Highbrow Magazine - african american experience https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/african-american-experience en ‘The Sleeping Negro’ Executes Important Themes With Lackluster Writing and Acting https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/19200-sleeping-negro-executes-important-themes-lackluster-writing-and-acting <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/film-tv" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Film &amp; TV</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Sat, 01/08/2022 - 13:39</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1sleepingnegro.jpg?itok=ALa4tA1B"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1sleepingnegro.jpg?itok=ALa4tA1B" width="480" height="270" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">A quote from James Baldwin about being black in America sets the tone for <em>The Sleeping Negro</em>.  It’s a movie about race, rage, and the struggle to maintain humanity when the deck is stacked against you. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">However, despite its message and poignant moments, the film still stumbles with its dialogue and performances.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">No one in this movie has a specific name; even the main character is credited as “Man.” Skinner Myers plays the lead as well as being the director and writer of the movie, but his performance often feels stilted and his monologues overly verbose.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2sleepingnegro.jpg" style="height:337px; width:600px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">It’s understandable that an indie director and writer would want to star in his own movie, but there are other actors in the film that likely would have done a better job as the lead. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Myers’ character is a young black man struggling with inner rage and a desire to move up in the corporate world. There’s a tragic irony to the character since it shows that his inner rage wants to break out and rebel against white society -- yet he is still bound to its rules and craves success within it. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">The protagonist often rants about institutional racism and lectures others about not taking the issue seriously. At the same time, he takes on a job from his white boss to illegally evict a black family from their home so that he can get a promotion. The title of <em>The Sleeping Negro</em> refers to a label that he puts on a former friend because he’s not aware of the societal prison the white man has put him in and instead chooses to “sleep.”</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/3sleepingnegro.jpg" style="height:600px; width:395px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Throughout these scenes, you can see that while Myers is obviously passionate about the subject matter of the movie, his performance and writing don’t do it justice. At its worst, this movie feels like an edgy student film made by someone who was more focused on delivering a message than making a good movie. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">At its best, there are scenes heavy with drama and tension that help drive those messages home because they’re delivered by characters that feel like real people.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">At the end of its 70-minute runtime, <em>The Sleeping Negro</em> seems more like an attempt at something profound instead of a truly great work. While its themes and lessons are important, its execution makes for a disappointing film.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Author Bio:</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong><em>Ulises Duenas is a contributing writer at</em> Highbrow Magazine.</strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>For Highbrow Magazine</strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/sleeping-negro" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">The Sleeping Negro</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/skinner-myers" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Skinner Myers</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/african-american-experience" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">african american experience</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/racism" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">racism</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/discrimination" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">discrimination</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/new-films" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">new films</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Ulises Duenas</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">In Slider</div></div></div> Sat, 08 Jan 2022 18:39:05 +0000 tara 10843 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/19200-sleeping-negro-executes-important-themes-lackluster-writing-and-acting#comments