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Books by Marvin X
Love and War: Poems /
In the Crazy House Called America /
Woman: Man's Best Friend /
Beyond Religion Toward Spirituality
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The Pursuit of Happyness
Starring
Will Smith
Review by Marvin X
Will Smith has processed
himself into a great actor, from rapper to Fresh Prince,
to Ali and other characters. But Pursuit of Happyness
lacked the full drama of being down and out in the most
beautiful city in the world, San Francisco. The film was
a Miller Lite version of homelessness, and the narrow
focus on the main character excluded the high drama of
homelessness in San Francisco’s Tenderloin, that poverty
area two blocks from the famous Cable Car line at Market
and Powell, and a few blocks from the Shopping area for
the rich, Union Square. The contrast is so overwhelming
we wonder how could the filmmaker fail to show us this.
It is totally shocking to
tourists who often make the wrong turn coming out of
their hotel room and find themselves in the Tenderloin,
the multiracial ghetto inhabited by Blacks, Latinos,
Asians and poor whites, with a great amount of the
population addicted to drugs. All we see of the homeless
are them standing in line at Glide Church, administered
by Rev. Cecil Williams, the angel of San Francisco’s
homeless, addicted and afflicted, the male version of
Mother Theresa.
Cecil appears in the film as
himself; after all, no one can perform his role except
him. The most dramatic moment is this scene outside
Glide when Rev. Williams allows the main character and
his son to get in line for a room. But it is powerful
because we see the army of the homeless and the hungry
in America. This moment is communal and we see the
individual as part of a nation of homeless. France has
called homelessness a matter of national security.
France is calling for its citizens guaranteed housing.
America can do likewise. There is absolutely no excuse
for homelessness and hunger in America, the richest
nation in the world.
I lived the life of a
homeless drug addict in San Francisco’s Tenderloin. On
one level, it was good to see the main character was not
drug addicted. But it would have added so much more
drama. Maybe his little frustrated wife should have been
on drugs, because she has no real motivation to depart
for New York, leaving her son behind for a two dollar
job. Her character was weak and should have been
explored, or at least included a violent departing
scene. Since Will Smith used his son, why not have Jada
as his wife, surely they could have created more drama,
including a love scene that was absent in the film.
After I spent a decade in the
Tenderloin (and God only knows how I made it out
alive—thank you God Allah) as a Crack addict, I knew
many mothers and fathers who abandoned their children
for the drug life. Yesterday, a young lady at my outdoor
classroom, downtown Oakland, told me she became homeless
in San Francisco because her mother was doing Crack and
she had to escape, so she lived in the street. The young
lady, now 19, said she grew up in foster care.
A few weeks ago, a young
brother recently released from prison, asked me about
his mother whom he hasn’t seen since he was a baby.—she
has been lost in the Tenderloin for years, and I have
seen her from time to time, so I told the young man,
also a product of foster care, now the California
Department of Corrections, to go stand at 6th
and Market and eventually he will see his mother,
passing by on a mission impossible. I had told my nephew
to do the same to find his father, lost and turned out
in the TL.
This is some of the pain the
film lacked.
It showed the grand beauty of
San Francisco, but again, it should not have neglected
the contrasting ugliness. There was a scene with Chris
and his son at the East Bay bus terminal, where they
spent the night along with other homeless, although we
don’t see the others in the film. I spent many nights on
those benches at the East Bay terminal; it was difficult
to find bench space in those days, around the same time
as the film, early 1980s.
Ok, this is one man’s story,
the struggle of an individual to get ovah in America, a
slave narrative. Slavery was communal, not individual,
so we need to know about all those others who are still
there, who didn’t make it out. Can they get out? I got
out. Chris got out, so it takes discipline as he
demonstrated. You got to be bout it bout it. For Chris
it was one step forward two back, but he fought all the
way, trying to be husband, father, and worker in a
racist society. Apparently he was successful.
If you like this article consider making a donation
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Marvin X’s latest collection
of essays is
Beyond
Religion, Toward Spirituality.,
Black Bird Press, 2006. ISBN: 0-9649672-9-4. His book is
available in Oakland at De Lauer’s books, 14th
and Broadway, and Your Black Muslim Bakery, San Pablo at
Stanford. Otherwise send $19.95 to Black Bird Press,
P.O. Box 1317, Paradise CA 95967.
Visit
marvinxspeaks.blogspot.com
and
www.nathanielturner.com.
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update 1 August 2008 |
