Professor Elam

Sat March 19 2011

Derek Miles and I have concocted a Socionomic look at Black Etertainers. One was clear in compiling that presentation, there is endless material. A prominent actor we left out was Sidney Poitier.

I agree with the review that the racial side of the story is pretty heavy handed. But going back to see films made at extreme junctures of history should be viewed as a sort of Time Machine. The theme of the movie reflects the socionomic mood of the time, which is why this was a Best Picture candidate. 

TCM airs this movie this afternoon at 3 PM. 

Hmm, were I in charge I would create various classic film series illustrating different themes. One might be business ethics, another might be Black Entertainers or Civil Rights. Students would view the film in the library and then we would use a discussion board to comment. These could be non credit courses as evidence of stretching one self to learn more about life and films and history. That is an essential part of college now seeing films and visiting in the coffee shop afterwards, that is gone now. Ironic in that we now have more coffeeshops than ever but fewer  film seminars.