>personally, i was surprised at how exploitative hustle and
>flow WASN'T. nothing about djay's lifestyle was glorified--
>even he hated what he saw in the mirror-- except his passion
>for pursuing his dream, a passion that spread to every other
>character in the movie. i'll say it again, the DREAM and the
>PASSION is what's glorified in hustle and flow, not the
>lifestyle. yeah, the dream happened to be rapper, but in
>reality for MANY poor black folks, rapper is one of maybe four
>attractive options they see themselves presented with.
>
>i thought hustle and flow was one of the best films of 2005,
>black or otherwise, and it's a real shame that so many
>people's kneejerk reaction to any film with poor black folks
>in it is to cry exploitation.

I cannot tell you how many people I talked to had who an objection to the "content" of the film, and hadn't even seen it. They just knew that it was "about a pimp." And the sad fact is that these are creative folk who would really have related to DJay's story had they just given the movie a chance. They like to create but are stuck in dead-end jobs so they feel trapped -- just like DJay. But because he's a pimp that makes it a no-no. I mean, how DARE a pimp, of all people in "our community," have a dream.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Hey there
Lay there
Won't you take me home?
I'll write your name in a song