Django Unchained & Zero Dark 30: 160 years later, they're still torturing colored folks
In honor of Martin Luther King's birthday this year, I treated myself to a movie marathon, watching "Django Unchained" and "Zero Dark 30" back-to-back. And it was like a cold slap in the face.
"Django Unchained" allegedly took place in 1858 -- and here we are now, 160 years later, where things have apparently changed and we're now being all civilized with our I-phones and our electric cars and our digital TVs. Nobody enslaves "colored" people any more and tortures them like that any more, right? This is the 21st century!
No one ties "colored" people up with ropes and beats them and beats them and beats them and then sics dogs on them any more, right? That's barbaric. That's why Lincoln freed the slaves and Dr. King marched in Montgomery, right? What happened to Django was old skool.
But hold onto your popcorn, guys. "Zero Dark 30" is about to come next.
When the theater screen darkens, suddenly here we are again, right here in the 21st century, but still tying up "colored" people with ropes, beating them and beating them and then siccing dogs on them.
"Hey, but that's different," you might say. In what way?
In "Django Unchained," we saw a man have all that he owned taken from him -- simply because he wasn't White -- and then we saw him beaten and tortured when he fought back against the Master.
In "Zero Dark 30" we also see the end results of years and years of "colored" folks in the Middle East having everything taken from them by the Master too -- and then when they too fought back, they too got beaten and tortured.
So how come we cheer Django Freeman on but hate Osama bin Ladin? Both are "colored" men fighting for their very lives.
But I digress.
This commentary is not about whether bin Ladin was or was not a good guy. Obviously he was a bad guy -- even making his wives do his laundry by hand, according to "0D30". Wouldn't even buy them a washer and dryer.
This commentary is about how far Americans have progressed, between 1858 and now, along the path to moral evolution. Not an inch.
In 1858 we had Candyland, where Leonardo di Caprio's character used torture to maintain his power over people of color who rebelled against their own exploitation.
And now, 160 years later, we have the CIA instead -- with Jessica Chastain's character using torture to maintain her power over people of color who rebelled against their own exploitation.
On past Martin Luther King birthday holidays, I've honored the day by watching "The Long Walk Home" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-YwJKIqyOE or "The Help," http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbuKgzgeUIU, listening to Joan Baez sing the hauntingly immortal "Birmingham Sunday," http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ0y-vO9QLE and/or remembering back when I myself marched with Dr. King in Montgomery in 1965 -- while seven months pregnant with my first baby.
During past MLK birthday celebrations, I was always filled with hope.
On this MLK birthday celebration, however, I was only filled with despair.
*********************************************************
*********************************************************
Advertizements for myself: In these hard times of brutal (and illegal) corporatist ball-busting socialism-for-the-rich-only, I am doing whatever I can to make a spare dollar. Here are some of my current alternate-economy schemes that never seem to work -- but I keep hoping!
******
https://www.wepay.com/donations/going-to-a-vodou-cave-in-haiti And if this link doesn't work, please just cut and paste. Thanks.
And if anyone ever wants to hire me on as a travel writer, "Have laptop, will travel!"
******
Need someone to help you throw out stuff? I'm really good at deciding what needs to be thrown out (starting with all those corporate-owned bums in Washington!)
****
Need an actor to play an older woman in your movie? Then I'm your man! I can portray all kinds of older women -- from judges, business execs and other insane zombies to bag ladies, cancer patients, kindly grandmothers and dying patients in rest homes. I've played them all. So send me a script and let's do this. Hollywood, here we come!
****
Are you a plaintiffs' attorney who is tired of writing those pesky personal injury settlement briefs all the time? No problem! I can write them for you. Years of experience. And pay me only if you win the case.
****
I recently got my Notary Public commission!
Need a Notary Public? Have seal, will travel. E-mail me at jpstillwater@yahoo.com and I'll stamp your document, make it official and only charge $10. Of course if you live outside of Berkeley, I may have to charge travel expenses -- but am well worth it!
****
I also wrote a book about going on Hajj (also included as a chapter in "Bring Your Own Flak Jacket," but this book is cheaper -- but it's worth buying them both!) My book on the Hajj is so outstanding that I bet even Christian fundamentalists will love it! Please buy it here: http://www.amazon.com/Mecca-Hajj-Lessons-Islamic-School/dp/0978615700/ref=cm_rdp_product
****
"Imagine a world where EVERY child is wanted, nurtured, protected and loved: World peace in one generation!" You can now buy T-shirts, coffee mugs, tote bags, truckers' caps, baby gear and/or teddy bears with this logo printed on them. They make great gifts, especially for parents and teachers. To purchase, just click here: http://www.cafepress.com/StillTWaters
"Life is a competition. The winners are the ones who do the most good deeds." You can also buy T-shirts, coffee mugs, tote bags, truckers' caps, baby gear and/or teddy bears with this logo printed on them. They make great gifts, especially for those of us who are still idealists in these troubled times. To purchase, just click here: http://www.cafepress.com/StillTWaters
