Livin' Large!

As per usual with PAK Posse reviews this comments is not tell you about the plot etc. Hey that's why you wanna see the film right? But to assist in shape shifting so folks can watch this with another lens. 'Livin Large' came up for us (PAK posse) as a part of a Communications Class Fun Break Theme, of the 'edutainment' genre. As in teaching or attending a class on media/communication or any of those coffee and cigarette type subjects. This movie could be a light relieve class viewing. It would balance out say, watching Chomsky's 'Manufacturing Consent' which is a heavy documentary and some may call clumsy but come on now some of us suburban space cadets need that to wake us up.

Some of us here at PAK Posse worked in media (before we couldn't take the BS any longer) and the issues mentioned in 'Manufacturing Consent' are raised and played out big time in Livin Large. It's done brilliantly and humorously. The vehicle is race, as you can see from the poster, but class is in there as well. The process of selling out is NOT a sudden one that one becomes aware of but like a frog in a pan of water being warmed up slowly, it doesn't realize it's being cooked until it's too late. Selling our soul for the buck, the status, the car, the glamor (u will die when you see our boy falling in "luuuuuurrrrve with himself " on the TV screen). And of course for the male this is often accentuated by his partner, so poor Dexter has his woman Toynelle getting goading him on as begins to enjoy the high life too. This selling out can be so gradual that we sell out our ancestors, our soul without realizing it unless something drastic happens or as this movies shows we literally go nuts! Going nuts can be a warning message from within that our reality is skewed, in this movie the humane ending is the positive outcome of heeding the warning.

The reality check of course is in the real highly competitive media, the outcome is different. One of us said that Livin Large just had to be a comedy coz of the serious issues of media is raises up. For example a BBC black news reporter (Trinidad) would 'coincidentally' be chosen to read the news about South Africa continually, during the apartheid regime. He would look straight at the camera and read the prompt, lies an' all which was pro apartheid-UK government and anti Mandela. For selling out his people his black ass a knighthood or something from the (welfare) queen of England for doing this devilish work and he is a now token of the reactionary media establishment which is exactly what could have happen to Dexter in Livin Large.

So Yea boy, watch this a Double up with 'Manufacturing Consent', it's funny as hell as it's dealing with serious stuff. And us activists are always being rightly accused of taking ourselves too seriously anyway.

When a young lower class black fellow from the ghetto,who aspires to be a journalist,wants to meet his idol,a black tv newsman while that tv news reporter is at a crime scene,and then when that same older classy black tv reporter,who turns down the young man's offer to see a video of the young man's work,gets killed in an accident while at the crime scene,the young black fellow takes his place reporting from the crime scene and becomes a hit with local viewers and the tv station and its' news producer.Such is the story of Dexter Jackson in the 1991 film Livin'Large,about a young black man who learns that despite the rewards of fame and money to never forget where you come.

That lesson would be decent enough to take in except that in the case of Livin'Large,the lesson becomes heavy handed.Dexter,played by Terrence Carter,changes more and more and becomes more remote from his ghetto neighborhood roots as he becomes successful.When a realtor shows him around a new townhouse he is going to buy,and his girlfriend tells Dexter that she can see the old neighborhood from the townhouse and Dexter replies,to his girlfriend's dismay,"and that is the way I prefer to see them from",the movie shows how much he is changing because of success and not for the better.

As with most films centered around black people,these days,the politics concerning blacks and white come into play.Blanche Baker plays her role as the manipulative sleezy news producer very well.Her character,Kate,mentions to Dexter that they,white woman and black men,together must work to keep the white man from keeping them from reaching the top.It is a horrid message from a trashy character and yet it is a message the film itself doesn't distance itself too far from.

Livin' Large tries to tell blacks,in a nutshell,that having too much success,being too refined in speech,dress,education,and manner,makes you white.It is a message that is somewhat clumsy to present to the audience.There is nothing wrong with success.There is nothing wrong is doing the best you can and having dreams far from one's position in life.Livin'Large would wish to sell the idea that if you are black,and trying to improve your lot in life,in being different than how blacks are usually seen and portrayed by the American entertainment media,is an idea filled with compromise,or "selling out",or "acting white".The film's makers,in this case,could not be more than wrong.One would not hate the film,there are some funny moments in it,but it is not quite the film one should reccomend to the general audience at large.

This movie was a complete minstrel show.

An urban, hip, down, cool, black man wants to become a news anchor. He's even taken some classes at the local community college. He's afforded the opportunity to be on the news after stepping in for a reporter who was killed while covering a hostage situation. In order for this wannabe newsman, Dexter Jackson (Terrence Carson), to make it he will have to sell his soul. The movie is about the worthlessness of modern news that goes strictly for ratings and about relinquishing one's self for success.

I thought Spike Lee was heavy handed with delivering messages in his movie. Livin Large makes Spike Lee look like a delicate fingered maestro. They wanted to make it abundantly clear that Dexter was 'hood, aka black. That meant poor grammar, loud clothes, an innate ability to dance, and complete ignorance of appropriate behavior (e.g. yelling "this is dope!" during a funeral). He did everything short of painting on white lips and tap dancing. Of course they also had to show his natural inclination towards white women because what black man isn't turned on by white women?

Then, in order for him to be successful he had to do a complete 180. He went beyond simple correct enunciation and proper grammar; he adopted white colloquialisms and a nasally voice, he completely forgot how to dance, and he wanted nothing to do with his old neighborhood.

Because it was a comedy I'm assuming they intended to magnify everything, but doing this in the name of comedy doesn't excuse this movie at all. Comedy or not I was still offended and intellectually insulted. I get that they wanted to show that the news can be of quality and black people shouldn't sell out I just think they did a terrible job. I like the subtler movies that can convey the same message with a more realistic approach. Livin Large was nothing more than black face comedy in a different garb.

I felt the film was well directed and well acted but I felt at times they were saying success turns you white. The guy was a news reporter and he should speak well and encourage his girlfriend and homie to do like wise around the white folk. Play the game, get rich and laugh about it later. I'm from South Central and I own my own production company. When I'm with the homies I use slang and feel free to speak the way I want but when I'm doing business I speak professionally. Now the guy should never forget where he came from and he shouldn't sell his soul to be successful but speaking well and becoming successful does not equal turning WHITE!

I just happened to catch the end of this movie today on UPN. I was absolutely thrilled with this serendipity, because I had been looking for it for years after having seen it previously on television years ago. I didn't remember the name, or any of the performers, or anything else specific about it other than the plot line and the great humor.

I think this stacks up well with many other comedies, both those dealing with the black community and those lambasting the media; in fact, I see it as somewhat of an overlooked gem. It can take its place with the slightly better known EdTV and PrayTV, and of course the now-30-year-old classic Network.

I respectfully disagree with those who think that the movie is saying that being successful is being "white" and therefore something that blacks ought not do. I see it as a critique of the (white) establishment that I believe was the intended message.