Killers of the Flower Moon

I recently watched “Killers of the Flower Moon,” and I have to admit that I was quite disappointed. I’m a huge fan of Martin Scorsese, one of my favorite directors, but even the best can stumble from time to time. It seemed like “Killers of the Flower Moon” aimed to be a grandiose three-hour-plus masterpiece, but it ended up tripping over itself and failing not just its audience but also the tragic history of the Osage people, whose story it was supposed to portray. This film appeared to be a classic example of Oscar bait, leveraging Scorsese and DiCaprio’s names, and it felt like the media and the studio were working together to draw the audience into theaters. In some ways, it felt like a bait-and-switch.

The portrayal of the Osage characters in the film was disappointingly underdeveloped. What we saw in the movie were Indigenous characters depicted as helpless and fearful individuals, stripped of their agency over their wealth, land, and lives. This starkly contrasts with the historical reality of the Osage, who were known as formidable warriors. Their religious beliefs were rooted in Wah-kon-tah, the great mystery spirit or power. In historical context, it’s highly improbable that they would have passively allowed these White individuals to seize their wealth and carry out violence against them without putting up a resilient fight.

The film is excruciatingly lengthy with its runtime, dragging on and becoming unnecessarily relentless in its depiction of graphic violence and the murders of the Osage. It’s no wonder that many Native Americans are disheartened by the portrayal in this film. Indigenous actress Devery Jacobs of “Reservation Dogs” posted her ire: “Being Native, watching this movie was fucking hellfire. Imagine the worst atrocities committed against your ancestors, then having to sit thru a movie explicitly filled w/ them, w/ the only respite being 30min long scenes of murderous white guys talking about/planning the killings.” And there you have it.

Now, let’s discuss the acting. Leonardo DiCaprio, who typically delivers performances ranging from very good to outstanding, falls short in his portrayal of “Ernest Burkhart” in this film. It felt like he was embodying a painful caricature of an already poorly written character, to the point where it seemed like he might break into laughter at any moment. The quality of his performance was disappointingly low. Lily Gladstone, who grew up on the Blackfeet Reservation, took on the role of “Mollie Burkhart,” an Osage woman and the wife of Ernest Burkhart. Despite having minimal dialogue in the film, even though she was supposed to be one of the lead characters, she managed with what she had to work with. However, her performance, while acceptable, did not reach the level of an Oscar-worthy portrayal. Robert De Niro’s performance was solid, but it was reminiscent of previous characters he has played, including variations of the “William Hale” character in other films. There was nothing particularly noteworthy about his role here.

I can’t help but note how Scorsese included references to the 1921 Tulsa/Black Wall Street Massacre in this film. He seemed to be drawing a parallel between what happened to the Osage and that horrific tragedy, but they are not comparable. In Tulsa, a violent White mob killed hundreds of Black residents, burned down over 1,250 homes and businesses, and obliterated years of Black success.

In contrast, approximately 24 Osage were murdered for their oil-rich land, or “headrights.” Although the Osage people are no longer among the wealthiest Native American groups, the impact of the oil industry is still felt today, with many Osages receiving quarterly royalty payments, still known as headrights. Those who survived the 1921 Black Wall Street Massacre lost everything. So, the two tragic events are not equivalent.

“Killers of the Flower Moon” is a disheartening film because it failed to delve deeply into the lives and the harrowing trauma experienced by the Osage. It felt like that horrendous tragedy was merely used as a plot device to advance the seemingly primary storyline, which revolved around the relationship between Ernest Burkhart (DiCaprio) and his uncle William Hale (DeNiro).

Black People Need to Wake-up. We’re in a Fight for our Survival.

Photo Courtesy of Gallup News

OP-ED – Written By Sydney Chandler

I stumbled upon an op-ed on the NEWSONE website written by a very capable writer, and he was rattling off the multitudes of reasons why folks need to stop telling Black people to settle for a candidate just to beat Trump in 2020. Which in fact, this was the title of the op-ed. Well, I’m here to tell him that he’s full of as much shit as Trump bloviating ad nauseam daily about his ahem…greatness, intelligence, mastery of deal-making (excuse me for a moment, I have something caught in my throat), his being “the chosen one” (a true God Complex) and Jews thinking of him as the King of Israel. It’s painfully obvious this master scribe is floating along in his dimly lit bubble, and doesn’t fully understand what we’re dealing with in this new Trumpian, I wannabe a dictator, a thousand lies a day, dysfunctional reality.

Link: Stop Telling Black Folks To Settle For A Candidate Just To Beat Trump In 2020

Because I grew up around the military as well as having family and friends in local, state and federal law enforcement, I fully understand the mandate of something or someone being a “clear and present danger”. Trump is a threat to our Democracy, freedoms, national security and our American way of life. We need to stop this march toward authoritarianism in its tracks. We are heading in a dangerous direction that could result in a very real apocalyptic, Handmaids Tale, doomsday scenario as long as Trump is in the Oval Office, and feels that he is above reproach and untouchable. We are already in a “Constitutional Crisis” and the much ballyhooed and long-awaited Mueller Report is literally a blueprint for Congress to start an inquiry into impeachment.

Black people need to look at the BIG picture instead of looking at this presidential election cycle through the narrow scope of prior, normal presidential elections. Trump is not normal, his administration is not normal, he spews lies with wild-abandon, he incites hatred and avarice toward different races and ethnic groups, just this week he spouted a very disconcerting anti-Semitic trope that the Jewish people didn’t respond well to at all,  his supporters are rabid, violent and cult-like, the Republicans in Congress have been compromised because of their desire to push through their draconian legislation, and stack the federal courts with right-leaning judges and placing another conservative on the Supreme Court. That will not bode well for anyone in this country but ultra right-wing conservatives and evangelicals. Black people, YES, I’m talking directly to YOU…you must pull off the rose-colored glasses and really understand the threat.

Trump is showing everyone who he is and what he is capable of with his love affair with brutal dictators (Putin, MBS and Kim), and how he’s treating migrants and those defenseless children he has in deplorable conditions. When a dictator comes for one group, they will always find another group of people to hate and if necessary, dispatch. History bears this out. Countries have been destroyed and millions of people murdered under megalomaniacs like Trump. Out of the gate, he came for the Brown people (all Mexicans are murderers, rapists, criminals, etc), he’s going after women (wants to control our bodies and decisions), he came for LBGTQs (transgenders in the military), so what will stop him from coming for us? He’s still vilifying the Central Park 5 and they’ve been exonerated. Black people don’t have the luxury of being apathetic, indifferent, believing and spreading propaganda, not voting, hating candidates and announcing to the world we won’t vote for this one or that one because that’s not our candidate of choice, and we can’t be so blind and entrenched in our positions, to where we pretend that we do.

We are still the most hated and reviled race in this country. Hell, there’s so many preconceived ideas and stereotypes about Blacks in other countries, that when you don’t fit the images of what Europeans have in their heads, they’re blown away and speechless. Allow me to be clear…the very real issues we have now, will not be remedied with four more years of Trump. They will only become worse. As it is, racists feel emboldened to call the police on us for going about our everyday lives. Cops are murdering Black men without hesitation. This election in 2020 is not about the individual or their personal feelings, it is about the survival of our race. So we’d better register people to vote, then get them and us to those polls and vote down ticket in 2020 no matter who the Democratic candidate is, if we don’t want to find ourselves in a “Back to the Future” situation with our 21st century version of Jim Crow or worse.

SYDNEY CHANDLER is a Los Angeles based freelance journalist, essayist, screenwriter and producer. Sydney has written and produced documentaries, features, shorts, TV dramas and comedies. Follow her on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook.

Showcasing Poet: Emilie Marie Blake’s “The Music”

On the Scoodie, I will occassionally showcase new and established artists, poets, spoken word performers, actors, singers, musicians and dancers. Today, I’m showcasing a very dear friend, award winning poet, Emilie Marie Blake.

Emilie was at one time a very successful model in the 1960’s and 70’s,

then changed careers and ended up in post production working on films by such auteurs as Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Spike Lee. However, since a very young age, Emilie has had a passion for writing, especially poetry. So without further adieu,

“The Music”.

Where is the Angel that came to me that night?
The trouble with reality is that its moments run out and need to be refilled
like a pen out of ink.

However, the music quenches
even without the new words.

Feeling… it will have to do.

While waiting for the favor to change

and become a
BLACK BERRY JUICE.

A Case Study: The I’m’s…..

You know who they are — we work with them, we may live with them, we’re friends with them, they’re disbursed throughout our families, we pass them in cars and on the street everyday. Those familiar people who, for lack of a better word, are assholes who think the world revolves around THEM. They are what I comically call “The I’m’s“.

They can call or text early in the morning, late at night, at work, in the store, in the gym, in the car….anywhere at anytime when they need YOUR help. They sound the alarm and expect you to come running and, like the sucker you are, you answer the call to action. They will walk through a burning fire, scale the highest mountain, swim in the deepest ocean, fight the most abominable traffic, hop a flight, take a cab, get on the bus, walk, take the subway, go out into the hottest weather or the coldest blizzard to get to you when THEY need something.

But here is when they earn their title. You may be someone who rarely asks for favors and try to handle your life like a BOSS. But the second you ask one of these “I’m’s” for the teeniest, tiniest of favors, here it comes, wait for it…I’m too tired, I’m too busy, I’m too sleepy, I’m too hungry, I’m too hot, I’m too cold, I’m too exhausted (to drive), I’m not in your neighborhood, I’m stuck on the freeway and it’s too far out of my way, I’m working late, I’m digging a tunnel to China, I’m feeding the cat/dog, I’m washing my car, I’m picking my nose, I’m plucking my eyebrows, I’m scratching my butt (it may take a while), I’m involved with family commitments (family is never an issue for these people until it involves helping you, that’s their excuse), I’m inventing the cure for whatever illness I can think of that will get me out of assisting you, I’m too broke to drive because I need to conserve my gas so I can get to work, though they forgot their lie and posted numerous pictures on Facebook and Instagram of them out at a swanky restaurant or party, bragging about how much fun they had. This list could literally go on forever. But I think you get the point.

The I’m’s are basically narcissists with a little bit of passive/aggressiveness and egomania thrown in for good measure. Usually they’re innocuous and they’re not particularly bad people. But they are draining and infuriating. They have no idea that their actions affect their relationships with people in their personal, as well as their professional lives. They only see what they want to see and hear what they want to hear and everything else is white noise. They can pick other people apart at the seams, but when they’re called on their bullshit, they become extremely defensive, then try to flip the script and blame the issue on YOU. It’s Psych 101…..a classic move if there ever was one.

So it brings me to this little sage piece of advice: if they’re in your life, you must make a decision if they’re worth the frustration, headaches and hurt feelings you’ll have dealing with them. Can you accept the mind-numbing fact that they are who they are and they won’t change. Or do you jump ship, swim as fast as you can to the shore, get to a safe haven, shower, change your clothes and catch the first thing smokin’ as far away from them as you can get. The choice is yours. I have some decisions to make of my own and it may be painful but I know what I need to do to preserve my sanity. You see, I’m not your garden variety woman, I have 1-800-FUCK-YOU on speed dial. I have very few problems with doing a surgical incision on relationships that are more of a liability than an asset. That’s just who I am.

So until next time, have a great weekend and I will keep everyone posted on my Winter cleaning. 🙂 Peace!

Batsh*t Crazy…Why Narcissists Make Your Head Explode!

We all know them; we work with them,  interact with them at events, parties, numerous social gatherings, school  and yes, they’re even in our  families. The ever-present all-consuming ones who create drama…they feed off volatile situations like legendary vampires feed off human blood. They go from person to person telling tales of imaginary wrongs foisted upon them by the abundance of bad people who always mean them ill-will. And believe me, it’s always and forever someone else and never them.

They can’t keep a job because the boss, lets see — hates them, is jealous of them, less intelligent than them, less deserving of the title than them and we can’t forget the “isms”, no need to name them. Never-mind the insignificant little details that may involve tardiness, insubordination, arrogance and possible incompetence. That’s conveniently left out of the conversation because…wait for it, it’s not their fault! Shhhhhhhh….

If their relationships or marriages fall apart, of course, they’re the injured party and here comes the pity express. Need I say more. They rant, rave, pout, whine, storm out of rooms like crazy people, point fingers, foster hellish and nightmarish situations that an Academy Award winning screenwriter couldn’t possibly dream up in a thousand years. But somehow in their twisted sense of self, they will never own up to being the writer, director, editor, executive producer and star of their own melodrama or in many cases, horror film.

Oh, and lest I forget, how they can drag other people into their bizarre psychotic episodes. They can have you embroiled in conflicts that you have no knowledge of until you start receiving texts, Facebook messages, Tweets, phone calls and emails asking to explain. And your first thought is what the fuck is going on?????? Then you call them on their bullshit and out comes the righteous indignation; head explosion part deux!

 

Who am I talking about….energy vampires, malignant narcissists, self-absorbed morons, all about me jerks and batshit crazy loonies who live in a world created by them, for them and about them. No matter what, they can take a perfectly happy day and obliterate it into dust. When the meme “misery loves company” was invented, it was a person who was victimized by one of these foreboding creatures.

So people, take it  from one who knows, get these joy-sucking leeches out of your life! They serve no one but themselves and they don’t love anyone more than they love themselves. It’s evidenced by the their constant praising (of themselves) and kissing their own asses.  Oops, almost forgot, they’re smarter than everyone else on the planet and  they have no hesitation in telling you that…often. These nutters will drain the last ounce of breath out of your body and brain cells out of your head. They inherently aren’t worth what you go through to deal with them. They will never change but what they will do, is change YOU!

RUN!!!!! Your physical and emotional health depends on it!!!

Raising the Minimum Wage…Why Not?

Today I was reading where Gov. Jerry Brown backed a plan to raise California’s minimum wage to $10.00 an hour by 2016. A number of Los Angeles-area business groups criticized the legislation, saying it would unfairly burden companies. And according to the article in The Huffington Post – Los Angeles, Stuart Waldman, president of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association, called the hike “obscene” and said it’s unrealistic to increase wages 25 percent in two years.

Well isn’t that special and of course the requisite reasoning for these businesses objections is that the legislation is done by people who don’t understand business. And they would have to pass the costs along to their customers and clientele. HOGWASH!! or BULLSHIT!!!!, you choose. California’s minimum wage is $8.00 which is higher than the federal minimum wage of $7.25. However, states like Washington ($9.19) and Oregon ($8.95) are  higher.

Most of those who support this legislation says that the hike will add about $4000 annually to a worker’s paycheck thus with the extra money, they can infuse the local economy with much-needed revenue.  How bad can that be?

I feel the problem is not that employers aren’t able to pay employees a fair living wage, it’s that many of these multimillion dollar businesses simply don’t want to. Many of the owners are motivated by greed; they’re money-whores. They have been allowed to cruise for decades with hiring illegal immigrants, low-balling wages, paying no health insurance to many of their employees ( and this is done by keeping the employees below what would be considered full-time) and in some cases,  inciting an atmosphere of fear. Their stance, because of the over-saturation of unemployed people and illegal immigrants willing to work, is that all of their employees are expendable. If the employee puts up a fuss, then SEE YA! And the reality is that they will probably have that position filled within a few days, if that long.

I  saw a couple of months ago where the owner of the restaurant chain Mr. Chow, Michael Chow, sold his small mansion, and I’m gagging at the idea of a “small” mansion, and bought a behemoth. Michael Chow is apropos of many of these business owners and restaurateurs who are out there putting up a stink about minimum wage. And I use him as example because he comes from affluence. His father is a renown Chinese actor and his mother comes from a very wealthy family. This is why most of those business owners have no clue. They’ve never had to work for minimum wage, they’ve never had to travel for hours to and from work and they’ve never had to work multiple jobs to make ends meet. They don’t have to figure out how to pay for glasses, braces, clothing, food, shelter, school supplies and college. That’s a given for them.

Many hop into their Rolls Royce Phantoms, Bentley’s, Jags and what not,  leave work and pass by their employees standing at the bus stop, and don’t even see them because they’re invisible and go home to their mansions in Beverly Hills, Bel Air, the Hollywood Hills or wherever they decide to lay their expensive hats and handbags. Unfortunately, most couldn’t care less if they tried about their employees plight.  I have seen many domestic helpers coming out of the Hollywood Hills on foot, down perilous hills, around dangerous curves all the while their employers were luxuriating at their plush, palatial estates.  You would think that knowing their helper doesn’t have a car, they could at least take them to the bus stop. Oh Hell no, what was I thinking.

According to CNBC, California is number 9 on the list of where the wealthiest 5% in the nation lives.

Percentage of millionaire households in 2011: 6.01%
Millionaire households: 750,686
Total households: 12.49 million

To me this is obscene. I don’t begrudge anyone their hard-earned success, but a lot of the wealthiest people’s success comes from family wealth and connections. It puts a person WELL ahead of the game when you have everything in place to succeed. It’s the same with housing. We have an influx of new apartment complexes going up here in Los Angeles almost every few months, but the vast majority of working people can’t afford to live there. The rent is starting in most places, anywhere from $3000, $6000 to upwards of $13,000 a month. Who are these millionaire/billionaire developers building these complexes for if it’s not for their own ilk?

Even with a minimum wage increase to $10.00 an hour, most people still have to live in undesirable neighborhoods or way out in the Valley where the apartments are cheaper, but there’s stiff competition to rent the ones in better neighborhoods. Living in the city where it’s convenient to everything…within walking and short driving distances to supermarkets, pharmacies and shopping complexes, FORGET IT, unless you have stayed put in a rent stabilized apartment for years.

It saddens me to know that we are fast becoming a nation where fiction is now becoming fact. We are moving toward the Dystopian societies of the films Elysium and Soylent Green. The gap is widening between the rich and poor and the middle class is being slowly squeezed out of the equation entirely. So I ask again,  why not raise the minimum wage to something where people can live comfortably with some semblance of dignity and respect? Well I guess raising the minimum wage would mean the wealthy just couldn’t buy another expensive toy…and we can’t have THAT, now can we?

The End of a Helluva Week! Time To CHILLAX!

 

After a week of war mongering, political posturing, death, destruction, work overload and all around joy killing discourse, I’m glad this week is O-V-E-R! Many of us have high pressure careers and stressful lives and by Thursday, we’re seriously on life support with one foot in the grave and the other one on skates. Come Friday…we’re done!  I don’t know about you, but I need a drink.

I’m tired, I’m drained, my brain is fried and all I need now is just to cut the air up full blast (in these parts, we have a freaky heat wave sucking all of your energy and oxygen after having a pleasant summer…wouldn’t you know it), a nice cool bath, some sexy music in the background and the cap popped off the bubbly; just allowing the madness to completely drain out of my body. Good times!

I hope all of my little Scoodie-oops out in the blogosphere will find your calming piece of the world and have a CHILL weekend with whomever or whatever you have in your life that brings you joy. Until next time, CHEERS!

 

 

HAPPY LABOR DAY TO ALL HARD-WORKING PEOPLE GLOBALLY!

To the global working community, have a peaceful and restful Labor Day! And remember this – people making up the “labor” have always been less valued than those individuals who are business owners, CEO’s, senior executives and various captains of industry. Without labor, life as we know it would have never come to fruition. It is time for the United States and any country who does not understand the concept of a “decent standard of living”, to step up to the plate and pay working class people a fair living wage. It is a RIGHT, not a present given only to a chosen few deemed worthy. Peace!

Different Take On Miley Cyrus and Her…ahem, VMA Performance

By now, unless you’ve been hibernating in a cave or sedated on some awfully powerful meds, you know or at least heard about Miley Cyrus’ rather nauseating performance or should I say DISPLAY, on this year’s Video Music Awards. I’m not saying that what she did was the absolute worst performance I’ve seen, but believe me it was right up there with the best (or worse depending on who’s commenting) of them.

I could write a screed, just because I’ve been around the block a few times, giving a thousand different reasons why I feel that this was a desperate plea for attention from a girl who is majorly FUCKED UP! But I won’t. What I will say is this; if attention is what she wanted, then baby girl got it in abundance. But what kind of attention? I know the conventional wisdom in Hollywood is any press, albeit bad, is better than no press at all. WRONG!

I know Ms. Miley wanted to come across as a “ratchet”, street cred appropriating bad-ass, but in reality she is just a young, rich White girl who looked like a dumb-ass on-stage with no ass trying to Twerk with Black women with too much ass. And her father’s response to this debacle was priceless because he had no problem with her behavior. So we all know THAT apple doesn’t fall far from the tree and lets face it, Miley in all of her glory is that family’s cash cow. So father dearest is not upsetting that apple cart any time soon.

So it brings me to this rather funny You Tube video showing how some adults, in a galaxy far…far away, responded to our little knuckle-headed wingnut pop princess. I’m still laughing my non-twerking ass off.

Weekend Jamz….First up – Evanescence

 

Just to get this party started and send you on your way to a fun-filled weekend, I’m racking up one of favorite groups, Evanescence. I was watching Underworld:Awakening with Kate Beckinsale, who is one of the best ass-kicking actresses in Hollywood. As the credits were rolling, I forgot that Evanescence was on the soundtrack.

And for those who aren’t familiar with their music, they formed in 1994 with original band members Amy Lee and Ben Moody. By the time they finally found the right combination in 2002 with guitarist John LeCompt, bassist Will Boyd and drummer Rocky Gray, they signed with Wind-up Records and released their first album Fallen. By the spring of 2003, Fallen had proven to be a full-blown success thanks to the hit single “Bring Me to Life” and followed quickly by “My Immortal” which reached Billboard’s Top 10 in the US.

Because of their success, Evanescence won two Grammys, one for Best New Artist and Best Hard Rock Performance. But as with many bands, there were out of control egos and discourse within the group and the line-up changed. It wasn’t until October of 2006 that they released their sophomore album, The Open Door which  débuted at number one on the Billboard chart. After finishing their tour for the album, there was yet another shake-up.

And it took another five full years before Evanescence released their third album in October 2011 and as with the prior two, it also débuted at the top of the charts.

So here we go with Evanescence’s My Immortal, Made of Stone and Going Under. Enjoy!