The Official "Ask A Brotha" Thread - Part 2

[MadVillainy]

Absolutely

 

[chamber-music]

Will Smith just needs to make good movies again.

If Smith makes some good movies that get buzz he will be ok.

I don't think the big box office movie star draw thing really exists any more. Every major actor stars in a film that flops. The days when a film star was a sign of the films quality have long gone.

 

[Warhammer]

When they finally make that movie, I will die of happiness. But yeah, I like the article above. Will Smith is in my top 5 favorite actors. He was the last true movie star.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

I don't know. After Will Smith did After Earth with its blatant nepotism and its blatant scientologist message, I just couldn't root for him any more.

I'm still looking forward to Suicide Squad though for various reasons.

 

[Boy Scout]

Will Smith is a Scientologist?

 

[MadVillainy]

He's rumored to be. He gave money to Scientology I believe

But I dont really give a s*** about that. Just make good movies

 

[Lencho01]

I'm still baffled by the whole nepotism claim as if no one in Hollywood has used who their parents are, who they know, or who they **** to get roles.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

I'm still baffled by the whole nepotism claim as if no one in Hollywood has used who their parents are, who they know, or who they **** to get roles.

I don't mind when nepotism when the family member is brimming with talent but Jayden Smith?

There are literally thousands of more talented young actors who deserve a shot before him.

 

[Lencho01]

I don't mind when nepotism when the family member is brimming with talent but Jayden Smith?

There are literally thousands of more talented young actors who deserve a shot before him.

I haven't seen After Earth. Seems like few people did. But, his other films, he was just fine to me. And what I've heard of his music (nothing recent) seemed just fine.

 

[Lencho01]

Anyone else get excited when Missy showed during the halftime show?

 

[MadVillainy]

Highlight of the whole performance

I miss her and Ludacris making fun, funny songs that actually had decent lyrics.

 

[the last son]

I just watched 42 and man was Jackie Robinson a hero. The courage he displayed was incredible. I know we all know he was the first black in mlb, but the courage to be the first deserves more exposure. Was he the first in all of of sports to break the color barrier or just baseball?

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

I just watched 42 and man was Jackie Robinson a hero. The courage he displayed was incredible. I know we all know he was the first black in mlb, but the courage to be the first deserves more exposure. Was he the first in all of of sports to break the color barrier or just baseball?

http://espn.go.com/gen/s/2002/0225/1340314.html

 

[blksuperman2]

True he wasn't the first but at the time he entered MLB there was no bigger sport in America. He opened the door on so many levels.

 

[Hypestyle]

Jack Johnson deserves a new bio-movie.

 

[Arach Knight]

I just watched 42 and man was Jackie Robinson a hero. The courage he displayed was incredible. I know we all know he was the first black in mlb, but the courage to be the first deserves more exposure. Was he the first in all of of sports to break the color barrier or just baseball?

Jackie Robinson was far from the first. However, his actions are what arguably had the greatest impact on desegregating sports in the United States of America. However, Robinson's moment in the sun didn't occur until 1947.

Jessie Owens and Ralph Metcalfe both ran for the U.S. Track and Field team during the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Owens took home four gold medals, effectively disproving Nazi Germany's propaganda about "Aryan superiority" and the "ubermensch." So that is a good 11 years ahead of Robinson.

 

[Lencho01]

Lighten Up - about race in comics.

 

[blksuperman2]

Hmm. That's interesting. His reaction is kind of how I'd react but her explanation makes sense. If you perceive a character a certain way it might differ drastically how others view the same character. Back when I first joined the hype I was mostly in the fanart section. I drew mostly characters on how I knew them from the 80s. I drew Wolverine standing next to Jean Grey and she towered over him. Many commented that I drew Wolverine too short. To my understanding Wolverine was suppose to be 5' 3". It wasn't until I posted various guides and references that people understood where I was coming from.

I just don't see a problem if an editor requests a character be lighter or darker. If I asked everyone on the hype to draw an African and one person drew someone looking like Drake would that be wrong? Africa's a big continent and there's a number of "light-skinned" people in Northern Africa. It's all about perception I guess.

 

[Arach Knight]

Drake is a poor example for what you intended to ask. Drake is a Canadian first, and furthermore, is of mixed descent. He is not an accurate representation of a person of total ancestry from an African country. African American (or Canadian) =/= synonym for Black Africans.

As for the skin tone issue, this is largely (though not exclusively) an American problem. There is a tendancy in American culture to be dismissive of dark skin tones. Acting roles tend to be cast with lighter skinned individuals. Black females featured in print ads tend to have their skin lightened through photo editing. Beyonce's Pepsi campaign is an infamous example of this. There exists in American culture a not so subtle effort to white wash characters and make them less dark so that they are more appealing to mainstream (read: White) sensibilities.

 

[MadVillainy]

As for the skin tone issue, this is largely (though not exclusively) an American problem. There is a tendancy in American culture to be dismissive of dark skin tones. Acting roles tend to be cast with lighter skinned individuals. Black females featured in print ads tend to have their skin lightened through photo editing. Beyonce's Pepsi campaign is an infamous example of this. There exists in American culture a not so subtle effort to white wash characters and make them less dark so that they are more appealing to mainstream (read: White) sensibilities.

This

 

[blksuperman2]

Drake is a poor example for what you intended to ask. Drake is a Canadian first, and furthermore, is of mixed descent. He is not an accurate representation of a person of total ancestry from an African country. African American (or Canadian) =/= synonym for Black Africans.

A poor example how? I never said anything about Canada or America. I said African. I've known people from Egypt and Algeria and they were fair skinned. lol, are you saying that's not African?

I guess you totally missed my point. What I'm saying is everyone has a preconceived idea on how someone from a particular region should look. Drake was just an example of a light skinned cat that most on here could identify w/. The name doesn't matter.

I've never seen Black Panther drawn like what I'd picture an African looking like. What I think an African should look he'd be much darker than any black person you'd typically see in the Western world. Saying a character is lighter or darker than what you'd expect isn't racist it's just that everyone has some prejudices whether they know it or not.

 

[Manic]

A few years back, when Peter David first launched the private detective themed X-Factor series, quite a few of us were up in arms about Monet St. Croix's skin color. Monet is the daughter of an Algerian mother and a black Monegasque father. Back in Generation X, she looked like this:

The art team for X-Factor made her look like this:

That's her in the front, just right of center. Dark hair. Skin only slightly darker than anyone else's.

She's been darkened again since then, but that was an awkward time. If I remember correctly, they even tried justifying her new, lighter skintone by saying Algerians (like her mother) are generally fair skinned. That's true, but Monet's father has dark skin, and Monet was depicted with equally dark skin for years.

 

[Lencho01]

I saw this trailer the other day and the reaction to it is amusing...

[YT]kN_81iytSXU[/YT]

 

[chamber-music]

I think some artists struggle to draw non-white characters.

 

[Arach Knight]

A poor example how? I never said anything about Canada or America. I said African. I've known people from Egypt and Algeria and they were fair skinned. lol, are you saying that's not African?

I guess you totally missed my point. What I'm saying is everyone has a preconceived idea on how someone from a particular region should look. Drake was just an example of a light skinned cat that most on here could identify w/. The name doesn't matter.

1) You used Drake as a model for an African phenotype. Drake is half White. I wouldn't use Keanu Reeves as a model for a Hawaiin-born Chinese person, even though his father is of that lineage.

2) Arabs =/= African. Arabs are not native to North Africa anymore than Whites are native to North America. Just as Whites in Canada and America are descendants of colonizers, so are Arabs in North Africa. To that end, making light skinned "Africans" is erroneous. Africans, "Negroids", are dark. We aren't all the same shade of dark, but we certainly aren't some beige/tan hue that people ascribe to supposed Africans.

And before you think that I am pulling an argument from the ether, I am of the Luo tribe through my father's side of the family (my mother is Black American), and we have Luhaya members in our family as well. I still have family in Eldoret and Nairobi. I share my wisdom with you so that you may better understand the ideas I have put forth.