April 28, 2004

I seem to be in nerve-hitting mode these days…

Yesterday, a passing reference about the issue of race and the voting on American Idol drew a lot of mail, almost all of it angry that race came up. Sorry. But there is no other logical explanation. Like the anti-Semitism of The Passion of The Christ, it doesn't mean that anyone who likes the show, any of the white contestants or Mel Gibson's movie is an anti-Semite or racist.

It is the most insidious form of "ism"… the kind we find easiest to avoid responsibility for. After all, the black guy won last year, so all bets are off... right? Wrong. It was one of Spike Lee's most accurate commentaries on the subtleties of modern racism when Mookie asked John Turturro's Pino about all the black entertainers he admired. The answer, paraphrased, was "They aren't black."

Ruben Studdard is as black as Denzel Washington, which is to say, without questioning either man's ethnic credentials, they have both risen above race as personalities. Tamyra Gray, Christina Christian, Trenyce and Kimberly Locke all hit American Idol's glass ceiling for black women, which is the only reasonable explanation for Nikki McKibbin or RJ Helton. Josh Gracing might be understandable because of his military status.

You don't want to believe that race is a factor? Okay. We'll see if Fantasia Barrino, who is clearly the closest thing to a complete performer to appear in any season of American Idol, makes it into the Top Two, besting Kimberly Locke's third place finish. But this week, it was the extraordinary juxtaposition of three singers who would have been picked first by anyone choosing sides in a sing-off against the three talented but fading personalities that made it all so shocking. Would anyone actually argue that Fantasia Barrino does not belong in the top half of this group? So instead of trying a statistical end run, offer a real explanation that doesn't end up treading on race.
And read the brilliant Heather Havrilesky in Salon, who writes, in part: "Um, racism isn't really a conspiracy. It's pretty much out in the open. This is a racist country. Most people in this country are racists. Every single black person in this country knows it. Can't you just take their word for it? Even if you don't personally see evidence of racism in this country, can't you trust those who are in the position to see it, those who are telling you, day after day, that it's there? Or do you not trust them?"

I am not a big race of crying race, religion or political philosophy as a reason for the actions of those with whom I disagree. But sometimes, even if it is not a raging "ism," it is just too obvious to avoid. A vote for John Stevens is not a vote for lynching black men. But like all popularity contests, there is subtext. If John Stevens could sing, he would be Clay Aiken. But he can't… at least not well enough to do anything but headline the "Rat Pack" tribute in the lounge at the Las Vegas Club. So in the immortal words of QT/DH, "If that's a fact, tell me, am I lying?

THE MOVIE COLUMN: Oh yes, I still write about movies. Another thing that got a lot of people screaming was my estimate of Spider-Man 2 grossing under $200 million. The 15 Weeks of Summer column is due to start a week from Thursday. But I will admit, the number might have been low. That said, I still don't expect any film this summer to break $300 million. But more details in time.

CLOSING ON KILL BILL: I'm not going to waste a lot of time going back to examine the entrails of a film that is already in its death throes. But the two most striking things about my return to Kill Bill, Volume 2 are - and you probably want to read something else now if you haven't seen the film or are at all concerned about spoilers…

1. My sudden awareness that the film is autobiographical and that Bill is a symbolic representation of Quentin's father, The Bride is his mother and he is little B.B., born to be every bit the prick his absent father was, only to be saved by the love of his mother. The whole film, ultimately, is a metaphor for the single parent and child, the surviving parent willing to do anything, overcome all obstacles, in order to embrace their progeny, while the absent parent deserves to have his heart ripped out, albeit without the blood.

Besides The Bride and B.B., who are the heroic characters in this piece? The grandparents. Pai Mei and Hattori Hanzo… both well into retirement age. The villains? Besides Bill, a series of sexy, young women. Budd is essentially left off the hook, as he is already out of the death game, feels real guilt and in the end, only shows cruelty to The Bride in response to what he believed was her betrayal of his brother's love.

2. Bill had to know that The Bride was in the hospital she was in, so the Elle Driver scene in Volume 1 makes absolutely no sense. He would have to know she was there, being raped on a regular basis in her coma. Elle Driver would not need to find her at all. And the threat of killing her while still in a coma would have been discussed and dismissed. The only member of his team who could have been attacked before he knew The Bride was awake and on the run was Vernita, who was within driving distance of the hospital.

The choice not to use this and the fact of B.B.'s survival against The Bride before the final sequence suggests that Bill wanted his old team, including his brother, to die and that he was also ambivalent about the survival of The Bride. Nothing about going through the list of DiVAS got The Bride into any better position to kill Bill. So if she knew her child was alive, she surely would have made Bill's place her first stop. And as Bill seems to feel he can get The Bride to join him in parenting their child… in fact, seems to think it's a good idea… why would he cause her to run the gauntlet of DiVAS?

Could the entire movie be nothing more but a daydream of B.B./Quentin about honoring the mother and offing the father?

I'm just sayin…

READER OF THE DAY: LONG SHARP STICK writes: "The facts:
5 mostly white people were voted off before the first African-American.
Season 2 had an African-American winner of season 2 even though Clay is outselling Ruben. 33 percent of the finalists -- voted in by America -- are African-American. that's more than double the percentage of blacks in the population (15%).Every remaining contestant has been in the bottom 3. Hudson had been the top vote getter in a previous round (guess the racists didn't vote that week and were simply biding their time). They all suck anyway so it's basically a crapshoot.

Just because every white grandma is voting for John Stevens doesn't mean they hate black people; It means they're treating it like a popularity contest, and it's their right to do so. "He's a nice boy." And when you perform the best -- as Hudson did the other night -- you run the risk of people thinking that they don't have to vote for you. They give their votes to their #2 thinking that there is no way for the best singer of the night to go out.

Whining about racism isn't helping anyone -- especially when London is probably going to win (and deservedly so)."

And MR. NICE DAY writes: "You don't claim the US is racist, and then just move on. Listen, the DIVAS are the most talent on that show, but what do you expect from young girls who find something cut about John Stevens? What does America expect?

And again, as I pointed out to you last year and the record sales prove this right, this is AMERICAN/POP IDOL! Clay Aiken sold, because of POP music, and Studdard did not sell as much due to new wave R&B. You can call America racist all you want, but these girls do not like soul singing divas. Doesn't make them racist, it means they have bad tasste.

But again, how racist is a country that chose an African-American idol last time? Not that racist if you ask me. Those three women do not have any charisma, just talent. John Stevens has neither, but they find him cute. Libidos beat sense any day, but slam our country as racist, is absolutely fucking dumb. Sorry, but it is.

Personally, George Huff should be the American Idol. No one else touches him on charisma or talent, even the two remaining divas. If John Stevens win, it just shows the people voting find him cute, and Simon Fuller has some serious work to do."

Finally, NOT SEVEN, BUT UP writes: "A technical note regarding the adequacy of any particular video resolution for matching 35mm. Less than 10 years ago, Pixar set out to decide how many lines of resolution was required to drive 35mm to the limits of its capacity, and the answer was a pretty clear 1600 lines. Weta rendered its LOTR frames to
something like 1700 lines (overscanned at 1.66--or 1.77, I'm not sure which--from which was cropped the 'Scope frame for release, so that's 1700 spread across much greater height than the end frame). I don't think anybody would describe any Pixar or LOTR film as "soft", so if you want numbers for what's really needed, there you are."

E ME: How can you resist?