"The United States Vs. Billie Holiday" Dilutes Lady Day
An artistic approach to the impact of Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit”.

When the fun loving Marie sets her eyes on brooding comic book artist Paul, it sets off the kind of romantic sparks that quickly culminate in the bedroom. But the next morning brings its share of surprises as Marie crawls out of bed to discover her life flash-forwarded fifteen years down the road: Not only has she been married to Paul all this time, but she’s now the mother of a little boy the head of a powerful multinational investment firm and the proprietor of a fabulous apartment overlooking the Eiffel Tower. Quickly Marie discovers that all her achievements have not brought happiness.
An artistic approach to the impact of Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit”.
Moonlight is a film that will certainly be remembered for how it won Best Picture, but the movie itself should be known for its excellent representation of one of the most underrepresented groups in film: Black, gay men.
“And I think to myself….what a wonderful world”. Louis Armstrong sang about this notion via his classic 1967 song, an ode to witnessing elements of our life that should be but some reminders of exactly what that concluding line of each verse indicates. Now we see our contemporary realities and, just being honest, it makes a sentiment like this seem SO overtly far away….perhaps even impossible….to accept or believe could be. It sounds harsh, but again, so much of what is occurring speaks not to beauty, but bedlam.
How do zombie films shine new light in the post-Covid and post-Brexit era?
We have a long way to go with LGBT representation in film, especially when it comes to LGBT characters of color and trans characters.
Two Summers ago, on May 27th, 2022, the theatrical cinematic realms were re-awakened from their post-COVID dormant state of being by a little film titled "Top Gun: Maverick". It re-introduced us to the absolute elation of seeing not only a highly anticipated (and, granted, 36 years in the making!) sequel, but the return of the quintessential Summer blockbuster to witness on the BIG screen again.