Earlier this week, I watched a tribute to comedian Eddie Murphy on the Spike TV network. It was an event where he was surrounded by many of his peers including Arsenio Hall, Keenan Ivory Wayans (who told the story of Eddie Murphy giving him a Rolex watch as a gift), Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence and Tyler Perry. Eddie’s brother, Charlie Murphy, gave a heartfelt tribute to him where he told stories about their childhood and what it was like growing up watching a comedic genius in action. Oh, how he wished he had only known that at the time.
Prior to the tribute, I watched an interview with Eddie Murphy on Inside the Actors Studio where they took a look back at his career and he got to answer questions from the student body. Both shows aired segments and bits from Eddie’s career. As I watched the bit from the 1983 comedy performance, Delirious, I listened intently to the material chosen for this concert in a way that I had not listened to before. Eddie did a bit describing the two male characters from The Honeymooners, Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton having sex with each other. Next, he did a bit on what Mr. T would sound like in the same predicament.
About a month earlier, I caught a late night airing of Jamie Foxx’s first HBO concert performance, Straight From the Foxxhole. Again, I listened intently to the chosen material of this performance. Jamie did a bit about the ratio of male homosexuality and he talked about AIDS. He got the audience in on shouting out two slogans throughout the course of the concert. The first was blow that s**t out and the second was words his elderly grandmother used to describe various things, people and situations which were anybody that ???? gotta have AIDS.
What was going on with each of these comedians during the time these concerts were released? What made them choose these topics to poke fun at and dissect? Was this a keenly skillful way for these comedians to use their art to retaliate with the powers that be who put them in these kinds of precarious positions in the first place?
On yesterday, I watched comedic genius Richard Pryor's review of his life in the 1986 film, JoJo Dancer Your Life is Calling. It had been a long time since I’d last seen this movie. So, I watched it with new eyes. Richard wore a dress in this one. And, I recalled the line where he stated just before he set himself on fire where he said, "I just want my soul back."
Recently, I watched Iyanla Fix My Life with life coach, Iyanla Vanzant, helping actress Maia Campbell on her journey of recovery and hearing Maia's heartbreaking story after being on the hit TV show, In the House. I read many of the tweets about this show because it brought up so many issues about mental illness and drugs. One tweet I found to be poignant was from Reagan Gomez Preston who played the daughter on the 1995 show, The Parent ' Hood, created by actor and director Robert Townsend. Here are her tweets:
Reagan GomezVerified @ReaganGomez"Wanna be famous?? Wanna be a star?? Ya'll better be tuned into #IyanlaFixMyLife right now. There's another side to it..."
"And to all of those low down, evil, snakes in Hollywood who feed off of girl's that need help, Karma is a bitch. And you know who you are."
The honesty of what she tweeted about the entertainment industry reminded me of what actress and singer, Tiffany Evans also spoke about on social media.
Likewise, Robert Townsend starred in the 2008 movie, Of Boys and Men, with actress Angela Bassett and Victoria Rowell. His character became a single parent after his wife was killed in an automobile accident. One of the sons in the movie had a childhood friend who was being raped by a male figure in his life.
Does it seem like I’m connecting dots here because I am not. The material surely is. This is not a game. However, the powers that are running the networks and the record companies want to play games with the lives of our children. Why is male rape so rampant in society yet treated like a small filthy secret and swept under the rug. Would you sweep it under the rug if it were your son or daughter being raped?
It’s time for us to wake up.