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Wonderboy19
First Time Poster
Username: Wonderboy19
Post Number: 1
Registered: 03-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - 02:45 am: | 
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I was very frustrated with Oprah's production of Zora Neale Hurston's novel, "Their Eyes Were Watching God." It was problematic. This article discussion the show, but also the role of the black artist in America. To what extent is it our responsibility to tell the truth and does America want to hear it?
Watchers and Witnesses: Oprah, Zora and James
By Max Gordon
Sending a television production of Their Eyes Are Watching God like this into the world is like saying to a black child, the night before her first day at an all white school: “Now, don’t worry, Baby, Mama knows everyone is going to like you for who you are. But just in case, we’re gonna lighten your hair tonight and I bought you these blue contacts. You want to be popular, don’t you?”
http://watchersandwitnesses.blogspot.com |
Steve_s
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Steve_s
Post Number: 77
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 21, 2005 - 07:20 am: |
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Wonderboy19(Max), When you say "Their Eyes Were Watching God is arguably the first great novel of the jazz era," how do you mean that? The Great Gatsby (1925) and The Sun Also Rises (1926) are usually considered great novels of the Jazz Age (the 1920s). How is Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937), published well after the Harlem Renaissance, near the end of the Swing Era, four years after the repeal of the Volstead Act, and a few years before the end of the Great Depression the "first" in your opinion? |
Wonderboy19
Newbie Poster
Username: Wonderboy19
Post Number: 2
Registered: 03-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 21, 2005 - 10:21 am: |
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Steve,
Thank you for your post, I appreciate it. I should have been more careful when I wrote that. I had read something that talked about the Jazz era, and in an effort to finish the essay in the timely manner, I didn't look into it enough, but I've changed it in the article now. This is one of reasons I like to posting in a forum like this--I think the piece will be stronger because of your comment. |
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