The Trumpster

OK - this week I have been inundated with questions about what I think of Donald Trump.  I actually try not to think of him at all and work aggressively at thinking about serious matters.

But, when all is said and done, I think three things when I am pressed to consider him:

I think that he is not a Billionaire - I've worked for wealthy families most of my life and I can tell you people who are running empires don't have time to sit around and send mean tweets to their enemies. They don't have time to run around and glad hand people, because their main concern is keeping their business going and that takes up most of their time and their consideration.  You think Warren Buffet has time to send out Facebook posts and Tweets? Not even - and he might send out a few messages, but those are sent by assistants, and it doesn't monopolize their days, cause ain't nobody got time for that!

I think that he is full of bombast - talking tough will truly only take you so far when you are standing on a podium in front of a vast crowd of people that you know nothing about.  Do you recall that day it looked like someone was going to storm the stage at his rally?  His eyes were as wide as saucers and he gripped that podium with as much fear as you will ever see in a man who is not on a battlefield. You see he didn't try and unleash his act in Chicago, because Chicagoans were ready to take it there.  He tried to blame his timid departure on the Chicago Police, but they made it clear that they didn't stop the rally - they told him it was up to him - and as we all know - he folded like a house of cards

I think that he creates a persona that he will have a very hard time getting away from and it has placed him in a precarious position - he has been acting like an arch villain in Gotham City - he has no place to go but back into the funny papers.  How can he ever be taken seriously?  Telling people to shut up, asking Russia to hack into a private system server, calling women ugly.. I remember another New Yorker who spent the majority of his career trying to be a bully, his name was John McEnroe.  He was an incredible tennis player, but he had a reputation for being over the top and intimidating.  But the problem with having that reputation is at some point, you will be called on it. McEnroe was in the middle of a match and at one point, he challenged a line judge - and instead of cowering, the line judge let him know in a not so subtle way that he wasn't the one.  The man might have been having a bad day - but he checked John McEnroe and it made headlines. Trump can't afford that fate, so when I do think of him, I am usually thinking " I certainly hope I'm around when he has his come uppance."

The Announcement from Magic Johnson November 7, 1991

http://youtu.be/VbdOQUARrEU

Everyone who was alive at that time recalls where they were when Magic Johnson made the momentous announcement that he was HIV positve and woud immediately retire from basketball.

Ervin "Magic" Johnson was one of the bggest stars in basketball at the time.  The Los Angeles Lakers were one of the best teams in the NBA, and were always contenders for the NBA crown.

This year had been different. This had been Chicago's year - the Chicago Bulls had just won their first championship against the Lakers and we were still celebrating - we know how to celebrate in Chicago and there was a lot to overcome to be the best. There were nay sayers all around who wondered how we had beat the Lakers because they had such an incredible track record.  

The day that Magic announced his press conference, there was speulation all around that Magic was going to retire, and that Michael Jordan had pushed Magic out of the game.  Retiring didn't seem implausible.  Magic had finally married his long time and long suffering girfriend, Cookie.  He had dated her forever, and she had faithfully endured broken engagments, called off weddings, cheating, scandals, baby mammas - now he was getting his act together and he had settled down. It seemed sure that he would retire.  There was also the rumour that he had AIDS.

As Magic approached the podium, it was clear that this was a solemn ocassion.  He wasnt wearing his trademark flashy grin, and he was surrounded by very serious looking men.  Magic stepped up to the poium and got right to it - "Because of the HIV virus that I have attained, I wlll have to retire from the Lakers today".

We were watching on a large screen TV that was used for screening shows - everybody took a collective breath - you could hear everyone in the room exhale.  The owner of the company was so distraught that he went home for the day.  It was pretty overwhelming news for many people. Many older people had not been personally touched by HIV and AIDS.  That wasn't the case with me.

I am only a few years younger than Magc, so the disease wasn't that foreign to us.  I knew people who had died from AIDS, a member of my family whom I loved and still miss had died.  Several friends, co-workers, at that point in time that diagnosis was a death sentence.  Medical advances were not in place yet that would save his life.  

While most players were enightened, some refused to play with Magic, some were concerned about the physical contact, some with the rumours about his lifestyle. Magic tried to return, but it didn't go well and his doctor felt that he was not helping himself maintain his health, so his brief comeback was short-lived. Its a testament to Magic's access to excellent heathcare and undeniable diligence that he is still with us and fighting the good fight.

In my experience people were not that interersted in being careful - they lived like they woud live forever when there was plenty olf evidence to the contrary...

People are still getting caught up today and even though there have been miraculous advances, people are still dying of AIDS, and catching HIV. You have to be diligent, because in this day and age, love can be deadly...

Left In Katrina's Wake

Many years ago I worked for a contact lens manufacturer, and we had a factory in Puerto Rico.  The first week I worked there, there was a hurricane that destroyed the roof of the factory and threatened our company's existence.  It was clear that in the global economy I'd better learn more about the things I didn't know that could have an impact on my life.  I had just gotten that job and my company could not re-open production on its most popular product - colored contact lenses - for three months - it almost put our lights out.  Ultimately it lead to our company being bought by Bain - and that became a nightmare in itself, but that's another post.

I learned how deadly a hurricane can be, when hurricane season was, and that its's best to clear out and plan on returning when its all over - no use trying to be a hero in a hurricane - it's bigger than you are, and its the deadly aftermath that winds up killing everyone or ruining one's health.

Years later Hurricane Marilyn was headed to St. Croix, where a friend of the family was living and I advised that he come home.  He could find a place to hide out in Chicago, but he decided to stay down there.  After spending two days in his bathtub, he emerged to a new world and no fresh drinking water - like I said, it's the aftermath that can kill. It took years for the island to bounce back, and some things were never the same.

A few years after that we went to visit this friend in St. Croix, and as luck would have it, a hurricane was hot on our heels back to the States.  I was tracking the storm like Al Roker, I was so worred that we wouldnt get out of there in time.  When we arrived at the half way point in Miami, the airline had the nerve to ask if we would give up our tickets for flights the next day and stay in Miami for free to endure the coming hurricane.  People were running around that airport like chickens with their heads cut off and frantically trying to get on the first thing smoking to get out of the way of the hurricane.  I couldn't wait to get out of there, they had a better shot at asking me to join the Klan!

So when Katrina was on its way to New Orleans, and I was working for a company that had many ties to the Crescent City in the form of its hard working employees, I spent many sleepless hours making  suggestions to them about how to get out, where to go so they could safely wait out the storm.  Many downplayed the danger, but I had seen this movie too many times to take it lightly.  

Ironically, I had planned a trip to New Orleans a few weeks after the storm was expected to hit.  I was anticipating eating a great dinner at Commander's Palace, drinking a genuine hurricane, and getting back to a chicken and waffle restaurant that had the best drumsticks I had ever eaten in my life.

In the wake of this terrible crisis it was clear that my return to New Orleans would be postponed.  After watching hours of TV news that depicted hundreds and hundreds of tragic stories of loss, and the death of over 1,800 people - Katrina seemed like Mother Nature's version of a beat down!

The vast majority of the city was underwater. The levees broke and water flooded the urban area.  People tried to find refuge in the Super Dome, a place I had visited when I went to see the Super Bowl in 2002.  All of those people trying to be rescued, stretching the city's strained resources to the breaking point - it was another indictment of the Presidency of someone who didn't take things seriously.  Better planning would have saved those hundreds of lives. 

We must never forget the lessons of Katrina.  Life is too precious to take for granted, and tomorrow is not guaranteed.  If you have warning of a disaster coming, prepare for the worst, even as you pray for the best.  It's better to live in temporary exile than to be wiped out altogether.

The Cali Rap Game - Part One

How to make sure your child develops a healthy appreciation of history - ask them to tell you the background of their favorite singing group - then stand back and find out what a scholar they are on the subject, right Eryn and Ryann???  I found out the name of every single person Taylor Swift had even THOUGHT about dating - keep that tradition going, girls!

The story of N.W.A. (Niggas With Attitude..) told in the new film, "Straight Outta Compton", gives you a good starting point. I used to read all of the articles back in the day, so I do remember most of it.  

Ice Cube was a street smart poet from a stable family, Dr. Dre was a brother much like the brothers I grew up with who helped put House Music on the map.  He was getting as much DJ work as he could and dreaming of a life on the next level.  Easy E was a brother who made his money the hard way - he was the dopeman. But once he put his organizational and management skills to better use, he made it possible for he and his friends to put out a product that was legal but habit forming - a take down rap that resonated with the whole country.  

You may not be into rap, and even I didn't buy rap that denigrated women or the police, but I loved a good rap song, especially since the background music was usually a hit record that sold millions.  

If you want to learn about the roots of rap from Cali - start here!

This story is one that everyone should see - it's like "A Star is Born" for rap music - everybody was waiting on a break - then they go to the top, some keep soaring in different trajectories, and some just fall back to earth with a thud - but they do rise again.

You'll love the songs, the action, and the maturation of a great group of guys. Like other stars, they got hooked up with someone who didn't know what he was doing, took advantage of them, and wound up leaving them in debt. Talk about jumping out of the frying pan into the fire, they escaped that situation and some got involved with the infamous Suge Knight.  They don't pull any punches in telling that story, either - whew!!!!

What's missing is the story of the East Coast West Coast rivalry - that's another movie, so save me an aisle seat. Go get all your money and check out a true summer gem - the music and memories are well worth it.

Who's Using Who?

Sometimes I can't hold my tongue! I don't like to see one of my friends get played...

I'm at the Pride Parade, which is frequented by plenty of straight people - but this is a special year with the recent Supreme Court ruling on same sex marriage so we're all over the place this year.

So one of the people at my table is a guy I worked with for many years at a hotel.  We've known each other for over 20 years.  During that time this guy has dated a lot of women - never got married. We'll call him Ed.  Ed has been working in hotels since back in the day and he has a very stable position, hospitality has always been his thing.

So, another friend sits down and asks him about his old girlfriend - they just broke up right after Easter.  We'll call her Donna.  He had a nice girl that he was dating, named Monica, but he let that go.  Everything else since then has been a disaster, in my mind - but it's not up to me, so I don't go into that again.

So, anyway - Ed proceeds to announce that Donna is getting married - to some other guy. So, before I can stop myself, or think to have this conversation later - I say "She's getting married too??" Ed stops me and says " Don't say it!" So I shut up and finish drinking my margarita - for a while.

Here's my issue - I find it odd that a few months after Ed drops a girlfriend, or she dumps him - whatever - she winds up engaged.  How does that KEEP happening?  Who gets engaged a few months after breaking up with someone you dated for a year or more?  That may happen once or twice, but that many times - no, that's not a coincidence.  

Either women are seeking you out to make some other man jealous, which is very risky, and childish.  Or, your dating her has raised her profile to the point where men are standing around waiting to catch her on the rebound. They know you won't commit.  Either way - something is rotten in Denmark.

I borught this to his attention many years ago and he dismissed it - but we were kids back then and I thought that it was strange, but it hadn't happened enough for me to quote chapter and verse, so I had to drop it.  

But,  here is my final word - sometimes you think of yourself as the player, but you're really getting played!  

It Should Be Much Worse, Tom Brady

You're getting over like a fat rat in a cheese factory!

Not only does your Patriot's team get caught cheating twice - once taping opposing teams to learn  their signals, but now you're tagged for deflating footballs below league standards to give yourself an advantage when tossing the ball.

It would have been bad enough that the Colts caught you red handed, but you had to compound the whole tragedy by getting snarky with the press when you should have been humble, and when the league investigated the issue, you decided not to cooperate. Tom was given a four game suspension and he's whining like the air was taken out of his fat head!

If I were running the league, Tom Brady and his coach would both be tossed out of the league forever - they don't believe fat meat is greasy, and their antics have reduced the credibility of the most popular sport in the US to that of Rollerderby and the WWF.  How can you possibly take football seriously if the players are allowed to do what they want with abandon?  Every team in the AFC should boycott the Patriots. Just because Brady is a superstar doesn't mean that he is above reproach - this is America, we can find a replacement who will value what he has...

In a few years, Chicago will celebrate, or be obliged to relive, the Black Sox Scandal of 1919 when eight players on my beloved Chicago White Sox were kicked out of baseball as unceremoniously as a pair of rusted cleats.  The Black Sox were accused of fixing the 1919 World Series by cooperating to lose.  They were motivated by greed, and a desire to embarrass their boss, the famous tight wad, Charlie Comiskey.  The first Commissioner of Baseball, Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis brooked no nonsense and he banished some of the best players in baseball, including "Shoeless Joe" Jackson, to a lifetime of farm teams and hitting with their non-dominate arm to make sure they weren't discovered trying to play.  How would Tom feel if he could never play football again - not in Canada - NOWHERE!!

Tom Brady should be grateful that this tiny slap on the wrist will end yet another year overshadowed with his team's inability to win fair and square.  I guess if you work for Bill Belichick, if you aren't cheatng, you're not trying to win.  Its the wrong message for American younsters and I hope that parents are teaching their children tonight that Tom Brady is a liar and a cheat, and he can't even own up to it!  

Take several seats, Tom - your whining will garner no sympathy here...

Fast Food Free For All

The other day I saw a video on YOUTUBE that I couldn't believe, maybe you saw it also - a patron at McDonald's climbing over the counter to punch one of the Crewmembers out, reportedly because he was told that the restaurant ran out of fries!

Now, I love McDonald's fries as much as the next person, but this video disturbed me greatly.  First of all, the restaurant was filled with young people. The man climbs over the counter and runs straight to his adversary and they lock up right away.  There are several crewmembers at the restaurant at the time.  They didn't run - they were successful in subduing this guy. There was a manager taking stock of what happened. There was a young lady taking the video, admonishing the manager in duty, and laughing hysterically at the same time - it was very hard to follow the smartphone video,but  the videographer was so busy telling people what their role was and cracking, you can understand her distraction.

A few things, however, were clear:

The Crewmembers didn't seem very alarmed that a man was standing in the counter and pushing the register out of his way, does this happen often at fast food restaurants?

The man got across the counter in time to be photographed, long before someone called the local police, security, or even the owner.  I think that if I were the owner, I'd like to know that my business was being attacked.

The manager seemed to be in no rush to rectify the situation, and the guy spent several minutes behind the counter - the video I saw ended before he left on his own or was taken out in handcuffs.

The Crewmembers beat the man handily, but he looked a little out of it. I guess you have to be if you want to climb over the McDonald's counter.

Here are my brief words of wisdom, as a former fast food worker at one of busiest intersections in the Midwest - 79th and Stony Island, back in the day:

You're not there to fight- call security or a manager who has some sense

If someone tries to cross the counter, you need to leave the facility - lock your drawer if you can, but break camp - that person is crazy and you need to be safe - if you're cooking, turn off the stove and depart using the closest exit

CALL THE POLICE, even if it's from your house after you get home !

No amount of money or product is worth your life - don't engage the person, just go

Don't work at a place that doesn't have security - in this day and age, that's a must. It might limit your choices, but it will lengthen your life.

This man didn't have a weapon, but be warned - carrying a concealed weapon is allowed everywhere now, and the next one won't come unprepared 

Several years ago, an entire crew was killed at the Brown's Chicken in Palatine, Illinois - learn from their mistakes, or you may wind up frozen in a meat locker at a $8 an hour job!

Hospitality has changed

In one of my favorite scenes in "Casino", Robert De Niro's character laments the demise of old Las Vegas - the part that was dedicated to making sure the guest was completely comfortable.

It's quite true. Back in the day when I was working at the Park Hyatt and the Palmer House and later at the Marriott, all in Chicago, things were quite different.  In my day a guest made a reservation and the first thing we did was check to see what room they stayed in last time. We tried to put them in the same room.  We tried to make sure we had a list of the things they had in their room previously. While I was working at the Hyatt, my first job was to file the guest info cards so that the Front Desk Manager would be prepared. I got to see what Billie Dee Williams had in his room and which brand of champagne Carol Channing likes to drink.

When I went to the Palmer House, I learned to wake people up in five languages ( French, Spanish, German, Italian, and Japanese) because wake up calls were manual back then and you actually called the room until the guest stopped sounding groggy.  I learned how to order a replacement wedding ring at 3:00 am and I learned how to find out where a guest was without seeming intrusive.  We took our jobs seriously and that meant making sure that even though there were over 2,000 bedrooms at the Palmer House, we cared about each guest completely.  We made them feel that they were at home and taking care to make sure they enjoyed every minute of it. When they checked out, we asked each of them when they were coming back - if they didn't give us a new reservation, we were not doing our job.

Now you check into a hotel and no one knows how to pronounce your name and no one even has the sense to ask - they throw you a key and the room may or may not be clean.  If you need something to eat, the person at the desk probably has never eaten at a place in the area, unless it's McDonald's.  No one takes note of your return, back in my day we had a bed check list to make sure there was no one we had to search for. If we didn't send you out with our driver, the doorman called us to say the guest was returning.  Consequently, none of our guests wound up wandering off into the lake or dead in an overnight brawl. We always had 

Make the NCAA go legit

The time has come for the NCAA (National College Athletic Association) to stop exploiting young people and create a partnership that assures their future and prepares them for the next phase of their lives.

If they aren't going to pay student athletes, they need to agree to give the athlete a full education and guarantee that they will pay for their medical expenses, no matter how long it takes to get them back on their feet.

Right now people think that student athletes have it made.  They get to go to the college of their choice, they get a college degree ad can even get a master's degree if they play their cards right.  That's not really the case.

A student athlete gets to select a college out of those that express interest - not necessarily their choice.  They can attend that school as long as they are viable but that doesn't mean that their scholarship can't be yanked if a better athlete comes along during the time they are in school.  It's constant try-outs and constant measuring up.  

If they don't graduate before they exhaust their eligibility to play - the Cinderella carriage turns back into a pumpkin and there are no glass slippers.  The most they can hope for is a back-up fairy godmother and a chance to play as an undercard or a chance to play in Canada or Europe.

If the athlete gets injured and can't play anymore, it's back to the homestead and building a new dream on your own with a lot of people clucking their tongues and talking about how sad it all is.

The NCAA should be able to guarantee the athlete a degree, so at least they are getting something that will help them move on to the next phase of their lives - whether it's a golden pro baseball, basketball, football, or hockey career here or in a foreign country.  It will mean they will be more selective and there will be no more scandals where athletes pay people to take their SAT's for them, and the student and coach have to leave the school before the school loses credit for its entire season.

If an athlete is injured, the NCAA should be required to return the person to their maximum medical improvement level, just like what happens in workers compensation.  They can afford the insurance, and if they can't they need to get safer anyway.

We all see the fanfare and balloons and parents cheering in the beginning, but it's the friends who see the crying and the ambulances and the rehab and the unceremonious rejection from the dorm when the keycard doesn't work anymore and a kid goes from being Big Man on Campus to persona non grata.

The present NCAA program isn't fair. The NCAA needs to read the 13th Amendment - slavery is over.

Selma

I didn't realize that it's been so busy I haven't contributed to this blog in a year - I won't be off again, I promise...

I made time to get out and see "Selma" Friday night. I was disappointed when it didn't come out on Christmas Day in Chicago, and last weekend got away from me, I try to do opening weekends to make sure movies have a chance of being in the top three. The movie was well worth the wait.

"Selma" is about the advent of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This Act was recently watered down and it may be harder to demonstrate voter discrimination as a result.  The movie opens up with an older woman trying to register to vote, something we should ALL be able to do - but the registrar asks her to recite the Preamble of the Constitution.  When she was successful in doing that, he asks her to name the number of head county judges in the state of Alabama.  When she successfully does that, he asks her to name them all - but she isn't able to name them and is send home in disgrace.  The hoops they made you jump through as part of their literacy tests were ridiculous and as a result, there were very few, if any, people of color registered to vote in the south.

The challenge hasn't gone away, even though we have the Voting Rights Act in place - the recent assaults on our right to vote include making people produce a driver's license or an ID, confirming their address with a utility bill in their name,  or asking people to prove they aren't felons who were justifiably removed from the voter roles.  This is what's happening now, so believe me, the fight is not over at all. The tactics may have changed but the playbook from the post-Reconstruction Jim Crow era is still being followed.

So, Martin Luther King Jr. goes to meet the President, Lyndon Baines Johnson, to ask that a new law removing the impediments to voting be put in place.  There seems to be some great controversy
regarding how the President received the request and his supposed opposition to introducing something at that time - so take that into account as you watch the film - but the bottom line is that MLK and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and a young John Lewis and his group, the Student Non- Violent Coordinating Comittee (SNCC) joined forces to bring attention to the need for an end to Poll taxes and Literacy tests to register to vote by marching from Selma to Montgomery.

First, tissue is a requirement for viewing this film.  The first scene was hard to take, especially since I just worked to help people register to vote for the 2012 election, not just in Chicago, but in other states when they threatened not to allow people to register - like I said, it's not over! We have to remain vigilant and cannot afford to ever be complacent.

The thing that will hit you hardest is the terrorism perpetrated on the people of color in the south - the vehement opposition to the thought that anyone would dare oppose their southern traditions - the threats to jobs, the assault on humanity, the sense of entitlement and the fear that things might change.  That's still going on too - look at the recent protests regarding police brutality that have taken place in the country. It's a wonder the United States Attorney General gets any sleep at all.

I don'tknow if "Selma" will win Best Picture, although it certainly is the best movie I have seen so far in the past twelve months.  I certainly think "Glory" should win Best Original Song, it's really great. This will mark the second John Legend song I've ever purchased.

My only criticism of the movie is that it would have been more effective to introduce the name is the characters as the film opened - so that people would know who was who. They introduce the woman trying to vote, but not the group around Martin Luther King Jr., or the little girls who are killed In the church bombing, or any info on SNCC.  if you aren't already familiar with the history and the players, read "Parting The Waters" books I, II, and III - part II  deals with Selma, but they are all worth reading and give great background on the Civil Rights movement and the process.

It also would have been beneficial to release this movie before the mid-term elections, now we are looking at the after effects of a watered down Voting Rights Act, a Republican House and Republican Senate whose agenda is clear to eradicate the Affordable Care Act, make sure illegal immigrants don't receive citizenship, and dash all hopes of marriage equality - like I said, it's not over.

Why "Scandal" Is So Popular

This year people marveled that the 3^rd year season premier of “Scandal” attracted over 12 million viewers and that the show has generated twitter and viewing parties all over the country. The show is about a public relations guru and her on-going affair with the President of the United States. Stories about women who find love and sacrifice it for the greater good are nothing new – but this story seems to have captured the attention of everyone, especially women of color. If you call one while the show is on, you might get hung up on! You might still find a lot of people who have never seen it, but I doubt you can find many people who have never heard of it.

The publicity has been incredible and you've seen Kerry Washington, the actress who plays the lead character Olivia Pope go from being considered a journey woman actress to a star in her own right. The outfits she wears on the show have caused American seamstresses to turn their hands into pincushions in their haste to produce knockoff outfits overnight. The Prada calfskin tote in white and tan are the most sought after items on earth right now – there isn't a SINGLE Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus or Saks that has it in stock in the country. You can find a needle in a haystack before you'll find a white trench coat.

Well, this is only my theory, but I haven't heard anyone dispute me on it. Let me take you back in time.

It was the summer of 2011 when the world was inundated with stories about Muammar Gaddafi's “obsession” with Condelezza Rice. Some reported that he had a room peppered with pictures of her, clippings of her triumphs, a movie about her background and travels that was longer than “The Godfather”, and that he showered her with diamonds and asked her to be his queen. It turned out that much of that was overblown, the room was actually a binder, the diamonds were actually one ring, and the film was a 60 minute video tape. It doesn't matter – I said it at the time and I will repeat it – every woman should know such adulation! He called her his beautiful African princess, he said that he admired her, that he enjoyed watching her tell others what to do, and that he liked the fact that she had so much power and was so intelligent. Count the number of times somebody has told you that! If you still have fingers left, that is the answer to the question about why women are drawn to the television show “Scandal” with such cult-like devotion. The show began a few months after that revelation.

In every episode you see a woman who owns her own successful business that spends each week saving the world from public relations nightmares, all the while meeting the President in the Oval office, or a tech closet, or a secret home in Vermont for their rendez-vous! You wonder how she has the time – her clothes are impeccable, the weave is never out of place, and that handbag never even has a smudge on it. She's a woman of African descent who tells everyone what to do, they all listen to her, and when the show is over, order is restored. You can't find that level of fantasy everywhere.

So, if you're planning on asking a sister out on Thursday night, be prepared for an early evening – she may have a standing reservation at a Chicago viewing party – cause “Scandal” is one show we don't intend to miss!!!

American Hustle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let me say out of the gate, this movie is a contender and I recommend it highly – but, let me add a caveat – I like David O. Russell's stories about regular people in unusual circumstances, and this movie is very good. What this movie misses is the rich character development that I have come to expect after years of being spoiled by the fabulously lush and detailed storytelling of other con artist and gangster movies I have seen in the past.

The movie is about a con-man who seems to find himself in a lot of trick bags because of the women he runs with. The movie starts by showing you how he found himself obligated to cooperate in a sting operation because his girlfriend (Amy Adams) fails to heed the cardinal rule of the con – cast the net and let the fish come to you. So, at the outset you can see that his work life is very complicated. We then meet his wife – a beautiful and dangerous idiot who keeps his homelife exciting, if not mind boggling. She brings new meaning to the phrase “ A woman should surprise her husband everyday”. That many surprises would shorten anyone's life,

Here are the lessons you will learn from this movie:

Don't hang around people who aren't that bright – life is too short to try and make sense out of non-sense!

You don't have to tell everything you know! – discretion is always going to be the better part of valor!

Give yourself the same advice you would give your best friend! – don't make decisions with your heart when only cold hard reason will do

Don't be a weak antelope! - the devil never sleeps

Get a job! - there is no such thing as a free lunch

Most importantly – do your homework! Don't take things at face value.

The movie is also about an overly ambitious FBI clerk who decides that he's going to give himself a promotion. The guy lives at home with his mother and has a girl throwing herself at him that he doesn't want anything to do with. He's trying to better himself despite the fact that his boss is trying to keep his feet on solid ground. He has a brilliant, but poorly thought out scheme. It's going to cost a fortune and there aren't enough experienced people to carry it out properly. He allows himself to fall in love with the con man's girlfriend and that's another big mistake.

The con artist's girlfriend is a conundrum. She seems pretty dedicated to this guy – he may be smart, but he reeks of smarminess – he's ugly, he's barely making ends meet, he's married -and worse of all – he's pimping her to keep his idiot wife in diamonds and furs. I wish I would!!!

Perhaps the only person you can feel sorry for is the mark in this little escapade – the mayor of a small town who dreams of revitalizing his community with a giant casino that will turn the streets to gold. He seems to have an honest motive, but like the FBI agent, he isn't sure how to do this, and he doesn't ask for help.

I would like this movie a little more if there had been more background, maybe more voiceovers – something to give me more frame of reference. The characters are fairly well developed, but you are really expecting more. I had too many questions in my mind at the end of the movie to make it #1.

Let me talk a little about the music. A good movie has actors who can tell the story wordlessly, a compelling dialogue, and music that that makes the story multi-dimensional, so I take the music part as seriously as the rest of the story. This movie has some great old songs you will be pleased to hear again - “ A Horse with No Name”, “Does Anyone Really Know What Time it Is?”, “I Saw The Light”, “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart”, and a Duke Ellington classic “Jeep's Blues”. Sadly, only the last song listed is on the official soundtrack. If this were my world, all soundtracks would have to include all of the songs in the movie. I've been mad about this lack of thoroughness since “Mary Poppins”.

Right now this movie is on my “best picture” list next to “12 Years A Slave” and “Gravity” but this weekend I am going to see “The Wolf of Wall Street” and I must admit “American Hustle” might get bumped down a bit, but it's still compelling – go see it.



 

 

 



12 Years A Slave

 

 

 

 

I set aside the day to see “12 Years A Slave”. The story is based on the autobiography of a man who was a free negro living in Sarasota, New York with his family twenty years before the Civil War broke out. He found himself cajoled to work in DC and was kidnapped and sold into slavery and spent twelve grueling years dealing the harsh reality of the deep south.

First of all – take the ENTIRE box of tissue with you to this movie. The theatre is going to be so quiet, all you're gonna hear is other people crying. There were about fifty of us at this screening and we all sat together. I've read “Gone With the Wind” and “Roots” and seen the movies many times each and let me tell you – those were the Disney versions of slavery. This strips away the fallacies and brings up the bright lights on the inhumanity that slavery came to represent. You will leave the movie a changed person.

While it is true that there is a beating, or a lynching in just about every single solitary scene in this movie, there are a couple of scenes that give you hope. By the way, what version of the Bible were they reading? Is there a Slave Owners abomination of the King James that I've never heard of – don't you have to wonder how people became Christians if that's what they heard day in and day out? The main character does something at one point that leaves the biggest and longest cliff hanger of all time – if you ever said “How is he going to get out of this?” in your life, you're going to say it and mean it down to your socks at one point while watching this movie. It's in the middle of the movie and you realize there is much more to tell, but you can't see how this episode will resolve.

The heart of the movie is really about the freeman sold into slavery, the female slave he meets, and the slave master. It's also about money, property, and production quotas. The female slave on the plantation regularly picks 500 pounds of cotton a day. Maybe we needed a wider wide shot, because it's hard to believe that there is 500 pounds of cotton on the plantation at all, much less enough to pick that much and more by yourself everyday. By comparison everyone else is coming up short. The line for whippings gets longer everyday because she is literally a cotton picking machine. She garners the master's favor in many ways because she can do something the others can't. He even tells his wife not to try and come between the two of them, because it's no contest.

The main character starts off in the deep south at a plantation that seems brutal enough, where he deals with wood. His master, however, seems to be relatively kind. Unfortunately, he winds up crossing a line he can't afford to cross and we all get to see how completely alone you are as a slave. There are no options available for you and maybe only one person on the whole plantation is going to help you. After his brief encounter there, he is sold to a cotton plantation down river, where you don't see anything other than brutality, beatings and lynching in every scene. At one point, he is rented out to a sugar plantation, and while sugar is the worse field to work, he does find some solace there.

The brutality and manipulation and deep seated cruelty is what will make it hard to take. You haven't seen a movie with this much brutality since “The Passion of the Christ”, and if you didn't see that, you may not be ready for this. I suggest a long leisurely dinner with friends afterwards as I had, to unwind and decompress. Don't go back into the streets right after watching this – take some time to relax and remind yourself that its a movie.

After many fits and starts, the slave is finally returned to his life. He finds that his children are grown and his wife has been patiently waiting for him all of this time. He lived out the rest of his life helping the abolitionist movement. In fact, that's why the book was written. It was an unimpeachable account of his life in the deep south. After watching that movie, looking at what has been accomplished and what remains left to be done, I think I would have left the country for Canada, but I applaud his decision to remain.

I also watched the TV One Special about the movie and the debate on how old you need ot be to see it. I think it depends on how old you were when you learned about slavery and what you learned about it. I really started learning about it in fourth grade. There were so many specials about that and the civil rights movement and the 10^th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination and the 4^th anniversary of the Martin Luther King Jr. assassination and the RF Kennedy assassination that we covered a lot of material. I recall that even then some people downplayed the role of slavery in building this country and its importance in an economic sense. We went to the State capital in 4^th grade and saw Abraham Lincoln's papers and recreations of the Gettysburg Address and the 2nd Inauguration speech. I think people in my class could have handled it. I'm not sure what children are being taught now about slavery and I don't see those same specials and books.

It's clear that no amount of money or time, or education can every really make up for all that our families have lost. I think that free therapy for the children of the slaves and even the children of the slave owners would be a good start. I also think that it is imperative that ALL organizations that benefited from the slave trade be rooted out and exposed. I realize that most of those organizations went out of business, but I will bet they morphed into something, because slavery was big money, and it had to go in someone's pockets. It's time we all learned the truth because the issue isn't going anywhere.



Why the Affordable Care Act is Important

When I was in college I worked for a company that offered insurance to all employees who worked 35 hours a week or more. This did not include me because I was only working 20 hours a week and I was on my parents insurance at the time. A few months later, the company decided to give the employees a stipend to buy their own single coverage health insurance and let the employees purchase dependent insurance on their own. They decided to only provide a stipend for the employee coverage because if they paid a larger stipend for employees who had dependents, this would #1 – cost more money, and #2- cause the single employees to revolt, and #3 – were concerned that it may be considered discriminatory In my opinion, it was a huge mistake – the majority of the employees didn't purchase insurance coverage at all – not even for themselves! They smoked the money up on stupid stuff. They took a chance that they could buy health insurance next month, or the month after that, or “when I really need it”. Well, this was back in the day before HMO plans, which allow pre-existing condition coverage. Most health plans were just major medical add/or medical visits and prescriptions. So, the day comes when they really need health insurance and either they have nothing in place at all or learn that their condition won't be covered at all by the plan, or they learn that the coverage they bought on their own has so much fine print and exclusions, it barely covers anything other than a hospital stay.

MEMO TO SELF – People have a hard time understanding the benefit of intangibles like health insurance unless they are in need of the coverage right then, and usually that is too late. Don't leave it up to people to buy their own insurance, it's not going to go well.

Now, you may say that those employees are grown and should be able to sink or swim on their own if that's what they decide to do. I would agree with you under normal circumstances, but unfortunately people don't act out of their best interest in some cases. Despite the copious training, the Q&A sessions, and insurance fairs that were held, only 20% of the people used that money to get coverage for themselves and/or their family members. People started leaving the company because they needed a job that offered health coverage for their family members. Employees who neglected to get coverage for themselves disengaged and checked out, literally or figuratively. They started to complain about the “skinflints” who ran the business. Why were they such tightwads that they couldn't afford to give health insurance. Employees started to see first hand why insurance was so important when they encountered health issues. If you took a Libertarian view, that's what freedom is all about. In my opinion, life is too precious to take a chance with.

Eventually, the owners sold the business to another company, and the new company resumed offering health insurance in the traditional manner. Order was restored. I see a wave of this happening in the coming months because a lot of companies do not realize how detrimental it will be to eliminate health insurance coverage or drop employee hours below a certain threshold to forestall compliance with the Affordable Care Act. I've been asked about this issue a few times, but I believe that companies that are committed to remaining in business will continue to offer full coverage insurance. While it's tempting to say I'll just pay the fine the government plans to impose ($2,000 per employee per year) if no coverage or substandard coverage are offered, or I'll just let my employees buy their own coverage. Realistically, there is more to it than just handing out some stipend checks and the phone number to the local Affordable Care Act info center or website. If you or a family member became ill without coverage, I'm pretty you'd want to do everything you could. Unfortunately, in a case where you've done nothing, there is nothing to be done.

For those people who found that their health insurance was cancelled as a result of the enactment of the Affordable Care Act, let me illuminate a fact. The point of healthcare reform was to eliminate health care plans that were substandard. If you had a plan that only covered hospitalization, and didn't cover prescriptions, emergency room visits, or therapy – your insurance plan was not going to be saved anyway. The insurance company can't make money selling a product that is no longer allowed. You shouldn't have called that health insurance anymore than SR-22 auto insurance is quality auto coverage – it's barebones coverage that is lambasted in Allstate commercials. Insurance companies have to offer standard plans that include hospitalization, doctor's visits, therapy sessions, prescriptions, and emergency room visits now. Some people saw their insurance costs increase because the standards have been raised. I don't believe those plans should come back, its time to move on to something substantial.

If you live in a progressive state like Illinois, you have the option of selecting a plan from the State of Illinois offerings and you may even be eligible for a subsidy to pay for a portion or all of the coverage. Having seen the coverage offerings, I would suggest that you take the time to choose wisely for yourself and family. You don't have to make a decision today. As long as you enroll by the end of March, you can participate. If you aren't in a progressive state, there are sure to be some protest rallies to get your state legislature to offer insurance plans that partner with the Fed to help subsidize coverage. Please get out your comfortable shoes and attend a rally. Don't miss the chance to get health insurance coverage for yourself or your family during this historic period. As the Vice President, Joe Biden said “It's a big f___ deal!”

The Jungle

I recall my high school freshman English teacher telling me about "The Jungle".  She made the story sound so fascinating that I went to the library and pulled it out that very day. It was, without a doubt, the most incredibly depressing story I had EVER read.  It was a soap opera without escape, and the hardest thing about the story was that the issues were very real and still relevant.  I think that I was the only one to take the bait and get the book in my class, and I wrote a scathing book report about it.  My English teacher laughed at me and said that she expected to see me  standing in the center of a political rally in twenty years.  I didn't wait anywhere nearly that long. 

Going to school in Hyde Park, the one thing we all knew about was the fact that the Swift family lived there and had a mansion in Kenwood that is still the envy of . They were the most well known meat packers in the United States - when you hear the name Armour Swift Eckrich, think about the fact that food comes from Chicago, that's one reason why it's so good!  We used to pass by the Swift mansion when we had a lesson about the wealthy families of Hyde Park.

The Jungle is actually a pretty quick read because there is so much tragedy in it that you are turning the pages to see when something decent is going to happen.  There are some stretches that make you want to toss the book on the ground.  There is, however, something that keeps this book close to my heart at all times - the Food and Drug Administration.  Let me toss a quick "We missed you" out to the food inspection team that was off during the government shut down.

In The Jungle, a man is getting married in Chicago and begins working in various difficult jobs for people who speak little English and have little to no education. One of the jobs was working in the meat packing industry.  The story was written at the beginning of the previous century, and was met with extreme indignation by the establishment.  Upton Sinclair was so widely denounced, he must have felt like Clinton during his time in the White House.  Eventually, Sinclair's tome of a decadent world of capitalistic degradation and oppression caused the passage of laws that would lead to a safer food supply and better working conditions.

I encourage everyone to set aside a weekend and break out the old classic.  Some of you will become vegetarians if you never read this book before, but let me caution you that one of the most dangerous outbreaks of food poisoning recently was related to cantaloupe. Maybe we just need to concentrate on making sure all of the food is fit to eat.  I'd hate to see a world where we couldn't trust anything we put in our mouths - would you?

Don't You Quit!

Reluctantly, I went to see " Gravity" on opening weekend. 

I knew the movie had spectacular special effects and was very well received, but to be honest, I don't like movies where people are abandoned - it's too depressing.  Besides, what's going to happen in a movie where there is only one person against the world - I didn't want to go - but my cousins wanted to see it - so I went with the flow.

I must say that I am glad that I listened to them - "Gravity" is a thoroughly delightful movie, and I actually am recommending that everyone see it.  The movie has an incredible message that everyone, especially in this economy and especially young people - need to hear - it's not over 'til it's over. Don't be surprised if this movie wins "Best Picture"  I liked it that much.

In "Gravity"  Sandra Bullock is an acclaimed scientist trying to carry out an experiment in space. She's one of the best and brightest, everyone else on the crew is there to support her efforts.  The only thing is  - like being on earth, you have to deal with the situation you are in, no matter how smart you are - there's something out there that trumps you.  When I was at the Palmer House, the saying was    "Everyone has a boss.." and that's true.  For us, it was the hotel guest.  For Sandra Bullock, it was space.

In the movie, Sandra Bullock is extoling the virtues of being in the peace and quiet of space, while George Clooney blathers on endlessly about past hook-ups. He was really good in the movie, but his character was everything his public persona makes him out to be - calm, in control, analytic to the point of distraction - someone who took life in space for granted.  He had his own reason for being there, and his leadership is invaluable to the scientist.

Sandra spends her odyssey trying to control her environment, and ultimately, the fight becomes too much of a struggle as she realizes that this peace and quiet that she prized isn't all it's cracked up to be.  She also realizes a bit too late that she was really focused on doing the easy stuff well.  She sees that she doesn't really know what she is doing as she tries to survive - she doesn't even know how to pray.

The great thing about this movie is that it reminds you - or in some cases shows you, that you don't need to do anything special to pray - there aren't really any secret formulas you have to utilize - a  quick "Help a sister out" has always been effective for me.  When you think of something that had never occurred to you before - something that makes you say - "oh - is that going to work, I hadn't thought of that before" - that is generally your answer.  But whatever you do - don't ever quit! Don't keep doing the same stupid thing over and over again - it didn't work the first hundred times, and doing the same thing and expecting a different result is usually a sign of insanity.  Your answer may be just around the corner if you just center yourself and ask for what you want...


When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,

When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,

When the funds are low and the debts are high,

And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,

When care is pressing you down a bit-

Rest if you must, but don't you quit. Life is queer with its twists and turns,

As every one of us sometimes learns,

And many a fellow turns about

When he might have won had he stuck it out.

Don't give up though the pace seems slow -

You may succeed with another blow. Often the goal is nearer than

It seems to a faint and faltering man;

Often the struggler has given up

When he might have captured the victor's cup;

And he learned too late when the night came down,

How close he was to the golden crown. Success is failure turned inside out -

The silver tint in the clouds of doubt,

And you never can tell how close you are,

It might be near when it seems afar;

So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit -

It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.

Courtesy of "Don't You Quit", an inspirational poem

Football, baby, Football!!!

When this time of year comes along, my girlfriends are usually pouting and complaining about their men and their addiction to football. This is not an issue that I have, because I've been into football since Joe Namath said the Jets were going to win the Superbowl and he was literally the ONLY thing I saw on TV for the next week. When his prediction came true, he became the football icon of the decade. I don't understand why my friends don't learn more about football – I was bombarded with it, I wanted to see what all the excitement was. My father watches football all the time – most of my friends have at least one brother, a male cousin, a father, something – how do you miss learning about sports???

It's great for your dating life – most guys expect you to grouse and act bored while watching a football game with them. Want to blow their mind? Name the players, tell them what the play should be, and call the ref's call before he does! I've thrown a few brothers into apoplexy pulling that move. First question - “You know what it means to be “off sides” ?” Yeah, I do. Second question “Who taught you about football?” My father wasn't born a principal, you know. Being the girl who enjoys a good game places you on a whole new level.

In fact, my very first boyfiend played football from Pop Warner to the Canadian League to the Seattle Seahawks. We remained good friends forever. I was once watching him play with the Seahawks and they called his name on national TV. My family was so excited, we all called one another. The guy I was with was completely dumbfounded by this – “ You're still friends with this guy???” It was a long time ago, stop tripping.

When Sullivan High School was on its way to the Chicago Public League Championship back in the day, I went to the games if Kenwood wasn't playing. Sometimes, members of Kenwood's football team went to the games too. They went to see a good game, which I can understand. So, I walk into one game with my father, and one of the players asked me “You brought your father to the game?” Actually, my father was the principal of Sullivan at the time. We came to cheer on the troops. It was incredible when they played at Soldier's field, where the Chicago Bears play. Sullivan lost to St. Laurence, but at least they went! Kenwood, well, the less said about that, the better....

I wish Loyola had a football team. As it was, we had to go up to Northwestern when we wanted to see a game, and Northwestern never won a single game when we went out there, standing in the freezing cold at Dyche, which was a stone's throw from Lake Michigan, even closer than Soldier Field. Today, I'll watch Northwestern or U of I to get my college fix. It's mostly about the pros now, so it's all about the Bears, even when it doesn't go well.

I also went to two Superbowls, and I finally had a chance to meet Joe Namath in person and tell him how he brought the game to my attention. He was very nice, took a picture with me, hugged me, the whole bit. I also met Terry Bradshaw and Roger Staubach. It is, without a doubt, the WILDEST WEEKEND on earth. Everyone should go, at least once. But pace yourself, and don't plan on hitting the ground running as soon as you return. A little down time is a requirement.

Anyway, I encourage everyone to learn about football and stop fighing it. It's a great game, even if it is admittedly disgustingly brutal, frighteningly mean spirited, and can leave players with life long disabilities. The NFL is the most profitable sports league on earth, dwarfing basketball, and baseball. It's not going anywhere, so enjoy it.

Football Should Be Played on Real Grass

Robert Griffin III just injured his knee so seriously that he may not be able to return for the 2013/2014 season – that's tragic – it 's criminal in my mind. The man just started playing football – and now he has a major injury that may end his career prematurely. He might have to wait until the 2014/2015 season to return to work. Why? Because the television studios want to get a bright green background on their football fields rather than photograph the beauty of real grass????

Paint the grass green if need be – toss the uniforms and replace them after every game, don't sacrifice the player's limbs in the name of having a beautiful set. Does that make any sense? You can spray paint the lines, use vegetable dye on the field, and stencil a new logo on a grass field. Why would you play on anything else?

Professional athletes are asked to throw themselves on playing surfaces that are about as accommodating as a cement floor. If it were you, your child, your nephew, your friend – how would you feel about it? Isn't the point of OSHA to make sure everyone is working in a safe environment? When are they going to contact the NFL and ask them to straighten up! How painful it must be to have ten guys piled on top of you and your back is against an asphalt ground in a fiberglass helmet.

Think of all of the athletes whose careers could be saved if the players had been working on a surface that was meant for the sport? Are soccer players asked to play on hardwood? Are basketball players asked to play on ice? Are baseball players asked to play on gravel? What have football players done to be treated so disrespectfully? I urge the Football Players Union to take the initiative and fight for their players – no one makes money when the players can't play the game – let them play on real grass and save their legs and ankles!

The Book of Darlene

 

 

It's funny how things work out. I planned on going to see this movie on Friday evening because I wanted to see it at night before heading into the weekend. I always like to start the weekend with a good song on my mind. I wound up seeing “Lee Daniels' The Butler” and the song I was singing was “I'll Close My Eyes” and “Family Reunion”.

This movie is completely different – it's a documentary that deals with the background singers who go unsung, but lend the deep groove you hear in almost every song ever made. This film looks at the careers of Merry Clayton, Judith Hill, Lisa Fischer, and the most heralded background singer of all time – Darlene Love.

Merry Clayton is the one you hear wailing in the back of “Gimme Shelter” with the Rolling Stones, she also sang background on 'Bridge Over Troubled Water”, “It's In His Kiss” and “Southern Man”. She has a sound that you can't recreate with the best music machine. It's very unique.

Judith Hill is the background singer that worked with Michael Jackson on the “This is It” tour that never was. It's generally acknowledged that Judith was about to blow up with that tour, but fate had other plans for her. She's the one Michael tells “I gotta save my voice” in the movie.

Lisa Fischer is one background singer I actually had a chance to meet when she was here in Chicago singing back-up for Luther Van Dross. This was one of my first experiences working with a ticket broker, and I got tickets in the first row of his concert with a girlfriend and two guys we were dating at the time. I was hooked, I haven't been in the back since that day. It was like Luther was singing directly to me. My seat was right in front of his mic stand. Later that night Frances and I were at “The Limelight”, the hot night club of the time – it's called something else now. Luther comes in with his friend and we tell him how much we enjoyed the concert. He was very gracious, but it's clear that he was a little more concerned about unwinding after a night of hard work. The next day I'm at the Walgreen's on Chicago Avenue and Lisa Fischer was there getting some mascara with another backup singer. We recognize one another right away. They ask me how I got the seat in the front, and I asked them about their make-up and those fabulous gowns they wear in the show. They told me something that in years to come, I will hear again and again –their clothes were locked up after the show, and they didn't

 

get to wear the gowns anyplace but on stage. It took a while to understand the rationale behind that, but I get it now. Lisa got to sing lead on her own song, and it won a Grammy and was very popular – we all expected Lisa to become a superstar – she has as great a voice as Whitney Houston.

Now we come to one of the most infamous stories of career domination I am aware of – the story of Darlene Love. Darlene Love sang background on “Johnny Angel” Shelley Fabares hit song, “The Tracks of My Tears”, and “Poor Side of Town”. Darlene sang with a group called The Blossoms and they did back-up for Elvis, Dionne Warwick, The Beach Boys, and Tom Jones. Darlene finally gives her side of the story regarding how Phil Spector used her voice on songs that made The Crystals more famous. The Crystals were a famous girl group who did “Da Doo Ron Ron”. While The Crystals were on the road singing to their fans, their Producer, Phil Spector, was at home making new songs for the girls - and using Darlene's voice and refused to give her proper credit. It was a humiliating turn in Darlene's life. Darlene is actually the voice on “He's a Rebel” with the Blossoms. Following that was “He's Sure the Boy I Love”. Darlene didn't get her title on a song until “Today I Met the Boy I'm Going to Marry”, and Spector offered her $3,000 for total rights to the song.

She took it, and the song went gold, so she wound up getting robbed again. I used to listen to “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”, as a little kid at my grandmother's house because my aunt Elaine used to play it all the time. I've been a Darlene Love fan almost as long as I was a fan of the Supremes. It was sad to hear her talk about how she was taken advantage of. It was like reading that story about Florence Ballard in “Jet” magazine right before she died. No artist wants to see their work go unheralded, and you can feel her pain in this film.

Flash forward to the present day and Darlene Love is a regular guest on David Letterman, sings, acts, and is generally regarded as an icon. She's as big a star as any of the people she covered for in the sixties. She is still out there doing it, and the man who treated her with such disdain is in prison and will be for many years to come. I believe that with their talent that the other singers will get back what they lost, also.

“Avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord.” Romans 12:19

 

 

The Butler

I don't actually compare every movie I see to “The Godfather”. That would be pretty pitiful if I did, because what has a chance of meeting that measure of greatness?

But here's one thing (there are MANY) that make this a gold standard of movies – you got to know the family – and that helped you identify with them. That's what is missing from a lot of movies that are supposed to be family dramas – the relationship part is rushed – that's the only thing that I see that may hold “Lee Daniels' The Butler” back.

The story opens up as a tear jerker – a young boy whose family is torn asunder and he is displaced. There are many cash crops in this country – corn, wheat, sugar, rice – but is there any as closely associated with and murder as cotton? Cecil Gaines has more reasons than most to spend his life wearing polyester.

But the boy learns his lessons well and becomes the only thing that he has been taught to be – a butler to the Leaders of the Free World. One thing about it, though, he had to be the best to get the job, so you can't be mad at that. I've always been told that no matter what you decide to do for a living, be the best at it.

So Cecil rises to recognition through a series of positions and finds himself summoned to the White House to interview for the job. He actually raises the standard, and they already thought that they were pretty hot stuff. He is at the right place at exactly right time – Cecil is a silent witness to the great upheaval that is the Civil Rights movement. From the school integration of the “Little Rock Nine” at Little Rock Central High School to the first celebration of Martin Luther King's birthday as a federal holiday, Cecil is nearby the seat of power with a knowing glance.

The main conflict appears to be between Cecil and his son. Although it is clear that Cecil is proud of his son for going to school and he explains that he will be the first in the family to go, it's not clear that he has ever explained to him how far their family has come, and how easily all of that progress can be wiped away. The son has different ideas about what his newfound freedom will bring – and he spends most of the movie fighting in every battle of the Civil Rights movement he can find – while they may not detail every single battle he takes part in – they make sure the audience knows that he has been arrested more than ten times. I'm pretty sure than anyone's parents would be angry if they sent their child to college and they spent the time behind bars – they could have done that for free.

The other on-going conflict seems to be that black service workers are paid less than their white counterparts. A lot of people may be aware that there is still disparity between male and female workers all over the counry, but most people take for granted that race and color have been taken out of the wage wars. This is possible because the man responsible for selecting the service workers is careful to select only those who would be considered “responsible”, definitely wasn't looking for the uppity kind. Cecil breaks ranks and does the unexpected here.

And that brings us to Cecil's wife, Gloria. Gloria worked at a hotel with Cecil. She is played to the hilt by Oprah Winfrey. While there were some who were disappointed in her performance, I liked Gloria's saucy personality. After the attention brought to the anticipated love scene between she and the next door neighbor (played by Terrence Howard), I guess we'll all have to wait for the Director's cut to see what all the fuss was about.

Gloria is drinking, smoking, and cheating while her husband is working hard to make sure the current occupant of the White House has all of the creature comforts. You know that Gloria is frustrated, but, really, what is she upset about? Her husband has a job – there are a lot of sisters out there who wish they could say the same! What's the point of having an affair with the next door neighbor when he's about thirty cents away from having a quarter?!

I enjoyed the movie, but there were things that were missing – we need to see more of the family interaction – more about the dynamic – and more about the Civil Rights struggle. In “The Godfather” (sorry, there goes that comparison again) when Michael tells Kay about how his father got a famous singer out of his contract with a well known band leader, isn't that everything you need to know to set the family dynamic in place? When Don Corleone tells Michael that women can be careless but men can't be, and when he tells him that he wanted him to be Senator or Governor, not carry on the family business – doesn't that tell you what you need to know about how close they are and the size of his ambition? You don't get that sense and development from this movie. The movie just seems rushed from beginning to end.

You can't cover that much history in two hours. I know that movie makers want to maximize the film's earning potential with frequent showings. I know epic films are almost impossible to make, especially for African American directors, but this is a film that could have really benefited from an extra half hour – even more from an hour. Can you imagine “Malcolm X” being two hours long?

Tell me what you thought....