I am the writing on the wall, the whisper in the classroom. Without these things, I am nothing.
This week on Deep Thoughts About Stupid Shit, Emily shares her film analysis of the 1992 classic Candyman. Although director Bernard Rose is a white, British man (as is Clive Barker, who authored the original short story that inspired the classic movie), his movie offers unflinching cultural commentary on racism, systemic poverty, and policing in America. The storytelling seamlessly weaves together urban legend, real headlines from Cabrini Green in Chicago, and Rose’s own art.
As with any storytelling about the Black experience through a white artist’s lens, Candyman includes some blind spots, missteps, and jarring moments. The character of Candyman may reflect some of the worst racist tropes in American storytelling—but Tony Todd and Virginia Madsen’s performances as the titular villain and main character (respectively) ask us to think deeply about everything from mental health outcomes for poor Black folks to the nature of betrayal to which women receive protection in our society.
The episode, I assure you, will be exquisite. ComClick Mee with us—and listen!
We are Tracie Guy-Decker and Emily Guy Birken, known to our extended family as the Guy Girls.
We both have super-serious personas in our "day jobs." No, really. Emily is a Finance writer who used to be a classroom teacher. Tracie writes and consults on social justice and mindfulness and works as a copywriter and project manager for non-profits. If you really need to see the bona fides, please visit our individual websites: tracieguydecker.com and emilyguybirken.com
For our work together, what you need to know is that Tracie is older (3 years), Emily is funnier (by at least 3 percent), and we're both hella smart, often over-literal, and completely unashamed of our overthinking prowess. We love movies and tv, science fiction and murder mysteries, good storytelling with liberal amounts of dramatic irony, and analyzing pop culture for gender dynamics, psychology, sociology, and whatever else we find there.
Learn more about Tracie and Emily (including our other projects), join the Guy Girls' family, secure exclusive access to bonus episodes, video version, and early access to Deep Thoughts by visiting us on Patreon.
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