I've been meaning to post about Rudy Ray Moore's passing a few months ago, but it's always slipped my mind or I haven't had enough time.
Perhaps it's because I am not ready for him to be gone, as seeing him in his dashiki and post-Dolemite educated-glasses-wearing professor-like persona always put a smile on my face, to see how he rightfully took his place as an educator and elder statesman of the African-American community. It's so unfortunate that he couldn't stick around another month to see Obama win, but there's no doubt that his act - in some small sliver - led to it.
This man was one of my favorite filmmakers of all time. I rate Dolemite as one of the greatest underground American films of all time, as something that completely gave rise to hip hop and it's imagery of pimpin hos and fighting the man. Whether or not that was a positive thing isn't the issue, what is the issue is some comedian in Los Angeles put together a few dollars to make a movie about his act, and in the process ended up changing the world.
He gave voice to the voiceless, and brought images of gang graffiti over a decade before anyone even heard of the Crips and Bloods and invited viewers to places in Los Angeles that no one would dare go to (a decade after the Watts riots and over a decade before Straight Outta Compton.)
With no budget, no script, and no camera or film experience, he ended up putting together an incredibly memorable world of Queen Bees, shuffling dope addicts named Creeper, violent mortal enemies such as Willie Green, corrupt cops whose racism would cloud their own judgment and whom Dolemite would have an extra retort to each of their derogatory comments, and a karate-expert pimp and an army of karate-fighting hos who would put into place any Joe Blows who thought they didn't have to pay.
I remember seeing Dolemite the first time. The bassist in my band got a new place in a horrible part of New Brunswick, NJ. We visited him, lit up a J, and put the movie on. No credits like we expected, no opening sequence we expected, just a man sitting crumpled in a cell for a few seconds. The cell block opens, and a prison guard enters and says "Dolemite. Warden wants to see you."
The crumpled man lifts his head in the same interminably-long camera shot and replies "Awww shit. What the hell does that rat soup eatin motha-fucka want with me ?
Have you ever been in a situation when there's something so insanely funny that happens so instantaneously and is so unexpected, that screaming won't do, slapping your thigh as hard as you can won't do, falling out of your chair and pounding the floor won't do ? And there's 2 other shit-for-brained knuckleheads for whom it's the same effect, so the effect is in fact exponentially multiplied ?
It only went downhill from there. In fact, we were all passed out after 25 minutes. If the movie was 80 minutes, I'd call it a 3rd Round KO for Dolemite.
I have since gone on to watch it over 10 times. I am eternally fascinated by the characters, by the clothes, by the "right here, right now" aspect of the film. Whatever month of whatever week they shot it in, that's the characters who were hanging around, that's the clothes that were being worn, and that's the look of the cars and the streets of whatever shitty part of Los Angeles they shot it in.
Rudy Ray went on to make Human Tornado, which is probably what should've happened to Dolemite (lame jokes, lame scenes, lame script, lame movie,) and [i]Petey Wheatstraw: The Devil's Son-in-Law. This one splits the difference: Some out-there scenes, some brilliant ones - especially when Petey get's the devil's staff which enables him to bring joy to the citizens of his depressed neighborhood. However, as Rudy Ray took his act from long-told African tales, this one had so many elements of folktales actually put to film. Look at the story; the Devil wants a husband for his ugly daughter, so he rescues a recently-deceased man and gives him the choice of life in exchange for marrying the daughter. As a token of appreciation, the devil gives the son-in-law a magical staff that the son-in-law would end up trying to swindle him out of the deal, and the son-in-law would use a mask on an enemy to trick the devil.
All told, Rudy Ray gave the world incredibly hilarious tales, astonishingly vivid characters, and some of the most insane films ever made.
www.dolemite.com
A story about a Boiler Room flunky named "Shine" and his voyage on the Great Titanic.
The Signifying Monkey.
Perhaps it's because I am not ready for him to be gone, as seeing him in his dashiki and post-Dolemite educated-glasses-wearing professor-like persona always put a smile on my face, to see how he rightfully took his place as an educator and elder statesman of the African-American community. It's so unfortunate that he couldn't stick around another month to see Obama win, but there's no doubt that his act - in some small sliver - led to it.
This man was one of my favorite filmmakers of all time. I rate Dolemite as one of the greatest underground American films of all time, as something that completely gave rise to hip hop and it's imagery of pimpin hos and fighting the man. Whether or not that was a positive thing isn't the issue, what is the issue is some comedian in Los Angeles put together a few dollars to make a movie about his act, and in the process ended up changing the world.
He gave voice to the voiceless, and brought images of gang graffiti over a decade before anyone even heard of the Crips and Bloods and invited viewers to places in Los Angeles that no one would dare go to (a decade after the Watts riots and over a decade before Straight Outta Compton.)
With no budget, no script, and no camera or film experience, he ended up putting together an incredibly memorable world of Queen Bees, shuffling dope addicts named Creeper, violent mortal enemies such as Willie Green, corrupt cops whose racism would cloud their own judgment and whom Dolemite would have an extra retort to each of their derogatory comments, and a karate-expert pimp and an army of karate-fighting hos who would put into place any Joe Blows who thought they didn't have to pay.
I remember seeing Dolemite the first time. The bassist in my band got a new place in a horrible part of New Brunswick, NJ. We visited him, lit up a J, and put the movie on. No credits like we expected, no opening sequence we expected, just a man sitting crumpled in a cell for a few seconds. The cell block opens, and a prison guard enters and says "Dolemite. Warden wants to see you."
The crumpled man lifts his head in the same interminably-long camera shot and replies "Awww shit. What the hell does that rat soup eatin motha-fucka want with me ?
Have you ever been in a situation when there's something so insanely funny that happens so instantaneously and is so unexpected, that screaming won't do, slapping your thigh as hard as you can won't do, falling out of your chair and pounding the floor won't do ? And there's 2 other shit-for-brained knuckleheads for whom it's the same effect, so the effect is in fact exponentially multiplied ?
It only went downhill from there. In fact, we were all passed out after 25 minutes. If the movie was 80 minutes, I'd call it a 3rd Round KO for Dolemite.
I have since gone on to watch it over 10 times. I am eternally fascinated by the characters, by the clothes, by the "right here, right now" aspect of the film. Whatever month of whatever week they shot it in, that's the characters who were hanging around, that's the clothes that were being worn, and that's the look of the cars and the streets of whatever shitty part of Los Angeles they shot it in.
Rudy Ray went on to make Human Tornado, which is probably what should've happened to Dolemite (lame jokes, lame scenes, lame script, lame movie,) and [i]Petey Wheatstraw: The Devil's Son-in-Law. This one splits the difference: Some out-there scenes, some brilliant ones - especially when Petey get's the devil's staff which enables him to bring joy to the citizens of his depressed neighborhood. However, as Rudy Ray took his act from long-told African tales, this one had so many elements of folktales actually put to film. Look at the story; the Devil wants a husband for his ugly daughter, so he rescues a recently-deceased man and gives him the choice of life in exchange for marrying the daughter. As a token of appreciation, the devil gives the son-in-law a magical staff that the son-in-law would end up trying to swindle him out of the deal, and the son-in-law would use a mask on an enemy to trick the devil.
All told, Rudy Ray gave the world incredibly hilarious tales, astonishingly vivid characters, and some of the most insane films ever made.
www.dolemite.com
A story about a Boiler Room flunky named "Shine" and his voyage on the Great Titanic.
The Signifying Monkey.
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