Hello all,
Since you will be reading this either going into or recovering from Spring Break, I'll try to be brief although the reading for this week was especially useful in bringing together many of the movies we've already looked at as well as the movies being interesting all on their own.
So,
Gabbard posits to us that white folks and black folks are strategically placed around one another in jazz films. I'm not arguing with this. It seems ovbious in what we've watched so far. But, it seems that, with Sweet Love and Bird, we've come into a new era. Indeed, these movies are much closer to us in time than the others we've watched. I think that they show a more contemporary view of race relations. Sweet Love comes closely after the Civil Rights movement. Bird is a bit more removed. But, there seems to be a change of tone in both these films. Black folks might just be people too. They are treated with humanity, tragic humanity, but humanity nonetheless. And, humanity shines brightest at its bitterest, right? At least with creative types. There's also a change in tone towards the music, the way it's talked about. In both films, the musicians take time to articulate the details of their trade, explaining chords, etc. to wannabes and appreciatives. Oftentimes, these folks are white. We also see a realistic treatment of interracial relationships. Gabbard lends interesting perspective and knowledge about both Bird and Sweet Love. And, in his discussion of the other films we've watched this semester, he raises many of the discussions we had in class, shout out to Nancy with the phallus talk, and adds to them with information about the criticism and technical aspects of the film. I thought Gabbard was helpful in a more expansive understanding of what we've been talking about. He brings it together and shows correlations.
I gotta say, though, it did get on my nerves that Gabbard kept linking films by date, in the same words. but, hey, at least it's not the ultimate or whatever phrase Strasbaugh kept using. Good ole Strausbaugh.
Much of what Gabbard discussions about race relations was also talked about in the two films and was nicely played out in the scene where Eagle's white buddy deserts him and leaves him to the police.
Okay, we'll hit all the many more important points when we get back to class.
Be safe everyone.
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I have to agree that race relations definitely come to the forefront in these two films. I thought that for the time period, however, that it was a bit over the top. It seems almost every relationship in Bird, for instance, is between an African American and European American in the clubs. It is so prevalent as to be too noticeable; I believe that mixed couples were more prevalent in the film than in reality. Furthermore, we only see these two races with little reference to Asian Americans, Native Americans, Latino Americans, etc. Perhaps they were completely absent from the jazz scene but I doubt it. It seems the films really wanted to draw attention to blacks and whites living in harmony rather than presenting a realistic picture of the times.
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