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Page 8 The Skanner January 20, 2016 Arts & Entertainment FILM REVIEW: ‘Sweaty Betty’ Has Quirks This gritty comedy feels like a Blackface, street-smart ‘Babe’ reboot By Kam Williams For The Skanner News By Kam Williams For The Skanner News I n 1965, the federal gov- ernment issued the historic Moynihan Re- port chronicling the collapse of “The Negro Family” which it blamed on a host of social woes affl icting inner-city Af- rican American commu- nities. A half-century later, Blacks and Whites still remain substantial- ly separate and unequal. Evidence of the dispar- ity abounds in Sweaty Betty, a super-realis- tic buddy fl ick set in a Prince George’s County, Maryland ghetto located in the shadow of the na- tion’s capital. There, we fi nd a cornucopia of col- orful characters inhabit- ing a den of iniquity that it’s hard to believe exists, but obviously does. The stars of this must- see adventure are Rico and Scooby, a couple of uneducated, unem- ployed, unmarried sin- gle fathers. To call the pair actors would be far too generous, since they’re obviously simply Mia Wenjen Talks About Multicultural Children’s Book Day M ‘Sweaty Betty’ playing themselves. That makes it diffi cult to discern whether one is watching a comedy or a documentary, although that dilemma only adds to the quirky picture’s appeal. Everybody on their block speaks such inscrutable Ebonics that directors Joseph Frank and Zachary Reed had the good sense to use subtitles, despite the fact that the entire cast is speaking in English. The dialogue is not only grammatically in- correct but is invariably delivered laced with ex- pletives and the N-word. And the conversations are precisely what one might expect of 20-ish ba- by-daddies with nothing better to do all day than hang out on the street. One minute, our heroes We honor the many accomplishments of African Americans. It is our primary goal as a labor union to better the lives of all people working in the building trades through advocacy, civil demonstration, and the long-held belief that work- ers deserve a "family wage" - fair pay for an honest day's work. A family wage, and the benefits that go with it, not only strength- ens families, but also allows our communities to become stronger, more cohesive, and more responsive to their citizens' needs. Our family wage agenda reflects our commitment to people work- ing in the building trades, and to workers everywhere. In this small way, we are doing our part to help people achieve the American Dream. This dream that workers can hold dear regard- less of race, color, national origin, gender, creed, or religious be- liefs. The Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters Representing more than 5.000 construction workers in Oregon State. Do you want to know more about becoming a Union carpenter? are commiserating about the burdens of father- hood, the next, they’re shamelessly fl irting with a couple of cute honeys passing by. Meanwhile, their neighbors appear to be equally rudderless, as they spend their time boasting, twerking, mug- ging for the camera and/ or engaging in meaning- less chatter. Oh, Sweaty Betty does have a rudimentary plot, which revolves around a couple of pets: a pig named Charlotte, and a pit bull the protagonists can’t decide what to call: Cocaine, Killer or Petey (since it looks like the pooch on The Little Ras- cals). These wannabe entre- preneurs have been rais- ing the hog in the ‘hood with hopes of having it become the mascot of the Washington Redskins. So, on home gamedays, they drive the half-ton oinker to the stadium via pickup truck to partic- ipate in all the parking lot hoopla. Unfortunate- ly, it eventually comes to the attention of the local animal control offi cer that somebody’s raising a farm animal in a residen- tial neighborhood. But don’t be fooled. Sweaty Betty’s storyline is inconsequential, at best. Yet, it remains high- ly recommended for cin- ematic voyeurs who like laughing from a safe dis- tance at the outrageous fl amboyance of a hot ghetto mess. A blackface variation of Babe (1995) with street cred! Excellent Unrated In Ebonics with subtitles Running time: 94 min- utes Distributor: Breaking Glass Pictures ia Wenjen blogs at PragmaticMom.com on parenting, education and children’s books. A dorm room entrepreneur with her cre- ative staffi ng company, Aquent, ranking #12 on the Inc. 500 list when she was 26-years-old, Mia has always championed social justice. Her staffi ng company was the fi rst to off er medical ben- efi ts to temporary workers. These days, the mother of three is focused on get- ting diversity, multicultural and inclusive books into the hands of the kids who need them most. She co-founded Multicultural Children’s Book Day (see more information at http://multiculturalchil- drensbookday.com/) to shine the spotlight on au- thors, illustrators and diversity characters so kids of color could fi nd themselves in books. Because her children are one-fourth Japa- nese-American, one-fourth Chinese-American and one-half Korean American, she personally sought out books where they could see themselves; something that she didn’t have growing up, despite being a bookworm who read every single biogra- phy and fi ction chapter book in her Southern Cali- fornia elementary school’s library. Blogging on KidLit for fi ve years helped her re- alize that there simply isn’t enough representation of kids of color in children’s literature. Further- more, the books that do exist don’t get the exposure they need and deserve. So, she’ made it her mission to dedicate her blogging eff orts to promoting chil- dren’s authors of color. “ It’s about validating your right to be part of the main- stream as a child of color That’s how she found Valarie Budayr from Jump Into a Book who proposed creating a day to cele- brate multicultural books for kids, and thus Mul- ticultural Children’s Book Day was born. And they hope you will join them on Jan. 27. Kam Williams: Hi Mia, thanks for the interview. Mia Wenjen: Thanks so much for having me, Kam. KW: What inspired you to found the Multicul- tural Children’s Book Day? MW: Lee and Low Publishing had a blog post on how the number of diversity books for kids has not changed in 14 years. I was shocked and dismayed. I put it out on my Facebook that, from now on, I would focus on diversity authors, illustrators and characters on my blog. Valarie Budayr, of Jump Into a Book blog, saw my post and contacted me about creating a day to celebrate multicultural books for kids. I said, “You can do that?” And she said, “Yes, you just do it.” So we did. KW: What eff ect does access to literature cele- brating diversity have on children during their formative years? MW: It’s about validating your right to be part of the mainstream as a child of color. Do you see your- self in the media and in books and how are these role models being portrayed? I also think when kids see a refl ection of themselves in books, they are more prone to relate to the character and book, and this might spark an interest in reading. KW: Do multicultural books benefi t white kids, too? Or is primarily for minorities? MW: The world around us is changing. In the year 2042 which is just 26 years from now, Caucasians will not longer be the majority in the United States. That’s not so far away. But in other respects, like special needs, kids of this generation have more special needs classmates than ever before, and learning how to get along with everyone is going to be a valuable life skill when they enter the work- force. Whether it’s race, special needs, religions See WENJEN on page 11
