We Don’t Need a Map

Symbols are such strange, odd things- nothing more than a squiggle or a doodle, they nevertheless hold sway over the human beings who believe in them. Be it a flag or an icon, symbols trigger emotions, start wars, rally people to a cause. We Westerners living on the chunk of dirt called America don't think …

T-Bone N Weasel

Made-for-TV Movies are a fascinating and forgotten artifact of American mass culture. Basically B-Movies "not good enough for the theater," they still took time and money to produce, still required name actors, and still basically all have the potential to be quality work, if only the scripts were better... but they rarely are. Steven Spielberg's …

White Man’s Burden

Back in the 90's, racism was old hat. To anyone who wasn't Black, all the signs pointed up- we all were quite aware of the Civil Rights movement, thank you very much, and our generation had moved beyond that. We had Spike Lee, Tribe Called Quest, and... well, things were pretty much on track for …

Purlie Victorious (aka Gone are the Days!)

It's hard to deny the accusation of systemic racism in Hollywood when you watch a film like Purlie Victorious- it's such a sharp criticism of America, done in such a hilarious way, and so clearly still-relevant today that the only answer to the question why have I never heard of this great movie? is so …

Jungle Fever

While most people are falling over backwards trying to prove how not-racist they are.... excuse me, "anti-racist"... Spike Lee was forcing America to confront itself through the drama of human life decades before anyone uttered the word "woke." Jungle Fever is one of his best, the simple story of a Black Man and an Italian …