BlogHer - Entertainment & Culture - Comments

It's A Tough Call

Megan Smith — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:01:29 -0600

Hi Jenna,

Yeah, it's a tough call.

It's interesting, I just saw Gabourey Sibide on David Letterman and I can't tell you what a relief it was to see Gabby the actress, as opposed to Gabby portraying Precious.

Here was this lovely girl, laughing and giggling with Letterman and talking about how she got the part within three days of auditioning and all I could think was how relieved I was that I could replace some of the images of Precious from the movie with the lovely young woman on my screen.

Part of me feels ashamed of that because it feels like I'm abandoning girls in Precious' circumstances, but for now, I'll take what I can get.

Amazing how the mind works.

Megan
BlogHer Contributing Editor, TV/Online Video

My Personal Entertainment Blog: Megan's Minute

My Review Blog: Meg's Rad Reviews

Twitter:@MeganSmith

hehe

DaDuck — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:37:40 -0600

Don't think I haven't tried it though:)

/insert witty comment here

*moving comment to right

DaDuck — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:37:03 -0600

*moving comment to right location*

Thank You For Writing Both Sides

JennaHatfield — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:26:03 -0600

I've been struggling with whether or not I should shell out the cash and see this in the theater. I do believe, thanks to your review(s), I'm going to wait to watch this at home. The issues are big and in my face and are most likely best viewed where I can cry and yell in the privacy of my own home.

Thank you, truly, for taking off your professional hat and sharing the true grit of this film. I *will* see this movie. Just not in the theater.

@FireMom from Stop, Drop and Blog and The Chronicles of Munchkin Land

I Hope Stories Like This Can Help People

Megan Smith — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:10:47 -0600

Hi Candelaria,

I hope stories like this really can help people give voice to their own pain and help them find a way to heal it. Also, if they open up a world to people who don't realize this exists and who may have the power to help, that too is a good thing.

It's just that after leaving that movie theatre, I couldn't think straight about any of those things.

Regarding my feelings about black men, I hesitated even writing what I did because I knew what I was implying when I wrote it and how unfair that was. But I was such a boiling mass of emotion I needed a way to express it.

I absolutely understand the biases I bring to the table but I felt for that instant someone, anyone had to lash out for the Precious's of the world.

Believe me, I really do know there are wonderful, kind, supportive black men who though they may be as you say be, "poor, black and urban," struggle every day to keep their families safe and cared for.

Unfortunately there aren't enough of them in our communities and the ones that are there are almost never lauded for their struggles. That too is a terrible, terrible shame.

Thanks so much for your thoughts.

Megan
BlogHer Contributing Editor, TV/Online Video

My Personal Entertainment Blog: Megan's Minute

My Review Blog: Meg's Rad Reviews

Twitter:@MeganSmith

Puh-leeze!

Candelaria Silva — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:27:21 -0600

I recommend books I like or love to people who want or ask for the recommendations, what they do with it after I've recommended something is up to them. I also recommend restaurants, movies and music. I have a few friends who have adult ADHD and don't read books from cover to cover unless it grabs them by the throat on the first page. I tend to finish almost everything I start. Mostly, I refer people to my shelfari page where I post what I read and write short comments about the books. That way they can browze.

A friend who read non-fiction exlusively pushed me into reading non-fiction years ago. I'm so glad she did because that opened up a world of books to me that I'm glad I found. I used to pretty much only read fiction and poetry. Now I read mostly everything but plays and graphic novels and that's just because I've not time to discover ones I want to read.

Give me recommendations. I'll get to them as I can.

http://blog.candelarisilva.com

Good and plenty!

I Hear you so clearly on this!

Candelaria Silva — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:52:00 -0600

I've been thinking about whether I'll go see Precious or not.

The hoopa surrounding the movie and the book before it, remind me of The Color Purple when it came out and For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide...by Ntozake Shange. While I know women who have experienced abuse at the hands of their mothers, fathers and step-fathers and mothers, and I was severaly abused by my grandmother, etc.,, it is not a story that I necessarily want to broadcast and havne't written about.

I'm not sure whether seeing brutality heals people. It may make you feel better that you're not alone in what you've experienced. I tend to be a person who sorts for the good in life and I know that for me, replaying my own abuse over and over wasn't good.

Lots of people are more attracted to big, dramatic, traumatic, angry, violent, etc., stories than ones that are uplifting. Filmmakers can make things more potent with their visual images. I don't know that if I were an actress, I'd want to give life to something so vile.

As for hating Black men after seeing the film - if only for a moment - I will say that my current husband and my son and lots of men I know are peaceful, respectful, positive, and decent people who would not and have not violated women. I have a friend whose daughter was violated by her stepfather (something she found out in the past couple of years). the friend has been divorced from this man for years. Her two sons (one of whom is his biologically) are wonderful, upstanding men who treat women with the upmost respect. One of them has full-custody of a daughter he had with a woman who was a neglectful parent. So, I think we have to remember that while there inevitably stories about children who've suffered this sort of abuse, there are children in our community who are loved and treasured even when there parents are financially poor, black and urban. There doesn't seem to be much room for films from this angle.

Anyhow - thanks for sharing from your gut.

http://blog.candelarisilva.com

Good and plenty!

I only manage

TW — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:08:42 -0600

I only manage to recommend books on a topic. I can't tell you read this book most of the time. Unless it stuns me into giddyness. Then I tell everyone I know to read it. I never can explain why.

I can't write a book review either.

Retro-Food.com

I can't book browse any more

sassymonkey — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:30:36 -0600

It gets too expensive. lol Though all bets are off if I'm on vacation.

And I'm totally looking forward to going to the Strand in NYC next summer.

Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.

I think most people choose books

sassymonkey — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:27:51 -0600

For pretty arbitrary reasons. Covers are one of the top ones that come to mind. I don't think that choosing (or not choosing) a book because it is (or is not) on a list is really any different than choosing a book because it has a great cover. We all have a system that works for us. If people are happy with that and it works for them, I don't think it's sad. I'd rather see people not read from a list and still enjoy what they are reading than the opposite.

Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.

Recommending a Book is a Visual Thing

cluelesscrafter — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:20:38 -0600

One of the best things to do on a sleepy Saturday is to take a few hours solo and "page" through the shelves of a bookstore. Living in NYC there are so many vendors who sell books sidewalk side that it would be a travesty not to pay a visit to them too. In all, it's fun to be part of the book viewing crowd, relying on others' visual recommendations rather than verbal. It's a silent activity that speaks volumes!

(btw, what a fun topic. Secret confession: I will never write those in-depth book reviews that some amazing people do on Amazon. Blessed are they!)

http://www.thecluelesscrafter.com/

I get most of my recommendations

sassymonkey — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:48:18 -0600

From blogs and I have for years. I like that I can read what they like about, what they did or didn't like about books that I did or didn't like. It's one of the great things l love about the internet - we're all part of the same big conversation, we just don't have to talk at the same time or be in the same place.

Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.

Of course not...

Jenbwagg — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:44:15 -0600

Jennifer Open Book

everyone will or should like a book merely for its presence on a "list." 80% of the books deemed CLASSICS by the powers that deem such things are utter rot, in my opinion. But to dismiss any book out of hand for the same reason - i.e. its presence on a "list" - is just sad. Also, my opinion.

That is helpful

sassymonkey — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:41:38 -0600

Having a basis of what they like is a huge help. And you are right, there are worse things than being judged in my taste in books. lol

Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.

I have read some

sassymonkey — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:37:00 -0600

A book may be fine, it may be well written, it doesn't necessarily follow that everyone will (or should) like it. The same can be applied to the Booker, the Giller, the Orange Prize, the Commonwealth etc. No one list is the right list for everyone, no matter how fine the books are.

Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.