I saw Hustle and Flow, and while I liked, even admired, parts of the film, I could never get over the fact that the movie seemed to simply refuse to interrogate or grapple with its lead character's misogyny and the problematics of his relationship to the women he pimped. That's not to say I wanted some kind of judgement from the film of the character, or for him to get some comeuppance, but the movie seemed to think we should be rooting for its lead simply because he was a guy with a dream, and I didn't have any interest in doing that.

So, though I haven't seen Black Snake Moan, the new film from Hustle and Flow's writer/director, Dana Stevens' review seems spot on to me:

I guarantee that the words provocative, bold, and courageous will be bandied about in discussions of this movie, and they won't be entirely misplaced. Writer and director Craig Brewer, who made 2005's Hustle and Flow, has a fine sense of locale (here, the Tennessee countryside), a way of coaxing thrilling performances from actors, and terrific taste in music. But can we just start with something very basic here? Chaining someone to your radiator is wrong. Depriving a near-naked and recently assaulted stranger of the most basic physical liberty for days on end is a sick, perverse, and cruel thing to do. Black Snake Moan appears to be--or, worse, pretends to be--oblivious to that simple fact. And that obliviousness makes all of the movie's supposed risk-taking seem more like exploitation

UPDATE: Katha Pollitt writes in to point out that it's a bit absurd to endorse a review of a movie that you haven't seen as "spot on." Fair point. So let me clarify. In her review of the Black Snake Moan, Dana Stevens does a good job of articulating what I found troubling about Hustle and Flow, namely:

In that movie, Terrence Howard's character was meant to remain the focus of our attention and sympathy even after he threw one of his hookers out into the street with her baby as punishment for talking back. I never forgave the character for that act, and by the end of the movie, I couldn't have given a shit whether he achieved rap fame or not (with the "boo-hoo, I'm a pimp" song that he neither wrote nor sang by himself but ran around taking full credit for).

That's how I felt about that film. Since I haven't seen Black Snake Moan, I have no idea whether Craig Brewer transcends that in it or not. But Stevens point about what bothered her about Hustle and Flow struck a chord.

Comments (15)

1. Well, it sounds like a major scandal ....

   about a film that almost nobody has heard of, or is likely to see.

   If you want to see something with "snake" in the title, and Samuel L. Jackson...I have a different idea for you though.

   Posted by Mask at 03/02/2007 @ 1:06pm

2. I'm looking forward to seeing this movie. A half-naked white woman chained up in a black man's house in the deep south. For that alone, I'm going to see it. Besides, Samuel Jackson is a great actor. I'll see just about everything he's in. I did not see snakes on a plane. It seemed B-movieish. Are you going to see it Mask? I wouldn't mind reading your take on the movie.

   Posted by k330k at 03/02/2007 @ 2:58pm

3. about a film that almost nobody has heard of, or is likely to see.

   Posted by MASK 03/02/2007 @ 1:06pm

   Including Mr. Hayes!!!

   A review of a review of movie you have not seen?

   I know it is Friday and this is "The Notion" and all, but . . .

   Posted by Hman23 at 03/02/2007 @ 3:38pm

4. Posted by K330K 03/02/2007 @ 2:58pm

   Well, it's a tough call. "S.O.A.P." or "B.S.M." Sam taking on the snakes on a plane....or Christina getting nekkid.

   I'd prefer some YouTube edit called "Black Snakes on a Moaning Plane"....where a naked Ricci is chained to a 777 full of snakes.

   Posted by Mask at 03/02/2007 @ 4:05pm

5. Posted by HMAN23 03/02/2007 @ 3:38pm

   Next time I get accused of "dragging things off-topic from an IMPORTANT issue"...

   I'm going to pull out the byline for THIS oddity from Mr Hayes.

   hehe

   Posted by Mask at 03/02/2007 @ 4:06pm

6. Plot hole: if one has a chain, a radiator is easy pickins'.

   Now if one were chained to a plane full of lobbyists, er ... snakes...

   what do you call a plane of lobbyists, with two empty seats, that goes down in the Pacific?

   Posted by crabwalk at 03/02/2007 @ 4:12pm

7. Here's a MUCH more imporant and dangerous story Mr Hayes might look into...

   Ruth Ginsberg [blogs.abcnews.com] is acting "frail"!

   Posted by Mask at 03/02/2007 @ 4:26pm

8. what do you call a plane of lobbyists, with two empty seats, that goes down in the Pacific?

   Posted by CRABWALK 03/02/2007 @ 4:12pm

   a shame...that the two seats weren't filled?

   BTW, you DO know that the Sierra Club and the AFL-CIO try to enact their agenda via "lobbyists", right?

   Posted by Mask at 03/02/2007 @ 4:28pm

9. what do you call a plane of lobbyists, with two empty seats, that goes down in the Pacific?

   Posted by CRABWALK 03/02/2007 @ 4:12pm

   Wasted capacity?

   Posted by fromredbird at 03/02/2007 @ 4:45pm

10. Really! Wow MASK, your insight is mind boggling.

    What about a bus of lawyers with an empty seat?

    Do I know that the Sierra Club and the NRDC have lawyers? yes.

    Posted by crabwalk at 03/02/2007 @ 4:47pm

11. a plane of snakes, a bus of snakes, both a damn shame.

    Posted by crabwalk at 03/02/2007 @ 4:49pm

12. Posted by CRABWALK 03/02/2007 @ 4:47pm

    Well, I didn't say "lawyers", said lobbyists.

    Always something to keep in mind when the terms "lobbyists" and "special interests" are being thrown around cavalierly.

    The LEFT has theirs too!

    Posted by Mask at 03/02/2007 @ 4:56pm

13. Mr. Hayes, I don't think there should be any requirement, formal or otherwise, that a creative work must impart a sense of social probity. It may, but it shouldn't be demanded. It's still a fully realized work of art if it simply portrays a viewpoint that others are not familiar with, if it does so honestly and accurately. Stalinist "social realism", no matter how watered down, is simply not compatible with American traditions.

    Craig Brewer's Hustle And Flow portrayed a pretty raw slice of American life, from the first few seconds of the film, and did so very well for a first time director on a limited budget. The theme of the film was social circumstances and the yearning to escape them. If it had been bent into a sappy tale of complete salvation over those circumstances, with or without some bizarre and unlikely occurence that would serve as a catalyst for such a thing, the film would have been simply ridiculous and boring.

    I think you're also overlooking the fact that the film should be causing the audience to reflect on it's own responsibility for the circumstances that the characters find themselves in. How can the Terrence Howard character be held responsible for the conditions of the prostitutes who share an unenviable existence with him more than anything else while society at large need accept no responsibility whatsoever for the conditions that created the very limited choices that both of them had?

    As a side note, Terrence Howard is probably what made that film more than anything else and Craig Brewer's choice of Samuel Jackson in his new film may do the same.

    I have to admit, though, that the new film sounds a little too goofy, starting with the title. There are lots of old blues lyrics that refer to humans or other mammals moaning but I never heard of one that referred to reptiles doing that. However, I did an internet search and there is a blues song titled Long Snake Moan. I've never heard of it and that's from someone who knows who Bobo Jenkins is.

    http://www.detroitmusichistory.com/BoBo.html

    Posted by fromredbird at 03/02/2007 @ 5:26pm

14. From the blog post: Depriving a near-naked and recently assaulted stranger of the most basic physical liberty for days on end is a sick, perverse, and cruel thing to do.

    I forgot to mention the thought that I don't recall ever seeing Woman In The Dunes excoriated because a woman and her community trapped a man for months and years in a sand pit and psychologically induced him into a sexual relationship with her.

    Posted by fromredbird at 03/02/2007 @ 5:35pm

15. "problematics"? Is that even a word? What's wrong with "problems"? -Grammar Nazi

    Posted by JD Rhoades at 03/03/2007 @ 10:25am