Karate Kid 2010

I've been trying to understand why this movie reached so deep into my heart.

After about 3 weeks I think I've got a grasp. It came to me while watching the Justin Bieber-Jaden Smith music video of "Never Say Never", Bieber's hit song that closes the film.

In the video there's a short clip of one of the most dramatic scenes in the movie, when Jackie Chan finally begins to show Jaden how to use the tedious exercises he's been practicing for so long. Jaden looks into the eyes of Jackie with fear - so common among minority boys when dealing with adult white males in the US. But here Jackie is not a white male. He is not chastising or punishing Jaden. Rather he is empowering him. And when Jaden realizes that, he takes off like a young eagle leaving the nest.

This is absolutely brilliant, and I wonder if the makers of this movie - among whom are Jaden's famous parents - were conscious of this revolutionary quality. From the little I know of Jada and Will, I suspect they were very conscious indeed.

This film is revolutionary. Here's a young black male whose people have been downtrodden for centuries by whites and white culture. Here's a Chinese man whose people have also been abused by Europeans for so long. And here's a Chinese actor who in real life was denied access to Hollywood because of the racism rampant in the American film industry, and who bided his time with great wisdom and patience until he could return to America in triumph. And what happens in the film? The Chinese man takes the African American boy under his wing, teaches him, strengthens him, and empowers him; in turn, the African American boy empowers the Chinese man. They turn to each other for strength, for spiritual growth. They have no need for the white man. They have outgrown the myths surrounding the white culture, and they realize those myths never were true.

This theme of people of color around the world uniting and empowering each other is reinforced by the fact that there are no white actors in the film except a token music teacher who hardly speaks and is deliberately made to appear cold and marginal.

But it is not an anti-white film, and proof of that is in the popularity it enjoys among whites - despite the fact that it was heavily criticized on rottentomatoes.com and other review sites; in the enthusiastic participation of Justin Bieber; in the brotherly spirit of the Bieber-Smith music video; and in the smash popularity of that video. That Karate Kid trounced The A-Team when they opened together across the US is a further sign that Americans are no longer interested in John Wayne-style white male dominance, that they see a globalized society rising, and that they are renouncing the old world to embrace the new.

Coming on the heels of The Pursuit of Happyness, which was one of the most spiritual films in recent years, and a reverberating statement of African American empowerment, Karate Kid 2010 only reinforces and expands the message: that African Americans, Chinese, and all other oppressed peoples of the world, are beautiful, powerful, and beginning to soar.

Save the Baha'is: A Plea from the Redwood Forest

Dear Congressman Sestak:

May I call upon you to support House Resolution 1008, introduced by your colleague Mark Kirk on 28 February 2008.

The Baha'is of Iran are suffering one of the worst episodes of human rights abuse since World War II. A peace-loving religious community, the followers of the Baha'i Faith believe in the unity of the human race and the essential oneness of all the divine religions. Because they also believe that a Messenger or Manifestation of God has come after Muhammad, they are officially persecuted by the Iranian state. Islamic belief holds that no prophet will ever appear after Muhammad.

Only five days ago, six leaders of the Baha'i community were imprisoned by the Iranian government for no reason other than their religious beliefs. A seventh leader has been in prison since 5 March 2008. These leaders include women, and they have committed no crime that any civilized country would recognize. Indeed, any right-thinking, just government would regard them as exemplary citizens. At no time has the government of Iran, since the beginning of its persecution of the Baha'is in 1979, ever presented evidence to the world that the Baha'is have committed any offense against the state or violated its laws.

Not only have Baha'is been imprisoned, they have also been forced out of their jobs and livelihoods, out of schools and universities, out of their homes; many have been systematically tortured; and over two hundred Baha'i leaders have been executed, including women and youth of both sexes.

In 1980 and 1981, all but one member of two successive national Bahá'í governing bodies, the National Spiritual Assembly of Iran, were imprisoned and executed.

And yet throughout these waves of persecution the Baha'is of Iran have steadfastly sought to obey the government of Iran in all its directives, even those requiring the disbanding of Baha'i institutions and the relinquishment of Baha'i property. However, the Baha'is refuse to obey any law requiring them to disavow their beliefs, and for this they are subjected to the gravest injustices.

I encourage you to investigate the record of the Baha'is and, if you find their actions and beliefs worthy of America's best traditions, to defend their human rights by supporting this resolution.

Pressure-Free Voting

Elections in the Baha'i Faith do not involve campaigning or nominations, street money or political ads. People just vote their conscience without discussing the matter. But could that ever be possible in "the real world"? One blogger, referring to one campaign in the current democratic primary elections, writes:

"They've been able to largely ignore the hysterical punditry, who shouldn't have any role in the Democratic nomination process." (My emphasis.)

Hmm. Sounds like the beginnings of a sea change.

Hollywood Shuffle 2

To the author of another excellent review of Step Up 2:

It has been 24 years since Robert Townsend's "Hollywood Shuffle" went out and smacked America upside the head. I guess Jon Chu, and all the rest of the Disney crew, didn't see it. Either do your cultural homework or stop making films. Somebody ought to put a biohazard sticker on Hollywood and shut the place down permanently. The only people who should be making a film about street dance in Baltimore is street dancers in Baltimore, not 75-year-old European American studio executives who last danced on VJ day.

Perhaps I am too angry. Alright, I relent. Anyone can make a street dance film, whether old or young, European or African, Eastern or Western. But let's agree to keep racism out of it. I prefer no rotten eggs in my delicious hot fudge sundaes, thanks.

"Step Up 2" needs to Step Off

To Ray Greene at boxoffice.com I sent the following comment with much appreciation:

Thanks for the best movie review I have ever read. The only thing I would add is the incredible racism against the sole Asian character, who we are asked to believe is straight off the boat and speaks English with a Charlie Chan accent - and yet magically dances hip hop like she grew up in LA. That would be like Charlie Chan blowing bebop alto sax like Charlie Parker. And - now you've got me started - what's with the blatant skin-color coding? The darkest skin is reserved for the meanest characters? And the only member of the 410 crew to break ranks and join Andie and the "good guys" was a light-skinned hispanic. Sure, that wasn't predictable. Hello.

I just watched this cinematic trash last night with my three children, and was so disturbed that in the middle of a quiet scene I just had to blurt out "This is racist!" Granted, the soundtrack is excellent, and the 410 crew's dancing and choreography were superb, far better than Stomp the Yard and even Honey (which we all greatly enjoyed), but I couldn't hold back a second longer. I had to say something just so my kids would, hopefully, not take it too seriously.

It's time to end the freedom from accountability Disney and other Hollywood studios enjoy. There should be a new ratings system: R for racist. Studio suits will have to think twice before putting that stuff out on "the streets." Because you know what? I'm actually starting to believe that the vast majority of Americans, knowing that a film is racist, would not pay a single cent to see it.

Why Iowa

I'm intrigued that Iowa got the ball rolling for the first serious African American candidate. Could it be the state has been learning the lessons taught by native daughter Jane Elliott, who has been teaching her eye-color exercise since 1968?

What Ifs...

1a. What if Chelsea-gate were turned around, and it was Barack Obama's daughter who had been referred to in that disrespectful manner? Would the call for the TV reporter's dismissal, not merely his suspension, be supported by the general public? I ask this because at the moment, Mrs. Clinton has said his suspension is not sufficient redress, and many people are wondering if that's too harsh.

1b. What if it had been Imus who had made the disrectful remark? He was fired.

2. And what if it was Hillary who was the eloquent one, whose speeches were characterized as soaring rhetoric: would this be a help or hindrance to her? Reminds me of people dismissing the writing ability of Frederick Douglass, some saying he didn't write his memoirs. I'll have to look into that. The ponit is, there is a pattern of our accepting African American eloquence in English, but then dismissing it as so much fakery, smoke and mirrors, not real poetry, real feeling, real thought, real truth.