Bids/Classifieds
Advertising deadlines 12:00 Noon Monday
Hours: Monday - Friday 8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
To place your ad, email
advertising@theskanner.com
Father and Son Discuss Coming-of-Age Comedy
By Kam Williams
Special To The Skanner News
liked that I had a baby 9 months Iater. So, inspired by real
events, I started piecing the story together piece by piece.
M
KW: How true to life is the movie?
Mandela: A lot of the movie was inspired by real life, but
some of it is fiction. For instance, I would get so mad, if my
brother really got a car and I didn’t.
ario Van Peebles was born in Mexico City on Jan-
uary 15, 1957 to Maria Marx and the legendary
actor/director/composer/scriptwriter Melvin Van
Peebles. Heo made his acting debut as a teenager in his
father’s film Sweet Sweetback’s Badasssss Song (1971),
before embarking on an enduring career as a thespian
marked by memorable outings in everything from New
Jack City (1991) to playing Stokely Carmichael in Panther
(1995) to impersonating Malcolm X in Ali (2001).
Mario has also stepped behind the camera to direct a num-
ber of films, most notably, New Jack City, Panther,
Badasssss! (2003) and Posse (1993). His latest offering, We
the Party, is a bit of a family affair, in that it stars his 18
year-old son, Mandela, and features his father and four
other children, Makaylo, Maya, Morgana and Marley, in
supporting roles.
Here, Mario and Mandela talk about the movie, a coming-
of-age comedy which might be best thought of as an
African-American variation on American Pie (1999).
Kam Williams: Hi Mario and Mandela, thanks for the
interview. You know, back in ’79, I had the honor of run-
ning part of the Boston Marathon alongside Melvin Van
Peebles. Your father’s one of my idols.
Mario: Cool, man. When you met him did you go,
“Come on feet! Do your Thing!” like his character did in
Sweet Sweetback? [LOL]
KW: How similar are you to your character, Hendrix?
Mandela: He’s the same kind of kid as me. He’s stylish,
but he’s not the coolest kid or the weirdest kid. He’s kind of
in his own world.
KW: Mandela, Harriet Pakula Teweles asks: Was it weird
being directed by your dad?
Mandela: No, it wasn’t, because I’ve been directed by
him almost my whole life. That’s 18 years. However, it was
important to know the difference between my dad and
Mario Van Peebles, the director. You gotta show up early…
‘It’s okay to let them know ... that
they might not be able to buy
their sense of self at the mall’
you gotta know your lines… and I had to set an example for
the other actors, so they could see that even the director’s
son was always prepared and very professional.
KW: I’m sure I did. What interested you in making We
the Party?
Mario: Half of it came from just witnessing the party all
around me. I had this cool constituency of five teenagers
growing up, listening to all this new music and dealing with
all the “isms” that are still alive. They’re trying to climb
through: lookism… classism… sexism… racism. Then they
literally threw a huge party at the house for one of their
birthdays.
Mandela: Yeah, one of my brothers and I have our birth-
days around the same time, and my father wasn’t giving us
as big an allowance as others in our age group. So, we fig-
ured we should pool our money, hire a DJ, hire security,
order some pizza and refreshments, and charge $10 a head.
It was amazing! We had at least 500 people show up.
KW: Wow!
Mario: But it never got out of control like Project X
because “dad” was there. I patrolled the premises with my
video camera, and tried to keep the hormones from raging
out of control. The way these kids behave, it sort of looks
like safe sex out there on the floor. The last time I danced
KW: Mario, was it hard keeping egos in check when you
have stars like Snoop Dogg, Salli Richardson, Michael Jai
White and Tony Lister in support roles.
MVP: One of the cool things about the adults in the
movie is we’ve all been doing it for a minute. Salli, Tiny
and I have been working together since Posse. And Snoop’s
been The Doggfather for awhile. So, we’re all pretty secure
within ourselves. On top of that, it wasn’t just my badass
crew in the movie, it was Snoop’s son [Corde Broadus], P.
Diddy’s son [Quincy Brown], a Wayan’s kid [Gregg], and a
lot of talented youngsters from That’s So Raven and Han-
nah Montana, plus some professional music and dance
crews. So, the adults were happy to be a part of a cool
movie being made that had some nutritional value. And I
think they also knew that when you make an independent
movie like We the Party, you really have to put the money
on the screen. That’s why I only paid myself ten dollars to
write it and one dollar to direct it. No one was there for the
money in the first place. That was the wrong reason to be
on the set. Understand that Hollywood tends to be a little
SUB-BIDS REQUESTED
SUB-BIDS REQUESTED
Tacoma Water Green River
Filtration Facility Project
Bid Package #10: Screw Presses
(Purchase Equipment Only)
Prebid Meeting and Site Visit: July 19,
2012 at 11:00am
Bids Due: July 31, 2012 at 2:00pm
Tacoma Water Green River
Filtration Facility Project
Bid Package #8:
Prestressed Concrete Tanks
Prebid Meeting and Site Visit: July 19,
2012 at 11:00am
Bids Due: July 31, 2012 at 2:00pm
HOFFMAN
CONSTRUCTION
COMPANY OF
WASHINGTON
reductive in its por-
trayals of people of
color. It might get
behind a couple film-
makers who are
doing goofy come-
dies, which is fine,
but I also want kids
of all colors to have
an alternative. I want
our kids to be able to
Melvin and Mario
go to the movies to
Van Peebles
see something that is
relevant to them that
also has something to say. There’s no reason to be afraid to
continue a conversation that society has already started with
a young audience. So, if they’ve already been hit with
hyper-sexuality and hyper materialism, it’s okay to let them
know in the context of a movie that they might not be able
to buy their sense of self at the mall. Like I say in the
classroom scene, the people we really respect aren’t the
big shoppers like the Kardashians, but the people who
stand for something. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X
weren’t big consumers. You couldn’t sell Mother Teresa
breast implants. You couldn’t sell Gandhi a new car.
That’s a long answer, but once my cast saw that level of
consciousness in a script aimed at young adults, they
jumped at the chance to be a part of delivering a positive
message. They were attracted to the project for content rea-
sons, not for ego reasons.
KW: That reminds me of how your dad’s film, “Sweet
Sweetback,” was taught in one of my black studies courses
when I went to Cornell.
Mario: Kam, you’re hitting on a real important point
that’s often lost in the conversation when we talk about
Blaxploitation Era cinema. What Melvin Van Peebles real-
ly created was Black Power Cinema. He made the first
definitive film where a brother transforms from a hustler
into a revolutionary and goes up against the system. Holly-
wood saw that movie make money, and made Shaft, a pri-
vate eye who was working with The Man, instead of against
The Man. And Superfly came later, which was about a guy
who was dealing drugs to his own people for The Man. So,
although the films after Sweetback still featured empow-
ered black leads, they were only icing on the cake, because
the revolutionary core had been drained from the cake.
Consequently, black people are today still trying to recover
from the Blaxploitation Era’s drug dealer as a hip guy men-
tality. The Hollywood industry prefers to support cinema
that doesn’t threaten the status quo as opposed to promoting
material that might raise consciousness. Even reality-TV
shows dupe viewers into believing they’re exercising an
important choice when they’re given a chance to vote for
this or that next Pop Idol. But the truth is, they’re really
only exercising distraction. Do you understand what I’m
saying?
KW: Yep. Is there any question no one ever asks you, that
you wish someone would?
Mario: Well, it’s fun talking to you, Kam since you saw
the movie and you’re touching on some good points.
KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?
Mario: I see a brother who’s been blessed in many ways.
Read the rest of this story online at
www.theskanner.com
HOFFMAN
CONSTRUCTION
COMPANY OF
WASHINGTON
Bid Phone: (206) 286-6697
Fax: (206) 286-7523
1505 Westlake Ave N, Suite 500
Seattle, WA 98109
Bid Phone: (206) 286-6697
Fax: (206) 286-7523
1505 Westlake Ave N, Suite 500
Seattle, WA 98109
LIC # HOFFMCC164NC
LIC # HOFFMCC164NC
We are an equal opportunity employer and request
sub bids from all interested firms including disad-
vantaged, minority, women, disabled veterans and
emerging small business enterprises.
We are an equal opportunity employer and request
sub bids from all interested firms including disad-
vantaged, minority, women, disabled veterans and
emerging small business enterprises.
Other Subcontracting Opportunities - Internet
http://www.hoffmancorp.com
Other Subcontracting Opportunities - Internet
http://www.hoffmancorp.com
7-25-12
7-25-12
POLICE OFFICER ENTRY-LEVEL
$4936/month
$5404 Second year & $6468 Third year
The City of Everett seeks a diverse group of qualified
individuals who are interested in a police career that pro-
vides professional and personal challenges and rewards.
To apply go to: HR Dept., 2930 Wetmore Ave., Suite 5A,
Everett, WA
98201,
(425)
257-8768
or
www.ci.everett.wa.us . Applications must be received by
Friday, 8/17/12. EOE.
7-25-12
July 25, 2012 The Seattle Skanner Page 7