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The Right Movie At The Right Time

I randomly came across this movie early this morning (4am) because I couldn’t sleep. I was shocked that I had never heard of it before. Even though it was released in 2009, the message is so very relevant to everything going on in the news right now. Gay-bashing, homophobes, religious zealotry, gay teen suicide, etc. What’s even more amazing is that it’s a true story. It stirred up so many emotions with me. At times it seemed as though I were watching a movie based on my life. It was kind of eerie how much of my life paralleled the main characters. It’s probably the most touching film I’ve ever seen. If I had normal human emotions, I probably would of cried through the whole movie (lol). 


PLEASE watch this movie, and then get your friends and family to watch it. Stories like this have the power to open closed eyes, and reach those who we thought were unreachable. After you watch it, I’d love to hear your thoughts and opinions on it. Anyone that can watch this movie without being moved is not human at all… or what I like to call a “Republican” (lol).

You can watch the movie right here for free, or purchase it on DVD by clicking this link:
Prayers for Bobby

The Mormon Proposition

“The Mormon Proposition” details in devastating fashion the efforts of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to help pass the 2008 California ballot measure that defined marriage as solely consisting of a union between a man and a woman. Writer/Co-Director Reed Cowan’s film reveals a disturbing truth of the increasing overlap between church and state. This documentary is extremely well done and at times it even brought me to tears (which is EXTREMELY rare). I wish I could get every person in this country to watch this amazing documentary. I thought I knew everything that went on with proposition 8, but this film exposed a lot of new & shocking information that left me speechless. If this film doesn’t move you, then you have to be a soleless heartless pitiful sociopath incapable of any human emotion… or a practicing Mormon (I’m only being facetious here, so please no hate mail).

The legal battle to declare Proposition 8 unconstitutional is currently underway, which means the ending to this story has yet to be written. Will we write an ending of triumph and redemption, or will we continue this story of intolerance and hate? 

Watch the full length documentary for free below:

Missionaries of Hate

Uganda Missionaries of Hate
The African country of Uganda joined up with some very prominent AMERICAN Evangelicals (à la Pastor Rick Warren) to draft a piece of legislation in Uganda that would make being homosexual a crime punishable by either life in prison or DEATH. Yes, you heard me right… DEATH! In other words, if I lived in Uganda, and I were in a same sex relationship with a man that I loved, both of us would be arrested and sentenced to DEATH. Can you imagine getting arrested for being in love?  These evil people that claim to be “Christian” are all doing this in the name of God. These American evangelicals have millions of dollars at their disposal donated to fund a huge campaign to fight those who are gay and rob them of their basic civil rights and impose their beliefs on everyone. There are so many problems and ills that plague our society today like poverty, famine, disease, homelessness, poor education, racial genocide, war, etc but instead of using their power and resources to combat some of those issues, they choose to fight the gay community in order to strip them of their rights and in Uganda possibly end their life.  This makes no sense at all. What is “Christian” about that? I really didn’t intend to write all this and shout from my soapbox but things like this really angers me. The real point of this blog post was to get you to watch this 45 minute documentary about Uganda’s “kill the gays” bill and how American Evangelicals played a huge role in the creation of the bill. I’m warning you now that this video is very inflammatory and so ridiculous at times that you just want to laugh from frustration. The most absurd part of it is when the church pastor shows his congregation gay porn during one of his sermons condemning gays. Yep, I kid you not… gay porn on display right in front of the whole congregation, kids included. Just watch it, and let me know what you think. Evil comes in many forms and in this particular documentary the evil is in the pulpit.
Here’s the full documentary “Missionaries Of Hate”

Illicit: The Dark Trade

As most of you already know, I love to watch documentaries. Mostly documentaries dealing with something political, criminal, or world history related. Last night I couldn’t sleep (like always), and so I decided to look for something to watch online. I have netflix, and a couple of other sites that I like to use to find movies and television shows that might be interesting. So after about 10 minutes of searching, I found this documentary about the business of illegal trade (aka illegal knockoffs) and it’s effects on the global market, tilted “Illicit: The Dark Trade”. The description of it’s content peaked my interest, so I decided to watch it. I was thinking it was going to be about how different designers and companies track down knockoffs and what they are doing to prevent this illegal enterprise from growing even larger. When most people hear the word “knockoff” they immediately think of fake Gucci bags, rip off Ed Hardy t-shirts, phony Versace sunglasses, counterfeit D&G jeans, etc. etc. etc. But to my surprise, that aspect of illicit trade is minuscule compared to the big picture. I understand why different labels and designers want to do whatever they can to end this illegal practice, on the basis that it infringes upon their brand, and allows others to steal and profit from their ideas and their hard work. I totally get that. . . but I find it really hard to feel sympathetic for them when they are a multi million dollar company who over inflates their prices, and then they want to lock up your corner hustle/barbershop hook up guy who has next to nothing in his bank account, living in the projects, and he’s only selling this knock off stuff to feed his family and pay the rent. And if you really think about it, the people who buy this designer knock off stuff, are people who can’t afford “the real thing” anyway. So it would be stupid for a designer to think that the corner hustle man is taking away some of their business or stealing some of their customers. That argument is absurd, ignorant, and down right ludicrous. From my perspective, I think the whole “high-end” haute couture fashion industry are victims of their own making (and I use the word “victim” very very lightly). When it comes to marketing and promoting their clothes, and building a strong recognizable brand, they are the absolute best at it. Too good for their own good. These companies were among the first to recognize and exploit the power of the media, and the importance of name recognition. When they blanket an area with an explosion of ads, knowing that the average family income of that area is below $25,000, and the cost of their cheapest handbag is $8,000 , you have to wonder why are they doing this. They bombard magazines and television with ads that makes the consumer think that they are nothing unless they can have that designer bag. So eventually the consumer starts to see the bag as a status symbol, and part of their self worth. These companies know exactly how to use and manipulate consumers. They feed off of people’s insecurities, in exchange for millions in profits that pad these fat cats wallets and contribute to their lavish and extravagant lifestyles. Everyone wants the “American Dream”, and they have convinced a large portion of Americans that the American Dream is for sell. And that’s why I have no sympathy for designers, when it comes to buying and selling knock-offs of their products. I mean, just think about that 12 year old boy out there somewhere, living in the projects, with a single mother, and very little money for anything other than the basic necessities. He watches TV and sees the rappers and movie stars flashing all kinds of expensive stuff, their big diamonds, and constantly referencing different designer names. They look like they are the happiest most fortunate people he’s ever seen. And he goes to school and see his classmates with the latest $150 sneakers and shirts and pants with visible designer logos, and he’s wearing old hand-me-downs from his older brother. All of this gradually eats away at his self esteem. So when he becomes an adult, he connects happiness and self worth with having expensive material things. There are a lot of young girls and boys that are going through similar situations right now, all over this country. If they are too poor to buy those Versace sunglasses, they go out and get the next best thing, a knock-off.
This blog entry is a lot longer than I expected, so I’m going to have to write the second half half sometime tonight or tomorrow. Just wait and see how it all ties together. I break down the documentary and explain what caught my attention and got me fired up enough to blog about it. I will also post a link to the documentary so you can watch it free streaming right on your desktop.

TO BE CONTINUED:

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NOTORIOUS Movie Excitement



I’m super SUPER excited about the release of the long awaited movie that chronicles the life of hip hop’s greatest MC EVER, NOTORIOUS B I G. I’ve been anxiously awaiting this movie for a while now and it’s finally here. HOT DAMN! Just in case you can’t tell, I’m a Biggie fanatic. I fell in love with his music when I was 16 in High School. My cousin had a mix tape with Juicy on it, and played it in my car one morning on our way to school. That tape never left my car after that day. I ate up everything he touched, Craig Mack, Faith remix, Mary J feature, Jay Z, Junior Mafia, Lil’ Kim, I mean EVERYTHING & EVERYONE that was dealing with Biggie! Bad Boy became my inspiration to reach higher and my reason to dream BIGGER. Every time I saw Puff, Big, Lil Kim, Mase, Faith, 112, or any of them, I was transfixed and mesmerized by their talent, Robin Leach type lifestyle and their big money larger than life public persona’s. How could anyone not be drawn in to that? They were one of the few “crews” that had talent to back up the hype. Everybody in my high school wanted to be them. They had the life everyone wished they had. It wasn’t just the music, it was the style, it was the money, it was the youth, it was the fashion, it was the look, it was the gaudy jewelry, it was the parties, it was the bravado, it was the excess and outrageousness, it was the lifestyle, it was the drama, it was all of that, it was everything, it was too much, it was never enough. Watching and following Biggie & Puff back then was like watching a real life Soap Opera or like watching the African American version of Dallas, with Sean Combs as JR Ewing, Big as Bobby Ewing, and Lil Kim as Pamela Jean Ewing. Seriously! Think about it. If you throw Suge Knight & Death Row into the mix, Suge would play the part of Cliff Barnes (Jr’s biggest rival). That’s the movie I want to see. That would be HOT! (if there’s any tv producers reading this give me a holla and let’s make it happen lol). But, I digress, … The feel good, party all night, big pimpin’, money makin’, playboy with the platinum touch, hit makin’, designer everything, Christal spiting, bottle poppin’, VIP baller type lifestyle, all came crashing down as soon as those bullets entered Christopher Wallace’s body. More than just Biggie died that night. If you look at hip hop as a living being, Biggie would be the heart. Sure you can replace a bad heart with a transplant or a pacemaker, but you’ll never be as healthy as you were before. You’ll have a long and painfully hard road of physical therapy ahead. The world of hip hop has been limping ever since. We’re a lot closer to being well now, but It will never be as great without Biggie. His death signaled the end of an era. There will NEVER be another like the late great Notorious BIG.

I’M URGING EVERYONE TO GO OUT AND SEE THE MOVIE THIS WEEKEND. PLEASE DON’T BUY ANY BOOTLEGS. Biggie has given so much to us by sharing his music and allowing us to peek into a world that some never knew existed by painting vivid images through his rhymes and lyrics. We should honor his memory by supporting this movie and making it #1 at the box office this weekend, as a thank you to him and his family. SO GO SEE THE DAMN MOVIE! I’ll be there with my pre-purchased ticket the day it’s released. I’ll even buy you some popcorn if you come and ask me nicely (lol).

Here’s the trailer for “NOTORIOUS”, and a link to the offical site of the movie.

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