I love Terrence Howard, but the fact that his first Oscar nomination is for a role as a pimp really bothers me. Not to knock Howard's performance; he's a fine actor in his own right. Yet unlike Halle Berry, he didn't win the Oscar. For that I am abundantly thankful. I am thankful that we didn't have to listen to Howard sob through an acceptance speech, dedicating it to honorable historical black figures and rambling on about how his Oscar is for every nameless and faceless man of color that now has an opportunity because he epitomized a pimp. ...
...Why much of the black community continues to remain passive towards the glorification of pimpdom is an entirely different and more complicated topic. But what I found to be terribly ironic Sunday night was what one cultural definition of the verb "to pimp" reveals:
Pimp (verb) 1. To make something appear better than it really is by adorning it with various emblems and pricey status symbols of the culture (see "ghettofabulous") 2. To advertise (generally, in an enthusiastic sense) or to call attention in order to bring acclaim to something; to promote. So it seems that in a shocking turn of events, "Pimping" is actually being pimped.
Erika Scott, 17, a Largo High School eleventh-grader, said she was a little shocked. "Growing up where I live, you see, all the time, people who are wanna-be pimps and aspire to be pimps," she said. "Knowing that there is a song that tells the world about what goes on with people like that was surprising, and I was surprised that it won. It made me wonder what the world has come to."
"I didn't really want to do him, I really didn't," Howard said. "I told the director for seven months that I didn't even want to read it because I thought it was a stereotype and a black exploitative movie."
Director Craig Brewer eventually persuaded him to redeem the black pimp, to dismantle the stereotype and give DJay some depth, understanding, even sympathy.
Howard's performance as a man who tries to leave the sleaze of the street behind and find purpose as a vulnerable rapper is overwhelming. The role he didn't want has now won him an Oscar nomination for best actor.
"It's great, because the only affirmation I had was from the mirror, was from my own spirit," he said. "I think that's what's most important, especially for your artistry to remain true. You have to be the greatest fan of your own work and hope that someone else can gain a message out of it."
And apparently Howard did some on the ground research, by chatting with some pimps and ho's... (Howard later refused to perform the song for the awards show...) Via EUR Web prior to the telecast:
Black folks will be spared the Oscar night discomfort of having to watch the lone African American best actor nominee sing about the challenges of being a pimp.
Speaking to reporters at the annual Oscar nominees luncheon in Beverly Hills Monday (Feb. 13), Howard said he will not perform best song nominee “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp,” which he sings in the film “Hustle & Flow.”
"We don't have time in the schedule to work all that stuff out," says Howard, who received a nomination for his role as a pimp yearning for a rap career. "It took me seven months to find DJay and find that voice. I don't think I could give it the full service that I gave it in the film."
I’m not sure who was more surprised. The somewhat hip-hop insulated Oscar crowd, the millions of fans who where likely tuning in, or 36 Mafia themselves.
In any case, it was refreshing to see Jordan “Juicy J” Houston running up to accept his academy award for best original song. Its not every day that I truly hardcore rap group from the streets of Memphis, Tennessee gets to literally “shine” at the Oscars (they were fully blinged out with jewelry and diamond encrusted grills)
Poetry also notes some of the other big hits by the group, with Oscar-worthy titles like '“Sippin’ on some Syrup”, “Slob on my Knob”, “Ridin’ Spinners”, “Where is the Bud”, and “Bin Laden Weed” among others.' No matter, says Poetry:
I see this as more than just a victory for a commercial rap song that served as the musical accompaniment for an o.k. film. I see this as a lifetime achievement award for 36 Mafia and the hip-hop community in general and a signal that Hollywood is truly accepting and even embracing the multicultural realities of life in America.
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"[T]he practice of arbitrary imprisonments, have been, in all ages, the favorite and most formidable instruments of tyranny.' Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 84, August, 1788
