James Arthur Baldwin was an American writer and civil rights activist. He garnered acclaim for his work across several forms, including essays, novels, plays, and poems.
I’ve heard things about this documentary, and I sought it out, I wasn’t disappointed, thank you for posting this. Here you have a very brilliant man at odds with a film maker that is very much still representative of the world that James left behind when he moved to Paris. It’s just a reminder of how almost all media could step back and allow the person of focus to shine, but it mostly causes the hindering of the subject, becoming just a small snapshot, with the narration, deciding for the person what they are all about.
no problem, i hope you enjoyed it According to the documentary, the price of the ticket now it seems he travelled a lot, seeing the world and experiencing new cultures more people should really travel to broaden their understanding of the world but agian thanks and no problem
yh, i think the issue was they were trying to tell the story of James Baldwin but James sees himself as a symbol the moment the movie becomes about him, it takes away from his movement and what he is trying to accomplish later on, they ask him "Why doesn't he just write" and ignore the suffering of African Americans that was their intention James's intention seems to be the people
@LoFIEnjoyThemusic, I think it's deeper than that. He is trying to tell his story. The problem is they think they can separate his story from the story of black Americans. He is a black American regardless of if he's in Paris or anywhere else in the world. You can't separate the man and his struggles, because in turn that's what created the man as well as his works. He wouldn't be the James Baldwin that they're there to interview. I honestly don't think he sees himself as a symbol. He sees himself as a black American and for them to attempt to separate him from his identity is the issue. I'd actually say the opposite is true. They're trying to make him a symbol of what they want him to be. He's saying I'm A man and my writings are.a product of the man I'm and the challenges I've face. You can't exploit what he wrote, without understanding who he is. He knows he's being exploited, but he wants the context of what his writings portrayed from the perspective of the man he is and the beliefs he held. Or at least that's how I personally received his message. JB never really cared about being a symbol if it didn't lead to change. I'd say that's probably why he left America. He didn't see the change that he and many others fought so hard from even after the civil rights movement. He could have been a symbol in America if that's what he really wanted. It wouldn't really make sense to go somewhere that nobody knows you if symbolic purposes was his goal. He was a very complicated man and we.are all better off due to his and people like him sacrifices.💯
Seems like a common error of miscommunication the filmmakers thought they were making a movie about James Baldwin but James Baldwin seem to have had bigger plans he wanted to make a movie about the situation of his people through the eyes of himself
Thank-you for sharing this film, greatly appreciated. What Baldwin was sharing WAS/IS so very POWERFUL in its truth, I can feel it affecting me as strong or far more potent than any kind of western medicine could ever possibly hope to achieve. James is SACRED and was in in touch with that divinity, just like Gloria Anzaldua, Audrey Lorde, Bell Hooks, and so many other glorious souls, famous and not ever famous. I'm here because Prince Shakur mentioned this documentary, thank-you very much too.
