and both were good solid pieces of art. Howl a portrayal of Allen Ginsberg's poem of the same name digs into the thought process behind the writers of his literary group the Beats, and explores the inhumane barbaric practices towards gay people in the 1950's (electric shock therapy wtf), what counts as Art, themes of masculinity and obscenity. Although purists may not like Perry's translation of the Choreopoem by N. Shange, it is arguably his best cinematic work to date..and I suspect alot of the hateration comes from Hollywood elites and people who work for, or want to rub elbows with Hollywood elites and hate the fact this man (Tyler Perry) has a network of support independent of THEM. So Tyler go on with your cross dressing self...
For Black men I have read complaining saying stuff like "its another anti Black male movie" it is not. I think the amazing thing I took from the movie was I could see parts of myself in each of the male characters good and bad and I suspect alot of Black women can see themselves in each of the female characters good and bad.
On an academic level I am going to creatively incorporate both literary works into my future classroom instruction. When I thought about it, I realized that Ginsberg's work HOWL was written the same time King led the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Bandung conference of Dark Nations convened, Anti-colonialism was in full swing, Hungary was fighting against Stalinism, and Simon De Beauvoir was writing some of the major texts for feminism. Wow...what an interesting time period 1955-1975 was for social movements and artists...
However, this leads me to the recent events surrounding the midterm election and the distinction between bloggers and activists. I respect the work done by my fellow Kossaks in the run up to the midterms. However, to a certain extent more attention was paid to mobilizing our constituents than why our ideas are better and that had alot to do with the strength of our opponents media network. I believe to maximize our efforts leading up to 2012 we must utilize and promote the new images of life we want to see in our society. Harold Cruse notes: While politicians may create political, economic, or organizational forms of leaadership; it is the artists and creative minds who will, and must furnish the all important content. So thank you Allen Ginsberg, thank you N. Shange, thank you James Baldwin, Thank you Aretha Franklin, Thank you N. Scott Momaday, thank you James Brown, and a thank you to all creative minds and talents devoted to illuminating the human condition.