i stand corrected on this. maybe someone there read my post? i was shocked as i drove by the lloyd center theatre to see "American Gangster" (starring Denzel Washington) showing there. i have always kept an eye out on black films (or films that feature black actors) to see whether they were played at the mall theatre which i hated, or the other bigger theatre, so i wasn't just jumping to conclusions on a whim when i wrote that post.
either way, maybe things are changing.
9 comments:
Have you seen it? It was a pretty good film. :)
It's good they have it but I don't know if I would consider it in the same vein as typical "black films" we are talking about an oscar winner and Russell Crowe here in a movie that was at the top of the box office.
yeah i never really noticed anything about the lloyd center NOT typically playing black movies...but maybe i just haven't been paying attention?
I remember there being a ton of cops at Lloyd Center when ATL first came out...
This isn't at all related to your post...I just stumbled upon your site on google, but I'm glad I did. I've been raised in a predominantly white community, and I think A LOT like you do. 2 questions...do your black friends come from backgrounds similar to yours? Or do you think it's harder to be friends with people raised like you were?
sheri,
the black friends that i do hang with are not all from similar backgrounds, however, somehow i attract the ones with more progressive thinking. most of my black girlfriends don't know my innermost thoughts here on my blog, but i have had many conversations about 'those ghetto black people unlike us'. as far as the way i was raised, i wasn't raised any certain "way". well, on second thought, maybe i was. i just had educated parents who taught me to do well in school and who earned a decent living, who cared about where i was, what i was doing, etc and took an interest in me. and, i guess i kinda prefer to socialize with people who came from that kind of background-anyone can appreciate that kind of familiarity. we all seek paths of familiarity.
I notice that the mall theater usually plays the black movies. I think when the outside Lloyd center theater played "Stomp the Yard" they had hired additional security to patrol the parking lot. It definitely seems racist to me, but then again that movie seemed aimed at teenagers. However, I don't think I've ever seen extra security for movies aimed at white teens. Portland is a pretty liberal and tolerant place to live, but sometimes it's in a very self-congratulatory way. Like that line Tina Fey's Liz Lemon character says as evidence of her non-racism in a recent 30 Rock episode, "Remember, I asked that black guy if he had seen 'Sideways'." Ha!
I recently found your blog and I look forward to reading more. :)
you don't think the fact that the movie glorified the gangster lifestyle had anything to do with it, do you? maybe it's easier to be tolerant of black people when they are living up, or down, to your stereotypes?? *headdesk*
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