Last week, the University was visited by one of the most political writers of the last half century, poet Amiri Baraka. Like many of the speeches he has presented at universities nationwide, Baraka's metaphorical narrative on the progress of blacks in America was peppered with innuendo about conspiracy theories and what's truly holding African-Americans behind in our society.
For a brief moment, however, Baraka touched upon a current controversy swirling around the release of the movie "The Barbershop," a comedy that has received much negative attention due to a scene in which African-American icons Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks are spoken of in less-than-endearing terms. Baraka alluded that the makers of the film "The Barbershop" should be "slapped," due to what he felt was the defamation of King's and Parks' characters.
Baraka is a profound literary talent, and in many ways he is much like King and Parks in that he has been a challenger of the status quo. However, it was rather surprising to hear that he would agree with many of the critics who are angry with the film. Baraka's comment promotes the same suppression that he has fought against all of his life as a controversial critic of politics and society, and calls for the stifling of modern artistic expression -- even though some of that expression may be biting social commentary about historical African-American heroes.
The comments in the film are made by the character Eddie, the elderly backbone of a Southside Chicago barbershop where the film takes place. Eddie, who is supposed to mimic a contemporary of the Civil Rights era, drills points home about Dr. King's alleged promiscuity, Rosa Parks' connection and political position in the local NAACP, and later he even comments on his belief in O.J. Simpson's guilt and gives a justification for the beating of Rodney King with a comic edge straight out your local neighborhood hangout.
Eddie's tirade on these black icons is meant to bring out a laugh, but more importantly, it is supposed to challenge old notions of iconography. Eddie's stinging jokes are charged to bring a rise out of the audience, and among America's black political heavies, it certainly has.
What Eddie refers to in the film as "healthy conversation" about what black Americans must recognize has caused a brouhaha that has the NAACP up in arms, as well as Jesse Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton calling for an apology from the filmmakers and the parent studio, MGM. Because the film features brutally honest dialogue touching upon tender areas in black history, those who once fought for civil liberties are now up in arms calling for suppression against the filmmakers. Civil rights leaders are now calling for others' civil liberties to be curtailed, in short sight of defending the honor of some of America's greatest heroes.
The problem here is that their long-term vision is blurred. Whether in the comfort of your local neighborhood barbershop or in the eye of the American mainstream, a person's ability to express how he feels should not be compromised just because what he says may be demeaning to the legacy of historical figures.
If social activists feel offended by a film or some of the dialogue featured in it, the solution to that problem should never lie in boycotting the film, demanding an apology from filmmakers or censoring how it will appear on DVD after the film's theatrical release. The remedy only lies in the ability to tell one's own side of a story through an independent mechanism such as a film studio, or through the ownership of a marketing or distribution company. The film company shouldn't have been singled out as if their policies were inflammatory or racist, especially as the filmmakers, writers, actors and crew of this film were primarily African-American.
Activists like Baraka, Sharpton and Jackson should not be so hasty in thinking that African-Americans are so ignorant of their history that they would shoot off at the mouth with no contextual meaning behind the films they make or the characters they portray. They should also not think that one negative comment about a historical legend is going to debase the value of his or her contributions to society, nor should they believe that cutting it out of a film will cover up any validity of the truth within the statements.
Some African-Americans too often fear that criticizing African-American heroes will tarnish their images and set progress back. However, only when a film like "The Barbershop" surprises audiences and maintains the number one position at the box office for two weeks in a row do these people want to stir up a controversy -- thereby slowing the progress of free expression themselves.
The film's critics believe that any negative commentary about political heroes represents our generation's ignorance about those who fought in the Civil Rights Movement. However, criticizing the image of infallibility attributed to these heroes does not amount to a lack of awareness of their contributions to society.
Those who are quick to be offended should not dismiss the movie without perceiving the film's greater message -- that if one is to understand the value of what we do, we have to be truthful with who and what we are. Suppression of artistic expression would never allow for us to understand a concept like that. And besides, legends like King, Parks and Baraka fought too hard for us not to.
(Kazz Alexander Pinkard is a Cavalier Daily viewpoint writer.)
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