Wednesday, August 13, 2008
[Melbourne Memoir] A History Of Brief Time
On Friday, during a mid-morning stroll through the belly of Melbourne's city, I stumbled across an independent bookshop. A bookshop in which I would hear a phrase that would come to encapsulate my experience in this lovely town.
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"I Teach: You Listen,
I Talk: You Talk"
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This phrase was part of a poem being read in-store by a man from Greece, who was raised in Fitzroy. The poem was about growing up, and learning to communicate with new people and experiences. I believe that the phrase describes the give:take nature of shared communication; the push:pull structure of engaging in positive conversation. The type of communication where both parties walk away having felt a connection was made.
Later into my day, during a documentary on Marlon Brando - being screened as part of the Melbourne International Film Festival - this exact phrase was repeated by actor James Caan, whilst describing his personal relationship with Brando. At the time I didn't think too much of this correlation in speech, it was simply one of those moments where you smile to yourself and feel that the world isn't quite as big and daunting as it sometimes appears. Now, on Monday afternoon however, as I sit alone staring out the window of a tram, I am reflecting back on all my experiences from the past 4 days, and I realise that they all share a common trait of connections made through positive communication.
The situations may have been different.........
A connection was made during my 3rd and final film screening of Friday night - a Mexican movie called 'Silent Light', directed by Carlos Reygadas. The movie went for 2.5 hours, but felt more like 10 hours. Set in the North Mexican countryside, Reygadas slowed the pace of the film to give one the feel of how life would be if living in such an environment. The result was cinema genocide. People were dropping out of the theatre like flies swatted on a sunny summers day. Whilst on one hand I did feel small pangs of disappointment at the lack of patience amongst this 'arthouse tourist' crowd, I was also excited that cinema doesn't always have to be easy, or even enjoyable, to be great. There is no question about it - the film is debilitating. Yet it is still alive in my mind, 3 days after its screening. I realised that a lot of the audience were waiting for the film to give something to them, rather than giving themselves to it. I gave myself to it, and only after the credits started rolling did it start to give back.
-------------------------------
"I Teach: You Listen,
I Talk: You Talk"
-------------------------------
A connection was made later on in the night at a grass-roots level, independent warehouse party in Footscray. Whilst musically not quite as adventurous as the warehouse parties I've been going to in Sydney this year, the free and community-based vibe was very much of the same ilk. Independent warehouse parties represent the original ethos of early New York underground club culture: no bouncers, no police security, no dress codes, no specific music policy, and no exorbitant prices. Put simply, it is anarchy manifested in its purest form. Conversations morphed into dancing, and positive communication was the social putty which glued it together.
-------------------------------
"I Teach: You Listen,
I Talk: You Talk"
-------------------------------
Further connections were made the following night. Still a little exhausted from Friday's hectic adventures, myself and Kieran (a friend with who I have been connected with since we were 12 years old, and someone who was akin to my pillow throughout my brief visit, i.e. familiar and comfortable), headed along to an Ethiopian cafe/bar in Fitzroy. Kieran has called the cafe his social mecca since moving down here in 2007, and after only 5 minutes inside it was easy to see why. Here was an unpretentious, open-minded haven for like-minded artistic types, which celebrated African culture via the warm and friendly service of food, drink, and live music. The vibe was one of harmonious relaxation, and as a result, the warmth exuded by everyone made the freezing winter weather something of a non-issue. One person in particular left a lasting impression on me; a lovely young woman called Bridget Pross. 'Bridge' emanated a joyous sense of carefree exuberance, whilst her eyes revealed a quiet, guarded vulnerability - a combo which I found incredibly endearing. As it turns out, Bridge is a singer/songwriter originally from Tasmania, who has just recently had her debut album released via a local Melbourne label. After I mentioned I had an interest in reviewing music, I was lucky enough to receive a copy of her CD. This CD will now become my aural memory of my time in Melbourne, and Bridget herself represents the completely warm, welcoming, and wonderful people that I met in my brief, yet fairly intense, 4 day adventure down here in Melbourne.
-------------------------------
"I Teach: You Listen,
I Talk: You Talk"
-------------------------------
......... yet as you can see, the experiences all yielded similar emotional connections. Connections, as fleeting as they may have been, that have left me with a clear reminder of the positivity I feel is inherent in humanity, and ultimately, connections that have left me feeling inspired to share this positive communication in further adventures I may find myself in.
Click here to hear a track off Bridget Pross' album on YouTube
Bridget Pross' debut album 'I Wanted To' was released in 2007, and is available to download from iTunes, via her website - click here
Thursday, July 31, 2008
[CD Review] Raz Ohara & The Odd Orchestra (self-titled album)
2008: As German record label ‘Get Physical’ move forward into their 8th year of operation, the founders (DJ T, M.A.N.D.Y, and Booka Shade) have decided it’s time to Get Emotional. The act of ‘feeling’ is a physical sensation, after all. The first release of the New Year for the Berlin-based family has been reserved for the ripened artistic collaboration of Dane Raz (Danish-born, Berlin-bred) and Oliver Doerell (Belgium-born, Berlin-based), together known as Raz Ohara & The Odd Orchestra.
In the film ’24 Hour Party People’ – which documents the emergence of the mid-80s post-punk music scene in Manchester, England – there is a scene where Tony Wilson, label-head of Factory Records, listens to a completed demo of rock/dance band, The Happy Monday’s. As their trademark fun and bouncy music enters its second minute of audio, Wilson’s face begins to contort; “where are the vocals?!” The vocals were, in fact, a non-entity on the album - The Happy Mondays had created an entirely instrumental record. Wilson and Factory could not fathom this. The idea of releasing such an album to their established fan-base seemed preposterous.
One wonders if the Get Physical camp, which has worked very hard at becoming a world-renowned provider of quality electronic dance music, had a similar concern to Factory Records. In a reversal of circumstance though, as Raz Ohara & The Odd Orchestra’s self-titled debut is an acoustic/electronic album completely laden with Raz Ohara’s vocals. Would an audience fed a steady diet of loop-based, atmospheric, punchy instrumentals from the likes of Booka Shade and M.A.N.D.Y be willing to embrace an album full of guitar-based, down-tempo rhythms coupled with honest and heartfelt lyrics? Obviously DJ T and co feels the time is right, and after receiving criticism in some pockets of the dance scene for beginning to sound formulaic, one gets the impression that, in some ways, Get Physical are releasing this album as a retort to such negativity: “let’s see if you cynic’s can move forward with us!” Indeed, I believe that this is an album that could, and should, appeal to a much wider audience; not simply fans of electronic dance music.
Meanwhile, back in the world of the genuine artist, where dilemmas such as audience expectation and label appeal are brushed away like dust from a microphone, Dane Raz (providing vocals and guitar as Raz Ohara) and Oliver Doerell (adding a subtle, yet essential underbelly of electronic melodies as The Odd Orchestra) focused all their energy towards creating something that of which all self-respecting artists aim to achieve, something real. Have they achieved this? Well that’s for you to decide. I will, however, leave you with a knowing lyric from the wonderfully lingering final track on the album; ‘Set On You’:
“Truth doesn’t fake, if you’re not afraid to look…if only you would”
Click here to hear a track off the album on YouTube
Raz Ohara & The Odd Orchestra was released in 2008, and is available to download from Amazon - click here
In the film ’24 Hour Party People’ – which documents the emergence of the mid-80s post-punk music scene in Manchester, England – there is a scene where Tony Wilson, label-head of Factory Records, listens to a completed demo of rock/dance band, The Happy Monday’s. As their trademark fun and bouncy music enters its second minute of audio, Wilson’s face begins to contort; “where are the vocals?!” The vocals were, in fact, a non-entity on the album - The Happy Mondays had created an entirely instrumental record. Wilson and Factory could not fathom this. The idea of releasing such an album to their established fan-base seemed preposterous.
One wonders if the Get Physical camp, which has worked very hard at becoming a world-renowned provider of quality electronic dance music, had a similar concern to Factory Records. In a reversal of circumstance though, as Raz Ohara & The Odd Orchestra’s self-titled debut is an acoustic/electronic album completely laden with Raz Ohara’s vocals. Would an audience fed a steady diet of loop-based, atmospheric, punchy instrumentals from the likes of Booka Shade and M.A.N.D.Y be willing to embrace an album full of guitar-based, down-tempo rhythms coupled with honest and heartfelt lyrics? Obviously DJ T and co feels the time is right, and after receiving criticism in some pockets of the dance scene for beginning to sound formulaic, one gets the impression that, in some ways, Get Physical are releasing this album as a retort to such negativity: “let’s see if you cynic’s can move forward with us!” Indeed, I believe that this is an album that could, and should, appeal to a much wider audience; not simply fans of electronic dance music.
Meanwhile, back in the world of the genuine artist, where dilemmas such as audience expectation and label appeal are brushed away like dust from a microphone, Dane Raz (providing vocals and guitar as Raz Ohara) and Oliver Doerell (adding a subtle, yet essential underbelly of electronic melodies as The Odd Orchestra) focused all their energy towards creating something that of which all self-respecting artists aim to achieve, something real. Have they achieved this? Well that’s for you to decide. I will, however, leave you with a knowing lyric from the wonderfully lingering final track on the album; ‘Set On You’:
“Truth doesn’t fake, if you’re not afraid to look…if only you would”
Click here to hear a track off the album on YouTube
Raz Ohara & The Odd Orchestra was released in 2008, and is available to download from Amazon - click here
[CD Review] Susumu Yokota - Skintone Collection
It must be stated immediately: this compilation is a magical gem – a living organism. It has been in my life for 14 days now, breathing with me in a variety of environments; at work; in my bedroom; whilst making dinner; whilst window shopping; and now, sitting in a quiet park transcribing my thoughts about it. Every day has yielded a new favourite track, a new overwhelming emotional attachment. This phenomenon has continued in a gravitating, spiral form, to the point where now the depths of my soul have been parented by the album as a whole.
One of my initial thoughts when the aura of this music first began ingratiating itself upon me was of a Godly nature – who created these spiritually piercing sounds?
Not altogether surprising to me, I discovered this ‘God’ was, in fact, Japanese producer Susumu Yokota (unsurprising, because Japan has always had a sense of mystique and ethereality, as seen in the nobility and spirit of the Samurai culture, or the inter-planetary, technologic Anime fascination). A highly creative artist, whose output covers everything from early techno/house production, and later, ambient electronica (of which this compilation focuses on), through to graphic design and planning, Susumu Yokota has been flowering a burgeoning body of work in the music realm since his debut release, in 1993.
The title of this compilation, ‘Skintone Collection’, refers to a collation of back-catalogue tracks from Yokota’s record label, ‘Skintone’. Plucking some of the most emotionally engaging tracks from 10 of Yokota’s Skintone albums, this collection has been compiled and arranged by the highly accomplished UK radio producer/DJ, Ben Eshmade. Eshmade began his music career as a DJ in the early 80’s, impressing niche audiences and breaking convention by steering ears away from the popular ‘New Romantics’ synth-pop affection of the time. With an ever-developing, eclectic taste in music, Eshmade eventually moved into the field of radio, where he now presents the widely regarded digital broadcast, ‘The Chiller Cabinet’. More recently, he has begun promoting live music as part of the collective, ‘The Arctic Circle’. It is therefore appropriate, and justified, that Eshmade be called upon to compile this, the first, ‘Best of’ compilation of the prolific Japanese producer’s much adorned body of work.
‘Skintone Collection’, for those unfamiliar with Yokota’s music, is the perfect invitation into his magical world, and one which will leave you with a thirst for the juices of his back-catalogue. For those already aware of Yokota’s genius, this compilation will be a wonderfully melancholic and nostalgic reflective journey into the memories of your soul.
Click here to hear a track off the album on YouTube
Skintone Collection was released in 2007, and is available to download from Amazon - click here
One of my initial thoughts when the aura of this music first began ingratiating itself upon me was of a Godly nature – who created these spiritually piercing sounds?
Not altogether surprising to me, I discovered this ‘God’ was, in fact, Japanese producer Susumu Yokota (unsurprising, because Japan has always had a sense of mystique and ethereality, as seen in the nobility and spirit of the Samurai culture, or the inter-planetary, technologic Anime fascination). A highly creative artist, whose output covers everything from early techno/house production, and later, ambient electronica (of which this compilation focuses on), through to graphic design and planning, Susumu Yokota has been flowering a burgeoning body of work in the music realm since his debut release, in 1993.
The title of this compilation, ‘Skintone Collection’, refers to a collation of back-catalogue tracks from Yokota’s record label, ‘Skintone’. Plucking some of the most emotionally engaging tracks from 10 of Yokota’s Skintone albums, this collection has been compiled and arranged by the highly accomplished UK radio producer/DJ, Ben Eshmade. Eshmade began his music career as a DJ in the early 80’s, impressing niche audiences and breaking convention by steering ears away from the popular ‘New Romantics’ synth-pop affection of the time. With an ever-developing, eclectic taste in music, Eshmade eventually moved into the field of radio, where he now presents the widely regarded digital broadcast, ‘The Chiller Cabinet’. More recently, he has begun promoting live music as part of the collective, ‘The Arctic Circle’. It is therefore appropriate, and justified, that Eshmade be called upon to compile this, the first, ‘Best of’ compilation of the prolific Japanese producer’s much adorned body of work.
‘Skintone Collection’, for those unfamiliar with Yokota’s music, is the perfect invitation into his magical world, and one which will leave you with a thirst for the juices of his back-catalogue. For those already aware of Yokota’s genius, this compilation will be a wonderfully melancholic and nostalgic reflective journey into the memories of your soul.
Click here to hear a track off the album on YouTube
Skintone Collection was released in 2007, and is available to download from Amazon - click here
[CD Review] Kiln - Dusker
Nostalgia
n. homesickness; sentimental yearning for (some period of) the past
Onomatopoeia is the term used for words that aurally sound like the object or thing being described. For example; ‘buzzing’, or ‘cracking’. I am not aware if there is a term coined to describe words that have a heavy emotional correlation, words like ‘melancholy’, or ‘nostalgia’. Considering the piercing omnipotence of such a concept, I am sure if I looked hard enough I would find one.
‘Dusker’, the new album from the Michigan-based project ‘Kiln’ (an electronic/ambient trio comprising Kevin Hayes, Kirk Marrison, and Clark Rehberg III) invokes an overwhelming sense of nostalgia. But here is the somewhat extraordinary twist to the usual connotations that encapsulate nostalgia: it invokes feelings of reminiscence that don’t actually exist in my memory. In other words, it is conjuring up emotional connections that do not exist in real terms. As an atheist, I believe that this is as spiritual as our reality can get, and as such, this album is a precious beacon to a world in which humanity is getting bound closer together, yet spiraling more out of touch every day.
‘Dusker’ is released on ‘Ghostly International’; a label founded in 1999 by Samuel Valenti IV from the humble beginnings of a college dormitory in his home state of Michigan, USA. Heavily influenced by the electronic dance music coming out of Detroit, Valenti acted on a vision to create a label which maintained a certain artistic aesthetic, and represented a wide range of quality sounds in the electronic genre. Breaking such key artists as Tadd Mullinix (aka Dabrye) and Matthew Dear (aka Audion), Ghostly International has steadily grown into a widely respected label with global receptivity. Indeed, with a grasp reaching as far flung as Germany, where the likes of Fedde Le Grande are putting their hands up in homage for the label’s first release – Matthew Dear’s ‘Hands Up For Detroit’.
Similar to all the great landmark albums in contemporary music (The Beatles ‘Abbey Road’, Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’) Kiln have condensed their album to a palatable running time of just 52 minutes. Despite an availability of up to 80 minutes on an audio CD, it is widely accepted that such running times are inductive to enabling the listener to form an attachment to albums as a whole. It is for this fact, and also through utilizing similar key tones and pitch across various tracks - almost (but calculatingly not quite) to the point of questionable repetition – that Kiln have produced an album which holistically embodies its listener. ‘Dusker’ is the perfect ear-piece accompaniment for travel across metropolitan city landscapes; whereby the population is abundant, yet the isolation is rife.
Click here to hear a track off the album on YouTube
Dusker was released in 2007, and is available to download from Amazon - click here
n. homesickness; sentimental yearning for (some period of) the past
Onomatopoeia is the term used for words that aurally sound like the object or thing being described. For example; ‘buzzing’, or ‘cracking’. I am not aware if there is a term coined to describe words that have a heavy emotional correlation, words like ‘melancholy’, or ‘nostalgia’. Considering the piercing omnipotence of such a concept, I am sure if I looked hard enough I would find one.
‘Dusker’, the new album from the Michigan-based project ‘Kiln’ (an electronic/ambient trio comprising Kevin Hayes, Kirk Marrison, and Clark Rehberg III) invokes an overwhelming sense of nostalgia. But here is the somewhat extraordinary twist to the usual connotations that encapsulate nostalgia: it invokes feelings of reminiscence that don’t actually exist in my memory. In other words, it is conjuring up emotional connections that do not exist in real terms. As an atheist, I believe that this is as spiritual as our reality can get, and as such, this album is a precious beacon to a world in which humanity is getting bound closer together, yet spiraling more out of touch every day.
‘Dusker’ is released on ‘Ghostly International’; a label founded in 1999 by Samuel Valenti IV from the humble beginnings of a college dormitory in his home state of Michigan, USA. Heavily influenced by the electronic dance music coming out of Detroit, Valenti acted on a vision to create a label which maintained a certain artistic aesthetic, and represented a wide range of quality sounds in the electronic genre. Breaking such key artists as Tadd Mullinix (aka Dabrye) and Matthew Dear (aka Audion), Ghostly International has steadily grown into a widely respected label with global receptivity. Indeed, with a grasp reaching as far flung as Germany, where the likes of Fedde Le Grande are putting their hands up in homage for the label’s first release – Matthew Dear’s ‘Hands Up For Detroit’.
Similar to all the great landmark albums in contemporary music (The Beatles ‘Abbey Road’, Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’) Kiln have condensed their album to a palatable running time of just 52 minutes. Despite an availability of up to 80 minutes on an audio CD, it is widely accepted that such running times are inductive to enabling the listener to form an attachment to albums as a whole. It is for this fact, and also through utilizing similar key tones and pitch across various tracks - almost (but calculatingly not quite) to the point of questionable repetition – that Kiln have produced an album which holistically embodies its listener. ‘Dusker’ is the perfect ear-piece accompaniment for travel across metropolitan city landscapes; whereby the population is abundant, yet the isolation is rife.
Click here to hear a track off the album on YouTube
Dusker was released in 2007, and is available to download from Amazon - click here
[Music Mixtape] Psychedelic Rock / Acid Electronica
Over the past 6 months or so I've been really getting back into rock music sounds (previously I had been enraptured by house music, and house music alone). As with any sort of new sound, I find that I prefer getting an idea as to its origins before involving myself in the contemporary releases. About 3 months ago, I went to a psychedelic electronica warehouse party, and took magic mushrooms for the first time. This experience coincided with the 60s/70s psychedelic rock music that I had just started collecting. The planets were aligned, and this music made a real connection with my soul.
Here is a 20 minute mixtape that I compiled in homage to psychedelic rock / acid electronica.
01) Woodstock Announcement
02) Tangerine Dream - Impressions Of Sorcerer
03) Gershon Kingsley - Sunset Sound
04) Hendrix - Live At Woodstock
05) Pink Floyd - Any Colour You Like
06) Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells
07) Le Tone - New Memory
Download (right-click, save as...)
Here is a 20 minute mixtape that I compiled in homage to psychedelic rock / acid electronica.
01) Woodstock Announcement
02) Tangerine Dream - Impressions Of Sorcerer
03) Gershon Kingsley - Sunset Sound
04) Hendrix - Live At Woodstock
05) Pink Floyd - Any Colour You Like
06) Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells
07) Le Tone - New Memory
Download (right-click, save as...)
[Music Mixtape] From Within The Dying Universe
About 2 months ago I noticed an article in the paper detailing the first successful aircraft landing on Mars by NASA. This means that NASA will now be able to send humans to the planet to research traces of water believed to be under the surface. The ultimate goal here is to ascertain whether or not Mars is a viable environment for humans to colonise.
This piece of news comes as our current living environment - Earth - is becoming increasingly unstable (e.g. typhoon in Burma, earthquake in China, recent tsunami in Indonesia). There are many who believe that human behaviour has caused the destablisation of planet Earth.
One wonders if humans will continue to use, abuse, and abandon planet after planet after planet in its blind fury for survival.
This is my mixtape which comes from the soul of our dying, darling universe.
01) The Moody Blues - The Word
02) Tangerine Dream - The Call
03) Ernest Bour - Atmospheres
04) Brian Eno - By This River
05) Thom Yorke - Black Swan
06) Brian Eno - Through Hollow Lands
07) Marillion - The Torch Song
08) Penquin Cafe Orchestra - Air A Danser
09) Do Make Say Think - In Mind
Download (right-click, save as...)
This piece of news comes as our current living environment - Earth - is becoming increasingly unstable (e.g. typhoon in Burma, earthquake in China, recent tsunami in Indonesia). There are many who believe that human behaviour has caused the destablisation of planet Earth.
One wonders if humans will continue to use, abuse, and abandon planet after planet after planet in its blind fury for survival.
This is my mixtape which comes from the soul of our dying, darling universe.
01) The Moody Blues - The Word
02) Tangerine Dream - The Call
03) Ernest Bour - Atmospheres
04) Brian Eno - By This River
05) Thom Yorke - Black Swan
06) Brian Eno - Through Hollow Lands
07) Marillion - The Torch Song
08) Penquin Cafe Orchestra - Air A Danser
09) Do Make Say Think - In Mind
Download (right-click, save as...)
[Film Review] The Great Debaters
“The time for justice is always – is always – right now!”
This rousing statement, delivered with absolute vehemence by Samantha Booke (played by Jurnee Smollett) of the inspirational Wiley College debate team of the 1930’s, embodies one of the main idea’s director Denzel Washington desires to have linger in the minds of audiences after seeing his latest film ‘The Great Debaters’. Here we are in 2008 - some 78 years after Wiley College defied the barriers of racial discrimination and class stature and became the first African American college to debate against an Anglo-Saxon college - yet have we continued to grow as a liberal society?
The terrorist attacks on September 11th 2001 forever changed our world. Initially, America became the victim for the first time since the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour in 1941. Then, echoing the response to the Japanese attack, the American war machine was thrust into full throttle and quite quickly America became the assailant again. Casting aside the myriad of other issues created as a result of these events, and focusing on just one, what essentially changed was the focus on America’s domestic policy to a focus on America’s foreign policy. The ramifications of this, from a personal point of view, were that last week I found myself in a cinema asking the question of “how relevant is the issue of race-relations in America these days?” Sedated by constant ‘terror’ newspaper headlines, ‘The Great Debaters’ charged me back to consciousness and got me thinking about America’s domestic policy once again.
As I type this, the people of America are celebrating the annual public holiday dedicated to the spirit of African American civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr, who was assassinated in 1968. Former President Ronald Reagan enacted the holiday into law in 1983, and it was first observed in 1986. After many years of resistance, all 50 states finally observed it in 2000. The 3 sentences you just read pretty much mirror America’s progression in race-relation issues: up and down, but moving steadily down the right path. One of the American’s celebrating is Barack Obama. Barack Obama, an African American politician, is doubly celebrating, as he was just victorious at the caucus in Iowa – one of the whitest states in the country. He is now a serious contender to represent the Democrats in 2009’s national election, and quite possibly become the USA’s first African American president. This is fantastic news for advocates of social justice, and Obama is a great role model for other African American’s who are in a position to climb the ranks of the socio-economic ladder.
What then, for those not in such advantaged positions? Who are the role models for the working class African Americans; those not fortunate enough to be in a position to attend college? While on the campaign trail, Obama spoke with rapper/musicians Jay Z and Kanye West about using hip hop as a positive power if he gets elected as president. Reporting back on the encounter, Obama, very aware that hip hop is a prime source of role models for many disadvantaged African American’s, expressed “concern that they’re always talking about material things; how I can get more money, more cars.” This dire observation encapsulates the other key idea Denzel Washington wishes to convey to audiences of ‘The Great Debaters’: the fundamental importance of education, and crucially, the necessity for across the board access to education.
After showing early promise with his 2002 directorial debut, ‘Antwone Fisher’, Denzel Washington has really stepped up to the plate with his follow-up, and is right at home creating the vision for his cast and crew to deliver the figurative home run. Both thematically, and technically, ‘The Great Debaters’ is an outstanding film – and that’s an opinion I’m willing to debate with anyone and everyone!
The Great Debaters has not yet been released in Australia, keep an eye out for it!
This rousing statement, delivered with absolute vehemence by Samantha Booke (played by Jurnee Smollett) of the inspirational Wiley College debate team of the 1930’s, embodies one of the main idea’s director Denzel Washington desires to have linger in the minds of audiences after seeing his latest film ‘The Great Debaters’. Here we are in 2008 - some 78 years after Wiley College defied the barriers of racial discrimination and class stature and became the first African American college to debate against an Anglo-Saxon college - yet have we continued to grow as a liberal society?
The terrorist attacks on September 11th 2001 forever changed our world. Initially, America became the victim for the first time since the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour in 1941. Then, echoing the response to the Japanese attack, the American war machine was thrust into full throttle and quite quickly America became the assailant again. Casting aside the myriad of other issues created as a result of these events, and focusing on just one, what essentially changed was the focus on America’s domestic policy to a focus on America’s foreign policy. The ramifications of this, from a personal point of view, were that last week I found myself in a cinema asking the question of “how relevant is the issue of race-relations in America these days?” Sedated by constant ‘terror’ newspaper headlines, ‘The Great Debaters’ charged me back to consciousness and got me thinking about America’s domestic policy once again.
As I type this, the people of America are celebrating the annual public holiday dedicated to the spirit of African American civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr, who was assassinated in 1968. Former President Ronald Reagan enacted the holiday into law in 1983, and it was first observed in 1986. After many years of resistance, all 50 states finally observed it in 2000. The 3 sentences you just read pretty much mirror America’s progression in race-relation issues: up and down, but moving steadily down the right path. One of the American’s celebrating is Barack Obama. Barack Obama, an African American politician, is doubly celebrating, as he was just victorious at the caucus in Iowa – one of the whitest states in the country. He is now a serious contender to represent the Democrats in 2009’s national election, and quite possibly become the USA’s first African American president. This is fantastic news for advocates of social justice, and Obama is a great role model for other African American’s who are in a position to climb the ranks of the socio-economic ladder.
What then, for those not in such advantaged positions? Who are the role models for the working class African Americans; those not fortunate enough to be in a position to attend college? While on the campaign trail, Obama spoke with rapper/musicians Jay Z and Kanye West about using hip hop as a positive power if he gets elected as president. Reporting back on the encounter, Obama, very aware that hip hop is a prime source of role models for many disadvantaged African American’s, expressed “concern that they’re always talking about material things; how I can get more money, more cars.” This dire observation encapsulates the other key idea Denzel Washington wishes to convey to audiences of ‘The Great Debaters’: the fundamental importance of education, and crucially, the necessity for across the board access to education.
After showing early promise with his 2002 directorial debut, ‘Antwone Fisher’, Denzel Washington has really stepped up to the plate with his follow-up, and is right at home creating the vision for his cast and crew to deliver the figurative home run. Both thematically, and technically, ‘The Great Debaters’ is an outstanding film – and that’s an opinion I’m willing to debate with anyone and everyone!
The Great Debaters has not yet been released in Australia, keep an eye out for it!
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