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Earlier this year, we learned that the sixth season will be the last for Fox’s hit tv show, “Empire.” The show has gone through several changes over the years, many of which have been outlandish. To be honest, a lot of people stopped watching a while ago. But the recent promotion of the sixth and final season has the streets talking again.

In an advanced clip, Terrence Howard, who portrays Lucious Lyon is sitting down talking to his eldest son Andre. The two are talking about the fate of the record label and how Andre will lead it. But honestly the conversation was secondary to the visuals in the scene.

Mostly the hair atop Lucious’ head.

For whatever reason, writers decided to give Lucious locs. Perhaps it represents some type of spiritual enlightenment. Whatever the goal, it served mainly as a distraction.

And it had people wondering why we can’t ever get locs right on television and film. See what people had to say about the makeover on the following pages.

Even by the dubious standards of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, Freddy’s Revenge has always been considered one of its worst entries. But if there’s one thing fans can be relied upon to do, it’s to reappraise condemned, dismissed or forgotten films and give them new life. Though outwardly purported to be a celebration of this weird, deeply uneven, subtext-heavy follow-up to what has rightfully become one of horror’s all-time greatest films, Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street holds far different, and far more meaningful ambitions than convincing people to go back and give it a second chance.

Focusing on star Mark Patton and his return to the entertainment industry after decades-long, self-imposed exile, Roman Chimienti and Tyler Jensen’s documentary looks at a person whose life fell apart at the exact same moment his dreams came true, and about how he handled those twin burdens before learning to accept his legacy – and recognize it as a gift he can pass on to others.

By 1985, Mark Patton was poised to become a big star; he’d already appeared in both the stage and screen versions of Robert Altman’s Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean and was being groomed for other high-profile television and film roles. He was also gay, not that anyone other than those in his inner circle knew, including his partner, Dallas star Timothy Patrick Murphy, knew that. But when Freddy’s Revenge came along in 1985, Jack Sholder’s follow-up oozed with strange details that departed from the mythology of the original Nightmare on Elm Street, and seemed particularly odd in the mid ‘80s, when the AIDS crisis was exploding into the mainstream and homophobia was rampant.

Was it a “gay” movie, intentionally or not? No one would explain, but Patton’s performance would later earn him the title of “scream queen,” a distinction reserved for, well, women, thanks to a performance that seemed to amplify all of those questionable elements. But the combination of attention – mostly bad – that the film received, the loss of Murphy to AIDS in 1988, and the discovery that he’d himself contracted HIV not only drove the actor deeper into the closet, but prompted him to leave Hollywood altogether at the exact moment he’d achieved mainstream success.

Fantastic Fest

Patton disappeared to Puerto Vallarta where he restarted his life as an art dealer when Dan Farrands contacted him in 2010 for the Nightmare on Elm Street documentary Never Sleep Again. It was the first time he had spoken publicly about the film in almost 25 years, but it wouldn’t be the last; he soon became a fixture on the convention circuit, making appearances and speaking with fans. But what he discovered is that there were whole generations of moviegoers who had embraced the film’s homoerotic twists and turns not just as a camp classic, but as an essential gay text that had piqued their own sexual discoveries and shown them there were unique and different stories to tell within the framework of a genre story.

That said, his reclaimed stardom felt increasingly bizarre in the context of interview comments from director Jack Sholder and especially screenwriter David Chaskin, who’d only embraced those elements in recent years after claiming Patton’s performance had shoved his straightforward text into mincing, cliched territory.

Scream, Queen follows Patton as he embarks on a series of convention appearances, culminating first in a reunion with his fellow cast and crew members. Finally, a showdown of sorts with Chaskin, from whom the actor seeks an apology for shouldering fans’ enmity for so many years about the film, and to some extent, for feeling compelled to abandon his career at the height of the AIDS scare. That second motive drives him through much of the film, but what eventually happens is sort of wonderfully revelatory as he realizes that confronting Chaskin is less about getting the screenwriter to confess his choices than for Patton to reckon with his own. What happened to the gay community in the 1980s was absolutely brutal – almost unimaginable – but Patton discovers that his own survival, his identity, and his legacy is up to him to define.

Forgiveness is an interesting phenomenon in a time where so much cultural effort is dedicated to punishing transgressors and eradicating offenses, because the former is always about ourselves and the latter two about others. Patton’s journey in the film is one of acceptance, and of grace – not just about his connection to a movie that has shifted in the popular consciousness, but in recognizing that Chaskin has become an unfair target for decades of his own resentment and anxiety, just as he was that for people who held him responsible for the film’s quality as its lead actor. In confronting Chaskin, and participating in Chimienti and Jensen’s extraordinary Scream, Queen, Patton comes full circle on who he was, is and wants to be, bringing his long nightmare to an end that’s cathartic for him, and deeply enlightening for us.

Featured Image: Fantastic Fest

The post SCREAM, QUEEN! Studies Mark Patton’s ELM STREET Legacy appeared first on Nerdist.

“Hey Alexa, Open Black Girl Nerds Podcast.”

Ask Alexa and she will answer you! If you’re an Amazon Echo owner, you can listen to the BGN Podcast straight from your virtual assistant device. You can also ask, “Alexa, open BGN Podcast”, and episodes will launch instantly.

The BGN Podcast launched in March of 2013, episodes feature the best of pop culture entertainment from interviews with A+ celebrities to hot topic roundtable discussions on the best (and sometimes worst) moments in the news. You can subscribe to become a listener through several streaming platforms which include iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud, Google Play Music, Spotify, iHeart Radio and several more!

Currently, on rotation are recaps of The Handmaid’s Tale and Power. So sit back, relax and enjoy episodes of the Black Girl Nerds podcast!

You can check out a full archive of podcast episodes here.

You can follow the @bgnpodcast Twitter account here!

The post The Black Girl Nerds Podcast Available on Amazon Alexa appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.

Yesterday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the launch of an impeachment inquiry to gather the specific articles of impeachment against Donald Trump. It was a painfully long time coming, and after months (years, really) of aggressively declaring his innocence, he seemed to be panicking yesterday.

Pelosi says he called her in the afternoon to see if they could make some sort of deal regarding the whistleblower complaint he’s been working so hard to bury. (Her response: “Tell your people to obey the law.”) Trump also tweeted that he would release the “transcript” of the call between himself and Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky that set off this entire ordeal.

Then, after Pelosi announced the inquiry, he tweeted that this is “A total Witch Hunt!” because Democrats “never even saw the transcript of the call,” which is kind of the point. You can’t say they don’t have grounds for impeachment because they don’t know what was said when one of the crimes you’re being accused of is forcing your own Justice Department to illegally hide the original complaint—not to mention that the point of launching an impeachment inquiry is to collect the details.

Anyway, Trump did release that transcript Wednesday morning. Well, sort of. It’s actually not a transcript at all, but rather a “memorandum” of the phone call, meaning it was pieced together from “the notes and recollections” of Situation Room and national security officers who were listening. It’s very reminiscent of Attorney General Wiliam Barr’s summary of the Mueller Report, which was seriously, let’s say, creative, with the way it interpreted the report’s findings.

They are running the exact same play. Don’t let the media and dems be fooled again. Hold the bastards to account: https://t.co/vpcgRgTVUN

— Travis Helwig (@travishelwig) September 24, 2019

But what’s really incredible is that even in the obviously doctored non-transcript that Trump himself authorized to be released, they’ve done a really bad job of hiding Trump’s crimes. At least with the Mueller Report, Barr’s summary gave some credence to Trump’s constant declarations of “NO OBSTRUCTION, NO COLLUSION.”

Here, it’s still really obvious that Trump was trying to solicit foreign interference in the 2020 election, with a heavily implied quid pro quo.

The White House transcript of the Ukraine call uses three ellipses – all when Trump is making requests, like here. pic.twitter.com/vCGJlAg2la

— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) September 25, 2019

The memo shows Trump very clearly asking Zelensky to work with Barr to investigate Joe Biden’s son. And while there are some convenient ellipses around the part where Trump might have explicitly said that he would withhold already promised aid money if Zelensky didn’t help, or if he promised something else in exchange for that help, the context is clear. He said that “the United States has been very very good to Ukraine,” but that that isn’t “reciprocal.” Trump told Zelensky he “would like you to do us a favor, though” immediately after Zelensky brought up aid money designated for Ukrainian defense.

The transcript of the call reads like a classic mob shakedown:

– We do a lot for Ukraine
– There’s not much reciprocity
– I have a favor to ask
– Investigate my opponent
– My people will be in touch

Nice country you got there.

It would be a shame if something happened to her.

— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) September 25, 2019

And remember, this is the version of the story Trump felt comfortable releasing.

I assumed–given that the White House released it–that the Ukraine transcript would be ambiguous, & provide plausible deniability re: a quid pro quo.

It’s not. Right after the Ukranian leader mentions military purchase, Trump says “I would like you to do us a favor, though.” pic.twitter.com/yHcGcSvS1c

— Eli Savit (@EliNSavit) September 25, 2019

i stupidly thought the call wouldn’t be so incriminating, but i forgot rule #1 of current american politics: donald trump is fucking stupid.

— Oliver Willis (@owillis) September 25, 2019

“Let’s get out ahead of this issue by releasing the smoking gun that implicates all of us.”

— Kashana (@kashanacauley) September 25, 2019

Trump apparently genuinely believes this memo makes him look good.

Will the Democrats apologize after seeing what was said on the call with the Ukrainian President? They should, a perfect call – got them by surprise!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 25, 2019

Trump sincerely believes the “transcript” is a great look for him: “The way you had that built up, that call, it was going to be the call from hell. It turned out to be a nothing call. Other than, a lot of people said, ‘I never knew you could be so nice.'” pic.twitter.com/skIdOGr1Uy

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 25, 2019

The White House felt so confident they even released talking points to Democrats, which they then recalled, probably because these points are ridiculous.

No joke: White House just emailed all Dem offices asking to “recall” the talking points email. https://t.co/4fFtVYmrPd

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) September 25, 2019

So that’s where we’re at now. The White House is still hiding the original whistleblower complaint, the “transcript” they released is still totally incriminating, and the Attorney General is so heavily and directly implicated that he should be recusing himself from any investigations moving forward, but definitely won’t.

Meanwhile, over in the House, six different committees are moving forward with their investigations to gather information for the actual articles of impeachment. Maxine Waters, who’s been leading this charge from Day 1, has a clear explanation of what that looks like:

Rep. Maxine Waters explains how the impeachment inquiry process will work and expresses her expectation that the process will “move very quickly.” pic.twitter.com/SV4yNH5Ncy

— Maddow Blog (@MaddowBlog) September 25, 2019

(image: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

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