Open Call: Pitch Reels

Fair enough. Although, I don't agree when you say "race has /nothing/ to do with clientele when getting your hair done".

I do think that there is a founded cultural injunction, among many black folks, against getting your haircut by people who don't have the same type of hair as you: certainly you're familiar with this, and, if not, you could see how/why it would work. Knowing how to do certain styles implies some kind of familiarity or intimacy with the people who request them. You've side-stepped this by invoking a color-blind meritocracy of style.

As for the Obama speech: I see your point and agree. I was confused because you hadn't said which of Wright's remarks Obama was "denouncing". I thought you were referencing the More Perfect Union speech from a few months ago. As it stands, you're managing to call attention to a 2nd, more rigid denunciation of Wright that hasn't really recieved much airplay on TV. Good look.

And good luck. I'm just trying to engage some of these posts beyond saying "good job" or "nice pitch"; next year, they should make it so that you have to post a comment in order to vote. As it stands, somebody can come along and give someone else a 1 out of 5 without saying anything substantive about the pitch.

Thank you for your criticism. I use to go to a Caucasian American owned barbershop in Seattle, Washington, on 2nd Avenue. The barbers name was Thomas. His clientele was mostly African American because he knew how to cut hair. I wish I could shoot up there, or maybe I should fly up there. I find that statement not true because race has nothing to do with clientele when it comes to getting your hair done. Whoever can fade the best, is going to get business. Blacks that go to barbershops are not running away from White ones.

As for the fair perspective, I put in the treatment that we would travel outside the black community also. In response to the Obama rejection, here's the speech.

-Obama
"I have spent my entire adult life trying to bridge the gap between different kinds of people. That’s in my DNA. Trying to promote mutual understanding, to insist that we all share common hopes, and common dreams, as Americans and as human beings. That’s who I am, that’s what I believe, that’s what this campaign has been about.

Yesterday we saw a very different vision of America. I am outraged by the comments that were made and saddened over the spectacle that we saw yesterday. I have been a member of Trinity United Church of Christ since 1992. I’ve known Reverend Wright for almost 20 years. The person that I saw yesterday was not the person that I met 20 years ago. His comments were not only divisive and destructive, but I believe that they end up giving comfort to those who prey on hate, and I believe that they do not portray accurately the perspective of the black church.

They certainly don’t portray accurately my values and beliefs. And if Reverend Wright thinks that that’s political posturing, as he put it, then he doesn’t know me very well. And based on his remarks yesterday, well, I may not know him as well as I thought either.

Now, I’ve already denounced the comments that had appeared in these previous sermons. As I said, I had not heard them before. And I gave him the benefit of the doubt in my speech in Philadelphia, explaining that he has done enormous good in the church. He has built a wonderful congregation. The people of Trinity are wonderful people, and what attracted me has always been their ministries reach beyond the church walls.

But when he states and then amplifies such ridiculous propositions as the U.S. government somehow being involved in AIDS, when he suggests that Minister Farrakhan somehow represents one of the greatest voices of the 20th and 21st centuries, when he equates the United States wartime efforts with terrorism, then there are no excuses.

They offend me. The rightly offend all Americans. And they should be denounced. And that’s what I’m doing very clearly and unequivocally here today.

This is a great idea, it's unfortunate that the important social function of the barbershop is just now starting to be understood, perhaps only because of the major motion picture of the same name.

Though one of the questions you pose is incorrect; Obama never "rejected" his pastor. If you go back over the transcript of the speech he gave on 3.18, you'll note that he said he "can no more [disown] his pastor than he can disown his own grandmother". The way I see it, and please correct me where you see fit, is that what Obama did wasn't a "rejection", it was an attempt to re-understand Race according to the many historical and social forces that lead to the aggressiveness and anger of racial groups and their representatives. While you say he "rejected" Obama, FoxNews, on the other hand, takes him to task for /not/ rejecting him. The truth is probably somewhere in between.

As far as the alleged authenticity of the barbershop, people do a lot of signifying (i.e. bullsh*tting) there. This is especially the case since most of the people who go to a black barbershop refuse to get their haircut at a white one. So I question whether this will lead us to a clearer picture of what is "truly" on the minds of American voters. There's enough anxiety and self-hatred to go around within communities of color to suggest that understanding belief-formation is more complex than taking seriously what people say when they're in their own neighborhoods.

I don't know whether to give this one a 3 or a 4.

Great concept. I think this would be a way to focus a big concept in a setting that many Americans aren't familiar with.

I believe this is a very interesting and thought provoking topic. I am curious to know what people have to say about Rev. Wright and the comments he made about America. Taxi was a great short with some awsome points of view, I can't wait for A Tale of Two Barbershops!

I believe that this would be a great short film because of the angle that the story represents. The citizens of america who are not inclined with politics would benefit greatly from this film. Because they will witness the views of various people speaking openly about the election. Barbershops are perfect for open forums various topics from relationships to sports and politics. Because barberhops are places for men to relax and unwind from work and home and they will be able to speak freely.