Brave New Voices (2009/TV Mini-Series/HBO DVD)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C+ Main Program: B
Up to the
1970s, we used to hear younger voices that mattered and were not about just
being a bunch of dumb, airheaded, over-accessorized consumers. Since the 1980s, the younger generations have
been too silenced to their own good or ours.
If you want to know how bad this has been, look no further than the
Russell Simmons-produced Brave New
Voices series and you will hear about teenagers who are sick and tired of
being treated as disposable and are ready to say everything about it.
Set up as
a competition in poetry, rap and forms like slam, this raw HBO Network series shows
the performers (solo and group) from the 2008 National Slam Poetry Championship. It becomes more than just a contest, but a
series of moments of truth form those who feel betrayed, angry, hurt and
vulnerable; justly so by a society that has never recovered from the Kent State
statement. That most of the participants
are non-whites is no coincidence; a legacy of the Rollback racist policies that
only just started to break down.
Though I
did not always agree with what I heard, I still heard what all had to say and
can grasp why they feel they are in positions of no return. Queen Latifah narrates and this is one of the
better surprises of the year in DVD.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 x 1 image is good for what looks like an HD shoot,
but is a bit soft and though it has no major flaws, is a little weak
throughout. Close ups tend to look
better than long shots. The Dolby
Digital 2.0 Stereo is also good, nicely recorded and articulate enough to hear
what is being said. The only extra is the
expanded Rhyme & Reason section
that shows more full-length performances, which we recommend seeing after you
finish the series. It is nice to see the
future finally become politically conscious.
- Nicholas Sheffo
