It's Hard Out Here for Everyone

I missed the blog post last week, so this week you get two. First off the movie "Hustle and Flow." I had seen all the reviews of this movie and heard all the accolades, since I am an Oscar buff. When the movie first came out, it didn't look like something that would interest me. I'm not a big fan of rap music in general and wasn't impressed with the content of the songs. The tune is catchy and now, having seen the movie, I get why it was lauded. Terrence Howard played the role of DJay with amazing accuracy. He was able to convey the struggle of a "working" man who wants better for his life. Although he was a pimp, he seemed to genuinely care about his girls (except the idiot who treated him like crap.) All he was doing throughout the movie was trying to improve his life. I can understand why he snapped in the bar at the end, to have your hopes and dreams squashed in an instant is a horrific experience. It can drive the most well-adjusted person to acts of violence. The end was bittersweet in a bizarre way. He finally "made it," only to be incarcerated for murder. When he turns to the guard and repeats the dream line, it seemed to me that he was going to punish the guard for the perceived mistreatment that he had been dealt. He conveyed his bitterness toward no one helping him onto someone else. Some people are able to learn and move forward to help others, some just wallow in their own misery. I realized the movie conveyed a deeper message than I ever gave it credit for. I don't think it was demoralizing to Memphis in any way, I think Memphis was just the setting for this tragic story. There are areas like those in every city and if it had been filmed in NY, Chicago, Detroit, or some other large city, the effect would have been the same. It was nice to see locals like Isaac Hayes in the film and to watch the "props" that Memphis got during the filming and after. The movie was very good and I'm sorry that I dismissed it when it was released.