Independence in America is a joke

I watched "man-on-the-street" interviews with voters in Massachusetts today only to confirm in my mind that being "Independent" in America sucks.

Most of the voters interviewed proudly proclaimed they are Independent voters...meaning what? An Independent voter supposedly votes for candidates or issues, not political parties. The people interviewed in Mass. proudly proclaimed their Independence but in the midst of their pride they all marched to the polls and made a mistake.

Somewhere in recent history proclaimed political party loyalty became bad behavior. To say I am a proud Democrat or Republican became the sign of a closed mind. What it really proclaims is a commitment to the ideals of either party, Republican or Democrat. I think this lack of party loyalty is part of the greater issue of being politically correct, as ironic as that may sound. Basically, to say I am voting for the Democrat, even though I may disagree with the person has become bad taste...same goes for choosing the Republican. What passes as good political sense is proclaiming you are Independent and voting for the "person." (Why is person in quotes? Because in politics you NEVER vote for the person. While YOU vote for the person, trust me, that person is loyal to his/her party)

Now we have this situation in Mass. where a Republican candidate is poised to destroy Health Care Reform...all because certain Independent voters decided to vote for the person and not the party. I say these people refuse to see the bigger picture being their votes can destroy something this country has needed for years.

A friend said to me recently, "People opposed to health care reform all have insurance and it's probably better than anything the government will offer...but they want me to oppose the public option."

I am angry at the people of Mass. They had an opportunity to try and help less fortunate Americans with today's vote. I will admit that Ms. Coakley did not run the best campaign but sometimes you have to see past the particular candidate and vote for the party. Yes, I wrote that and I regularly say it out loud. I firmly believe this because that candidate who proclaimed to be Independent but just part of this or that particular party...when a tough or close issue comes along, that candidate will tow the party line every time.

Mr. Brown has already made the deals with his party to be negative on health care reform. He already will stand with his party on this issue and I'm certain he will give great reasons for why. Since I am in favor of reform, I feel this move is tragic for myself and others like me...hard-working Americans who need affordable health care. Not everyone without health insurance is unemployed and lazy. I am truly sad that the voters of Mass. did not see fit to continue Sen. Kennedy's wish of health care for all.

However, it is time to look past this loss/blow and carry on. We have to take those lemons and make lemonade. While Mr. Brown has health care, and a damned good plan too, I hope our leaders can find a way around this defeat.

Help for Haiti, remebering Katrina, still on an Avatar rant...

I've been watching the events of the earthquake in Haiti this week and I must say the images are disturbing and sad. I really feel for these people and I am profoundly happy that people are reaching out to help this nation.

As a black American, I always worry that devastation to a mostly black country will be ignored by the people of America. In general, I worry that Americans will turn a blind eye to any poor nation in need. We are a fickle bunch in that way.

When the tsunami hit Indonesia, Americans dug deep to help. I hope that America continues to exist. There are times when Americans take an attitude that we should not or don't need to help. I think this is because many Americans forget how wealthy we are compared to other nations.

We enjoy small things like clean water, electricity, a functioning government and in most cases, Hurricane Katrina aside, quick help when we are in danger from a natural disaster. Specifically, my worries about Haiti stem from the disaster that was Hurricane Katrina. I still remember a man hold up a one month old baby, shouting to the world that they had no food or clean water. I remember a man crying over his dead mother, still sitting in her wheelchair. He was forced to leave her sitting in the chair like garbage. There was an interview with a man describing his neighbor's body, bloated from flood waters, still lying on the sidewalk. The man had been dead for days.

Katrina was a sad story of America's failure to help the needy. These were locals, Americans, people who needed help and I was stunned at how many times I heard people saying they should have evacuated before the storm. These people obviously had never visited the 9th Ward and seen the unbelievable poverty. I visited this neighborhood years before the storm. I grew up poor and I was stunned at the urban decay in that area. I hope such scenes are never repeated.

On a lighter, but still serious note, I still have a bit of a rant about the racism in "Avatar." I am still angry that a few believe the film is simply about a white man saving native savages. That ignores the fact that the natives are actually more civilized than the humans. This also ignores the fact that the scientists are curious about this new world and even one of the military persons turns sides. The film is hardly about one white man saving a bunch of ignorant savages.

There are some very important elements that are ignored. In "Dances With Wolves," which Avatar is compared to, John Dunbar never fully joins the natives. He gets close, accepts the name given him, he does a buffalo hunt, helps find the buffalo, but he never joins the tribe. In the end, he takes his wife and leaves. The excuse is the soldiers will never stop hunting him, but he knew the soldiers would never stop coming anyway so why chose a life of solitude?

John Dunbar never truly went "native" as he is accused. Sully in Avatar does more than go native. He not only accepts the new culture and way of life, he gets immersed in their faith also. In the end, he actually chooses to leave his human existence behind and become a true member of the tribe. He has his wife and is ready to be a regular member of the tribe. To me, this is not a character who swooped in to save natives and either leave them behind or lead them like they were mindless children. Sully had redeem himself...that was the message I got.

Avatar? Racist? Valid, with circumstances.

I read today that a rather vocal minority is calling the movie "Avatar" racist. I did see this film, I did read the article, I did come to a conclusion. The film can be viewed as racist, but with mitigating circumstances. Aren't there always mitigating circumstances to racism?

I'll warn you now that there may be spoilers from this point on so don't read if you don't want to know them.

Basically, the article accusing the film of racism says the story is old. The general story is a white man comes and saves the natives. This is an old story and it has been told before. If Avatar stopped there, I would agree the movie is racist but it goes further.

In the film, a white Marine who is paralyzed, is linked to an alien body...an alien body that just happens to be about 9 feet tall, blue with a tail and rather cute. He meets a female alien who is rather disgusted with his ignorance about the planet, nature, and life in general. Humans in the film are there to mine a rather expensive ore and they are willing to plow over any blue aliens to do so.

I just read that the Vatican is also slamming this film for it's "worship" of nature. Well, that's another issue...in the film, the aliens find life force in everything and can physically link to that force. We may talk to trees but in Avatar, the trees can talk back. Everything living on the planet Pandora has visible life force and can physically link to each other. Maybe if trees on Earth could fight back, we wouldn't be so quick to chop them all down...but I digress...

The racism is clear, humans are there to rape the land and are willing to kill. The aliens, very reminiscent of American Indians, have bows and arrows to fight against bullets. The main character first is set on following orders by winning the aliens' trust (which he does) then betraying them by giving the Marines the best way to destroy their home, a huge tree sitting on top of ore they want, (he does that too). But during the course of the film, he changes, falls in love, learns to respect life and switches sides. Of course, the aliens now see him as a traitor and he has to win back their trust. This is where people say the film is racist...once again a white man has to save the unwashed aliens. People are also annoyed that aliens were played by actors of minority races and the Marines were played by whites. I guess critics forgot about Latina Michelle Rodriguez...anyway...

On the surface that appears racist. Why does a white man have to save natives? In one way it is done to boost the image of white superiority in this country. Some whites do feel superior to brown people and need things to remind them of this from time to time.

Another reason is because many times whites will refuse to go see a film with lead characters who are not white. That is a more subtle form of racism. The story of the film "Couples Retreat" and it's racism was not widely reported, probably because the movie did not make a billion dollars. With Couples Retreat, several couples take a retreat (surprise), but one of the couples is black. Advertisements in America showed all the couples, however in Europe, the black couple was magically removed. Check out the posters here. The explanation was because international markets are racists...how interesting that they ignore the racism right here in America.

Some whites would never accept a black, Latino, Asian or anyone who is not white as the lead in Avatar. What is truly sad is Zoe Saldana, who is arguably black/Latina, refuses to identify as black (another story entirely), but has played black women in films before. However, in Star Trek she played Uhura but was made up to look more Latina than black. In Avatar, she is blue...why is it that our country has a hard time seeing a black woman with a white man? Ultimately, I think the message that a man of a minority race could not have played the lead role AND this movie still make a billion dollars is the most racist thing about the movie, along with the fact that America doesn't want to see a black woman in a positive, non-ghetto, intelligent and yes, BEAUTIFUL role as an attractive woman.

While the story of a white man saving natives is old and a bit annoying, an older truth that blacks and other minorities aren't as interesting or believable in positive roles (at least to some white people) is a sadder more racist truth. This movie is brilliant to watch. The story is absorbing and the film making is magnificent. I was amazed that this film was made by the same man who made that festering pile of diarehea called "Titanic," also a billion dollar movie that never would have made that much money if Leonardo were anything but white.

The bottom line is films are made to make money and hopefully entertain too. If you want to see an experimental film, I suggest you scope out the art houses. I think Avatar does well with its limitations imposed by a racist society. This movie had to make money and to ensure that, it had to have a white lead. That is a sad, ugly truth to American society. BTW, I loved the movie despite the obvious.

20 below, Riddick/Vin and Obama

First, I hate snow. I don't care how pretty people think the white, fluffy rain is, it's cold, wet, messy and can ruin any drive in an instant. The beyond frigid cold that has come to the Mid-West has left me isolated in a few spots and cherishing my California dreams...but moving right along...the wind chill is 20 below zero. That's cold enough to kill and kill quickly. But the frigid temps didn't stop the typical Kansas City stupidity.

I heard on the morning news that a snow plow driver was shot last night around 2:35 a.m. while taking a break. This happened near my home so it is rather unsettling to know this nut-bar may live near me.

Keeping in mind that a blizzard (I ain't kidding either) hit the city Christmas day and the snow has not let up since. It snowed today too...the weather has been brutal. Killing or trying to kill people trying to remove the snow is just about one of the worst things I have ever heard. My co-workers speculated that this may have been a gang initiation.

With that knowledge that a KC fool is running about with a gun, I nestled in with my son and watched a couple movies I own but never watched, "Pitch Black," and "The Chronicles of Riddick." I've heard reasonably good reviews about Pitch Black, nothing but slams on Riddick. Both movies star Vin Diesel as Riddick, a reluctant hero...which brings me to our president.

Pres. Obama's popularity rating is falling. That is normal but it also brings to mind the numbers of people who reluctantly voted for him just to oust Bush. They knew he couldn't take office and immediately turn around the country...yet these are the same people who will quickly withdraw their support for our president. A full year is about to pass, that is not much time in the world of politics, but people want perfection. This is not a surprise to any American minority, especially black people.

I noticed long ago that as a black female, I could not do just as good as my white counterparts, I had to be better...not just better, clearly superior. Being just as good means I am sub-par. A mediocre white person will never admit that mediocrity in the face of an equally mediocre minority. That would be saying we are equal.

I have heard a lot of talk about how everyone is "just the same" when a black person speaks on racism. Whites will quickly dismiss the charge and proclaim that they do not see color, everyone is just the same. In a way, that statement is true. In another way, it is completely wrong.

We are all human, yes, but different races do have subtle differences. Certain races are more likely to get particular diseases. Some races tend to be taller or shorter but these differences do not translate to some races naturally having higher intelligence. I have never believed that and never will. I've met too many stupid people of all races to believe any one race has naturally superior intelligence.

However, whites in America have culture to fall on to support this belief. So many whites will look at that story about the snow plow driver, see that a black man committed the crime and conclude that blacks are "more violent than whites." The stupidity of one black person is enough to confirm to that white person that blacks are naturally inferior. When a story of a white person doing something stupid or horrible is reported, the same white person who made the snap judgment about blacks somehow concludes that the white person is the aberration and never the "norm."

Obama, in my view, is the reluctant hero to many young people of all races. I think he wants and believes he can do a good job. He actually has to be better than good, he needs to be Clinton-like in his excellence, Bill, not Hillary. The only way we will know how well Obama does is to watch, wait and support his efforts.