and much of the dialogue in Q&S is glaringly fake. The female star, Jodie Turner-Smith, is an model/actress, based in L.A., and it shows. She's little better than Ali MacGraw in the 1970s. Other, smaller roles in the film are poorly conceived and performed.
The main exception to my criticism is the performance by Daniel Kaluuya as Slim. It's professional, moving, and mostly convincing. Kaluuya is a real actor, British, based in the UK, and that certainly shows. Those Brits don't mess around.
In the hands of talented people, "Queen and Slim" could have been a worthy successor to "Bonnie and Clyde" and "Thelma and Louise." I went to the movie theater with high expectations. Boy, were they ever dashed on the rocks of Hollywood mediocrity.
6
I'm a dominant female that has always been both bored and horrified by the male-led culture. People project onto me their own preconceptions, but I'm just a woman that prefers my own opinion over yours and will press my will. Safer in LA and NYC, but never completely safe - like the time I dictated directions to a Pakistani cab driver in Manhattan and he threatened to punch me in the face if I didn't get out of his cab. I'm happy to see all the outcasts come to the front of the line, but I expect to die before it catches up to me.
2
Why are you “surprised that it got made at all”? The plot is a natural spinoff of what has been in the news for a few years. And a Hollywood is looking for “for your consideration” Oscar bait that isn’t “Oscars so white” material. This is perfect. Formulaic, even.
4
You know the strength of a political issue has finally arrived, when risk averse Hollywood is willing to include it in their storytelling.
3
Interesting movie, as described. As to why we tend to distrust the police, having had some uncomfortable 'rubbing' in the past, one would love to see a more humane force that truly serves it's community...by defusing conflict...instead of drawing a gun to 'show them' who is the boss kind of arrogant stand...at the least provocation in questioning the reason of being stopped. The question is, how are we to hire a well educated, kind individual, whose main interest is in protecting the very individuals, that make their living salaries even possible? Given most circumstances of minor infractions, if any, why not 'default to truth', recognizing the remote chance of missing a true gangster...than holding hostage an innocent person as guilty, with no proof whatsoever, disrupting justice, freedom and peace in our society? Too bad that, as we, flaws and all, must contend with an abusive guy... with a weapon. Have we forgotten the 'Sandra Bland Case'?
5
The P.C. Police largely stand down when people of color make the films / theater / art. "Slave Play" protests are nowhere near what they would be if the writers / directors were not POC (as well as "queer"). It's definitely progress that this performance can be made at all. And it's also great that POC are able to get movies and plays made. What isn't progress is deciding that the identity of the artist is the threshold question for whether any kind of controversial art gets the P.C. Police on it, or whether cancel culture rears its ugly head. That's just a different kind of abuse of power. When people can produce art that isn't judged by either the right or left wing by the identity of the artist / director / actors / etc. that's when real progress will have been made.
4
Louis C.K. Is not transgressive. He may be daring though, in the sense that he uses a stage to display his personal brand of clever offensiveness in the name of humor. He certainly deserves no mention in this article. The comment about the inability to look away from the car crash certainly applies.
Bill needs to worry more about violent separatists, food and water storages, and fascist leaders than the PC police. I will see Queen & Slim, of course but on the face of it I am disappointed that the well worn story of black people being in trouble with the law saddens me but again, open mind as I haven't seen the film yet. Though Thelma & Louise was enjoyable while watching I hated the film as soon as it was over: ah, our feminist choices seemed to be jail or suicide. A Slave Play was riveting and kept me open eyed - no napping from this theatre goer.
@Lisa You probably would've preferred the original alternate ending to Thelma & Louise, where they settle down and open a cute little coffee shop.
1
Another great OpEd column from Ms Michelle Goldberg. I am grateful to her for providing a link to Mr Bill Maher's interview in the N Y T magazine. Please write more often, Ms Goldberg.
The P.C. Police largely stand down when people of color make the films / theater / art. "Slave Play" protests are nowhere near what they would be if the writers / directors were not POC (as well as "queer"). It's definitely progress that this performance can be made at all. And it's also great that POC are able to get movies and plays made. What isn't progress is deciding that the identity of the artist is the threshold question for whether any kind of controversial art gets the P.C. Police on it, or whether cancel culture rears its ugly head. That's just a different kind of abuse of power. When people can produce art that isn't judged by either the right or left wing by the identity of the artist / director / actors / etc. that's when real progress will have been made.
2
Jelani Cobb's remark reminds me of what happened at the premiere of Renoir's Les Regle du Jeu, when audiences rioted. The director allowed he was "dancing on a volcano."
I look forward to seeing this film.
This is funny to read, both the article and the comments.
VT is a tiny state and most people who pay attention are on a first-name basis with their legislators. You can even make an appointment with the governor, not that I would. I just sent an email to my local representative that I was unable to attend the meeting she was hosting to get people's ideas/concerns/thoughts for the upcoming legislative agenda. I am unable to attend. Constabulary reform is a must. I have little respect for law enforcement in this country, local in particular. It might have worked at one time the way it is now set up, but something has to give.
2
I can't say I share the author's adoration of "Queen & Slim." I found it maudlin, poorly paced and mundanely shot. Really, music video directors have no business helming feature-length films, at least not ones intended for adults. I am much more looking forward to the release of Roman Polanski's "An Officer and a Spy." The much maligned French resident may be long in the tooth but he can still out-direct the totality of Gen-X and Millennial "auteurs."
6
@Vincent Tagliano Sadly, this movie will probably be nominated for and win the Academy Award. I stopped watching the Oscars after last year's nastiness.
1
Great column, Ms. Goldberg. Thank you.
2
Well, once again I see from the comments below, most people have not gotten either the writer's point or the movie's(which I have not seen). It's easy for many of us to believe that things should be a certain way, or not understand how we got where we are now. Or why things are the way they SHOULD be. It's easy, we're human beings.
One of the first comments I heard repeatedly after Obama's election was, "It's the end of racism!" Tribalism/racism/discrimination are part of the human condition which we have to learn to overcome. I don't even like the term "people of color" or mixed race, etc. They both help us and hinder us. Being in what is considered a "mixed race relationship", it's hard to understand why people have to see differences , but it comes back to tribalism. Our need to separate ourselves from what we perceive as "others". And because of that we need these movies, plays and commentators to keep reminding us of it. And the need to overcome it. To remember we're actually all the same, just human beings.
5
If the twitter fools bother you, tune out twitter.
If, nonetheless, your embrace of twitter is giving you something you want, the choice is yours: Your wants or your not-wants, or a mix. (Keep in mind that millions in the twitter-sphere follow Donald, Lindsey, and Mitch. Are these the voices you care about?)
1
While most people have a high opinion of the police, there is an exception for the police who pull them over. And everybody knows about good cop, bad cop, and there is no affection for bad cop. While there is divided opinion on Ferguson, cops caught with fists pounding have not fared as well.
It suits some to accuse most of racism. But when people see white cops beating up innocent blacks for innocent filming -- a favorite pastime for everybody -- the director has set the stage for empathy for the blacks and enmity for the cop. This is not so bold or groundbreaking. Heck it hearkens back to Guess Whose Coming to Dinner. And keep in mind that the director is Greek, Jewish and, oh yes, black.
Nice column. Michelle keeps getting better and better.
2
I plan to see Queen and Slim this weekend, but I am frustrated by the comparison to Bonny and Clyde. Bonnie and Clyde were criminals, from the reviews I have read these people were not. They are a young black couple living honest lives in an American that makes it a crime to be black.
6
Absolutely, anyone who likens this movie to Bonnie and Clyde has not seen the movie.
1
@wendy lear No, these characters are murderers. They murder a cop right at the beginning and become fugitives.
1
What I'm hearing is more identity politics from Michelle Goldberg. The movie is "about a black man and a black woman." It is directed by "a woman of color."
How is "Queen and Slim" transgressive when it checks off the current identity politics boxes of being by and about anyone but white men?
Is "The Irishman" a better or worse movie because it was directed by a white man, and is about white people? "Pulp Fiction" was directed by a white man and had a great performance by a black actor. Are these the criteria we now use to judge our cinema?
Identity politics is divisive and (in my view) racist, sexist, and ageist. I wish Dems and their leading pundits would give it a rest. Mainly because I wish we liberals would stop alienating the "white supremacist patriarchy" (i.e. all white men) and might improve our chances at the ballot box.
11
@Unconventional Liberal Fellow Democrat here- I couldn't agree more. But Americans like to take everything to simplistic extremes. Right now, white is bad, "color" is good. There's no in between, as usual. And reading about Viola Davis' comments that Julia Roberts was once tapped to play Harriett Tubman just underscored that for me. Of course that would have been ridiculous. But why is it not ridiculous when I see "A Christmas Carol" performed with plenty of black people and people of color when we all know that no such thing was happening in Dickens' England?
4
@atb A Christmas Carol is FICTION. Anyone can play any role at it can still be 100% true to the story. Also, metaphor does exist in film. Lastly, there were many black people in 19th Century London. I've had it with fake liberals trying to talk down the obvious need for people of color to tell their own stories. Yes it makes a huge difference if a director is familiar with the experiences of the story's characters, and a white man cannot be as intimately familiar with the black experience in America as a black man or woman. Full stop. Sure it's possible for a white man to direct a decent, even good film about black American characters. More often we get a film like Green Book, ostensibly about the soul-crushing discrimination of mid-century America, but really just a saccharine white man's coming of age story set against the backdrop of racism. I'm not saying Peter Farrelly is a bad director; I am saying it's human nature to gravitate towards the most relatable experience. One hopes a "liberal" (the dictionary definition being "open to new behavior or opinions and willing to discard traditional values") could grasp this concept and not be so threatened by as to dismiss it as "P.C." (whatever that means).
Because there have thousands of years of White Supremacy...
And, racism is still rampant.
I watched Lonely Are The Brave (1962) last night. Screenplay by Dalton Trumbo, this -- IMHO -- is the best movie Kirk Douglas ever made, with Walter Matthau and a Gena Rowlands to die for.
“End of the West” Western where cops chase down a drifting cowboy who refuses to accommodate himself to the requirements and nonsense of modern life.
Haven't yet seen "Queen & Slim," but I believe I detect some resemblances.
3
I enjoyed the article until Ms. Goldberg lumped Louis C.K. and Maher together in a sentence. I have seen both perform live and seen both perform in movies and in their own productions. "Men like" Louis C. K. and Maher do still have their place on a cultural cutting edge in terms of honesty and social criticism. That they're sharing the edge of the stage doesn't mean they're not on the edge. The stage is wider. I've not seen "Queen and Slim," but may. I will definitely not see "Slave Play.' Working through trauma by re-enacting trauma deepens trauma for the victim and just might wire the helper/playwright/artist/therapist to keep a sadistic/masochistic trauma dynamic alive and both sensationalized and accepted.
I recommend the 2002 film "A Dangerous Method," t about psychoanalyst Sabina Spielrein and her treatment by and relationship with C.G. Jung, psychoanalysis' foremost seeker of the shadow. Shadows have shadows. Politics and art create lots of shadows amid smoke and mirrors.
6
Perhaps. But my perspective is that, sure, nuance and provocation are fine when portraying the lives of those considered victims but tread carefully when doing the same about the lives of those considered victimizers; and the more hated the victimizer, tread not at all.
1
OMG you wrote a non-Trump article!!!!!!
Just for today, Ms. Goldberg, I adore you.
4
"Two bitches in a car. I don't get it."
Has to be the best description of "Thelma and Louise" I've yet seen. I'm sure that's why I loved it so much!
8
" but surely it requires at least as much courage for a Hollywood movie to take on the police."
Only if you've slept thru the last 40 or 50 years of US films which have made every variety a bad police behavior staple tropes. If anything it would take more courage to make a film in any way positive about the police.
20
The two issues is that college campuses have insisted on being "safe spaces" in which no one can have their feelings hurt. For many comedians college campuses were their bread and butter. On top of which the attitudes of PC have found their way to twitter. It is not obvious that being denounced on twitter might be good for some performers as it makes them more famous. If Maher makes edgy jokes will HBO cancel him ?
1
The freedom to tell transgressive stories certainly exists in select
urban areas and in select newspapers, but it's a bit of a stretch
to imply that this freedom exists wholesale: for much of the nation,
woefully, it just doesn't.
6
Saw Queen and Slim opening night. Had been excited about the movie since I saw the first preview, love Daniel Kaluuya, Bokeem Woodbine, and was pleased to see the subject matter getting attention.
WHAT A LETDOWN. There are so many poorly crafted scenes and questionable character decisions that it's hard to list them all. Found it utterly superficial. It essentially was a music video in that it had some cool visuals but had no real depth to it, and no huge shock that the director comes from that background.
It isn't the worst movie of the year or even in that conversation, but it's the biggest letdown for me bar none.
14
@DennisMcG
I totally disagree and it sounds like I saw a completely different movie with the same exact title. But that's the nice thing about culture in the good old US of A, we can like or dislike stuff based on our own perspective and set of differing experiences. For what it is worth I thought it was a beautiful film that was artistically paced and had two of the best performances by actors I have seen this year. I can think of a more effective film I've seen this year.
2
@Bookpuppy
Fair enough. Art is subjective and there are plenty of movies I love that most others don't. That said, I agree that it looked "beautiful". The cinematography, color, framing, etc., were great but in my book that doesn't make for a good movie and ties into my comments about the director having a music video background. Also, "artistically paced" seems like one of those nicer terms people use instead of saying it was "slow". :-)
Lastly, I thought Kaluuya was great but didn't think all that much of Turner-Smith. It is notable/odd that they cast British actors in both roles I thought, however.
3
@DennisMcG Jodie Turner-Smith is British but has lived and worked in L.A. for a decade. She's a "model/actress" and it shows. She might never have succeeded had she stayed in Britain. Daniel Kaluuya is a fine actor, period.
1
I loved the movie and thought it poignant comment on the behavior of the "blue cult." It was thoughtful well-written and beautifully acted. Highly recommend to any one, especially those with an open mind.
1
Goldberg appears to be unaware of how narrowly and uniformly pop culture criticism reflect her values. She imagines that this movie is on "the cutting edge" in some respect.
I would argue, instead, that this is an extremely safe movie that was guaranteed to
1) get excellent reviews from sycophantic pop culture critics, and
2) sell tickets to left-leaning people in blue state areas, of which there are a sufficient number who have sufficient money that movie cover its expenses.
Goldberg seems shocked that this movie was given support by the studio. Why wouldn't it be? Did she miss Get Out? Hidden Figures? Ava DuVernay's whole career? A simplistic treatment of race that reinforces the existing values and beliefs of left-wing people seems like a pretty safe bet. It may not connect with some audiences, but it does not need to. Goldberg just doesn't realize how mainstream she is.
20
@MA
Thank you for meaningful synopsis. Anyone with relevant exposure - perhaps bolstered with critical takes on the Racism issue by scholars like W. Williams or T. Sowell - sees the Racism issue is largely reverse-framed to generate good feeling amongst the Left.
The question to me is - When will Hollywood stop re- making "To Kill a Mockingbird" and offer a realistic depiction of problems in African American communities. Those problems - as with many communities/groups - are overwhelmingly internal.
3
@MA : Well, you took the words right out of my mouth,"as that quaint expression goes.Author begins by seeming to level criticism against political correctness, yet nothing is more politically correct than this film.and your words "Goldberg just doesn't realize how mainstream she is"were great. Liberals should live their liberalism. Former colleague of mine from Brandeis High who would come to school and in the hallways whistling the "International,"but then abandoned Marxist Leninism for good , old fashioned capitalism and lives in the same chic quartier in Bklyn as the author and says she is a very nice person, but I question whether 1 can call himself or herself a liberal, a believer in diversity yet live in a quarter that is off limits, because of the high cost of homes, to all but the most wealthy.
2
@Ted Christopher : Kudos to you for mentioning the writer Thomas Sowell in your commentary, 1 of the best journalist/historians writing today. Suggested Times newspaper hire him for more balance. To him I owe the anecdote about living in Harlem in the 1940's, going to the local newspaper dealer still open at midnight to get a paper w/o fear of anyone, and the news stand was still open at that hour. Good comment.
2
My wife wanted to see this movie.
As a preface, I feel that black people are too often shot first and questioned later, and, sadly, I do not trust cops or their judgement in general (a fault of he system and the 'wall of blue'). In other words, I'm generally sympathetic to this movie's premise.
However, I can say without reservation that this is the worst movie, by far, I have seen in the last three decades. Trite, preachy, unbelievable, interminably boring, pointless, cheap, poorly written, poorly cast, etc., etc.
There is nothing to be learned from the nonsense that is this film except that it is a sad commentary of the so-called 'woke' movement that something as bad as this can pass as art.
16
@dmckj You nailed it. It actually could have been a fine movie in the hands of talented filmmakers.
Doesn't the fact that the "Queen & Slim" was greenlit by a major film studio imply that that is clearly NOT that transgressive and not a threat to power?
22
@Tommy G Maybe. At this point, all Hollywood is doing is trying to get butts in seats, by any means necessary. And the means now seems to be to pander to the "woke" majority.
"...while I try to write without concern for social media, it still inhibits me."
My wife and I do not have smart phones; do not participate in any social media sites; and, get our news from network TV, great columnists like you, online newspapers and the paper version of our hometown newspaper. We're never affected by anything on social media. Be the first on your block to try it.
The movie sounds great, by the way.
4
I saw the film this weekend, and think it is worthy of best original screenplay. But I think the Academy probably will want to stay away from that 3rd rail in an election year.
Aside from how it approached current racial issues, I really like the call backs to the experiences of fugitive slaves. It was particularly beautiful because it was as in the opposite direction that the slaves would have gone. It also has a reverse-reverse migration thing going on too. It’s asking the audience to retrace the steps of the past, and to not be afraid of what we find. This is more obvious with Queen’s journey.
It was a very well done film.
28
The reason why Hollywood sat back and let the writer and director make Queen and Slim the way they wanted is because of the amazing success of Get Out by Joirdan Peele. Many black people were shocked back then that Hollywood greenlit that film; I know I was. That was a movie that dealt with the subject of race in a very imaginative way and helped pave the way for a different typoe of storytelling. I will probably go see Queen and Slim tomorrow, but the reviews among black people, so far, have been mixed. I suspect it's not in the same category as Get Out, but I am looking forward to seeing a movie that pushes people's buttons in a creative way.
53
@Dinna Bailey "I will probably go see Queen and Slim tomorrow, but the reviews among black people, so far, have been mixed. "
Very mixed. Like to the point where Lena Waithe is being mocked.
1
This is an evocative description: “ feeling you get when a movie makes you momentarily forget everything else in your life,” but as a black man in this country, I did not forget anything in my life during the film as I could see my dreams and nightmares and realities play out on the screen.
156
Isn’t “culture” the last bastion of liberalism in America? The right controls the economy, the government and the judicial system, but music, TV, movies, theater etc., not so much.
3
@Mags
The Leftism (whether real or perceived) of the culture serves most effectively as a bogeyman for politicians & pundits on the Right, who tell their supporters constantly that the Left is an "elite" in control of everything.
1
@Mags
I'd argue that the left controls the economy more than the right - all the major economic growth happens in major cities, which are overwhelmingly liberal. I'm curious what makes you think the right controls the economy.....maybe the tax cuts? or trade policy?
I'd agree that the right has tentative control over government (state and federal combined). That lead won't last long.
Left complains about the judicial system being owned by the right, but if that were the case, why would Obamacare have passed?
And yes, the media, entertainment, art, most sports is left. And with them, goes the culture.
1
Queen and Slim looked good, had interesting acting, and was as lazy a movie as I've ever seen try to make such big statements. It's protagonists were cardboard characters just this side of Jesus and unbelievable. It didn't earn its big ending, but the Pontiac they drove should be up for an award given how much screen time and closeups it was given...
9
One of the things that stood out for me was the contrast between the ugliness of how certain people are treated by society and assumed to be criminals and the beauty of the American landscape.
I'm looking forward to seeing this movie, especially because the police have harassed me countless times and are just as criminal as the gangs when you look at how their union organizations promote corruption through prostitution kickback schemes and are intimately tied to the NRA and therefore gun violence. In effect, they create the very problems they seek to solve. Yes, Bill Maher has become an anti-liberal comedian now. He's been advocating for centrism in a way that makes centrism look dated and dunce-like. And I never thought Louis C.K. was funny.
2
Bill Maher has lost all credibility. He’s not politically incorrect, he’s weak and purely ratings driven. He invites lunatics on his show and for reasons likely due to self preservation allows them to spew venom. His reactions are inconsistent and often there is no push back when the interview is one on one. He used to be edgy, now he’s just trying to get ratings by giving a forum to these lunatics. In the early days of Fox News, it was the same format - jerry Falwell and Louis Farrakhan on the same set, wind them up and drive past the car crash, you can’t look away. Mahers tactics are the same yet he continues to try to hide behind his claims of speaking plainly and honestly in ways that are unacceptable to many Americans. No bill, youre just afraid kellyanne or milos won’t come back if you say it like it is and then your format and show are gone.
2
"invites lunatics on his show" = invites and encourages diversity of viewpoints
"reactions are inconsistent" = Maher doesn't always toe the company line of a liberal therefore he is a traitor for being an individual
I don't see what's wrong with having leaders of various points of view square off with each other in a public forum...as long as we recognize the Maher show for what it is - political theatre. Political theatre is more empty calorie in nature, and I think that's your biggest gripe about him. I think you are right, but I think a lot of media is political theatre today and at least Maher gives both sides a chance.
1
Uh, yeah:
"Twitter rage can be scary, but surely it requires at least as much courage for a Hollywood movie to take on the police."
What I think you mean to say, Michelle, was "bad police," right?
5
“Queen and Slim” is a mediocre film. “Slave Play” is a revolutionary and original masterpiece.
3
@Zuzka
Thank you for your beautifully articulated and invaluable comment. :)
@Zuzka Mediocre is being kind. A complete and utter waste of time and film.
1
The only political power that popular culture exerts is to keep people entertained, or to keep them engaged in impotent fights about words & attitudes, while the world burns and the rich rake in the profits.
5
Thank goodness there are still artists who are willing to take risks, the tyrannical P.C. crowd notwithstanding.
3
My comment is not about the movie or the play.
In a recent interview on NPR the director of the movie made a comment which really stuck with me.
She said the police were wrong to expect immediate respect from the people they deal with. She said they must EARN respect first.
That is wrong. It's a fundamental lack of understanding how society is supposed to function.
Police are due immediate respect because society demands it. Get a clue.
6
@David Gagne If I recall correctly, and if we are referring to the same interview, some additional context is necessary to frame your comment.
She also said that for many people who interact with the police, to respect one's self when interacting with the police, i.e not allowing the police to treat you any way they feel, is viewed as disrespectful to the police. I have had both positive and negative interactions with police, but I can attest to the fact that many are disrespectful and expect complete compliance and obedience regardless of their approach, which can and has included insults, name calling, and unmitigated aggression. Anecdotally, please watch the footage of the Sandra Bland stop. That police officer neither deserved nor earned any respect. While only a single case, it is certainly not isolated and is indicative of many police stops that go unrecorded.
While I understand your comment and objection to her point, many people are fed up with police behavior and the expectation of obedience and compliance in the face of inhumane and wildly disrespectful behavior.
Police are not divine; they are often flawed, some deeply, like teachers, doctors, judges, and politicians. However, police have the ability to end one's liberties and even one's life in certain circumstances. That power that should be relentlessly scrutinized. If police expect immediate respect, they should expect to live under a very powerful microscope.
2
@David Gagne
Police deserve respect because they have guns and can kill you. It’s as simple as that. Don’t overcomplicate with it the nonsense that society demands it.
1
@David Gagne
"Police are due immediate respect because society demands it." Really? It's far more complicated that you would like to believe.
Let me remind you that during the Third Reich in Germany, the Nazis would certainly have argued that the Gestapo "was due respect because society demands it." And a huge problem there and then was that too many Germans believed that "society demands it." Honest, healthy, and sustainable societies operate on law and order, facts, and considered judgment. After decades, well actually centuries, of racist discrimination by American police that has led to the unjust imprisonment, injury, and death of countless blacks and other minorities, it's time to lay at the feet of our police the responsibility to earn the respect of the people they deal with.
1
I just saw her on TV talking about Sandra Bland and how misinterpreted blacks are with police. When Bland asked the police officer why she should have to put out her cigarette while in her own car--suddenly 2015 becomes 1955--- viewed as defiance rather than just a question.
6
Bill Maher has not lost his place on the edge, and is a necessary touchstone of our society
8
@J Agreed. Ironically, the fact that Goldberg attacks Maher proves that he is on the cutting edge. I appreciate her columns, but Goldberg sits comfortably in the liberal mainstream. For the record, Maher has a much larger African American audience than she does.
6
Great line, "the process of going from ahead of your time to behind it is a painful one" so describes a far too wide swath of our population.
4
@Stephen Yanulis
I could just as easily flip this comment on its head and say that the problem with our society is rooted in a young social justice class that lacks patience, perspective and tolerance for others. Perhaps what's really painful is watching a generation of Americans grow up with expectations that will never be met and eventually waking up to the reality that life is not fair.
12
Ms Goldberg, your statements, "We don’t have more cultural taboos than we used to — far from it. We just have more contention over who should have the power to create and enforce them." are incredibly insightful. This situation may be the heart of much of our current division. Barr's strident and disturbing rhetoric fits exactly. This explains the thrust of the right wing religion extremists and the Trumpers.
14
This type of truthful cultural experience reaches the emotions, which might be the only way to reach across the fortified barriers to compassion and identification we live with in these polarized times.
2
Bill Mahar, a liberal who is against political correctness, is the one who is ahead of his time.
Earlier this year he had a guest who, although a liberal, isn’t supportive of all progressive causes. She described how, when she recently spoke at a university, despite protests, some students demanded “a safe space with a therapy dog.”
How ridiculous is that?
8
Great column, Michelle. The demand for "safe spaces" has reached critical absurdity -- as if there are safe spaces in life. if one doesn't want to be triggered, don't leave your bedroom. And "cancel culture" works both ways -- ask the actors and writers who were cancelled by Joe McCarthy. Or ask Lenny Bruce -- who of course would be cancelled by many on the left today if he were still alive. The best art is often dangerous and offensive and not for the squares of any ideology. I say this as a radical leftist who is -- more often than not -- in solidarity with so-called social justice warriors.
5
I haven't seen this film and so I won't comment on it. What surprises me is Michelle Goldberg's naivete. She says she was "amazed" that the film "got made at all". Why? Has she suddenly forgotten where we live? How this country and culture work? It got made because the people who funded its production thought they could make money on it. Universal Pictures doesn't have a non-profit charity wing dedicated to making important films that won't make any money. This may be an important film. That's not why it got made.
50
this movie has become a hip hit among groups whose raison d'etre is self absorbed virtue signaling. as is the case. here little enough is said about the film, but quite a bit about how uplifting it is in certain quarters. that is a description more appropriate for Harriet, but of course that isn't hip.
4
Like all great literature and art,"Queen and Slim" speak mythic and archetypal truths. This film may rank at the highest tier of the art---because in its rough cut way---it portrays what can happen to black Americans without warning and without preparation. Every frame of this film, with some wonderful exceptions, is about being blindsided (by circumstance we did not create). It's about lurching forward through life with few protections in a hostile world. Even so, the struggle to survive can bring out what is best in us.
The most revolutionary aspect of the film is the power sharing that takes place between Queen and Slim; power sharing rarely seen off camera in our daily existence between men and women (of any color). In this story, a love based on male/ female interdependence and mission grows to become the least sentimental romance I've seen portrayed in recent memory. Their love evolves slowly out of a respect for what each has to contribute to the success of their journey. How novel.
The film had to end the way that it did because in America, there is no mercy for the black body; Ta Nehisi Coates most recently, and our history as a nation, has made that abundantly clear.
Spoiler: The final image of an "inverted black Pieta" is a coda for the ages.
20
Thank you for your enlightening ant thought provoking perspective. The truth can certainly hurt, but is nevertheless the truth, whether Twitter thinks so or not.
5
Thanks Michelle. This is truly an opinion piece. One designed to intelligently opine without trying to ignite fury. Very well done.
10
"We don’t have more cultural taboos than we used to — far from it. We just have more contention over who should have the power to create and enforce them."
I think that pretty much sums up so much of what's happening in this country. Substitute the word "political" for "Cultural" and you get today's world.
A boomer myself, I remember what passed for revolutionary in the late 60s, early 70s with "Hair", "Oh Calcutta" and the like. Sexual freedom seems quaint when you consider the works Michelle Goldberg describes here. "Slim and Queen" is top of my list; "Slave Play" not at all, sounds contrived for the sake of contrivance.
The big question always to be: when is the populace ready to be challenged and shocked? In extreme polarization, even culture breaks across political lines.
18
While watching ‘Queen & Slim’, I realized that I wanted to see more back story of many people depicted in the film. And the contrast of the beautiful cinematography showing the landscape of America in contrast to the beauty and ugliness of life for many living In the same country was chilling. There were some clumsy patches in the film that pulled me out of the story for awhile but that’s just a quibble. An important film that I will be seeing again.
10
“But it’s equally true that many artists, performers and thinkers have more freedom to tell transgressive stories than ever before. We don’t have more cultural taboos than we used to — far from it. We just have more contention over who should have the power to create and enforce them.” The power to control who can use taboos, words, phrases is a struggle worth having for the sake of freedom, respect.
5
Saw the previews for Queen and Slim. May have to go see it. The play looks very intriguing. But I wouldn't expect a road show to make Dallas anytime soon. Maybe they will do a Fathom Events on it.
1
You can hardly judge someone to be behind the time and then quote him to describe your own current concerns, “Everyone fears the wrath of the Twitter mob and the social justice warriors and the P.C. police,” Bill Maher told The New York Times Magazine in September. There is certainly something to this — I know that while I try to write without concern for social media, it still inhibits me.” Great theater and art should leave us trembling as we reach new depths of perception but the current climate, especially social media, creates an existential paralysis. Just as we are fighting for the future of our democracy, we should be also champion our liberal intellectual traditions which are also under siege by a “politically “ woke culture. The survival of both may be inextricably combined.
46
@David Gary Smith -- I've been reading Twitter and quite a lot of the black media critics I follow do not like this movie at all. It's not an angry mob. It's just a bunch of disappointed people. Lena Waithe is not having a good time.
2
I saw this thrilling, important movie a couple of nights ago. I consider it within the tradition of avant-garde African American film like Sorry to Bother You, and was very happy that the filmmakers and most of the characters were African American. I’m white and saw it in a neighborhood where most of the attendees also were. (Upper East Side NYC.) A superficial view of the film might take it to be an action, “hate the police,” or even blaxploitation film, but it’s very different and very much more. I sobbed at the end.
I had a couple of brief conversations with white filmgoers and was astonished at how badly they missed the point. One man thought it was implausible that a Black cop who’d been berated by a white partner would give the “criminals” a pass. Another thought it was wrong to have a scene where a child committed a crime. These viewers didn’t realize that the story wasn’t a traditional literal narrative (it clearly had many implausibilities) but a parable. Symbolic of this was that the leads were never called Queen and Slim during the movie, and their real names not revealed until the end. They were anyone, real people, and legends, all at once. I hope it wins many awards.
52
@Sandra Wilde
I wanted to like it too, but dismissing the "many implausibilities" due to it being a "parable" is trying too hard to excuse its faults. It isn't a very good movie. Characters constantly do dumb unrealistic things. How is the KY cop finding out who they are, seeing them trying to steal his car, and then just howdy-doodying over to them a "parable"? In reality the movie would have been over then as he would have either shot or arrested them, likely the former. There are literally dozens of other problematic points like that in the movie.
Massive disappointment in my book.
1
Here in Quebec our local university has ruled that students and staff have the right to determine their first name last name and gender. Our government has forbidden any overt displays of religion for teachers and public employees.
We really have separation of church and state.
The Enlightenment was about ending a God centered universe and America was the first country of The Enlightenment.
Democracy requires an educated population. I suspect Trump voters understand that autocracy may be their only salvation and has made your current "democracy" the laughing stock of the world.
Democracy asks too many questions that involve too much complex discussion. We in Quebec must deal with being human in a world where we decide what is right and wrong and there is no scoreboard and no referee.
55
Bill Maher may seem to be behind the times, Michelle, but when genuine public intellectuals of inarguable integrity like Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, along with feminist activists like Yasmine Mohammed and Ayaan Hirsi Ali are fighting cancellation under the bogus charge of racism, this means the culture, especially among so-called progressives, itself is moving backward in my view.
It feels a bit like Pakistan where every canceled politician is slapped with a blanket corruption charge as they're shown the door.
But I digress. Outstanding article. Personally, I was looking forward to seeing that film, but there are too many spoilers out there and, honestly, I'm not confident I could endure it, alas.
11
@Jonathan Baron I would like to encourage you to follow your initial impulse to go see “Queen & Slim.” Yes, it is difficult to endure, but I think you’ll be glad you did.
2
Saw this last night. Amazing filmmaking! I sat through the end titles "literally" sobbing, not so much because of what happened in the film but because of what happens IRL.
14
Michelle,
This is a wonderful piece!
Tommy Tompkins
5
'The Scream' is a great masterpiece which expresses something about our modern world and how we often feel about it. But I am not sure I would want it hanging over my bed at night. The same goes for 'Schindler's List' one of my favorites, but not something I could watch every night without going crazy.
Yes racism, social justice and thoughtless brutality are great and important themes and affect us all, but 'Thelma and Louise' on steroids may be more than I can handle just now. There is something to be said for tending your own sanity.
43
@just Robert try living in our shoes. Nice that you can turn it off when you want to. We "try" to tend to our own sanity every day of our lives out of necessity.
5
@just Robert You should, by all means, guard your sanity. I hope, however, that it's not so fragile that you cannot acknowledge the suffering of others.
Concentration camp victims depicted in Schindler's List did not have the option of setting aside their status for a 'mental health day.' Nor do victims of racism or sexism.
Since you apparently do have that option, by all means, do so. But I thinks it's appropriate to be aware of the suffering of others.
2
Twitter, social justice warriors' and political correctness may have blunted the impact of cutting edge thinkers like Maher and Louis CK et al but it's more akin to the momentary impact rolling thunder has on the family dog than foreshadowing the end of the world.
Human beings are notoriously fickle and the pendulum swings. Today's groupthink, like storms, will eventually dissipate and cutting edge thinkers will regain their profile.
13
@Warren Maybe...but the bigger issue is that people actually consider Maher and Louis CK 'cutting edge thinkers'.
Maybe folks in NYC think "pop culture has become too safe," but I suspect in most precincts in America relatively few people would share that view.
15
There have been many films with the same theme. I suppose one more will make some money.
8
That gave me a laugh, Ernest! Though perhaps you weren't being funny intentionally? You dismiss "Queen and Slim" because "there have been many films with the same theme.."?! Really? Applying your reasoning to film-making the world over would severely limit your options, would it not? Love, war, justice/injustice, super hero themes, action, violence, sex....... Does this mean, then, that you have only ever seen one film in your life about any given theme, say, love and redemption, because to see any others with the same theme would be redundant?
I hope you don't apply the same logic with the music you listen to!
Just sayin'.....
1
@Ernest Montague "theme" for you....reality for us.
1
My hunch is that this film even if a masterpiece will have limited box office appeal. Many white Americans will have little interest in watching the classic Bonnie and Clyde updated and featuring sensitive and contemporary racial issues. There is no escape from daily life in a visit to this movie.
43
@Milton Lewis
"Many white Americans will have little interest in watching the classic Bonnie and Clyde updated"
The characters of Queen and Slim are hardly portrayed as "Bonnie and Clyde". These were classic Hollywood anti-heroes, their criminality prominently on display in the 1967 film.
The characters in this movie are meant to be beyond reproach, hence Queen being a "defense attorney", since the dubious narrative of innocent African-Americans minding their own business being murdered by the police is what's on display, or meant to be.
29
@Milton Lewis
I am old enough to remember the 2000 year old man and Robin Hood. Knowing good conquers evil is what kept America alive. (You might want to look up Creel Committee).
Daily life is better than it's ever been and it keeps getting better. Americans want to make America great again how strange is that?
7
@Adrian
Well said, I was of drinking age in 1967 and we were asking the questions one must constantly ask in a democracy. America has tired of moving forward. How does one tell liberals that many if not most Republicans want Putin they are tired of answering questions for which they have no real answer.
In 50 years I saw Quebec become a successful humanist liberal democracy which challenges its citizens every day and watched a democracy lose its taste for human progress for fear of failure.
13