In ho-nor of Black History Month, we are going to present one of the most important vampire pictures ever made, “Blacula.” I’m sure you’ve heard of it: the tit-le has become something of a pop culture punchline, and it would be a lie to say that it’s not a wonderfully ridiculous tit-le. When you hear “Blacula,” you eXXXpect ether a bargain-basement schlock-shocker (watch “Blackenstein” for that) or a provocative parody designed to offend. The second most shocking thing about “Blacula” is that it is neither one of those things. The most shocking? Well, it’s actually a damn good ho-rror film!
“Blacula” tells the tragic tale of Mamuwalde, an African Prince who is bitten by Count Dracula in 1780. The unfortunate Manuwalde is turned into a vampire and locked in a coffin. After many decades of dreamless slumber, Manuwalde is inadvertently released from his coffin in Los Angeles, 1972. Manuwalde soon discovers Tina, the woman he believes to be the reincarnation of his lost wife, Luva. Bloodthirsty and hot-blooded, Manuwalde seeks the love of his afterlife.
While “Blacula” was being developed, William Marshall worked with the producers to give the eponymous neck-biter the dignity a great vampire deserves. Blacula’s real name was changed from “Andrew Brown” to “Mamuwalde,” and his character received the previously recounted backstory. It’s important to note Marshall’s involvement in the creative process because it proves just ho-w invested he was in the part.
Marshall was a Shakespearean actor, and he shaped Blacula into a Shakespearean figure. With his stentorian delivery and eXXXalted bearing, Marshall was simply majestic in a part that could’ve been played for cheap laughs. His Mamuwalde was truly a monarch of the undead; a stately demon with the manners of an angel. In my book, William Marshall is up there with Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee. “Blacula” is a silly name (the name given to him by Dracula himself), but Blacula is not a silly monster.
The film itself is an engaging chiller that successfully transfers Hammer histrionics to the groovy ‘70s. Heck, Hammer couldn’t even accomplish that: just give “Dracula A.D. 1972” a watch! Sure, some effects may betray a lack of funds, but the direction and script are worthy of their vampire. We could go on… but we think you ought to just see for yourself! Without any further a-BOO, we proudly present… “Blacula!”
Marx always made the point that work–labour–is good, it’s fulfilling, it has been a natural drive of humanity forever. What’s degrading about work today is the social relations that sustain it (wage labour and the extraction of surplus value). Labour itself is not degrading.
Imho the idea of ‘cruelty free’ products or food shouldn’t mean that nothing died to create it, but rather that anything and anyone involved in the creation process hasn’t been exploited or harmed.
Leather is good actually. Veganism isn’t the end all be all to morality and consumption. The issue isn’t that a chicken died for those nuggets, but that while the chicken was alive, it’s life fucking sucked. Vegan chocolate means little if the cocoa that made it was gathered by child slave labor.
Factory farms, abuses of the people who pick the fruit and vegetables we eat, the focus profit and productivity over all else - that’s the fucking issue here. It’s capitalism folks.
White vegan types who shit their pants and cry and throw up about a prey animal being killed for food/hide/etc and then love plastic and slave labor are maybe some of the stupidest bitches on earth sorry
“I won’t eat honey because it exploits the bees :(” & where did your quinoa come from
Uh oh girls I got the pleather fandom after me for this one
I know many lovely people who don’t eat meat or limit their meat consumption for ethical reasons and even they shy away from the term vegan because of stuff like this.
The US invaded Korea first by setting up a collaborationist government against the popular will of the Korean people that forcibly kept alive the horrors, tactics, and even the command of the Japanese occupation. Compare this to North Korea, which not only was given free reign by the USSR to organize their own councils and organization, but which also used land reform and state planning to end landlordism and almost quadruple industry within a few years. Had almost every building in city not been completely bombed and millions murdered, the DPRK would be at an incredible level of development today. It is also important to remember that 20% of the North Korean population were slain by the imperialist lapdogs and that most infrastructure and living areas were firebombed to ashes. It is hard for the imperialist lapdogs such as MacArthur and those who believe in western propaganda to empathize with the North Korean model of democratic centralism, when the possibility of nuking the North Korean people were considered by the US authorities all in the name of neoliberal imperialism. Liberals will praise the United States for devising security laws such as the PATRIOT Act while berating North Korea for its democratic centralism after facing brutal oppression from the imperialist Japanese and the exploitaion by the imperialist Americans.
TLDR: Asians are seen as subhumans by white liberal Americans. They nuked Japan’s civilians. Twice. Still justify both bombings to this day. They wanted to nuke Korea’s civilians. They wanted to nuke Vietnam’s civilians. And people wonder why China is so “aggressive” about protecting itself? Maybe they’ve seen a pattern in history? When will the abhorrent Western imperialism and chauvinism end?
What started off as a simple hunt to find a bit of fun, silly fluff on the telly turned into a big confusing tangle of thoughts.
Ran outta feel-good shows to watch, Burn Notice, Leverage, The Good Place & its ilk, were some of the recent feel good shows I really enjoyed. People were flawed n tried to fix their crap, n were more forgiving to others who screwed up as well.
Do like flicks with violence, not against them, but think the bar for what’s age-appropriate has slipped, n by quite a bit.
Or maybe it’s never been raised as high as it should be.
Tried watching shows appropriate for the age 14 group, cuz that’s gotta be nicer, right? Nope. Also, felt a bit like an old fart thinking things like “Dang, the mouth on that kid, Mm-mm, n Back in my day we’d have gotten The Spoon at the very least!”.
The worst was the realization of Oh man, I’m too old to be watching all these children constantly making out n not feel like a pervy granny.
Likely wouldn’t have thought too much about it, but an article popped up in the news feed that caused the distraction digging. Really despise laundry, n even now justifying my avoidance of chorin’ by pretending this nonsensical thought process matters enough to write down….
From one story to another, to reading about the supposed unwanted booby bounce from the actress in ‘Justice League’, to how 'Cuties’ made kids too sexy, n the like. For those dedicated procrastinators, you know how far down those rabbit holes one is willing to go to avoid the doing!
Thinking back to stories of actors kissing underaged humans, n the controversies, but it’s cool now, they fixed it now right? They just get kids to kiss kids so it’s less awkward.
Feel like I should mention me ADHD 'superpowers’, n the ability to make connections where no correlation had ever gone before! Mayhap even a wee bit of insanity, or more than a touch.
Presuming truth, n if not, other actors/esses have experienced the like at some point I’m sure, but if she such a hard time refusing the expectation that you have perform a sexual act as an adult, then how do child actors deal with it? Or are they all adult body doubles doing the groping?
Cuz, like, I’m sure it’s no pressure, none at all, they’ll just find someone else who will if you won’t.
Especially if the kid has parents who want a famous kid. Or the parents are just daffy, or inexperienced, or too afraid to say no themselves? How can that kid really make a good choice, with their real best interests at heart?
How many retakes before others start wondering if something is just not, quite, right? Does anyone speak up if they feel any concerns, or just remain silent?
With all the adults in the business speaking about their own abuses experienced, kinda sad the focus hasn’t been placed on ensuring the safety for the most vulnerable in Hollywood.
The false equivalence in Musk is so strong, as if people anywhere should be exploited way past safe, mental and physical limitations. There are reasons for limiting work and why there are regulations about age, overtime, and compensation. Technology is already a problem where work easily bleeds into uncompensated time and leave.
This isn’t complimentary to anyone’s work ethic and falls square into the model minority myth. Many of us remember the horror of hearing about people committing suicide over work conditions or overworking themselves to death at Foxconn factories, and the reaction was to install nets and hire a PR firm. Things are outsourced to China and other “developing” countries for exploitative reasons, not because people are unwilling to do them and the safeguards against reckless profiteering in one place do not extend to corporations internationally.
This is a colonialist attitude, as if Chinese and other ethnic minorities have not been historically exploited as migrant labour–underpaid, undervalued, and put in harm’s way even as citizens of industrialized nations. People still feel the need to count how many generations their families have lived and toiled because we’re constantly reminded we are seen as foreign, discriminated against, and always a hair from being blamed for our own victimization.
Elon and his ilk can take their backhanded praise and choke on it.
There are at least 25 active social and labor conflicts with mining companies, both foreign and domestic, in Mexico since 2007, according to a registry maintained by the Observatory of Mining Conflicts in Latin America(OCMAL).
The infographic above maps 25 conflicts, state by state. Oaxaca, San Luis Potosí and Sonora are the Mexican states with the highest number of registered conflicts.
List of social and labor conflicts with mining companies in Mexico compiled by OCMAL:
Oaxaca (4) Sonora (3) San Luis Potosi (3) Baja California (2) Chiapas (2)
Guerrero, Veracruz, Morelos, State of Mexico, Michoacán, Querétaro, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Baja California Sur, Coahuila and Chihuahua all have 1 conflict.
Catherine Breillat is not the kind of girl who would suffer Judd Apatow. The French filmmaker, novelist and Professor of Auteur Cinema at the European Graduate School has often courted controversy for her films’ frank treatment of sexual themes. Her 1976 debut film, A Real Young Girl, was banned until 1999 because 1) the production went bankrupt and 2) controversy surrounding the shots of lead actress Charlotte Alexandra’s vulva. Alexandra was 20 years old at the time, her character 14.
In America, it seems like Breillat’s highest grossing movie, ~$730K, is 2003’s Fat Girl. You will not find Fat Girl or any of her other films on streaming or DVD Netflix. You will find Fat Girl on Amazon Instant Video—if you click through the disclaimer to show material with “explicit and adult themes.” You can also watch Fat Girl on Hulu or iTunes. But still the best place to catch films like Breillat’s is at the humble arts theater in your hometown. So you can be close to your fellow sex-obsessed intellectuals. That’s where I saw Abuse of Weakness, her latest, in downtown Chicago.
