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From SeeingBlack.com Movies Black mothers: don’t let your sons grow up to be Lee Daniels.
The producer of the fetid film, “Monster’s Ball,” is at it again, reveling in that seedy film space where he gleefully serves a nasty narrative of race, sex, violence and death with as much panache as he can, and seduces us into accepting the twisted as artsy cinema. Maybe, with pride, Daniels can think of himself as the Black Quentin Tarantino—unafraid to exploit traditional race boundaries (but noticeably shy about crossing others); unafraid to make Black women—everybody really—look as bad as he can; unafraid to push the limits of sanity and believability in the service of raising eyebrows and scoring points from those who vote on film awards. For most of us, who don’t vote on film awards, there is little to offer in his new film, “Shadowboxer” other than another stale story that glamorizes the glorious assassin. It seems now that we spend half our time in dark theaters rooting for and sympathizing with killers who dress in nice clothes and live exceptional lives with bloody money. This time, the man with the gun is Cuba Gooding Jr., who plays the true bad boy in a vehicle far more stylish than the piteous, low-budget effort, “Dirty,” which began making the rounds last year. In that film, Gooding was one half of a pair of rogue LAPD officers. In “Shadowboxer,” he is also part of a team. His name is Mikey and he and his partner Rose (Helen Mirren), an elderly White woman, stalk their prey in sleek black clothes and while carrying long, sleek black guns. Despite the two-gender nature of their partnership, the worship of Black phallus—and cheering of Black Macho—is obvious, and carries over, literally, to their personal relationship as well. It seems that Rose must have taken over as a mother figure to Mikey after the death of Mikey’s father, who probably was also a killer. Somehow, in a scenario that is not explained at all, Rose began sleeping with her stepson, foster child whatever… So Mikey, while a hardnosed killer, is also a man sleeping with his wrinkled mother. He dances sexy for her and she is turned on and turned out. She asks him, “Whose going to take care of you Mikey?” He answers, “You taught me how to take care of myself Rose.” Yes, there is a sex “scene” in this film that will be talked about as well but it is not a scene that strips Rose or makes her, like Halle’s Berry character in Monster’s Ball, look like a heifer in heat. There is, here, again, Daniels twisted laugh at redemption. Just as a White racist can find redemption with a downtrodden Black woman, Mikey and Rose can find redemption through a child who they allow to live. There are lots of crucifixes hanging on rooms in this film, which is set in Philadelphia and includes much old architecture and rooms filled with aging wallpaper. “Shadowboxer” represents decency’s end in an old-school place. What a way to go. This review also appeared on www.BET.com. Esther Iverem is founder of www.SeeingBlack.com and author of the new book of poems, Living in Babylon. © Copyright by SeeingBlack.com |
