This early summer blockbuster season has been chockfull of films bait and switching a sci-fi banner to instead being filled with dramas that are focused on coming of age tales and the evolution of the western idea of family structure in a post-apocalyptic landscape.
The other week, box offices got the "white walker" version with "28 Days Later". With, R.T. Thorne's "40 Acres", instead audiences get a more broader experience - though it is primarily focused through an FBA lense.
The premise of the film is focused on a blended Afro-Native family and their protection of their assets in a post-apocalyptic nightmare-scape against a group of cannibals.
The film focuses on the ideas of traditionalism and the necessitation of such practices as well as the need to update them as times change for adaptability and survival.
I really liked the display of attractive young black women on the big screen - the type I would see on Pinterest instead of the deubachery somewhere Mark Zuckerberg funded.
Jada Le Blanc is an extreme eye catcher in her role, while Milcania Diaz-Rojas follows up behind her.
Though Rojas' presence in the film presents a stark piece of social commentary, especially during the uproar of the current ICE raids and the revelation to many born outside of places like my state of origin (California) that Latinos have tended to ride the coattails of FBA's when we have something of value, and will co-op the position of comraderie until they've had their fill and then all we as FBA's get left with from the co-op experience is an op.
The films called "40 Acres", last I checked FBA's were the only ethnic group promised that in North America, so I cant front and say that I didn't feel uncomfortable when there were nearly every ethnic group but Asians included in this film.
I have a Cherokee grandfather, but his ethnic group owes reparations to FBA's as much as my other grandfather's ethnic group does too, since the Jewish participated in chattel slavery as well .
So Deadwyler's main character choosing a Native to be the stepfather for her children - my first question is does he identify as black first or Native? Because I had a foster father who was Native but black first, just like I am, hell, just like my mother is.
If interviewed on a press-run for this film, John Greyeyes or Leenah Robinson say differently, then I have a problem with Thorne including them within the film since we didn't land on Plymouth rock.
Aside from the P.O.C. casting decisions, I liked the focus on ital/plant-based eating. Within Thorne's script the world plunges into cannibalism after animal's no longer become a viable food source, and as a person who's practiced veganism for nearly a decade, I co-sign this major tenet featured within "40 Acres".
Kataem O' Connor deserves a standing ovation for his role as the young male black heir to the "Freeman" farm. The juxtaposition of having the weight on his shoulders to protect his family while juggling the fact that his mother still want's to treat him as a child is a common theme found in western society that demands black females to be both masculine and feminine and demands black males to be both breadwinner and "boy".
Deadwyler and O'Connor's interactions were some of the biggest highlights in the film, as well as O'Connor's scenes with Rojas that both depicted very well the danger black males face when dealing with either their mothers or a woman who they have the potential to make a mother.
Despite all the hatred for those born with a black phallus in Western Society, I am glad that Thorne made sure that O'Connor's character was not sexually compromised despite the overbearing attitude of his character's mother or Rojas' snarky portrayal of the typical Western female who is raised to think the best way to attract a black man is with vinegar.
I liked Thorne's use of slow motion, the plot device of Sony Walkmen, pirate radio, and the inclusion of some Native Tongues on the film's soundtrack, though Thorne could've passed on that Burna Boy.
Still my biggest gripe with "40 Acres" is that I think Kim Coleman and Stephanie Gorin could have done a better job on casting with this picture. I don't think it needed to be so inclusive.
There are plenty of black people in North America who refuse to eat ital and love stuffing their faces with all sorts of flesh and animal products on the regular, there was no need to have the majority of the cannibals be caucazoid or have an inclusion of any caucasians in the film at all - but they filled up more than half of the cast, thanks to all the extras and non-speaking roles. This perhaps is because of the noticeable co-writing credit Lora Campbell earned, which also may have been because she possibly is one the films biggest benefactors.
Straight modern day Co-Intel Pro.
Elizabeth Saunders further pushing the whole feminist/ masculine lesbian dynamic with Deadwyler was an unnecessary inclusion in the film as well. It's not hard to find a black dyke in western society to play opposite of Deadwyler. I'm pretty sure Janelle Monae or Doechii would like to expand their acting resumes.
I expected an all-black cast similar to Deadwyler's other starring role earlier this year in "The Woman In The Yard". But in reality, the only big similarity between those two films is that Hollywood keeps trying to push the only place FBA's can have anything is if their either from or somewhere near Atlanta, GA and as a black man who has been to damn near all the chocolate cities in the States - with Atlanta being chiefly the most arrogant of them all in comparison to more humbler cities like Memphis or more economically sound cities like Detroit - I get sick of this misconception being pushed by the mainstream. Maybe Thorne needs to spend more time south of that Canadian border to get a taste of a real chocolate city, not that soon-to-be gentrified playground for the black, boule, and bourgeoise known as the A.
Now when I saw this picture, it was debuted in one theater in a metro area with multiple megaplexes all the way in the back.
Thorne's picture will not make a dent in the box office, even if I did purchase tickets for all four of it's showings on it's first day out. But since lack of promotion for a film with an integral black crew like this is to be expected, I have no idea why Thorne didn't go all out.
In an era where delinieation is king amongst FBA's in the States, Thorne's POC inclusive picture titled after a broken promise made exclusively to FBA's by the U.S. government shows that it doesn't look like the African diaspora over in Canada has gotten the full memo. Maybe they need to adjust their pirate radio in this post-apocalyptic world.
