Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman in a scene from The Shawshank Redemption.
Today we kicked off a series on black people in the film industry and depictions of African-American life in film. We talked about everything from To Kill a Mockingbird to the new Ice-Cube-n-Katt-Williams church caper.
I won't go into my L O N G theories about what film does to us and for us, but instead: movies! My favorites!
Okay, one theory/belief: I don't think movies have to be by or directly about the black experience to influence how you navigate the world (if you're black) or how you see the world. So many films (and books, etc.) are allegories for what it means to be human ... and how you treat "otherness."
So, let's make this the equivalent of Desert Island Discs.
If I had to pick five movies to watch over and over again in some post-apocalyptic scenario where I had a solar-powered DVD player, these would keep me in good standing:
Star Wars
Daughters of the Dust
The Shawshank Redemption
Hud
Hi De Ho
That list is based on nostalgia; inspiration; fantasy; eye candy; and comfort.
Runners up on my list:
Snow White (I am not kidding ... I love the animation ... and it's an irony that I was raised to appreciate both the animation and the sociological/racial subtext)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Scarface
Eve's Bayou
Do The Right Thing
Blade Runner
Dirty Harry
Stormy Weather
Silence of the Lambs
Carne Tremula (English: Live Flesh)
Seven
City of God
Tsotsi
Lord of the Rings
Die Hard
Crooklyn
Hero
Roots (okay, it's a TV series, but...)
Forbidden Zone
Shaft
Foxy Brown
Tender Mercies
Cool Hand Luke
Idlewild
Belly
Lord, I could go on.
In any case, how we live and how we dream are tied to what we see and whether we see ourselves in it. That's how I'll leave it for now, but I'd love to hear what movies have your hearts, ears, and eyes.
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