Skip to main content

InFluenza Continues.. Part 2


InFluenza is Here!

(Click on the Image to open a clearer view.  Download optional after opening)


Thank you for joining the New Special Report Column No Reed and our first report "InFluenza".  If you're easily turned off by misspellings, put that to the side.  There's a team of people responsible for trying their best to make me look less like a FLU.

InFluenza (A Special Report)


Nearly everything that is now understood is the unspoken print.  It's not available anywhere in black or white text, but it's available for your hearing.  In 1990 a romantic comedy hit the world of film.  Its name was Pretty Woman.  I was only ten, but its cultural label as a classic film and its overall feel good nature tells me that the writer, director, producer, nor the actors involved were questioned as to whether or not they were aware that prostitution was against the law.  Whether they were questioned or not, no one launched a silent or upfront investigation as to whether it was based on a true story and whether any of the parties involved were the basis for the story.  I would even go so far to say that there were no protesters at the movie's opening.  Yet, it most certainly had an impact on society and culture.  For a ten year old girl who would soon dream of writing books it made the kind of impression that would not easily be forgotten.  Do anyone recall hearing the question, "What's Your Dream?"  It's just one of many things that were done in the film to not only pull in the viewer and align the themes that would be embarked upon with the stuff we cherish.  I should stop right now and tell you that this part of the report takes a strait punch at racism, and I will most kindly elaborate.

In my 2006 release Renegotiating Kayla, two of my characters were given the backstory of being former exotic dancers.  It wasn't a part of the story, it really had nothing to do with the story other than that was the basis for how the two characters met.  When the story begins, the four women are friends and are well along in their careers and the book picks ups with them meeting for lunch.  But for the sneaky finger and the puppet-masters, it presents an opportunity to exploit the people they hope to enlist and control.  In fact it reminds me a lot of the Holy Bible.  The ones who have taken the time to read it, often exploits and controls the ones who haven't.  It's an easy fix however.  One can walk into probably any church and simply ask for a copy of the bible and obtain one for free without a fuss.  In the case of Renegotiating Kayla, by the time the plot thickens on "Total Destruction" there are only a few copies still in circulation, and in 2017 when I logged on to Amazon.com the book of only 161 pages is priced at over four hundred dollars.  Someone is trying to ensure that The Sneaky Finger maintains control of this narrative.  And though there are many who are a part of the Mandala that can afford the cost and whose curiosity would probably pay the price; most have been agitated and informed to a degree that they never question any of it.  But that's not the unspoken print.

The unspoken print is that the people who have signed on to chastise Renegotiating Kayla, myself, and the soon to come follow up in 2017, are essentially saying "It's okay for a White prostitute to be rescued like a princess by a lawbreaking business man, but it's not okay for two African-American characters; women; to have been exotic dancers and now hold the roles of English professor and Beautician.  In both the first book and the follow up, the background is given to support the characters' personalities as well as how they arrived at their current place of being; the point of being exotic dancers and the point of being fairly well off or comfortable.  In both cases, it's their success in their careers that support their lifestyles; layers of content and context that "Pretty Woman" did not need to or care to provide.  Beyond this, the unspoken print also says that that white women should be handled with care and experience things outside of her natural realm based on the main character's circumstance.  I used the word "themes" earlier and here is why.  Remember thos all too familiar words and one of my all-time favorite movie lines, "Big Mistake!"  Okay, what about the moment when the friend of the generous and love-struck business man tries to force himself on that woman?  Did you know that those were messages?  It appears that it's okay for the white woman to be redeemed even by immaterial matter, but it's not okay for the black woman to be empowered to think that she could supersede her most modest dreams.  A dream to overcome her economic circumstance and feed herself.  Careless?  No, there was nothing careless about Renegotiating Kayla.    And in case you didn't catch that theme, the one that lines all the give-aways up for movie watchers, I'll write it again.. "Pretty Woman".  Yet, the sneaky finger has a solution for my train of thought; the thought to supply meaning.  

In 2017 when I release A Better Pair of Shoes as a suspended-release novel all that content is labeled as "Drama", and potential readers are made to believe that the book is low-grade.  In fact for months after the book is published, I fight to ensure that the introduction to the book is not overlooked.  I use the word fight because there is literally a campaign to have it looked over.  This is where you can here the maturity in the voice of the main character Kayla, and you will learn that these women are quite progressive.  To cover up this silent campaign The Sneaky Finger attempts to imply that it's the intro's brief sex scene that is concerning.  I must admit it wasn't as romantic as love making on a piano, but in literary terms it's not a matter of race; the difference in our approaches.  It's actually the difference between a Dramatic Point of View and a Dramatic Situation.  And even after seeing how easily it is to not only manipulate minds, but manipulate material, I must say that I'm a "Dramatic Situation" kind of a girl.  I like to know the basic conflict that initiates or establishes a scene as opposed to inferring motivations based solely on external evidence.  Which is probably why the world is set to receive more of this Special Report "InFluenza".  Keep following here.

Continue to follow the supporting conversation on Pinterest, by following the board
"V-Day Goes Orange, Black, and White" https://www.pinterest.com/thoughtculture/v-day-goes-orange-black-and-white/
 

Written by:  NaTisha Renee Williams
All Rights Reserved except for brief quotations. 
            

Comments