Reminds me of what I read about a film called Coonskin, retitled for DVD as 
Streetfight - its a Ralph Bakshi effort, who also gave us a very bad animated 
interpretation of the Hobbit. I've seen pieces of Coonskin and wasn't very 
impressed but it did generate the same type of controversy - I found this 
descrtiptoin online:



When the film was finished, a showing was planned at the Museum of Modern Art. 
In a 1980 interview, Bakshi stated, "the museum had seen the film and 
loved it, a breakthrough in animation. They set up a very special night 
to screen it for film people."[1] The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) 
surrounded the building before anyone had seen it yet, in a protest led by Al 
Sharpton.[9] According to Bakshi, "The room was filled, although there weren't 
many 
protesters from CORE there, eight or nine. Screaming, 'You can't watch 
this film!' People pulling people out of their seats. It was that kind 
of night. The audience was very frightened. They were being attacked 
verbally throughout the movie. People kept running up and down the 
aisles in pitch blackness."[1]
In a 1982 interview, Bakshi stated "I had finished the film on a 
Friday, I screened it in California for the museum on a Monday, and on 
Wednesday when I came to New York to screen it there were pickets there. I 
brought the film on the plane with me, and no one had seen it but my 
animators and two guys from the museum. But there were pickets there, 
shouting that the film was racist. I never saw anything so set up in my 
life, but the press never picked up on that."[1]
Bakshi asked Sharpton why he didn't come in and see the movie. In 
response, Sharpton announced, "I don't got to see shit; I can smell 
shit!"[9] In a 2008 interview, Bakshi stated that "I called Sharpton a black 
middle-class fucking sell-out, and I’ll say it to his face. Al Sharpton 
is one of those guys who abused the revolution to support whatever it 
was he wanted."[14] According to Bakshi, "[Sharpton] brought in some bruisers, 
and I could 
hear them asking, 'Should we beat him up or cool it?' 'Ah, let's watch 
the film.'"[9] "They were geared to dislike it" says Bakshi. "They were booing 
at the titles! I guess it was an easy target. Or they were paid to do it. I 
don't 
know. It was very unusual. They were booing at something they hadn't 
even seen. This was interesting to me."[3] After the screening, Bakshi states 
that Sharpton charged up to the 
screen, but "people didn’t want to follow Sharpton up the aisle. His own men! 
He was screaming to me on the podium and turning around to them, 
saying, 'Are you guys coming up?' But they didn’t want to, because they 
loved the movie."[1

I do love the theme song written by Ralph Bakshi and performed by Scatman 
Crothers - if Scatman is ok with it, so am I.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgdMJDD6oYQ


________________________________
From: turquoiseb <no_re...@yahoogroups.com>
To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Saturday, December 8, 2012 6:19 AM
Subject: [FairfieldLife] Do you trust the critics, or do you...uh...see the 
movie?



This is not a continuation of the JudyApocalypto thang, merely a riff on
that incident's real issue, and some musing about that phenomenon's
relationship to spiritual practice.

Would you feel that you knew enough about a movie to comment on it -- as
if you were authoritative and knew what you were talking about -- if
you'd only read a commentary on the movie, and never actually seen it?

You'd be surprised at how many people would. I met a few of them once in
front of a New York theater showing Martin Scorcese's "The Last
Temptation Of Christ." I was there to see the movie, on its opening day.
They were there to picket the movie, waving signs that decried it as
"Anti-God" and "Blashemy!" and "Heresy!" and "The Work Of Satan."

I'd arrived early, so instead of going straight in, I spent some time
wandering around, talking to the picketers. In particular, I asked them
whether they had ever seen the movie, or read the book by Nikos
Kazantzakis on which it was based. I did not find a single picketer who
had done either. They were there because some spiritual figure they
trusted -- quite possibly their Catholic priest or bishop -- had told
them that it was BAD.

The picketers stayed outside picketing. I went inside. After all, I had
read the book. Now I've seen the movie. I can speak somewhat
authoritatively about both, having done so. I can, for example, say that
I found both the book and the film to be among the most positively
spiritual works I've ever read or seen.

The picketers, on the other hand, would probably just as authoritatively
still tell you that it's BAD. They *know* this because they were told
it. They would never even *consider* actually seeing the movie they were
picketing to find out about it, because they already know the Truth --
it's BAD.

Go figure.

Now segue to spirituality itself. Don't we find the same phenomenon
there? There are, after all, millions and millions of people on this
planet for whom spiritual experience is hearsay.

They're basing everything they feel that they "know" on what they were
TOLD about a spiritual figure, and about his/her experiences, and about
what they "meant." In very few cases is there any personal subjective
experience to back up what they were TOLD.

But they're more than willing to tell you -- rather authoritatively --
about these things they've only been TOLD about, and never experienced
themselves. They'll tell you all about the miracles that a friend of a
friend of someone another friend met on a course has assured you their
teacher performed. They'll tell you how perfect he was, never having met
him.

Go figure.

Me, I'm more of a "you have to have been there" kinda guy. I'm gonna see
the movie. :-)

Most of the time I don't even *read* critics and commentators on films.
One reason for this is that I sometimes write reviews myself, and don't
want my impressions to be tainted by having read other people's
impressions. Another is that I don't want them to spoil the experience
for me. I want to buy the ticket and buy the popcorn and enjoy the ride
myself. *After* I've seen the movie I may read other people's
commentaries about it, and nod when I agree with them and shrug when I
don't.

That's the same way I am these days with spiritual books. I tend to read
them only after I've already had the experience they're discussing, to
see how our impressions jibe, or don't.

Go figure.


   

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