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Oh, Teddy P! Why oh why has she forsaken me?! With all of my heart and soul, “I Used To Love H.E.R.” However, I do not think that I can stand the heartbreak any longer. It is becoming too painful to bear.
I watched the film “The Basketball Diaries” for the first time a few days ago. Based on the true-life story of poet/diarist/performer Jim Carroll, Leonardo DiCaprio portrays and immensely talented and gifted individual with unlimited potential, who falls victim to drug addiction leading him to everything from violent crime and robbery to prostitution in order to support his habit. It is a truly disturbing, yet poignant look at the dark side of addiction and how easily potential can be wasted if not channeled in a positive direction.
There is a particular scene that pretty much sums up the way I have been feeling lately, and I believe the sentiment is shared by many others. In the scene, Carroll is basically rock-bottom status with his addiction. He returns to the door of his mother’s apartment, a place where he had been banished from, to beg a woman (played by Lorraine Bracco), whom he had put through hell for money to feed his habit. He bangs on the door, begs and pleads in his whiny little boy voice, only to curse and disrespect his mother in the next breath. He begs for her to open the door and to allow him come inside. Wisely, she keeps the chain on the door. When she finally tells him she can not help him anymore and closes the door completely, Carroll lays into a curse-ridden diatribe that would break even the strongest person’s heart. She realizes what she has to do, calls the police on her own son, and breaks down crying with a $10 bill in her hand, which she was on the verge of giving him despite everything that had gone on.
Unfortunately, this is what hip-hop music has become to me…a drug-addicted, crime-ridden, misogynistic and disrespectful loved-one. It is something that was once so near and dear to my heart, but is now a shell of its former self, to the point that I no longer recognize it. She is now at “Gator” status. You remember Sam Jack’s endearing crackhead portrayal in “Jungle Fever”, right? Well just like Ruby Dee in the film, I’ve grown tired and am no longer entertained by the “shukin’ and jivin’”, and I am ready to pull the trigger and end the whole damn thing.
It is truly a shame what has become of her. The lifestyle she’s led for the past decade plus has brought about a steady decline and deterioration of her character, image, creativity and coherence. She has become too violent and sexually explicit to be around children…even the “clean” versions of her. Her promotion drug use and sale has left everyone in her wake in a narcotic-induced “haze”, to the point where heinous crimes seem commonplace, sometimes humorous, clever, and even in some cases, necessary. She has made heroes and role models out of people who were once the dregs of society.
So my question is, WHEN IS ENOUGH…ENOUGH????
Seriously, when I turn on my television or on the rare occasion that I attempt to listen to the radio, it is damn near appalling what my eyes and ears are greeted with. Think about some of the music in heavy rotation all day every day throughout the country:
Shawna “Getting Some (Head)” – a song about…well…
Busta Rhymes “Touch It” – touch what?
Cam’ron “Suck It or Not” – well, IS you?
Bubba Sparxx “Ms. New Booty” – “booty, booty, booty, booty, rockin everywhere!” said the 5 year old boy…
Juvenile “Rodeo” – “this not the right spot to let ya daughters visit”
Rick Ross “Hustlin”, Lil Wayne “Hustler Musik/Mind on My Money” – calling it “hustling” doesn’t change the action
Three 6 Mafia “Poppin My Collar” – and of course “workin these hoes”