RIFLE RANGE BOY

Lady in the Lake (Miniseries) Season 1, Episodes 1-7. An intriguing miniseries set at a time when Black Americans had an understanding with Jewish Americans. Even though Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation to declare all slaves to be free, in reality, the Blacks still received the short of the stick. In so many instances, they were discriminated against. The law was not in their favour either. The Blacks had to prosper by themselves despite the restrictions. Some beat the systems and joined the mainstream, while others prospered through an alternative economic system. The evidence of their successes includes the Harlem Cultural Renaissance in the 1920s and the numerous legislative gains through the efforts of the NAACP (North America Association of Colored People). Many of the African-American associations worked in tandem with many Jewish bodies. The Jews also felt the discriminatory vibes of the predominantly Anglo-Saxon majority of America. The earlier interactions between ...

American Fiction (2023) Screenplay & Direction: Cord Jefferson It seems that we have not changed much since our days as cavemen. Imagine living exposed in a world so hostile we would have tried to understand the unusual things around us. We continued compartmentalising the living and non-living things amongst us even when we became hunter-gatherers, farmers or city dwellers. By compartmentalising everyone in boxes, we thought we had our defences up to remind us which one of them was friends and which were potentially harmful. Gone are club-carrying or sabre-rattling days, but these classifications helped somewhat. The Chinese viewed anyone non-Huns as barbaric. So did the Greeks, Persians and Arabs. During the mercantile era, the dark-skinned were labelled as God-sanctioned slaves.  In the USA, post-Civil War America assumed that the emancipated slaves were ill-prepared to fit into modern society. They expected them to remain the subservient ones. They were prevented from getti...

Descendants (Documentary; 2022) Written and directed by: Margaret Brown We often tell us to put the past behind us and use the past as lessons to propel us forward. Refrain from brooding over the past, but look at the future, which is within our means to write. The past is a done thing which cannot be rewritten.  Is there any merit in prodding the past and trying to write the wrong that our ancestors did by omission or commission? This documentary makes one thing of this very point. Can we blame all our misgivings on how our ancestors were treated? Is transgenerational PSTD justified enough to be the reason for the current generation to be dysfunctional, economically backward and in a quandary? Is validation of the deeds of our forefathers needed for us to prosper in life? Or is the mere lack of their recognition just an excuse to remain as sluggards? It is good to put the facts straight. As history is written as dictated by the victors, their version is just one aspect of what rea...

  King Richard (2021) Director: Reinaldo Marcus Green By now, everybody would have heard about the movie 'King Richard', not because the leading actor, Will Smith, won the Oscar but the slapping of the host, Chris Rock. Many are arguing whether the showdown was staged. Will Smith, walking up to the stage to smack Rock for cracking an off-colour joke about her alopecia, was really uncalled for. Behavioural specialists and body language experts have been working overtime to analyse, frame by frame, the demeanour of Smith, his wife Jeda and Rock to surmise that it was not staged.  This movie is a biopic about the untiring efforts of Richard Williams to make world-class tennis stars out of Venus and Serena. Richard, a pushy father, steamrolled himself to get trainers for his daughter. A slave driver, he did not want his daughters another statistic in the sea of black children with social issues. He abhorred violence and was bullied by the local hoodlum. It is ironic that Will Smit...

The Falcon and Winter Soldier (Miniseries, E1-6; 2021) Marvel Cinematic Universe Just how long did it take for a person to stay in a country for him to be accepted by his fellow countrymen to be one of them? Human beings are innately racists. For a long time, they have generally felt safe being amongst their own kind who share the same sentiments and values. Perhaps it is something that they have not been able to shed off from their tenure as dwellers of the caves. In those days (even now, of course), Nature has been quite harsh for things to be left for granted. The vulnerability of exposure to the elements of Earth made us suspicious of everything. The last thing they want to be is to end up as a meal for others. So, it is human nature to look upon the other who looks different from them and be wary of their intention. But we also have developed a sense of awareness that teaches good values and conducts. Are these mere decorative motifs to fill books and scriptures? 'The Falcon a...

Judas and the Black Messiah (2021) It is not easy to change society. The people of the top of the perch want to continue having their nice view undisturbed. Those in the middle rung wish to have continued access to the top and maintain their gateway to positions whilst asserting dominance upon the plebians under their feet. The plebians, well, they are a pathetic lot. They bicker amongst themselves to be king, imagining the changes in their lives upon springboarding to the top.  The minions' blinded voracious appetite is not the only impeding factor that prevents them from reaching the top. The kingmakers also send in their instigators and moles to derail any flicker of progress. The Civil War was not started by the Northerners because of altruistic intentions, because they could not stomach seeing black slaves being treated worse than animals. It was economics, stupid. The Union just wanted to liberate the slaves and pack them off to Africa, specifically Liberia, not treat them as...