Rize

This movie may be about the urban phenomenon of krump and clown dancing but it is truly about so much more. The opening scene is old footage of the Watts riots and this theme of the cultural and social background of the kids that participate in this new art form is the thread that holds this movie together. Lachapelle is an amazing photographer and he brings his keen eye to the screen. This is a visually stunning movie without a doubt. But he brings his sensitivity to the social issues as well. He lets the kids and the community speak for themselves. It is often sad enough to get you crying but never despairing. There is such passion and self-awareness in these kids and in their dancing. The movements alone can elicit tears, and awe. There is a disclaimer at the start of the film stating the film was not sped up at any point. It is an important thing to state because you cannot believe how these dancers move themselves. Kids as young as 4 and 5, people in all shapes and sizes, all expressing their passion, anger, love, pain, humour with their bodies. Lachapelle makes sure to make all the links for you, from revival gospel links to African ritual dance, as well as the urgency this new subculture has driving it. It is plainly stated that these clown and krump crews have taken the place of gangs for many of the people involved and turned into non-violent gangs of their own. But it is also understood by the audience, the director and the people themselves that what they are now embracing has none of the violence or destructiveness that the gang life held for them. This is a changing movie, capable of true connection to any audience member. The emotions conveyed by the dancers coupled with the implied social commentary by the director (thankfully he only allows his voice to be heard a very few times, important to keep the flow in this movie) are so pure and direct that you do not need to be "of" these groups to feel what they are trying to say. I highly recommend it for everyone. I brought my 12 year old daughter, there is very little that would be objectionable to kids over 8. Under 8 kids just might not get it. There is some "stripper" dancing, but all clothes remain on. I did not notice alot of swearing even.

OK, much as my brother Jeffrey Mingo deserves props for his reviewing skills, I have to disagree with some of the praise heaped upon RIZE.

Now, don't get me wrong. The parts of the video that concentrated on the dancers were great. I particularly liked the way that Dragon, Lil C, Miss Prissy and Tommy the Klown got a bit of screen time to tell PARTS OF their stories.

The dancing itself was great too. No, make that totally awe-inspiring. I have no problem with that either.

My problems come from looking at the way David La Chapelle treated his young black subjects.

Too often, we applaud ANY representations of black youth that are in ANY way positive. But the problem here is that La Chapelle repeats a common trope among white middle class culture vultures (and I use that word deliberately): he reduces young urban working class "minority" kids to spectacle and surface.

The only person in the film able to break through that framing was Marquisa Gardner (Miss Prissy) who was able to convey a much more nuanced picture of some of the challenges and glories of her life despite La Chapelle's trite underlining of the "life in the ghetto is hell" motif. Ms Gardner's humanity shines through because of her personal charisma and talent at talking to the camera, rather than any empathy or delicacy on La Chapelle's part.

La Chapelle also repeats the old saw that the "cool" way to succeed is to be part of the entertainment industry. This is perhaps a highly-visible attitude amongst youngsters but it's a totally wasted opportunity to showcase a way of using dance as a way to rize in a more than simply metaphorical sense.

As a fashion photographer, La Chapelle has a long history of reducing black people to beautiful ornaments (like much of the work of Herb Ritts as another example). His photo shoots of Naomi Campbell in particular stand out as particularly mean-spirited examples (and I'm no big fan of Naomi's diva attitude, believe me).

As an anthropologist, I also have particular problems with the way he intercuts footage of Nuba wrestlers shot in the 1930s with shots of modern krumpers. On a very broad level, it is true that krumping (like ALL modern forms of African American dance) has commonalities with traditional dance forms found in Africa. But he gives us no sense of how this "dancing" is located in a particular context or culture. There's no sense of the importance of dance as an integral part of the way people prayed, honored the achievements of others, competed with others, made political statements and asserted their social status. Instead it's just presented as "savage dancing".

In the same way, RIZE often presents its LA subjects on _just_ the acceptable side of the same idea: The voice-over assertion that: "It's in their blood" seems a little too close to the idea that "Black people are just naturals for singing and dancing". This stupidity reduces the genuine skill and talent of the dancers to a matter of mere genetics. We don't need another reprise of Vince Sarich's tired racialist thinking.

In addition, this kind of simple-minded exoticism obscures the real stories behind the genesis and development of African American culture and the real complexity and richness of dance in both Africa and the New World. Just because kids from systematically segregated and historically anti-Black school systems aren't taught much about their history, that doesn't let privileged (and presumably educated) middle class film makers off the hook.

For more detailed and pointed criticism, visit the blog Rae's Spot. This sister has it right on point.

These days Black youth are being offered a great deal of money and a certain kind of temporary cultural prestige to become highly visible mannikins for a vicious and predatory consumer system that offers most of them almost nothing in return (beyond some jewelry and a few clothes). When you reduce black culture to a music video, you do nothing to counteract that. In fact, you're part of the problem.

Don't. Don't. Don't believe the hype.

Rize is a wonderful great movie that is worth checking out and i like that it talks about the black youth of LA!!!!!!! When you see this movie you will feel the energy of it and you will also feel the passion too!!!!!!! It has its touching moments with each person and what they have experienced in their lives and i love the dancing and i also love that these people take this dance and use it for angry instead of using a gun or a fist!!!!!!! This movie is worth seeing and then after you see it you will want to put this brillant film in your movie collection!!!!!!!

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