Pigment Me This

King Goes Hollywood

DreamWorks will be making a film about the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The company has acquired the rights to his life story and also has the support of the King estate, run by Dr. King’s son Dexter King.  This will be the first film made about Dr. King’s life that has the  official authorization of the King Estate.

Steven Spielberg is set to direct the film (Surprise surprise…it is his company) and casting has not yet been reported. However, I am really excited already about the film. I believe Spielberg and Co. will be able to pull off an amazing and in depth biopic. My question is will they do shooting for the film at King’s alma mater Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA? Or the question better yet is, will Morehouse let them film there? Spike Lee had attempted to shoot his School Daze on the grounds of Morehouse but was denied (he shot at other neighboring schools instead), perhaps this film will be different?

This is an ideal time to release the movie with the first Black president in office (bi-racial if we want to get specific-but let’s face it….there is a one drop rule). I hope that it will encourage and stimulate some dialogue about the progress that Black America has made as a people, rather than focusing on where we have yet to go. We should start the dialogue here, what has changed since King’s time? Let me know.

Anywho, I hope someone really talented plays Dr. King. No clue who that would be though. They better not just slap a Denzel on it, although I do love Mr. Washington. That’s neither here nor there.

I will be following this film’s progress closely, so stay tuned.

Twitter is getting more and more publicity by the second.

Welcome Back

Eminem apparently made his comeback last night in Detroit, Michigan, his hometown. He gave the free concert for his new and upcoming album ‘Relapse’ at the Soundboard stage in the MotorCity Casino Hotel. A few lucky fans got tickets last minute through his Twitter page. Guess I should start following my favorite artists on Twitter, I might get lucky.

Maybe Twitter might be around a little longer than anticipated. Hope for the sake of the site that it is not just a passing fad. Our generation has an attention span that’s worse than a 2 year olds. You get 15 secs (gone are the days of 15 minutes). These websites come and go like the wind.

Well, you know the movies…..its either hit or miss.

And a lot of movies, from the hundreds made each year, end up missing the mark.

But I have my new form of entertainment when movies are letting me down. It is the TV commercial.

Long gone are are the days when TV commercials used to simply advertise to us. Now they make us laugh or cry. They scare and excite us. They teach us lessons and they inspire that warm fuzzy feeling inside (no not your crabs thank you). I am a frequent tv-goer, couch potato, whatever they call it now a days. I loveeeeee television.

My marriage to TV has a prenup though, my mandatory viewing of the commercials in between. Or their even better cousins, product placement snips and ad overlays that they place inside of actual TV programs (Crafty bastards aren’t they?). I am committed to TV so I try to watch the ads.

I really must say that tv advertisements have gotten better and better (as other things get worse and worse…tsk). I can name ads off the top of my head that I know all the words too. Not to mention, brand recognition for all of my friends is at an all time high. Its not just me, people love love love commercials! Type into youtube funny commercials and there are whole tributes to them. Or if you are searching for a commercial that you thought was really great, chances are it’ll be online somewhere just waiting to be watched again.

Some of my favs include pepto bismal, budweisser, Target, ATT, Sobe Life Water, and the list goes on. Most memorable educational commercial award goes to Truth, although I personally don’t agree with everything they say, they do get the message out there. Way better than the D.A.R.E. program that’s for sure lol.

And the product placement inside of TV shows aren’t too bad as long as they’re not too bothersome. Ad overlays need to stay at the tiny corner on the bottom of my screen though, any bigger and I am irritated.

Honestly, as far as advertising goes, if these advertisers realize anything at all, its that they need to keep going down the path of blurring the line between entertainment and advertisement. With the advent of DVRs and the internet providing countless places to watch your favorite TV shows, it is so much easier to skip out on the ads.

The future of advertisement is entertainment (keeping its audience interested through entertaining commercials)…we all will be joining hands and singing Kumbaya, its a symbiotic relationship, so we better get used to it. Generation Y requires more than some simple catch lines and cheesy background music to get us to buy or even pay attention.

But who am I anyway? I could go for days about this but I feel like this is good. Just my 2 cents.

Thanks for Watching.

Gets slapped with accusations of racism.

So the video above is a Cravendale Milk commercial, a company that is based in the UK. The commercial caused some stir because people believed it had racial undertones that implied something really deeper than what it was. The bull walks into a bar, looking like a cow I might add (already a silly commercial lol), and wants milk. So he is all angry and aggressive drinking milk, and they run out of milk, and put him through the purifying system to make him pure. Making him pure means filtering out the black spots and he is now a happy white bull checking himself out in the mirror giving flowers to some other barn animal or what not.

It was cleared of any charges of racism, but some people still are a bit bothered over the pond I suppose. I personally think the commercial was harmless, and it only is racist if you go searching for racism. Milk is white, I can’t get mad if the filtration process makes it white. Some people suggest that they should of had a chocolate milk commercial, but when did it become their obligation to do that?

Honestly, it is getting to the point where people just look for racism and problems in everything. There are a lot of things that get slapped with the racist label, like that poor girl a few years back and her Caucasian club, I am not Caucasian, but I understand why she wanted to have a club to celebrate the different cultures and traditions that are associated. When did minorities only get to form cultural clubs? The only thing I saw wrong was the name of the club…..but yada yada …I get off topic….we were supposed to be talking about milk

Milk is white. Get over it. This commercial is meant to entertain, stop looking for subconscious messages in everything….or we will put you in an institute and name you paranoia.

Just my 2 cents. Till next time.

When it comes to streaming videos online, MTV is leading the pack as a TV network.

They apparently are the one of the few major online websites that didn’t experience a decrease in streaming, in fact they saw an increase. The only other two websites that saw increases in video streaming were Hulu and of course Heavyweight champion of the world, Youtube.

Unfortunately, ABC saw some major decreases with their video player. As a devoted fan to ABC and their video player, I can understand why it may have dropped. Their player format has changed and they have become a bit more limited in how much of their programming they offer (understandable). Sometimes there are issues with getting players to work. Yet, I will say their player is way better than…I dunno…lets say the CW. The CW’s online player makes me not even want to watch them on regular TV. The CW needs to fix that cluttered lagging website ASAP.

I also watch MTV online in case I miss a show. When it comes to video, MTV never lets me down. I am always able to watch their videos without fail, and the great thing is you don’t need to install a player. Maybe the CW and ABC need to take notes. Yet, these sites offer different programming targeted at different demographics, so maybe MTV’s increase in streaming is due to a Generation Y difference? Let’s face it, their target audience is the most internet savvy and teched out.

The good thing is that Hulu and ABC have inked a deal last month and have joined forces on the net front. Maybe they can work out ABC’s issues-take notes, that sorta thing.

Either way, video streaming on the web is the new way. Jump in the pool or get stuck like an old timer with analog tv after June 12, 2009. Keep up or get left behind!

Just my 2 cents. Till next time.

Chris Brown and Rihanna

We all know about these two and their fight night earlier this year. It was big news, and you had to be living under a rock to not have heard.

Yet it’s the media’s handling of cases like these, domestic violence, that scare and worry me.

I understand that with celebrity power there comes a trade-off. You sacrifice some of the privacy you once had as a nobody in order to be a very public somebody. You are now a public figure and must deal with people wanting a constant peak at every aspect of your life.

Celebrities and the media have a symbiotic relationship, they feed off of each other in order to keep living and thriving.

But when Chris Brown and Rihanna’s case dropped there were all types of misconduct coming from different media outlets. MTV immediately created a forum show that talked about the incident, the very same week! The show was called “Chris Brown & Rihanna: Love in Trouble” They had a show before all the information was even known. They made Chris Brown look guilty, when we in America know that Innocent until proven GUILTY is the true line.  We hadn’t even heard both sides of the story at that point and MTV is already putting up a half hour show examining the relationship with literally no EVIDENCE.

Then there is the LAPD issue and how the photo “accidentally” was leaked! This was literally the worst handling of a domestic violence case. The couple needed privacy and counseling instead of harsh criticism (without facts!) and their problems being spilled aka leaked for the world to see.

I am not supporting Chris Brown and I am not supporting Rihanna. I am just on the sidelines, I don’t play favorites in this case. But I do play fair! It is like everyone had so much to say when we didn’t really know the nature of their relationship, or what truly did happen. I am not labeling anyone a victim and anyone a villian until I hear straight from Chris Brown’s mouth and straight from Rihanna’s mouth about the night in question. I am tired of all the speculation and the finger pointing when no one really knows a damn thing.

To add insult to injury, the focus was more on the glitz and glam of the celebs and less on actual domestic violence. I don’t think anyone in the nation truly walked away from this case with a better understanding of domestic violence and how much it affects the United States.

I hear CB and Ri Ri broke up or “took a break.” Maybe it is better this way for them. Either way, we need to do better as a country at handling sensitive cases like these. This case was not just another sex crazed celebrity flashing their privates for the cameras.

But who am I to say anything anyway? Just a Jane Nobody.

Just my 2 cents. Till next time.

On Monday I posted two videos from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. One of President Obama and the other of comedian Wanda Sykes. I purposely left out commentary because I wanted people to develop their own opinion for themselves first.

So I know different websites such as MSN.com and their social news community Newsvine had a poll about Wanda Sykes and her performance at the dinner last Saturday. Currently, there are more people that agree that Ms. Wanda Sykes crossed the line, 56.6% to be exact. Of course there is a strong bunch that say she was just fine, 37.9 %. And then that tiny 5.5% that aren’t really sure what to think.

I am gonna side with the 37.9% that think it was just fine. Her entire performance overall was directed at people of all parties, and while this “kidney failure” line might have pushed the envelope a bit….that’s what she is paid to do….push the envelope and display the truth in a shocking and funny way.

I knew she was not serious and that it was just comedy. A more in your face side of comedy that many people obviously can’t stomach, but everything isn’t for everybody.

I have never listened to Rush Limbaugh’s show, but I hear he says things that are just as bad if not worse (let me know if you listen in). And you know what? I am not mad at Rush Limbaugh. Wanda Sykes and Rush Limbaugh are both paid to entertain, and they make sure they do what they have to do to keep ratings up.

I think Wanda Sykes did a great show, and she roasted all politicians regardless of party.  However,  her as the comedian may have been a bit much for Washington to handle.  Just like the Red House Furniture Commercial, funny but not suited for television. I still can’t wait for her new late night show this fall on Fox though.

Comedy is comedy, guess next time the President should get some semi funny and safe guy to bore us to tears.

Just my 2 cents. Till next time.

Everyone who watches TV, and flips through the channels, may know about a tiny little channel called BET-Black Entertainment Television- owned by Viacom.

We could get into tons of things about BET, lack of quality and original programming, the 180 degree turn it took since Viacom’s acquisition of it, the complete rip off of MTV-and everything just being a black version of it (Like we don’t deserve something original once in a while..)

But that’s not what I am here to focus on.

There is news that BET is creating a new channel called Centric. It is supposed to target a more sophisticated and older African-American audience.

Yet, the only thing I can think of is centric to what BET? Who is your new channel truly centered around?

After years and years of programming that displays people of a darker pigment as a monolithic population they want to finally focus on our core? Finally more about our broad range of needs and wants?

I really can’t say I hate BET. I am just highly disappointed. It could do so much more programming that represents the black population as a whole, instead of just focusing on one type of person. I stopped watching the channel because I didn’t want to upset myself with what they were showing.

But if they aren’t even centered on their target audience on BET, how does the weather look for their new channel Centric? I am not asking for all their programming to show righteous young black men and women that are upstanding citizens from ivy leagues. I am asking them for more of a spectrum. Please bring more diverse black shows that show all sides of the black community. If that can’t even be accomplished with BET, how am I supposed to believe Centric will be better?

I am not wishing for the channel’s failure. Quite the opposite. I hope it is a success with all the quality content that I have been craving from BET. I am more than willing to give Centric a clean slate and see what its got under it’s sleeve. I am extremely curious to see what the content of the channel will be like, and if Centric will be able to keep the 45 million suscribers that BET claims it already has.

Until October when Centric premiers, I will be watching TV-One as usual. They fill my appetite for quality, even if a lot of content is reruns of old shows. Perhaps the black community needs to get back to that.

Just my 2 cents. Till Next time.

Comedy is hard to do, but when it’s done right, it’s worth more than gold.

So I came across this commercial that pretty much attempts to present a parody of race relations in order to sell furniture. While I could see something like this on Comedy Central, or just as a parody in general on youtube or some other comedy site….not sure if its real commercial material.

The owners of Red House Furniture completely support this commercial and its on their website. They hired internetainment specialists and comedians Rhett and Link for their new marketing campaign.

There were some people commenting on the youtube video saying that it is normal for High Point, NC, and that they are more stupid than offensive. I agree with the commercial’s stupidity. Does it offend you all out there though?

Do you honestly believe that this is a good way to get people to buy their furniture?  Write your thoughts. I know that although they got a small laugh out of me, they would never ever get my money for their products. I am all for blurring the line between entertainment and advertising, but this just seems to go about it in the wrong way. Maybe I am just too sensitive.

Anywho, they got their 15 minutes of fame.  And I believe as the saying goes ..”There is no such thing as bad publicity.”

Till next time.