This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/17/movies/awardsseason/black-characters-are-still-too-good-too-bad-or-invisible.html
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Still Too Good, Too Bad or Invisible | Still Too Good, Too Bad or Invisible |
| (3 days later) | |
| A black slave is torn apart by dogs as a crowd of white overseers savors the sight and a black bounty hunter watches passively behind shades. A black father makes his little girl crack open a crab with her bare hands then flex her tiny muscles like a pint-size N.F.L. linebacker. A black pilot snorts a line of cocaine after a night of debauchery and, just a few minutes before liftoff, knocks back several miniature bottles of alcohol. A black woman tells President Lincoln that God will guide him as he pushes legislation that will end slavery but not dent notions of white supremacy. | A black slave is torn apart by dogs as a crowd of white overseers savors the sight and a black bounty hunter watches passively behind shades. A black father makes his little girl crack open a crab with her bare hands then flex her tiny muscles like a pint-size N.F.L. linebacker. A black pilot snorts a line of cocaine after a night of debauchery and, just a few minutes before liftoff, knocks back several miniature bottles of alcohol. A black woman tells President Lincoln that God will guide him as he pushes legislation that will end slavery but not dent notions of white supremacy. |
| Quvenzhané Wallis as Hushpuppy, with Dwight Henry as Wink. | Quvenzhané Wallis as Hushpuppy, with Dwight Henry as Wink. |
| As the center of a dreamy, surreal film that melds fantasy with neo-realism Wink is our connection to the harsh world outside their ramshackle home in a bayou neighborhood called the Bathtub. He is a respected leader in a community of misfits. On the mainland he’s just another poor black man with anger issues. The director, Benh Zeitlin, and Lucy Alibar, co-writer of the screenplay with Mr. Zeitlin, created the platform for a performance that is uncomfortably human, unsentimental and not easily sympathetic. | |
| If judged crudely as positive or negative, Wink’s behavior would be labeled, on the facts of the case, as negative. Which would be silly. Mr. Henry portrays a wounded warrior, a tough-love nurturer and a working-class man who is so rare on screen that, next to Hushpuppy’s brightness, we can barely see his humanity. | If judged crudely as positive or negative, Wink’s behavior would be labeled, on the facts of the case, as negative. Which would be silly. Mr. Henry portrays a wounded warrior, a tough-love nurturer and a working-class man who is so rare on screen that, next to Hushpuppy’s brightness, we can barely see his humanity. |
| Don’t expect to see a lot of characters as tough, dark and loving as Wink anytime soon. Writing and performances this brave are rare, magical occurrences. We can only hope for more. | Don’t expect to see a lot of characters as tough, dark and loving as Wink anytime soon. Writing and performances this brave are rare, magical occurrences. We can only hope for more. |
Nelson George is a filmmaker and the author of “Blackface: Reflections on African Americans and the Movies.” | Nelson George is a filmmaker and the author of “Blackface: Reflections on African Americans and the Movies.” |
| This article has been revised to reflect the following correction: | |
| Correction: February 18, 2013 | |
An earlier version of this article misspelled the surname of the actress who plays Mary Todd Lincoln’s friend and dressmaker in “Lincoln.” She is Gloria Reuben, not Rueben. The article also misspelled the given name of the director of “Beasts of the Southern Wild.” He is Benh Zeitlin, not Behn. The article also misstated what piece of legislation had been passed in “Lincoln” right before the character Thaddeus Stevens, played by Tommy Lee Jones, returned home. It was the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery, not the Emancipation Proclamation. |