Nov 1, 2020
Topics: Biggie death, Erykah Badu, Eve's Bayou, Miss Evers' Boys
(Bonus Artist: Luck Pacheco)
Notes 1997
1. President: Bill Clinton
2. Feb -A Santa Monica jury finds
former football legend O.J. Simpson is liable for the deaths of
Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman.
3. Feb - North Hollywood shootout:
Two heavily armed bank robbers conflict with officers from the Los
Angeles Police Department in a mass shootout.
4. Feb - Miss Evers' Boys airs on
HBO. It is a made-for-TV adaptation of David Feldshuh's eponymous
1992 stage play, and was nominated for eleven Emmy Awards and won
four, Outstanding Made for Television Movie / Lead Actress in a
Miniseries or a Movie – Alfre Woodard / Editing /
Cinematography
5. Mar - Brooklyn rapper The
Notorious B.I.G. is killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles at
age 24 before the release of his second album Life After Death. The
album was released on March 25.
6. Mar - In San Diego, California,
39 members of Heaven's Gate, a UFO religious cult, commit
mass suicide.
7. Apr - The Ellen episode, "The
Puppy Episode" is broadcast on ABC, showing for the first time the
revelation of a main character as a homosexual.
8. May - U.S. President Bill
Clinton issues a formal apology to the surviving victims of the
Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male and their
families.
9. Jun - During the Evander
Holyfield vs. Mike Tyson II boxing match in Las Vegas, Mike Tyson
bites off part of Evander Holyfield's ear.
10. Jun - The base version of the
standard WiFi was released
11. Aug - Diana, Princess of Wales
died in hospital after being injured in a motor vehicle accident in
a road tunnel in Paris.
12. Sep - www.google.com is
registered by Google.
13. Nov - Mary Kay Letourneau is
sentenced to six months imprisonment in Washington after pleading
guilty to two counts of second-degree child rape. Letourneau gave
birth to her victims' child and the leniency of her sentence was
widely criticized.[3]
14. Nov - The Emergency Broadcast
System is replaced by the Emergency Alert System and it continues
to this day. - "This is a test. This station is conducting a test
of the Emergency Broadcast System. This is only a test."
15. Open Comments:
16. Top 3 Pop Songs
17. #1-"Something About the Way
You Look Tonight" / "Candle in the Wind 1997", Elton John
18. #2-"Foolish Games" / "You Were
Meant for Me", Jewel
19. #3-"I'll Be Missing You", Puff
Daddy featuring Faith Evans and 112
20. Record Of The Year, Sunny Came
Home - Shawn Colvin
21. Album Of The Year, Time Out Of
Mind - Bob Dylan
22. Song Of The Year, Sunny Came
Home - Shawn Colvin Colvin)
23. Best New Artist, Paula
Cole
24. Best Female R&B, On & On -
Erykah Badu
25. Best Male R&B, I Believe I
Can Fly - R. Kelly
26. Best R&B Duo Or Group, No
Diggity - Blackstreet
27. Best R&B Song, I Believe I
Can Fly - R. Kelly
28. Best R&B Album, Baduizm -
Erykah Badu
29. Best Rap Solo, Men In Black -
Will Smith
30. Best Rap Duo Or Group, I'll Be
Missing You - Puff Daddy & Faith Evans Featuring 112
31. Best Rap Album, No Way Out -
Puff Daddy & The Family
32. Top 3 Movies
33. #1-Titanic
34. #2-The Lost World: Jurassic
Park
35. #3-Men in Black
36. Notables: Rhyme & Reason,
Gridlock'd, Rosewood, Good Burger, Def Jam's How to Be a Player,
Hoodlum, Kiss the Girls, Gang Related, Boogie Nights, The Devil's
Advocate, Good Will Hunting, Jackie Brown, Love Jones, B*A*P*S,
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Booty Call, Donnie
Brasco, Soul Food, Gang Related,
37. Open Comments:
38. Top TV Shows
39. #1-Seinfeld
40. #2-ER
41. #3-Veronica's Closet
42. Debuts, The Chris Rock
Show
43. Open Comments:
44. Economic Snapshots
45. Income = 37.5 (Previously
36.3K)
46. House = 124k (118.2)
47. Car = 17k (16.3)
48. Rent = 576 (554)
49. Harvard = 28.9 (27.5)
50. Movie = 4.59 (4.42)
51. Gas = 1.22 (-)
52. Stamp = .32 (-)
53. Social Scene: Death of
Christopher George Latore Wallace, aka ‘Biggie Smalls,’ ‘The
Notorious B.I.G,’ or ‘Biggie,’
54. Childhood & Early Life: Born
on May 21, 1972 in Brooklyn, New York, to Voletta Wallace and
Selwyn George Latore. His mother was a Jamaican preschool teacher
and his father was a politician and welder. His father left the
family when he was two years old. He attended the ‘Queen of All
Saints Middle School’ where he excelled in English, won many
awards, and was given the nickname ‘Big.’ because of his
weight, around the age of 10 (1982). He started dealing drugs
as early as 12 while his mother went out for work, and she says he
adapted a ‘smart-ass’ attitude, while attending high school, but he
was still a good student. He dropped out of school at 17 (1989) and
gradually got involved in criminal activities. Shortly after
dropping out, he was arrested on weapon charges and was sentenced
for probation of five years. He was again arrested in 1990 for
violating his probation and again a year later for drug dealing in
North Carolina. He stayed in jail for nine months.
55. Career: As a teen, he began
exploring music and performed with local groups, such as
‘Techniques’ and ‘Old Gold Brothers.’ He made a casual demo tape
titled ‘Microphone Murder’ under the name ‘Biggie Smalls.’ The name
was inspired from his own stature as well as from a character of a
1975 film ‘Let’s Do it Again.’ The tape was promoted by Mister Cee,
a New York based DJ and was heard by the editor of ‘The Source.’ In
March 1992 (@19), he was featured in the ‘Unsigned Hype’ column of
‘The Source,’ magazine. Shortly thereafter, he was signed by
‘Uptown Records’. In 1993, when Sean 'Puffy' Combs, a
producer/A&R with ‘Uptown Records’ was fired, Biggie Smalls
signed with Combs’ ‘Bad Boy Records.’ In August, 1993 (@21), he had
his first child T’yanna. To financially support his daughter,
he continued to deal drugs. Also in 1993, he worked on the remix of
Mary J. Blige’s ‘Real Love.’ While working for ‘Real Love,’ he used
the pseudonym ‘The Notorious B.I.G.,’ the name he used for the rest
of his career. He followed up with another remix of Blige's ‘What’s
the 411’. He debuted as a solo artist in the 1993 film ‘Who’s the
Man?’ with the single ‘Party and Bullshit.’
56. As a solo artist he hit the
pop chart in August 1994 (@22) with ‘Juicy/Unbelievable.’ His debut
album ‘Ready to Die’ was released in September, 1994, peaked at
number 15 on the Billboard 200 and was subject to critical acclaim
and soon a commercial success. Three singles were released from the
album: "Juicy", "Big Poppa", "One More Chance". "Big Poppa" was a
hit on multiple charts, peaking at number six on the Billboard Hot
100 and also being nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo
Performance at the 1996 Grammy Awards. At a time when West
Coast hip hop was dominating the mainstream, this album became a
huge success, making him a prominent figure in the East Coast hip
hop scene. [Side Note: 2 months later in November, Tupac was shot
five times in a NYC recording studio]. In July 1995 (@23),
the cover of ‘The Source’ magazine featured him along with the
caption ‘The King of New York Takes Over.’
57. Recording of his second album,
‘Life After Death,’ began in September 1995 but was
interrupted due to injuries, hip hop disputes, and legal squabbles
(much like his friend Tupac). He was in a car accident which
hospitalized him for three months. He had to complete
rehabilitation and was confined to a wheelchair for a period. The
car accident had shattered his left leg and made him dependent on a
cane. He was arrested outside a nightclub in Manhattan in March,
1996 (24), for manhandling and threatening to kill two of his fans
who were seeking autographs, and again in the middle of the year,
he was arrested from his home at Teaneck, New Jersey, for
possessing weapons and drugs. On September 7, 1996, Tupac Shakur
was shot in Las Vegas, Nevada, and he died six days later. Rumors
of Biggie Smalls’ involvement in Shakur’s murder were doing the
rounds and were reported immediately. In January 1997, he faced an
order to pay 41k for a dispute that occurred in May 1995 where a
concert promoter’s friend accused him and his entourage of beating
him up.
58. Death: In February 1997, he
went to Los Angeles to promote his upcoming album ‘Life After
Death’ which was scheduled for March 25th release. On March 7,
1997, he attended the 1997 ‘Soul Train Music Awards’ and presented
an award to Toni Braxton. On March 8, he attended the after party
at ‘Peterson Automotive Museum,’ hosted by ‘Quest Records’ and
‘Vibe’ magazine. While leaving the party, his truck stopped at a
red light, and a black Chevy Impala pulled up alongside it. The
Impala's driver, an unidentified African-American man dressed in a
blue suit and bow tie, rolled down his window, drew a 9 mm
blue-steel pistol, and fired at Wallace's car. Four bullets hit
Wallace, and his entourage subsequently rushed him to Cedars-Sinai
Medical Center, where doctors performed emergency procedures, but
he was pronounced dead at 1:15 a.m. He was 24 years old.
59. 16 days after his murder, his
double disc album ‘Life After Death’ was released. The album peaked
at No. 1 spot on the U.S. charts, ultimately went 11× Platinum, was
nominated for Best Rap Album, Best Rap Solo Performance for its
first single "Hypnotize", and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or
Group for its second single "Mo Money Mo Problems" at the 1998
Grammy Awards. In 2012, the album was ranked at No. 476 on Rolling
Stone magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
Biggie has been described as ‘the savior of East Coast hip hop’ by
some and ‘greatest rapper of all time’ by others.
60. Tupac and Biggie Best
Frenemies: Biggie's first single, “Party and Bulls**t” came out in
1993. By that year, Tupac was already a platinum-selling artist, so
Biggie asked a drug dealer to introduce him to Tupac at a Los
Angeles party, according to the book 'Original Gangstas...' by Ben
Westhoff. An intern who worked with Biggie recalled the meeting.
“'Pac walks into the kitchen and starts cooking for us. He's in the
kitchen cooking some steaks,”. “We were drinking and smoking
and all of a sudden ‘Pac was like, ‘Yo, come get it.’ And we go
into the kitchen and he had steaks, and French fries, and bread,
and Kool Aid and we just sittin’ there eating and drinking and
laughing...that's truly where Big and ‘Pac’s friendship started.”
There was mutual respect between the two and Biggie would crash on
Tupac’s couch when he was in California and Tupac would always stop
by Biggie’s neighborhood when he was in New York. In essence, they
were like any other pair of friends and both of them respected the
other's talent. At the 1993 Budweiser Superfest at New York City’s
Madison Square Garden, they freestyled together. Biggie often
turned to Tupac for advice in the business, and even asked him to
manage his career. But Tupac advised him to, "stay with Puff. He
will make you a star.”
61. The first big fallout happened
when they were scheduled to work on a project together for another
rapper, Little Shawn. Tupac arrived at Times Square’s Quad
Recording Studios on November 30, 1994, and was getting ready to
head upstairs to where Biggie and Combs were. But instead, Tupac
was gunned down in the lobby and shot five times. Tupac reportedly
believed that Biggie had prior knowledge of the attack and that he
also knew who was behind it. "He really thought when he got shot
the first time, not that Big set it up or anything, just Big didn't
tell him who did it," Tupac's friend and Naughty by Nature frontman
Treach told MTV News in June 2010. "In his heart, he was like, 'The
homie knows who did it.' Biggie might have wanted to just stay out
of it, like, 'I don't know nothing.' [Tupac] was like, 'Yo, man,
just put your ear to the street. Let me know who hit me up.'"
Despite Tupac's claims, Biggie remained adamant that he had been
loyal to his friend. "Honestly, I didn't have no problem with
[Tupac]," Biggie previously said. "I saw situations and how sh*t
was going, and I tried to school [Tupac]. I was there when he
bought his first Rolex, but I wasn't in the position to be rolling
like that. I think Tupac felt more comfortable with the dudes he
was hanging with because they had just as much money as him."
62. Still, Tupac's suspicions were
only heightened when Biggie released "Who Shot Ya?" a month after
Tupac's attack. Biggie claimed that he wrote the song "way before
Tupac got shot," but the rapper took it as Biggie's confession.
"Even if that song ain't about it, you should be, like, 'I'm not
putting it out, 'cause he might think it's about him,'" Tupac said
in an interview with Vibe while incarcerated for an unrelated
charge.
63. When Tupac joined Death Row
Records, the East Coast-West Coast rivalry was cemented. While
Tupac was incarcerated for another incident, he came to believe
Biggie knew about the attack ahead of time. The west coast rapper
reached out to Suge Knight, who offered him a place on his Death
Row Records roster. Tupac accepted, cementing the rivalry between
Knight's label and Combs’ Bad Boy Records. “Any artist out there
that wanna be an artist, stay a star, and won’t have to worry about
the executive producer trying to be all in the videos, all on the
records, dancing—come to Death Row!” Knight proclaimed at that 1995
Source awards show.
64. There was never proof that
Biggie or Combs knew about the incident. But a couple of months
later, Biggie’s B-side single was a track called “Who Shot Ya?”
which led to Tupac’s response with the song, “Hit ‘Em Up.” In it,
Tupac claimed he slept with Biggie’s wife, Faith Evans. According
to Vibe, Evans denied the claim, saying, “That ain’t how I do
business.”
65. Open Comments:
66. Question: What Notable deaths
hit you pretty hard? [Aaliyh/Al Jarreau/Andre Harrell/Areatha
Franklin/Bernie Mack/Bill Withers/Bob Marley/Chadwick
Boseman/Diahann Carroll/Donny Hathaway/Eazy-E/Florence
Ballard/Florence Griffith Joyner/Fred “Curly” Neal/Heavy D/Jam
Master Jay/Jimi Hendrix/John Lewis/John Singleton/John
Thompson/Kobe Bryant/Left Eye/Little Richard/Malcolm X/Martin
Luther King, Jr./Micgael Jackson/Muhammad Ali/Mya Angelou/Ol' Dirty
Bastard/Otis Redding/Prince/Sam Cooke/The Notorious B.I.G./Toni
Morrrison/Tupac/Walter Payton/Whitney Houston]
67. Music Scene: Black Songs from
the top 40
68. #3-"I'll Be Missing You", Puff
Daddy featuring Faith Evans and 112
69. #4-"Un-Break My Heart", Toni
Braxton
70. #5- "Can't Nobody Hold Me
Down", Puff Daddy featuring Mase
71. #6-"I Believe I Can Fly", R.
Kelly
72. #7-"Don't Let Go (Love)", En
Vogue
73. #8-"Return of the Mack", Mark
Morrison
74. #13- "For You I Will",
Monica
75. #14-"You Make Me Wanna...",
Usher
76. #16-"Nobody", Keith Sweat
featuring Athena Cage
77. #20- "Mo Money Mo Problems",
The Notorious B.I.G. featuring Puff Daddy and Mase
78. #23-"No Diggity", Blackstreet
featuring Dr. Dre
79. #24-"I Belong to You (Every
Time I See Your Face)", Rome
80. #25-"Hypnotize", The Notorious
B.I.G.
81. #26-"Every Time I Close My
Eyes", Babyface
82. #27-"In My Bed", Dru
Hill
83. #30-"4 Seasons of Loneliness",
Boyz II Men
84. #31-"G.H.E.T.T.O.U.T.",
Changing Faces
85. #32-"Honey", Mariah
Carey
86. #33-"I Believe in You and Me",
Whitney Houston
87. #34-"Da' Dip", Freak
Nasty
88. #37-"Cupid", 112
89. Vote:
90. Top RnB Albums
91. Jan - The Don Killuminati: The
7 Day Theory, Makaveli
92. Mar - Baduizm, Erykah
Badu
93. Mar - The Untouchable,
Scarface
94. Apr - Life After Death, The
Notorious B.I.G.
95. May - Share My World, Mary J.
Blige
96. Jun - God's Property from Kirk
Franklin's Nu Nation
97. Jun - Wu-Tang Forever, Wu-Tang
Clan
98. Aug - Supa Dupa Fly, Missy
"Misdemeanor" Elliott
99. Aug - No Way Out, Puff Daddy
and the Family
100. Aug - The Art of War, Bone
Thugs-n-Harmony
101. Sep - Ghetto D, Master
P
102. Oct - When Disaster Strikes,
Busta Rhymes
103. Oct - Evolution, Boyz II
Men
104. Nov - The Firm: The Album,
The Firm feat. Nas, Foxy Brown, Nature and AZ
105. Nov - Harlem World,
Mase
106. Nov - The 18th Letter,
Rakim
107. Nov - Unpredictable,
Mystikal
108. Dec - Live, Erykah Badu
109. Dec - R U Still Down?
(Remember Me), 2Pac
110. Vote:
111. Music Scene: Erykah Badu,
Queen of Neo-Soul
112. Childhood & Early Years: Born
as Erica Abi Wright on February 26, 1971 in Dallas, TX. Her father
spent a considerable period in jail, vanished altogether in 1975,
and only returned twenty years later. Her mother, a much respected
actress in the local theatre, raised the children with the
help of her own mother and her mother-in-law. Erica spent a
lot of time with these ladies while her mother was busy on the
stage. Erica was born the eldest of 3. Although they were
comparatively poor Erica never realized that because everything was
neat and clean. Despite the absence of her father, she had a very
happy childhood, surrounded by uncles, aunts, grandmothers and
cousins. Her mother imbibed in her daughters a love for music,
playing the songs of Chaka Khan, Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder to
them. Erica inherited her mother’s artistic traits and a desire to
perform. She would often sing in front of the mirror pretending
that she was a background singer for Chaka Khan. She would also
make her grandmother sit up and watch her while she sang, danced
and acted. In 1975, Erica first appeared on stage, performing with
her mother at Dallas Theatre Centre and by seven, she started
learning to play the piano. Her favorite song was ‘The Greatest
Love of All’. Another important aspect of her character was that
from her childhood she loved to be in control of the situation
around her. Therefore, when it was time for elementary schooling,
she refused to continue her education there, mainly because she
found that in school she was no longer in control. She began her
formal education at a grade school, where her talent was quickly
recognized. In her First Grade, she appeared in ‘Annie’, skipping
and singing the song ‘Somebody Snitched On Me.’ During the summer
vacations, she sang at the choir of the First Baptist Church,
honing her choral skills.Along with acting and singing, little
Erica also began to expand her cultural horizon, attending
different festivals, especially Harambee Festival in South Dallas,
slowly developing an interest in African culture and dress. The
tall headgear she would wear one day originated from these
visits.
113. In 1980, she was enrolled in
a dancing troupe. Later she also learned formal ballet. By 1982,
she had also started rapping. When it was time to attend high
school, she chose Dallas' Booker T. Washington High School, an
arts-oriented magnet school. While studying there she rejected what
she considered to be a slave name, changing the spelling of Erica
to Erykah and replacing Wright with Badu. After graduating from
high school, she enrolled at the Grambling State University, a
historically black institution in Grambling, Louisiana, studying
theatre until 1993. Thereafter, she returned to Dallas without
completing her degree, mainly to concentrate on music.
114. Career: In 1993, Erykah Badu
started her career as a music teacher in Dallas. For a time, she
also taught drama and dance at South Dallas Cultural Centre. To
augment her income, she also served as waitress. She also formed a
hip-hop duo with her cousin Robert Free Bradford, calling it
‘Erykah Free’. Very soon, they started going on musical tours and
earning local opening slots. Her big chance came when in 1994
(@23), Erykah opened a show for D’Angelo. Through him, she caught
the attention of Kedar Massenburg, an American record producer and
founder of Kedar Entertainment. Impressed, he set her up to record
a duet, ‘Your Precious Love' with D'Angelo. In 1995, she signed a
contract with Kedar Entertainment and moved to Brooklyn. In January
1996, she made her debut with ‘On & On’, which remained at the
number-one position on the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
for two weeks. In 1996, Erykah also recorded her debut album,
‘Baduizm’. Released on February 11, 1997 by Kedar Records, The
Grammy award-winning album received universal acclaim from critics,
who not only praised the musical style of the album, but also her
‘artistic vision’, establishing her position as the torchbearer of
soul music. Her next album, ‘Live’ was a live album released on
November 18, 1997, barely a month after the release of its lead
single, ‘Tyrone’. It was also a huge hit and reached number four on
the US Billboard 200 and number one on the US Billboard Top
R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. While ‘Live’ was being recorded Badu was
pregnant with her first child. After its release, she took some
time off to raise her child, not returning until 1999.
115. Open Comments:
116. Question: What is neo-soul
and why don’t I like it?
117. Movie Scene:Eve’s Bayou,
Written and directed by Kasi Lemmons; produced by Caldecot Chubb
and Samuel L. Jackson - Starring: Samuel L. Jackson (Louis
Batiste), Jurnee Smollett (Eve Batiste), Lynn Whitfield (Roz
Batiste), Debbi Morgan (Mozelle Batiste Delacroix), Vondie Curtis
Hall (Julian Grayraven), Meagan Good (Cisely Batiste) and Diahann
Carroll (Elzora).
118. Review #1: “...As these
images unfold, we are drawn into the same process Eve has gone
through: We, too, are trying to understand what happened in that
summer of 1962, when Eve's handsome, dashing father--a doctor and
womanizer--took one chance too many. And we want to understand what
happened late one night between the father and Eve's older sister,
in a moment that was over before it began.
119. We want to know because the
film makes it perfectly possible that there is more than one
explanation; "Eve's Bayou" studies the way that dangerous emotions
can build up until something happens that no one is responsible for
and that can never be taken back.
120. All of these moments unfold
in a film of astonishing maturity and confidence; "Eve's Bayou,"
one of the very best films of the year, is the debut of its writer
and director, Kasi Lemmons. She sets her story in Southern Gothic
country, in the bayous and old Louisiana traditions that Tennessee
Williams might have been familiar with, but in tone and style she
earns comparison with the family dramas of Ingmar Bergman. That
Lemmons can make a film this good on the first try is like a rebuke
to established filmmakers..."Eve's Bayou" resonates in the memory.
It called me back for a second and third viewing. If it is not
nominated for Academy Awards, then the academy is not paying
attention. For the viewer, it is a reminder that sometimes films
can venture into the realms of poetry and dreams. - Roger Ebert,
Chicago Sun-Times
121. Review #2: Kasi Lemmons’
fluid, feminine, African-American, Southern-gothic narrative covers
a tremendous amount of emotional territory with the most graceful
of steps. Young Jurnee Smollett plays 10-year-old Eve, struggling
to understand the womanizing of her adored daddy (Samuel L. Jackson
in easy, sexy command) and the passions of her big sister; Debbi
Morgan, in a blazing performance, plays Eve’s vibrant aunt, infused
with good-witch spiritual powers. The film’s dream-state visual
elegance is matched by a great soundtrack. Grade, A-. - Lisa
Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
122. Review #3: First and best,
it's got a rip-roaring story. It sweeps you along, borne
effortlessly by believable if flawed characters, as it flows toward
the inevitable tragedy. But it's also got a heart: It watches as a
child harsh of judgment learns that judgment is too easy a posture
for the world, and it's best to love with compassion. - Stephen
Hunter, Washington Post
123. Review #4: “You don't have to
believe in magic to be gripped by the psychic forces that the
characters' sorcery unleashes. Sibling rivalry, sexual jealousy and
anxiety are all feelings that, when heated to the boiling point,
have incendiary, semi magical powers. And as the psychosexual
forces that bind but also threaten the Batiste family heat up, you
can feel the lid about to blow. Every element of the film -- from
the turbulent, stormy performances to the rich cinematography
(which includes black-and-white computer-enhanced dream sequences)
to the setting itself, in which the thick layers of hanging moss
over muddy water seem to drip with sexual intrigue and secrecy --
merges to create an atmosphere of extraordinary erotic tension and
anxiety.
124. At the center of it all,
exuding a dangerous magnetism, is Jackson's Louis, a swashbuckling,
flashing-eyed, slightly oily lightning rod of a charmer whose
charisma conveys a warning electric buzz. Jackson has never played
a character quite this avid. And in a performance that requires him
to infuse the role of perfect father and dream lover with a demonic
charge, Jackson makes Louis at once irresistibly lovable and
slightly terrifying. - Stephen Holden, New York Times
125. Open Comments:
126. Question: Are our family
dynamics still suffering, internally, from the legacy of slavery or
we closer to moving past it.
127. TV Scene: “Miss Evers’ Boys”:
Powerful, haunting and artfully mounted, “Miss Evers’ Boys” is a
docudrama of uncommon quality and clarity. The acting is
exceptional, the characters vivid, the presentation balanced.
Original films for television rarely aim so high as does this HBO
NYC production...And cinematographically, it is a revelation, with
director of photography Donald M. Morgan lending the production a
strikingly dingy, washed-out look that blends perfectly with the
piece’s bleak sensibility. The story as told here centers on nurse
Eunice Evers (a dynamic, layered performance from Alfre Woodard).
Evers went to work at Alabama’s Tuskegee Hospital in 1932 to assist
a certain Dr. Brodus (brilliant work from Joe Morton) in caring for
poor black men (sharecroppers mostly) who have been stricken with
syphilis. Enter Dr. Douglas (Craig Sheffer), a white doctor who
brings with him a fully funded program to treat syphilis at the
hospital, offering free treatment to any man who tests positive for
the disease. A few months pass before Brodus travels to Washington
to meet with Douglas and a government panel of doctors who tell him
the funding for treatment has dried up. However, money is available
for a study of the syphilitic African-American men. The catch: They
can receive no medical treatment initially as a way to establish
whether syphilis affects blacks and whites differently. Brodus
initially is outraged, but acquiesces in the belief the study will
disprove the racist notion of physiological inferiority in blacks.
Evers also reluctantly follows along, lying to the men while giving
them only vitamins, tonics and liniment rubs. But as the months
turn into years, it becomes clear that the afflicted men will never
receive treatment. Only with their deaths is the study of how the
disease runs its course made complete and viable….[the movie]
switches gears during its second hour to become an examination of
Evers’ gut-wrenching moral ambiguity in sticking around to help
perpetrate this ghastly fraud over 40 years. Woodard movingly
conveys the conflict weighing down Evers’ guilt-riddled soul,
giving a profound resonance to the disturbing ethical questions
raised by her dedication in the name of lending the men comfort and
a form of loving (if deliberately ineffectual) care….the overall
tone and tenor of “Miss Evers’ Boys” is one of subtle brilliance,
bolstered by an exquisitely detailed period sheen that screams
excellence. After it’s over, you sit disbelieving that such an
inhumane, insidious experiment designed to reduce black men to the
level of laboratory animals could ever have been conducted in the
United States of America — much less gone undetected until 25 years
ago. It went far beyond mere institutional racism. It was pure
evil. — Ray Richmond Vanity Fair
128. Open Comments:
129. Vote: Best/most
important/favorite pop culture item from 1997?