Blog Post #6 sunken place

 Ramone Wagner

02/24/2022

Blog Assignment #6

This blog post will highlight how we have now approached the ladder end of our course. It has been a quick turnaround from the midterm into now the brainstorming and developing process of our final projects, in whichever form we deem appropriate. I have idealized to engage in perhaps the short story and/or film, being the creative approach to our final, as look to bring to life, briefly, the dramatized harsh reality of upheavals of race and culture suppression and oppression within pursuit of higher education in these highly prestige institutions towards marginalized groups, specifically, the Black student experience. So of course, for week 7 after the midterm, professor goes over the rubric and overall instructions for the final to give us proper foundation in beginning these creations. Later on in that early lecture, we review other short reads shut us Greedy Choke Puppy. In this folklore there is a second person point of view, which professors mentions is an interesting reference to kind of ponder and play with in the creating of our own short stories, speaking of how a different and intimate dimension for the audience is introduced as you utilize that lens to tell our story though. Finally. We end with reviewing the 90’s film Beloved, where the horror depicted in essence, is of that within acknowledgment of U.S birth defects, more so referencing the harshitites during slavery times.

SunkenPlace Blog #5

 Ramone Wagner 

01/17/2022

Blog Assignment #5

In this blog, I wish to address the classes discussion on wet pain as it poses as a primary example of what our short story final assignment would somewhat look like, as they approach us. Wet Pain, in which the title alone is a thoughtful metaphoric play on the phrase wet paint, is a great short piece written by Terreance Taylor, that is an intersectional approach to the horror genre as it was black horror as well as queer horror. Understood to be a part of what was known as The Dark Dream Anthology back more or less in the 90’s; A brief synopsis of the story is, as it is told through a narrator spectating point of view, he is the protagonist, a Black, queer man with a best friend character named Dean. And so, despite being amongst a biracial nucleus home, Dean, after moving back to the south where his roots lie, unearths a collection of racist memorabilia (Klan photos), and this ultimately and gradually influences counterproductive racist behavior, perhaps even possession, to override Deans original expression. One aspect of significance is how in the story, Taylor depicts racism as an infection and how the pains and trauma of historical black violence and disenfranchising could be viewed as “fresh wet paint”, that meaning fresh wounds, something many of us are very weary of touching/addressing. Powerful!!

Sunken Place #4

                                                                               Ramone Wagner

02/02/2022

Blog Assignment #4

This blog assignment, I shall highlight the masterpiece that was Tales from the Hood of 1995 and our profound guest appearance and presentation from the great director Randy Cunlife. We began the lecture that Tuesday, discussing the many parts and then themes throughout the movie. There was the Mortuary referred to as interstitial, the rogue cop revelation, Boys do get Bruised, KKK Comeuppance, and hard-core covert, all of which have social relevance often unpacking racism and white supremacy. The themes included police brutality and corruption, retribution, black complicity in racism, child abuse, community responsbility slavery crime and policital prejudices. Professor due as well as Mr. Cunlife do not hesitate to point out important and kind of statement imagery, cameos; such as Corbin Bernstein clinching to his american flag as kind of a message of white america hiding behind the flag with heinous ideas and racism, and the empowering art murals throughout the film, or the drawing folding imagery. She mentions how similar to Jordan Peele,  Mr.Cunliffe had a comedy background/ beginning and makes a pondering connection of how natural of a transition comedy to hour. I thought that was pretty interesting, and perhaps even profound. Immediately what comes to my head is, the skill that is being able to capture and provoke certain emotions into an audience through comedy is where the envisioning translates in then knowing how to evoke reaction within horror as well. Randy Cunlife explains how Tales from the Hood came about and how he directed his first work Fear of A Balck Hat years prior, another outstanding film. He explains how he began as an actor and stand up comedian, in which he acted in works such as Hollywood Shuffle and School Daze from Spike Lee, which here he was inspired to write and then furthermore direct films for himself. Cunlife explains how Spike reached out after seeing Fear of a Black Hat and encouraged his efforts and insisted on them working together. Note to self, when at an industry event and someone asks you “What are you working on”, always have an answer, even if you need to fabricate…. Or exaggerate. Haha! This is keen if you ask me, fake it until you make it will take you a long way; I’ve seen first hand. He mentions how after Spike asks him to send over whatever he was working on and so he was forced to write something like 70 pages worth of storyline in like a week's time, so intense and relatable. The move he pitched, which would become Tales from the Hood,  eventually ended up being produced by Spike after all, and his contribution is what solidified bringing the idea to life.