It's Charlie Murphy! Or, even better, "sharlymurphy". And he's funnier than his more famous brother.

he's credited as "Charles Murphy" and it's critical protocol to refer to someone in a review by the way his or her name is listed in the film's credits.

I would be interested in reading an exploration of why so much main stream african american entertainment involves male actors wearing a fat suit and dressing in drag. I am not a therapist, but one can't help but think there is something more going on here.....

I find it vaguely irritating how Eddie Murphy is given free range to depict the cliched overbearing, domineering black woman w/o any complaints from the black female community.

Hell, I'm white, and even I'm offended by this depiction. Where's the outrage at this inside the black community?

Am I the only one who finds a Mammy-esque element to Rasputia?

Screw Eddie Murphy for what he did to Mel B., too. Complete jerk, as far as I'm concerned.

But fat people are funny! They eat a lot! They smell bad! They're oversexed, but can't get a date to save their lives!

In other words: comedic gold. No one ever seriously takes you to task for ridiculing the overweight, even in this politically correct era.

Hey, it worked for Mike Meyers. Even sexy starlets don the fat suit and what do they do in it on screen? Stuff their faces. Remember Gwyneth Paltrow in "Shallow Hal" slurping down that milkshake in record time? Doing a cannonball that knocked a little boy out of the water? Oh, wait. Hal liked her for her inner beauty. That makes ridiculing her all right.

So you have this grotesquely fat, ugly, hateful, vindictive woman. Unattractive in every way. Yet she manages to get laid all the time? Even her music teacher?

What is the message supposed to be? A man will have sex with any woman, no matter what?

Please.

Check out Darryl James' review of Diary of a Mad Black Man. It talks about the notion of black men in drag.

"The Black man in drag is one of the new coons. It’s hip and chic and the stereotype is comfortable for all who may have fear of a strong Black man. For white people, the stereotype presents a non-threatening Black male who won't stand up to racism or start a revolution. No one has to oppress him, because he’s self-castrated.

The stereotype is also comfortable for women who have had nothing good come from relationships with Black men because a castrated clown won’t tell them what to do, won't beat them and will sit down with them as nearly one of them. Perhaps they find comfort in this new role of the sensitive male gone too far--so far that he has become the woman. Literally

What is that showing us? It is showing debauchery and the base level of entertainment.

And it ain’t even good."

Thoughts? I think that David Chappelle has even commented on this.

These comments don't allow html, so you'll have to copy and paste the link below.

Source: http://www.eurweb.com/story/eur25206.cfm

I had a similar conversation with someone recently about why British humor often involves men in drag. The conclusion was that for centuries British society expected men and boys to go into battle and conquer the world. Battle is scary and exhausting. Why not become a female for a while? They don't have to muck through all that death and slog, now do they?

Maybe Murphey and, I think it's the Wayans that did that horrible "Blonde Chicks" movie, are tired of fighting racism and the battles of their ancestors and just wish they could be one of the girls for a while.

An article, I think it was in the LA Times, said the TV ads for "Norbit," because they're so crass and classless, could harm EM's shot at an Oscar (because, presumably, Academy members won't feel he has the requisite gravitas?)

That, in itself, is funnier than all of "Norbit."

I think that latex make up is addictive. They do one movie using it, and they get hooked.

All my black students are looking forward to seeing this movie. Of course, teenagers have such discriminating taste.

from Best Supporting Actor Oscar contention after not only starring in but cowriting this embarrassment. He was so great in , but I'm fully and without compunction rooting for Mark Wahlberg.

Why did this even merit a review? This movie falls into the standard market niche of a lowbrow movie that both caters to and exploits all the black stereotypes it can think of. Did you actually sit through it in order to review it? I feel sorry for you. I was busy watching, you know, GOOD movies, like Perfume. But I digress...

My puzzlement lies in the fact that unlike other black comedians who constantly produce trash like this (such as, for example, Martin Lawrence), Eddy Murphy is actually a decently funny and witty guy who is capable of far better. Have you ever seen any of his standup acts from the 80's? He was ridiculing stuff exactly like this movie a whole decade before Chris Rock.

Of course that's exactly the point. Anyone who knows anything about Hollywood knows that these types of movies aren't made by black people, they're made FOR black people by white people (you can substitute 'Jewish' for 'white' if you're into that sort of thing). But why does someone like Eddie Murphy keep agreeing to do stuff like this? It's not like he needs the money. In his case, I suppose he needs to stay relevant somehow.

...Alex's letter would get a star!

I'm actually feeling insulted that Salon felt I needed to be warned about how bad "Norbit" was going to be.

Anyway, enough with that. Anyone know when "The Host" is releasing stateside?

I find it vaguely irritating how Eddie Murphy is given free range to depict the cliched overbearing, domineering black woman w/o any complaints from the black female community.

On various sites and blogs, Black women ARE complaining about this movie as being particularly anti-Black woman and colorist (why is it that in so many of Murphy's movies, his main character is always in an unintentional love triangle between the horrid, she-beast, (or at least unappealing or rejected) dark-skinned Black woman and the ultra-feminine, obviously-more desired and preferred light-skinned Black woman?). But because we are just Black women, no one is paying any attention to us or our opinions on this matter.