2017
“Black women are not just here to hold up nations and hold back tears. We are living, breathing, layered characters who deserve to be seen on screen as such!”
So concludes the riveting description of writer and performer Chanel Dupree’s pitch for her independent film “Shoulders,” and like anyone with a passion for #BlackWomenDreaming I was immediately hooked. “What does it mean to experience the ‘urgency and necessity that is “Black girl friendship?”‘ I wondered. “And how do you capture it on film, especially when you’re free of network executives and focus groups sanitizing away the raw edges?”
Since both of us are poets who have been involved with slam it’s possible I met Chanel at an earlier date, but the first time I really got to meet her was at the Pink Door Writing Retreat in the summer of 2016 (which, hint hint, if you identify with “Black women, women of color, trans women, and gender non-conforming writers” then you should check it out here as there’s been quite a few BNP writers who have attended and loved it). Featured twice in the Huffington Post, I remembered from our group reading that Chanel had a talent for writing honest, evocative work and “Shoulders” certainly lives up to this reputation, depicting the ways in which the simplicity of cutting up with your best friend can set you on the path to cleaning even the deepest of spiritual wounds. I didn’t wait long to message Chanel for more information about the project and even before I was done reading the script I knew I had to interview her for this column.
Black Nerd Problems: So why create this film now?
Chanel Dupree: I have wanted to capture the many complexities of friendships between Black women for quite some time now. I have not seen many authentic friendships between women of color that exudes the “I found a soulmate within this friendship” type of love. I feel like the world is ready for it. Also I wanted the world to see two women who use their humor to approach the hurt. Too often I see “funny women” using humor to avoid whatever is troubling them. Never, also a Black woman genuinely using humor while addressing their demons head on.
BNP: What inspired you to take the leap into film?
CD: I have written plays since I was 15-years-old. I attended an arts high school and I was a theater major. We were required to write monologues, analyze scripts, create characters, and then eventually write 10 minutes plays. Creating scripts isn’t too foreign for me. I actually wrote a one act play in 2015 that was displayed on off off Broadway. I was at first terrified of writing for screen. It was so out of the norm for me. I didn’t want to fail any character, especially ones who looked like me. After years of writing down series and short film ideas, I finally got the courage to actually write a screenplay.
BNP: What are some favorite written works and/or films that you think might influence the creation process of “Shoulders?”
CD: Oh my god, I can go on for days! However, this one particular scene that occurred in one of my favorite shows, Queen Sugar. It happened in season 1, Charley, Nova, and Aunt Violet all just had a stressful day. Instead of sulking in that anger and frustration, they all sat around, smoked weed, threw their heads back and laughed through their sorrows. That is us. That is the exact beauty of Black women, how the world can spend the day saying to us that we are too much to carry, and we come home and always arms for each other. We always create a home inside of ourselves for each other. That scene is forever in my heart and truly inspired me to create “Shoulders.”
BNP: “Shoulders” dives into some very traumatic events in your life, specifically your relationship with your mother. What has the process been like so far grappling with these deeply personal memories for the public?
CD: Surprisingly, it hasn’t been hard expressing those parts of my personal life. I think if it wasn’t for poetry, I would be terrified. I have expressed so much on stage that I am use to spilling out parts of myself. Also, it took me a long time to acknowledge that what was occuring was abuse. When something is routine you do not question it. Once I admitted to myself what it was, I wasn’t afraid to share.
BNP: In your script best friends Monica and Jade share a very physically close bond as well as an emotional one. How necessary do you feel touch is to Black girl friendship?
CD: So often as Black women we have to swallow our tears in order to just get through the afternoon. We don’t have time to spill open because we are so busy trying to keep everybody else’s spine up. As simple as a grip on the hand or the rub on the back have saved my life. Something as simple as locking hands can translate into “I see you” “I hear you” “I’m never going to let you go”. What a blessing to say all of that without saying a word
BNP: Monica and Jade quickly transition between sharp humor and tender vulnerability in their conversations, sometimes in the next sentence. What kind of emotional freedom do you think Black girl friendship gives that other kinds of friendships don’t?
CD: Black women have a way of just creating whatever space we are in together, a safe one.
We can be going through the worse shit possible and we want to explode. We can look our friends in the eyes and say nothing, and she knows how to stop all of the noise. Whether you want to full on blow up about the situation or just drinking whiskey and laughing through it. Either way you get healed even without noticing it. Even without asking.
BNP: In your description of this project you say the entire cast and crew is filled with Black women. How important was this detail to you? What has the process of assembling all of these Black women been like?
CD: It was such an important decision to make. Black women have created all of the shit. And yet are left out of creating. I didn’t believe that a man could capture the love between Monica and Jade. None of the women needed an explanation for anything. They just got it. The process has been so beautiful. Our group chat is lit. We all call this project “our child” and that displays that undeniable love that we put into what we do
BNP: What do you hope audiences will take away from this film?
CD: I want audiences to see a different way of “Black girl healing”. How our love is so fly and deeply coded that we don’t have to utter a word. I want audiences to not see this as a trauma story but what it is… A love story
As of writing this article the GoFundMe is already halfway supported with less than a week to go, so if you’re a fan of Black girl friendship and healing please donate and share the link here.
Are you following Black Nerd Problems on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr or Google+?
The post Marginalia: How Black Girl Friendship Brings Healing in Chanel Dupree’s “Shoulders” appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.
“Black women are not just here to hold up nations and hold back tears. We are living, breathing, layered characters who deserve to be seen on screen as such!”
So concludes the riveting description of writer and performer Chanel Dupree’s pitch for her independent film “Shoulders,” and like anyone with a passion for #BlackWomenDreaming I was immediately hooked. “What does it mean to experience the ‘urgency and necessity that is “Black girl friendship?”‘ I wondered. “And how do you capture it on film, especially when you’re free of network executives and focus groups sanitizing away the raw edges?”
Since both of us are poets who have been involved with slam it’s possible I met Chanel at an earlier date, but the first time I really got to meet her was at the Pink Door Writing Retreat in the summer of 2016 (which, hint hint, if you identify with “Black women, women of color, trans women, and gender non-conforming writers” then you should check it out here as there’s been quite a few BNP writers who have attended and loved it). Featured twice in the Huffington Post, I remembered from our group reading that Chanel had a talent for writing honest, evocative work and “Shoulders” certainly lives up to this reputation, depicting the ways in which the simplicity of cutting up with your best friend can set you on the path to cleaning even the deepest of spiritual wounds. I didn’t wait long to message Chanel for more information about the project and even before I was done reading the script I knew I had to interview her for this column.
Black Nerd Problems: So why create this film now?
Chanel Dupree: I have wanted to capture the many complexities of friendships between Black women for quite some time now. I have not seen many authentic friendships between women of color that exudes the “I found a soulmate within this friendship” type of love. I feel like the world is ready for it. Also I wanted the world to see two women who use their humor to approach the hurt. Too often I see “funny women” using humor to avoid whatever is troubling them. Never, also a Black woman genuinely using humor while addressing their demons head on.
BNP: What inspired you to take the leap into film?
CD: I have written plays since I was 15-years-old. I attended an arts high school and I was a theater major. We were required to write monologues, analyze scripts, create characters, and then eventually write 10 minutes plays. Creating scripts isn’t too foreign for me. I actually wrote a one act play in 2015 that was displayed on off off Broadway. I was at first terrified of writing for screen. It was so out of the norm for me. I didn’t want to fail any character, especially ones who looked like me. After years of writing down series and short film ideas, I finally got the courage to actually write a screenplay.
BNP: What are some favorite written works and/or films that you think might influence the creation process of “Shoulders?”
CD: Oh my god, I can go on for days! However, this one particular scene that occurred in one of my favorite shows, Queen Sugar. It happened in season 1, Charley, Nova, and Aunt Violet all just had a stressful day. Instead of sulking in that anger and frustration, they all sat around, smoked weed, threw their heads back and laughed through their sorrows. That is us. That is the exact beauty of Black women, how the world can spend the day saying to us that we are too much to carry, and we come home and always arms for each other. We always create a home inside of ourselves for each other. That scene is forever in my heart and truly inspired me to create “Shoulders.”
BNP: “Shoulders” dives into some very traumatic events in your life, specifically your relationship with your mother. What has the process been like so far grappling with these deeply personal memories for the public?
CD: Surprisingly, it hasn’t been hard expressing those parts of my personal life. I think if it wasn’t for poetry, I would be terrified. I have expressed so much on stage that I am use to spilling out parts of myself. Also, it took me a long time to acknowledge that what was occuring was abuse. When something is routine you do not question it. Once I admitted to myself what it was, I wasn’t afraid to share.
BNP: In your script best friends Monica and Jade share a very physically close bond as well as an emotional one. How necessary do you feel touch is to Black girl friendship?
CD: So often as Black women we have to swallow our tears in order to just get through the afternoon. We don’t have time to spill open because we are so busy trying to keep everybody else’s spine up. As simple as a grip on the hand or the rub on the back have saved my life. Something as simple as locking hands can translate into “I see you” “I hear you” “I’m never going to let you go”. What a blessing to say all of that without saying a word
BNP: Monica and Jade quickly transition between sharp humor and tender vulnerability in their conversations, sometimes in the next sentence. What kind of emotional freedom do you think Black girl friendship gives that other kinds of friendships don’t?
CD: Black women have a way of just creating whatever space we are in together, a safe one.
We can be going through the worse shit possible and we want to explode. We can look our friends in the eyes and say nothing, and she knows how to stop all of the noise. Whether you want to full on blow up about the situation or just drinking whiskey and laughing through it. Either way you get healed even without noticing it. Even without asking.
BNP: In your description of this project you say the entire cast and crew is filled with Black women. How important was this detail to you? What has the process of assembling all of these Black women been like?
CD: It was such an important decision to make. Black women have created all of the shit. And yet are left out of creating. I didn’t believe that a man could capture the love between Monica and Jade. None of the women needed an explanation for anything. They just got it. The process has been so beautiful. Our group chat is lit. We all call this project “our child” and that displays that undeniable love that we put into what we do
BNP: What do you hope audiences will take away from this film?
CD: I want audiences to see a different way of “Black girl healing”. How our love is so fly and deeply coded that we don’t have to utter a word. I want audiences to not see this as a trauma story but what it is… A love story
As of writing this article the GoFundMe is already halfway supported with less than a week to go, so if you’re a fan of Black girl friendship and healing please donate and share the link here.
Are you following Black Nerd Problems on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr or Google+?
The post Marginalia: How Black Girl Friendship Brings Healing in Chanel Dupree’s “Shoulders” appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.
Writer: Sebastian Gimer / Artist: Galaad / Image Comics
Girner and Galaad are back again for the first time with Scales and Scoundrels #2! S&S is a breath of fresh air from cover to cover. We get a rare ‘bottle episode’ with this issue, with tight and intimate settings.
Swiftly, S&S drops us in with this newly formed squad of adventurers at the threshold of Dened Lewin. Lavender is about to do what Luvander does best: loot and plunder. She’s joined by the prince, his bodyguard Koro, and a dwarf guide named Dorma at the doors of the fabled dungeon. An exposition-rich campfire opens up the prince and Koro’s culture and backstory. Galaad and Girner drop yet another subtle hint here about the Urden myth. Lavender definitely burps up a little flame after trying Dorma’s stew, I’m not bugging, right?
Truly, they are really slick with slipping this elusive, dragon-type mythos into the narrative. It serves this new and unfolding world to engage readers’ interest with this supernatural layer in small doses. It’s the type of thing that’s gonna be really important later but gives us the incentive to stay with the story. As a device, it feeds this feeling that something is askew in the world, and won’t be directly addressed. A thorn in the reader’s mind. This ‘off’ feeling manifests in the form of Koro throwing hella shade at Luvander’s rough edges for most of the issue. I mean at length, just coming for Lu’s whole life. An ambush forces the group deeper into the dungeon and ends the issue with our first glimpse of Dened Lewen, aka “The Dragon’s Maw”.
Lastly, can we talk about how Girner has developed a composite Saxon language to give cultural depth to this world? A language that isn’t contrived or too similar to another fictional lexicon. S&S somehow samples RPG video game exposition while balancing god tier literary world creation with a pared-down, highly expressive art style. Overall, Scales and Scoundrels is proving that less can be more when building a world.
8 Flaming Burps out of 10
Reading Scales and Scoundrels? Find BNP’s other reviews of the series here.
Are you following Black Nerd Problems on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr or Google+?
The post Scales and Scoundrels #2 Review appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.
Check out the newest announcements from LA Comic Con coming to the Los Angeles Convention center October 27-29th. Who are you excited to see? Will you be getting Hot Topic Funko exclusives? Let us know in the comments!
DWAYNE ‘THE ROCK’ JOHNSON IS COMING TO L.A. COMIC CON
Megastar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson ROCKS Stan Lee’s L.A. Comic Con on Saturday, October 28th!
Join The Rock for an exclusive must-see panel on the Main Stage as he discusses all things The Rock related, including his upcoming film JUMANJI. Presented by ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY.
Hot Topic returns as a Sponsor of L.A. Comic Con, and as always, they are bringing the goods!
For your collectible sensibilities, feast your eyes on these:
- Kevin Smith Fat Man Exclusive
- Glow-in-the-Dark Ahsoka Tahno (p.s. Ashley Eckstein will be signing in the Hot Topic Booth Saturday, October 28th!)
- Rick and Morty Exclusive FLOCKED Snowball
- Marvel’s Moon Knight Glow-in-the-Dark CHASE Pop!, only available at the Hot Topic Booth!
iZombie!
Join the stars of CW’s iZombie Rose McIver, David Anders and Malcolm Goodwin for a panel, signing sessions and photo opportunities! Just don’t get bit…
We Are The Crystal Gems!
Steven Universe himself Zack Callison and Crystal Gems Deedee Magno and Michaela Dietz join L.A. Comic Con Saturday and Sunday to meet, and sign autographs for, fans as well as partake in an especially spectacular panel on Sunday, October 29th.
Henry Danger Saves L.A. Comic Con!
The hit Nickelodeon show returns to the L.A. Comic Con floor! Join cast members Cooper Barnes, Jace Norman, Riele Downs, Sean Ryan Fox and Ella Anderson for a special panel and signing, Sunday, October 29th!
Hasbro Studios is giving L.A. Comic Con fans a SNEAK PEAK of their newest animated series for Netflix!
Felicia Day (The Guild, Supernatural), Scott Menville (Teen Titans Go!, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Ogie Banks (Ultimate Spider-Man) and the creators of this highly anticipated action-comedy series for a fun-filled panel on our Main Stage Saturday, October 28th,, followed by a limited signing!
The Owls Have 3-Day Badges.
Join Twin Peaks favorites Deputy Andy and Lucy Brennan – aka Harry Goaz and Kimmy Robertson – for signings and photos all weekend long!
L.A. Comic Con is OUTTA THIS WORLD!
Star of both the 1953 original and the 2005 remake of War of the Worlds, legendary Hollywood actress Ann Robinson, will be joining us for autographs and photos with fans all weekend long.
The post More Celebrities, Exclusives and Signings – LA Comic Con appeared first on The Nerd Element.