Diggin’ Through the Crates: Talib Kweli “Distractions”

Song: “Distractions”

Artist: Talib Kweli

Album: Prisoners of Conscious (2013) 

Lyric: “How you keeping up with my rapping?/ You barely keeping up with Kardashians/You caught up in distraction/It’s the living proof-you try to make the truth elastic as Mr. Fantastic.”

Character Reference/Meaning:

What? What was that DTCers? You ready for another dope ass lyric that drops truth bombs and creates nerdy fallout? We got that! Our main man on the mic this week, Talib Kweli, is bringing it to your front door. If you are looking for some socially conscious rap that not only brings a message but an incredible rhyme scheme with it, then you not need look any further. In this 2013 hit, Talib Kwali dropped this song as a commentary on the “Occupy Wall Street” movement. What he is saying in this song is, “Who the hell is paying attention?” There are social issues happening all around us and none of them are going to change by sitting around waiting for the next big gossip. Who is sleeping with who? Who badmouthed which other idiot today? That is why when people stand up and take charge of their own lives, it is viewed as something special. Talib Kweli once said, “Anytime people are willing to take their future into their own hands and attempt something, I think it’s brave.” DARN TOOTIN’ IT’S BRAVE!! But the problem is, so many of us are still distracted, and Kweli notices it all. We may be willing to protest on our street corner for something local, but it seems that no one takes action for causes like the events in Darfur, or are even aware of the Arab Spring movement (Google it).

In this song alone, he tackles such subjects and even points out the flawed history and thinking of this country. From the very beginning with the treatment of Native American’s, we still have missiles (like kill people missiles. Like BOOM missiles) that are named “Tomahawks.” And then we dress up our mascots and name our sports teams after their culture for entertainment. Who’s paying attention and who’s distracted? He even touches on what I perceive to be politics in our chosen lyric of today. Now before I go on and say some possibly hurtful stuff about the Kardashians, congratulations to Kim and Kanye on their wedding. I didn’t get my invite but I’ll let that slide for now. One of the biggest phenomena of the past couple years has been societies infatuation with the Kardashian family. Now I can’t say much about it because I have never seen an episode, but it has consumed many lives and many attention spans. What some may classify as empty media or nonsense television has gained a bigger interest and a larger following than political failings, religious wars, and natural disaster relief efforts. And all the while politicians are out there spitting game at us and very few people check the facts. That is why so many of them can say elastic truths and make them stretch to fit who ever they have their eyes on next.

I know, I sound like I’m preaching and saying, “Yeah I’m good, I know whats up. While everybody else wondering what Ryan Gosling is thinking about, I’m about to go save some third world children.” That’s not the case; I am part of the masses too, but I want to be brave, I want to pay attention, I don’t want to be distracted by shiny objects and blush worthy gossip. Talib Kweli just wants us all to open our minds and see past the bullshit. Even at times when we think we are paying attention, it was just a fake out and we once again are distracted by something that doesn’t matter. Kweli says this perfectly when talking about President Obama addressing his whole “flag pin” issue back in 2008 (Google it). But the president responded by saying, “I have never said that I don’t wear flag pins or refuse to wear flag pins…This is the kind of manufactured issues that our politics has become obsessed with and, once again, distracts us from what should be my job when I’m commander-in-chief…” OH SNAP!! That’s exactly the point. We can so easily get caught up in things that don’t matter. Things that one way or another truly have no effect over our lives or anybodies lives. And the things we should be paying attention to slip right by us because we are distracted.

Alright, that was all pretty heavy. Let’s calm down and pay attention to some nerdy stuff briefly before I end this. Nerdy stuff like the Fantastic Four! In case you all haven’t heard, the Fantastic Four franchise will be getting a reboot that has been defined as “grounded, real, gritty.” According to Kinberg, this film has the same feelings as Batman, Iron Man, X-Men, and more. It will not be goofy like the first films, rather this will be a true drama sprinkled with bit of humor that come from character. Also we will officially be having an African-American Human Torch! I can hear all the critics heads exploding now. However I am very excited by this news especially because Michael B. Jordan will FLAME ON!!! “STRING, WHERE’S WALLACE? WHERE’S WALLACE STRING?” (Google it). Well Wallace is in the Marvel Universe doing badass things with badass powers. And for all you haters, know that Stan Lee is on board with the idea, Kinberg also said, “We knew casting an African-American Human Torch would be news, but I can tell you it’s something that Stan Lee loves, and I can tell you that having been on set and seeing Michael bring him to life, he’s really spectacular.” I don’t know how the story will change due to this, but I love the idea and I cannot wait. If you want more information on Michael B. Jordan being the Human Torch, Google it. If you want more information on Talib Kweli visit his website at http://www.talibkweli.com. So in closing, pay attentions, don’t get distracted so often, and FLAME ON!!!

Graphic Novel Review – Birds of Prey: Of Like Minds

Graphic Novel Review – Birds of Prey: Of Like Minds

Collecting: Bids of Prey #56-61

Original Release Date: 2003

Publisher: DC Comics

Character: Black Canary, Oracle (formerly Batgirl), Huntress

Writer: Gail Simone

Art: Ed Benes

SCORECARD (each category ranked on a 10-point scale):

Storyline – 6

Art – 7

Captivity and Length – 8

Identity – 9

Use of Medium – 7

Depth – 7

Fluidity – 8

Intrigue/Originality – 8

The Little Things – 9

Overall awesomeness – 8

Think about your favorite team of heroes: Justice League (and their dozens of iterations), Avengers (and their hundred different iterations), Green Lantern Corps, X-Men… Now think about the gender representation among the group. Aside from the X-Men, women have been heavily underrepresented among the best in the universe for each team, let alone left in a position of power. Those female characters that are represented are typically typecast with revealing outfits and often find themselves “In A Refrigerator.” Well, in the mid-1990’s, Jordan Gorfinkel and DC Comics decided that readers wanted a team that they could relate to. The Birds of Prey were formed in 1996, consisting of Black Canary and Oracle. Through the years, DC’s elite women (sans Wonder Woman) have joined the Birds of Prey at some time or another. Characters like Hawkgirl, Vixen and Katana came under the spotlight of the Charlie’s Angels-esque team of strong women.

Chuck Dixon laid the groundwork for what would eventually turn into a DC Comics fan favorite. When Gail Simone took the reigns in 2003, we were already fifty-six issues in. Fortunately for readers, this was an opportune place to jump on, as Simone crafts Of Like Minds not only as an introduction to her writing, but the series, as well. Jumping into a series over fifty issues in is never an easy transition, but the dynamics of Birds of Prey is well established from the first page in. After suffering a paralyzing gunshot wound at the hands of the Joker in The Killing Joke, Barbara Gordon has become Oracle – tech extraordinaire and human calculator. Although confined to a wheelchair, Babs is the clear leader of the group and, to be honest, the most integral member of the Birds of Prey. Meanwhile, Black Canary (Dinah Lance) and Huntress (Helena Bertinelli) make the moves. Like messenger birds sent out by Oracle, they complete missions while Oracle feeds them intel.

Of Like Minds gives up a lot of ground in story-telling establish an identity. Simone does an excellent job of portraying three distinct personalities among the group. While Oracle has the notable Batman influence – prepared to do whatever is needed to get the job done – Dinah is inspired by Green Arrow’s more “Robin Hood” view of how to be a superhero. Add a fired up and borderline violent Huntress to the mix, and you get an amazing chemistry that could carry its own series whether they were fighting crime or playing Cranium. Where the arc seems to falter, though, in with the characters surrounding them. The antagonist in Of Like Minds, Savant, has just enough juice to pique my interest, but not enough to be worthy of commandeering the book. That being said, there were far worse ways to introduce a villain like Savant, and his purpose seems to be solely make the Birds of Prey look good.

Something that really impressed me about Of Like Minds was the amount of research Simone must have done to show just how legit our crew is. Take Barbara Gordon, for example. She’s no longer Batman’s sidekick, but rather one of the best most vital tools in the DC Universe for intel (really the only one until Cyborg’s rise to mainstream popularity a few years later). In fact, during Batman: No Man’s Land, which begins soon after the continuity of this book, she is crucial in Batman’s plight to take back Gotham. Throughout the pages, Babs: speaks multiple languages, quotes Benjamin Franklin and multiplies numbers together really quickly. She may be confined to a wheelchair, but Barbara Gordon uses her mind to thwart crime when her partner’s brawny methods come back fruitless.

Keeping an open mind that this book was published over a decade ago, the idea of strong, capable characters is completely cut down by the way the characters are constantly being objectified. Ranging from blatant (Black Canary being bound and cuffed while Savant makes sexual banter) to subtle (putting the characters’ sexy parts conveniently next to word bubbles, and the awkwardly positioned poses to show off just enough butt to make it annoying), there’s no denying that DC was using sex appeal to sell Birds of Prey. With new-age super heroine books in the mainstream now like Wonder Woman, Batgirl, and Captain Marvel, it’s hard to imagine just how skewed the industry’s opinion of women was at the turn of the century.

While the first arc of a Simone-written Birds of Prey shows its age in terms of the portrayal of women, the identity that Gail Simone – a woman writing a comic book about women – creates is worth the sticker price (or download price, as Of Like Minds is out of print and hard to find at a reasonable price). The pages are filled with Simone’s unique take on the Birds of Prey (a woman writer portraying a female led book – crazy, I know) was unprecedented at the time, especially ones smarter and mightier than their male counterparts. I was unimpressed with the story overall, but this is a case where style over substance is more over an investment. Gail Simone shows signs of becoming a tremendously talented writer, which really shines through in her recent work on Batgirl, one of my favorite series of the New 52.

All media credited to DC Comics

Written by Sherif Elkhatib

captain marvel, carol danvers,comic book reviews, comic books, comics, marvel comics,miss marvel, ms. marvel,women in comics, womens history month, you nerd like a girl

Man of Steel Review

Movie Review – Man of Steel

Genre – Comic Book, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Director – Zack Synder
Cast – Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Russell Crowe, Kevin Costner
Alluring element – It’s Christopher Nolan’s Superman. That should be enough.
Check it out if you liked – The Dark Knight trilogy, The original Superman films, comic books

SCORECARD (each category ranked on a 10-point scale):
Plot – 9
Acting – 9
Representation of Genre – 10
Cinematography – 8
Effects/Environment – 9
Captivity – 8
Logical consistency – 8
Originality/Creativity – 7
Soundtrack/Music – 8
Overall awesomeness – 9

I’ve hi-jacked the movie reviews to write about Man of Steel, the newest reboot of the iconic Superman character. After a wildly successful run in the late 70’s and 80’s with Christopher Reeves as Superman, the Big Blue Boy Scout has really had trouble getting any traction in a decent movie. After the forgettable Superman Returns in 2006, fans of comics and movies alike were excited to hear that this story would be the vision of the great Christopher Nolan, whose mind-blowing Dark Knight trilogy had breathed new life into the Caped Crusader and helped propel comic book movies back into the mainstream. As a disclaimer, I must say that I am, unequivocally, a Batman fan. I have always loved the internal struggle and have always related to heroes with tortured souls. For this reason, it has been hard for me to really enjoy Superman in comics and on screen, where seemingly the biggest problem he has is that he is just too plain awesome to fit in with normal people. Having got that initial bias out in the open, I really enjoyed Man of Steel. It’s a bad-ass action film, wrapped in some sci-fi and fantasy.

Man of Steel follows the formula of an origin storyline, but with plenty of Walking Dead-esque twists so you can usually guess but never really predict what will happen next. It’s a nice quality that I think even the biggest comic book hipsters can agree adds more to the experience than straight-from-the-pages adaptation would. Unlike the original film, which tried to stuff as much Superman knowledge as they could into it, there was decidedly less Super-stuff in Man of Steel. More than anything, main focus of the film is the identity crisis of Kal/Clark/Superduperman; having three names is enough to give anybody confusion about who they are. This adds an endearing quality to the film, as you can relate to childhood Clark as he puts up with bullies, notably “Dicksplash,” who makes multiple appearances throughout the film. It’s as a child that you really see the transparency of the Man of Steel. He wants to help people, he wants to fit in, and he goes on a long journey full of great short scenes to try to do so, but never really stays in one place long enough to make the audience feel a part of the experience.

In terms of acting, I think they really hit it out the ballpark on this one. Henry Cavill is the perfect Superman. He displays his emotions on his cape with a calm demeanor, much as Superman should. Lois Lane is portrayed adequately by Amy Adams (I still can’t believe they cast a redhead as Lane. The nerve! LOL) and Kevin Costner takes a break from Ocean Therapy Solutions to put on a good act as Jonathan Kent. What really stole the show was the great portrayal of Russell Crowe and Michael Shannon as Jor-El and Zod, respectively. Crowe plays Superman’s Kryptonian father in a capacity that we really hadn’t seen in this medium. It’s such a good performance that you almost forgive him for being in Man With the Iron Fists. Almost. Michael Shannon is great at playing total a-holes. From Revolutionary Road to Boardwalk Empire, Shannon has made me quite the fan, and he feels right at home with crazy ol’ General Zod. The only gripe I have here is that past the above-mentioned characters, nobody really has enough screen time to merit any attachment. The end of the movie left me wanting more Daily Planet, more Clark Kent as a child, more awkward childhood gaffes and more focus on the Kents. MORE MORE MORE. In a positive light, it gives the writers plenty to explore when the next installment comes out.

It might go without saying for a story that begins with a great civilization not listening to their eminent scientist when he says that the world is about to explode, but there are a lot of dumb choices made by a lot of different characters throughout the movie. At the beginning of the movie, Lois Lane says, “I get writer’s block if I’m not wearing a bulletproof vest.” This cannot be more true as she is always putting herself right in harm’s way, screaming and falling and I’m sick of it. Where is feisty Lois Lane? Why is she so easily knocked off her game? Johnathan”Pa” Kent also makes some poor choices, in action and words, that seem out of character. Remember in the commercial trailers, when Clark asks whether or not he should have let those kids on the bus die, and Pa responds with, “Maybe?” Yeah, well there’s really no more extent to that conversation… Ma & Pa Kent are the entire reason for Clark’s moral compass; why marginalize that to focus on the fact that he’s alone and misunderstood? And how can you choke a Kryptonian if they don’t need Oxygen to breathe? You can’t, but they do it anyway. Because it’s cool.

If you’re a fan of subtle gestures, there are Easter-eggs galore here. Somebody did their homework! LexCorp trucks, a peak at the fortress of solitude, along with a nod to the ridiculous product placement of the original film (and many other neat details) all add up to a film that really lets the fanboys feel like they’re appreciated. One great fire-starting dialogue I’ve wanted to start is the topic of gender-roles in comics. Since their New 52 launch a couple years ago, DC Comics apparently has an agenda to reboot more characters that were traditionally male as females. I’m not saying this is a poor choice, but it only works when those female characters have an impact. Case in point,  Jenny Olsen. Jimmy Olsen has long been Lois Lane’s protégé/lackey in the comics, television shows and movies. He’s full of corny “gee-golly” and “oh boy” banter, but not in this movie. In this movie, he is a she, and she adds absolutely nothing to the film. If we’re changing characters from men to women to make a point, then make a point! Another theme I found in the movie, which was not so subtle, is the comparison of Superman to Jesus Christ. Lost son, performer of miracles, incredibly good hair. I don’t want to spoil anything about the film, but it could perhaps explain why Superman can be such a difficult character to relate to. I feel like it’s their way to really start the conversation of religion in comics. To sum all that nonsense up, it’s clear that Man of Steel has more to say than what the dialogue suggests and the subtleties make it an enjoyable film multiple times.

The fight scenes are grand in scale, totaling Smallville and Metropolis in ways that, as an adult, really have you wondering, “Now who is going to pay for that??” Especially enjoyable about the action in Man of Steel is the ability to make the fights look like super-humans fighting, with lightning quick movements and earth-shattering hits. As a result of this, the height of the fight scenes can look like a cluttered CGI mess at times. The cameras during the movie are very shaky, likely to help synthesize the fast and loud nature of the film. This can be a bit of a distraction from the events of the film, or even cause a bit of motion sickness if you have to sit at the front of the theater. Overall, the cinematography is jaw-dropping. Kandor (the capital of Kryton) looks like it belongs in Naboo. And don’t even get me started on Jor-El’s cool ride; it’s a freaking butterfly-dragon! I also love Zod’s force in their legitimately frightening Helghast-like masks and the “YOU ARE NOT ALONE” PSA had me about to fall out of my seat.

For the first time in a long time, I truly felt like I was seeing an origin story. A brand new spin on a character I felt going in that I knew so well. While I won’t be trading in my cowl for rimmed glasses anytime soon, I definitely can revel in the fact that another sensational comic book movie has been released. While I have my personal bleats about what makes a Superman story, I love Nolan’s interpretation of The Man of Tomorrow and I think a Justice League movie would look great with Henry Cavill leading the way. Please go see this impressive film!

Written by Sherif Elkhatib