Skip to main content

Spidey goes evil and his suit turns black. Hmmmm.

Yes, perhaps just a coincidence, 'cause there are only a couple of colors to depict a character's transformation to evil: black or green or red mostly, maybe even purple. But, the mega movie Spider Man 3 (which i will be seeing next weekend) exists in American history and in this same body of ideas, in the same society we have a history of casually identifying African-Americans and many other non-European/non-"white" people with the color black and also attributing negative human qualities to those people. So, given this history, is it somewhat insensitive to use a black suit to symbolize Spidey's turn towards the dark side? Probably. Specially when there doesn't seem to be any African-American or other dark skinned characters in heroic & positive & significant/major roles in Spidey 3? Yup, probably. But I guess the blame should go to the comic book, since Venom has always been depicted in that medium the way he is being depicted in Spidey 3. Didn't seem as noticeable or irritating in the comics though. On second thought, I'll skip Spidey 3, I'll be too distracted & annoyed by the black suit & possible tie to racism issue (& the lack of minority actors most likely - let me know if i am wrong on this one) to enjoy the flick & the popcorn, will save my $10-$20 for Pirates 3.

UPDATES:

New York Times' Manohla Dargis briefly questions the choice to use black to depict evil in Spidey 3: "Though there’s something dubious about the idea that black still conveys evil in our culture, pop or otherwise (tell it to Batman and Barack Obama, for starters),..." Read her full review here.

Chuck Tryon has a review of the movie here, definitely not very excited about seeing the movie after reading that, now that I know about all the problems in the flick.

- Sujewa

Christmas Eve controversial, fun discussion - 1 of the best American indie filmmakers - Amir Motlagh

Inside the Arthouse ep 2

Full Movie - SNEAK PREVIEW - Cosmic Disco Detective Rene And The Mystery Of Immortal Time Travelers

NEW - COSMIC DISCO DETECTIVE RENE (2023) - TRAILER!

The Secret Society For Slow Romance (2022) - available to rent as a new release starting January 1

Werewolf Ninja Philosopher at Vimeo VOD

Popular Posts

Crazy comedy about a true life story - BitterSweet discussion - Steven Martini, Gabriela Kulaif, William Baldwin starring - movie opens in 3 LA area theaters on 6/10 week!

All info on LA area screenings here -  https://www.laemmle.com/film/bittersweet  - starts on 6/10! * Winner of Best Director for Steven Martini and Best Supporting Actor for Billy Baldwin at Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema.  Winner best Producer for Gabriela Kulaif at Los Angeles Independent Women Film Festival. * * Trailer     *  * Discussing the movie with Chicago film critic Ian Simmons and NYC indie filmmaker Sujewa Ekanayake   * All info on LA area screenings here -  https://www.laemmle.com/film/bittersweet  - starts on 6/10!

Cinema of Being

  *   *

Campaign update - Day 2 - 53 Spaceships movie - it's time to go find the spaceships! :)

* Day 2 - Getting the promo and outreach going, refining the campaign Still need to record and post up a pitch video. A lot to do today - including updating the 53 indie film news blogs that will be used to promote this campaign and the upcoming movie. Busy day coming up in Brooklyn! It's time to find the spaceships! :) Check out Kicking the Seat podcast this week - recorded a great interview w/ a Cannes actor (also a filmmaker, podcaster) on Sun - https://www.youtube.com/@KickingtheSeat/videos Visit the 53 Spaceships GoFundMe campaign here - check it out, share, donate! Let's find the spaceships! :) -  https://www.gofundme.com/f/53spaceships

Reading Material

Indie Film Blogger Road Trip