CreamoftheWheat

I never understood why people loved these crappy 80s movies so much. This film I enjoyed a little as a child, but looking back on it, the comedy is terribly crude. (i.e. Elderly woman flying out of a window by a gremlin attack.) The racial subtext to it is also something that no one here has discussed yet. You have a perfect, white suburban American family celebrating Christmas, and suddenly, from the depths of Chinatown comes a mysterious creature that brings havoc and destruction to the perfect world. This "otherness," rather than being reasoned or communicated with, is eventually exterminated. Can we say "xenophobia?" The depictions of the gremlins, as they stand in stark contrast to those whom they terrorize, are comical, asexual, childish creatures, much like the depictions of blacks in "Birth of a Nation."

Besides that, the acting and plot were mediocre, and the film was overall cheesy. Nonetheless, I see a little merit in it as some of it is cute and entertaining. I don't seek to criticize those who may enjoy it and ruin their fun, but I hardly see films like this ever having a chance of being made in this time as the 80s were rather reactionary compared to films of the 70s in terms of diversity and representation. Besides that, though, the film is pretty bland and not one that I would opt to watch, even in my dullest hour.

I thoroughly enjoyed "Nothing But a Man." Unlike other films before it, it shows black men and casts them in lead roles instead of sticking them in white circles. It is an excellent and faithful depiction of problems that blacks faced, such as maratial, familial, and social dilemmas. This film also focuses on black masculinity and what being a black man is about, and it highlights the struggle and contrast of being free and easy and not tied down as opposed to being married and struggling for one's dignity. The film itself is great for its neorealistic style. It is like a documentary in many respects. It is black & white, gritty, and has no soundtracks running (save the Motown and the gospel). Unlike the race films of Micheaux and Williams who used this documentary-style depiction to push their messages, Roemer fearlesssly shows the brutality and bleakness of African-American life, with an ending reminiscent of Orwell's 1984. I loved this movie. It is honest, non-patronizing, and accurate. I saw it in my ethnic cinema class, and I highly recommend it.