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dweemeister · 4 years

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The Scar of Shame (1927)

From cinema’s earliest days, depictions of black people on film seldom delve into the beauty and complexities of their lives. More than a century after the artform’s emergence in France and the United States, it remains a problem in Western cinema. Two men who recognized this problem at the height of the silent era were Austrian-born movie theater owner David Starkman and African-American vaudeville comedian Sherman H. Dudley. Starkman’s theater in Philadelphia was situated in a neighborhood that was becoming increasingly populated by blacks, and he wanted to promote local interest in his theater by finding films starring black characters. With nothing being churned out of Hollywood to assist Starkman, he allied himself with Dudley to finance films featuring all-black casts. Their company, The Colored Players Film Corporation, made four films before financial difficulties stemming from unwise budgetary decisions on their last production saw the company bought out. Half of the Colored Players Film Corporation’s works are lost films (check your attics, basements, and fallout shelters). Their final film is The Scar of Shame, directed by Italian-American Frank Perugini, and is one of the best examples of “race film” still accessible.

While Hollywood neglected black actors and actresses and often put them in stereotypical, oftentimes subservient roles, independent studios from the silent era to the 1950s pooled their resources to provide these black actors and filmmakers work. The films often played to cinemas primarily serving a black community, especially in the American South where cinemas there were segregated (in the North and West, Jim Crow laws were not as extensive, but there may have been de facto segregation). Race films, when presented to modern audiences, trod upon unfamiliar thematic ground, covering issues that audiences of all races might never have seen in any film – even in contemporary black cinema made apart from the major Hollywood studios. The Scar of Shame examines class differences among African-Americans with delicacy, employing some of the best filmmaking seen in a silent-era race film.

Alvin Hillyard (Harry Henderson) is a composer-pianist living in the city, trying to make a name for himself. One day, he sees a young woman named Louise Howard (Lucia Lynn Moses) being physically abused her alcoholic stepfather “Spike” (William E. Pettus). Alvin stops the altercation, knocks the daylights out of Spike, and brings Louise to the boarding house where he is staying. As Alvin’s landlady, Lucretia Green (Ann Kennedy), agrees to let Louise stay if she helps with house chores, Spike considers a deal by his friend, Eddie Blake (Norman Johnstone), that would see Louise hired as an entertainer. Eddie is Spike’s liquor supplier, but the latter has reservations in following his friend’s scheme. Later, Alvin proposes to Louise and she accepts. Their rapid marriage is complicated when Alvin refuses to introduce Louise to his mother, saying: “You don’t understand – Caste is one of the things mother is very determined about – and you – don’t belong to our set!”

Also starring in this film are Alvin’s student Alice Hathaway (Pearl McCormack) and her father, Ralph (Lawrence Chenault). The Nicholas Brothers, Fayard and Harold, are uncredited as tap dancers at the Lido Club, at the very beginning of their careers in dance.

David Starkman is credited as the screenwriter for The Scar of Shame, but the presence of class divides in this film may have been a compilation of suggestions made by the many African-Americans who informally advised him and director Frank Peregini on this film. The Scar of Shame indirectly touches upon race relations, preferring instead to show how two protagonists attempt to distance themselves from poverty (which, arguably, is portrayed as something “inherent” to being black in the United States). The opening intertitle frames the film as such: the culture and environment where one was raised in determines the conditions of an individual life. There is nothing groundbreaking in that observation, but Peregini’s work treats this as a determiner in life and death. Alvin may be African-American, but much of his behavior is coded as white. From the music he composes, his attire, and the way he speaks through intertitles, the film suggests that – in order to make a living as a composer – he has been forced to adapt to white norms to distinguish himself from his colleagues. His paternalistic behavior towards Lucretia positions him as the embodiment of the opening title card.

Lucretia, who attempts to adopt Alvin’s bootstrap-pulling ways (but “remains” black where Alvin is not, despite the fact both actors have paler skin than the rest of the cast), is occasionally condescended towards because of her class and gender. As a woman, The Scar of Shame believes, she is not as wise or aware of life’s struggles and paradoxes. But her conduct, portrayed beautifully by Lucia Lynn Moses in the film’s best performance, seems incongruent in times of contentment and desperation. Lucretia’s inconsistent characterization muddies the intentions of the storytelling – The Scar of Shame wants to pry into the imperfections of even it seemingly virtuous characters, but stumbles because of its internal contradictions (almost entirely placed on Lucretia). Despite all these writing flaws, The Scar of Shame’s final scenes feel earned, encapsulating the film’s message in respect to the stations in life that Alvin and Lucretia were born into and grew to subvert.

The most famous (and prolific) producer/director of race films is Oscar Micheaux. Micheaux, who worked in the silent era and in talkies, had spartan production values to his films, which – when adding in the rough editing often found in Micheaux’s movies – can make his work difficult to watch. No such concerns exist for The Scar of Shame, which, over a variable runtime which is generally just a few minutes over an hour (it depends on the speed of one’s print), is patiently shot by cinematographer Al Liguori and edited brilliantly (uncredited editor). The Scar of Shame is sophisticated in its use of framing and editing devices, most notably a very early use of flashback – a device used in film as early as 1901, but almost never utilized in silent films.

For the Colored Players Film Corporation, they decided to open their checkbooks for The Scar of Shame to pay for higher-quality actors and production design. Starkman and Dudley believed this investment would fend off competitors, and attract a surge of ticket sales for their latest film. A sales surge did transpire, but it was not enough to cover the new expenses both men agreed upon. With the rise of synchronized sound in motion pictures, this spelled the financial doom for the Colored Players Film Corporation – The Scar of Shame would become the company’s fourth and final film.

Thus ended a noble joint attempt between white and black filmmakers to provide black audiences movies that cast them in different lights than most of Hollywood at that time. Even without the Colored Players Film Corporation, the race film industry remained competitive if only because studios specializing in race film were prone to financial trouble. Recently restored by the Library of Congress (albeit not an inductee to its National Film Registry), The Scar of Shame will continue to be an outlier in its depiction of class tensions among African-Americans. It may be an imperfect attempt to do so, but one can scarcely list off modern titles than intently do the same. Hopefully with a greater groundswell in scholarship regarding race films will audiences be more conscious of this parallel industry to a Golden Age of Hollywood barely noticing what is transpiring beyond its studio lots.

My rating: 8/10

^ Based on my personal imdb rating. Half-points are always rounded down. My interpretation of that ratings system can be found here.

#The Scar of Shame #race film #silent film #black film #TCM #Frank Perugini #David Starkman #Lucia Lynn Moses #Harry Henderson #Norman Johnstone #Ann Kennedy #William A. Pettus #Lawrence Chenault #Pearl McCormack #My Movie Odyssey

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eggs-n-ham-sam · 6 years

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List of Ten Things -Ten Personally Influential Artists

@jemsauce tagged me... months ago. Sorry this took so long -I just really hate essay writing.

This is a short-list of artists I’ve personally been impressed by, and want to emulate in some way. Have fun.

Greg Manchess- Kentucky native Manchess’ thick alla prima strokes are delicious and distinguishable. Despite earning his BFA in college, Manchess’ art school experience was disappointing. His teachers advocate traditional methods of drawing, sculpting, and coloring are dead, and the future is conceptual art (cuz wearing gold and talking to a dead rabbit in a gallery totally pays the bills -this really happened). After graduation took it upon himself for a proper education. Manchess’ wide range of interests and intelligence has made him a favorite for many publications.

Nicolai Fechin- Nicolai started painting to help with his father’s carpentry business. In is teens, Fechin start’s learning art in Russia and Europe, and gains more international recognition from winning competitions. That was a blessing, for the Fechin family left their country after the Russian Revolution to New York, and Nicolai was able to continue as an artist. Fechin’s style is strange, but what’s rendered keeps the subject within the realm of believably. Some of his painting methods remain unconventional, such as licking wet paint on a pallet knife to achieve an effect.

Michael Gorban- I personally didn’t care for abstract art -thought it was soulless and cheap- till I discovered Michael Gorban. His style is very alive and delicious. Soviet Russia noticed his fabulous talent as well, and Artist’s Association of the Soviet Union gave him a grant for education. By the time Michael was 30, his artwork was already displayed in the world famous Hermitage museum.

Yoshitaka Amano- At an early age, Yoshitaka studied Pop, Art Nouveau, and Ukiyo-e styles. Even though Amano never had proper education, Tatsunoko Production (yeah, I had to Google how to spell it) recognized his work ethic and unique style, and hired him as a character designer. After working for several decades in Tatsunoko, Amano perused a freelance career, clients including Nintendo, DC, Marvel, and Dark Horse.

Nathan Fawkes- A known and liked name in the animation industry, few artists have the work ethnic Fawkes has, and even fewer have a control in color and brush strokes. In his first movie, Prince of Egypt, Fakes was put in charge creating the color script for a critical scene. In a conversion, he probably wasn’t supposed to hear, a superior was upset the art director gave such an important task to ‘a nobody’. Worried for his job, Fawkes painted dozens of different color scripts (maybe hundreds). No one complained ever again.

Mark Rothko- Because of Jewish persicution, and social unstibility, the Rothko family moved from present-day Latvia to Oregon. After dropping from Yale, Mark moved to NYC for work. There, he was first exposed to Avant-garde style. Mark saw art, and the style, as a mean to express. Simplistic the end result is, Rothko’s method was complex and kept secretive; only forensic scientific methods have been about to get a glimpse of his process. He striven for the viewers to have a spiritual experience.

Minerva Teichert- Subjects done for nearly 2000 years can yield a sense of ‘been-there-done-that’. But Idaho native Teichert takes over-exhausted subjects, recreating them into something new, theatrical, and personal. Being a wife of a rancher, mother several times over, and living in a small cabin didn’t stop her from creating. Once the wees are asleep and chores done, Teichert would paint into the night. She used creative viewing methods, such as backwards binoculars and mirrors, to create large paintings in her kitchen. (This picture is such a whitewash to the original image, which has rich blues, greens, oranges, and purples)

Bill Sienkiewicz (sn-kev-itch)- Beastly name in the comic book industry, Bill’s mastery of anatomy and color is recognizable. But while most comic artists stay close to typical illustration methods and mediums, Bill is unafraid to experiment. At every demo, Bill brings with him an assortment of spray bottles, inks, paints, brushes, pens, etc. You can play bingo of what he’ll bring.

Wassily Kandinsky- Russian native Kandinsky needs little introduction. From a rich pedigree, Wassily first perused law and economics education. However at 30 he set aside the higher education career for his childhood interest: art. Kandinsky was fascinated by colors, especially the bright colors in folk art, and would paint impressionistic landscapes with bright colors. His style would change over the decades, perusing and refining his theology and philosophy of art and color.

Sergei Bongart - Ukraine native Bongart studied art all over Europe, and, like Fechin, had Iliya Repin as a teacher. Then Stalin and Third Reich rose into power, and ruined Eurasia (his father was arrested by KGB agents in the middle of the night, and tortured to death). Bongart moved to America. There, he was a sought after instructor because of his mastery of the Russian method. Bongart would teach not to duplicate the subject in the paint, but rather how the subject would look like if it was made from paint.

Those who got axed from the list: James Gurney (he was hard to cut out), Richard Schmidt, Rebecca Guay, Gustave Dore, Klimt Petar Meseldzija, John Singer Sargent (who doesn’t cite him as an influence???), Auguste Rodin, and Hayao Miyazaki.

Anyone who reads this is tagged. That means you. Have fun!

#ten things #greg manchess #yoshitaka amano #sergei bongart #wassily kandinsky #mark rothko #bill sienkiewicz #minerva teichert #nathan fawkes #nicolai fechin #michael gorban #I just put Jesus and Electra next to each other #darn it!#I meant Elektra...

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parents-baby · 7 years

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How to patch the hole energy during motherhood

So, in the last part we have listed those "holes" in which whistling fly mother force employed in domestic work - family service needs and growing children.

1) Depreciation Society domestic work, family and most mom.

2) The lack of visible results of the work done

How to Increase Energy Levels during pregnancy

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3) Loss of professional interests and skills.

4) hour stress associated with an incredible responsibility for the child and the "home".

5) The narrow circle of friends, suzivshayasya area of interest.

6) Financial dependence.

7) Lack of confidence in their own knowledge, abilities and capabilities.

8) Multifunctionality.

9) Excessive demands for motherhood.

10) The lack of a clear time frame, as well as time for their own interests.

Consider each item in order.

1) Depreciation of domestic work - a big problem. The attitude of the whole society, of course, you change can not alone, but you can try to change the opinion of his neighbor environment, but first of all - their own opinions. What you can do.

Count the time that you spent on all the household chores, make a list. Yes, it is difficult and long, but if you keep records for a while, you can get a very clear picture of. This list is needed and you to imagine what flies your time, and your family, which you can show the list and count them spent time as evidence of the complexity and power consumption of your homework.

Suggest my husband or someone from the family as an experiment to replace you completely around the house for at least one day. Make a list of your business as usual (with detailed decoding algorithm of actions in brackets), and hand it to someone who doubts the severity of homework. One day, of course, will not be enough, it is better to complete the experiment, at a cost of a couple of weeks, but one day the pope in the role of mother (without your help High -! Remote tip over the phone) will give an idea about your fatigue. Suggest as a mom dad present, so he will live another week, month, year, two years, and look at his reaction.

If you have on hand a list, which lists all of the household chores, you will be easy to make a financial assessment of your work. Summarize (eg, one week) the number of hours you spent on cooking, washing, ironing, cleaning the house premises, educational sessions with the child, and then locate the Internet hourly cost of such services for a guest worker (including night nurse: after all you have up to the child several times during the night!). I assure you, this calculation will surprise not only your husband, but you herself.

Perhaps all of these actions will not be able to quickly and easily gain the respect of your work. But the most important thing in this matter - that you respect their work themselves. If this is not - the respect of others does not arise by itself, out of nowhere.

So advice number 1: respect and value yourself and your home work. Do not let others devalue it. In a family with close and warm relations to do this quite easily: perhaps your loved ones do not realize what a complex and important work you are doing on a daily basis.

2) The lack of results of household labor, as well as the delayed results of education. It's quite a serious problem for those who are focused on the result. On the issue of education is, unfortunately, impossible. If it is possible to ensure that the results of your actions was evident to others, it is much more difficult with the skills of the child in domestic affairs. Here we can give you some tricks.

Place the short-term tasks and enjoy their performance. That is, it is not necessary to formulate its mission thus: "that the house was always clean" - unfortunately, this is hardly feasible and incredibly costly goal. Formulate "short" and specific objectives: "today to clean the carpet in the nursery" or "do the cleaning in the boxes with toys." Make sure that the task was feasible, doable.

Break tasks into small pieces. Do not "do the cleaning around the home," and "remove the places toys, vacuum, wash the plate, hang the laundry."

Create a mental or actual checklist, and performed in front of each item put a tick and reward themselves a little prize.

Praise yourself for every stage of the work performed.

Try to learn not to be satisfied by the result, but on the process itself (eg, cooking).

Alternate pleasant and unpleasant things. Or vice versa: the heaviest work is done in the morning, when you still had enough strength and the easiest place for later.

Do not expect quick results from education. Try to just enjoy socializing with your child and how quickly it grows and grows.

Record all of your child's achievements. It's very motivating and gives joy when reading after months or even years.

HOW TO BOOST YOUR ENERGY WHILE PREGNANT- WHAT FOODS TO EAT DURING PREGNANCY

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Involve the child in the home. So you will not only do business, but also get the pleasure of communicating, as well as the fact that combine the process of upbringing and education of the child with the household chores.

So advice number 2: Do not be a marathoner, be a sprinter. Put yourself short, easily manageable tasks. Rest between tasks. Involve the child in cases. Alternate necessary but unpleasant task for you with a non-essential, but nice. Enjoy socializing with your baby, do not expect immediate results, keep in mind that education is like growing a tree. Keep a record of all the achievements of the child.

3) Loss of professional interests and skills. In order to maintain confidence in yourself that you do not fall out of the cage during a decree, do not let disappear your professional skills.

Read books and periodicals in your professional field.

Keep in touch with colleagues, to keep abreast of what is happening in the industry.

If possible, improve their skills remotely - with courses, training material, follow the news in your area with the help of releases and reviews.

Try to perform tasks at work from home, if your profession it allows

So advice number 3: Stay up to date with what is happening in your department, company, industry. Maintain relationships with colleagues. Increase the level of their education, train workers skills.

4) hour stress. This is a very serious condition from which the harder it is to get out, the longer you are in it. What can be done so that it does not accumulate.

Set yourself a fixed and unchanging "rest time". According to statistics, more easily withstand voltage of those moms who are guaranteed free couple of hours at least 1-2 times a week. Heavier tolerate stress those moms, rest time which can not be planned, and it is different each time; and the most difficult to account for those who have such a holiday from the mother's duty is not at all.

Treat this as a rest for vital functions - like eating or sleeping. This is - your need and your task - to convey the need for such a rest to your loved ones.

If possible move away from you do not have mother responsibilities, relax in any way you can. Let it be a relaxing bath while sleeping baby, sleep with your child during the day, rest as reading or listening to your favorite music while breastfeeding, knitting, embroidering, doing the exercises with your child, etc.

Do not scold yourself for the fact that you need a break from motherhood: it is completely natural and is not in no way an indication that you are - a bad mother. Remember the air traffic controller job: no one can without rest to maintain the necessary level of attention and concentration. You need a vacation even more, as your work - around the clock and is continuous.

So advice number 4: remember the vital need to rest from the stress of motherhood. Do not blame yourself for the need for a break from the responsibility for the child. Engage the help of her husband, his relatives or friends to give yourself at least a little breather.

5) The narrow circle of friends, a shift towards the child's interests and priorities. Part of the information, and social hunger will help you quench your communication with exactly the same mothers: not accidental mummies are grouped to share experiences, information, tips, etc. However, if you do not triple circle of communication, limited only Mommy, look for the ability to communicate in other areas.

This can be your professional circle - maintain relationships with colleagues.

It can be a hobby - communicate with people with similar interests to you, is not related to maternity, get a hobby.

Communicate on the Internet, pick up his circle of friends with the same interests in their respective communities and groups.

Take expanding its horizons with the help of literature, educational videos, the Internet.

Do not limit your children's interests interests. Engage is at every opportunity: hobbies, home sports, swimming pool, along with the child, reading books, internet.

So advice number 5: do not limit their interests to the interests of the child. Communicate with colleagues, with friends or with childless friends whose children have grown up. Get a hobby. Join a community or interest group. Use to expand their horizons internet, books, videos, online courses, etc.

To be continued.

#patch #hole #energy #motherhood

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