Watch + Play List | August 2024
tears, laughs, all of the feelssss.
Hi hello!
I considered not posting this Watch + Play List. I wasn’t sure how much value talking about what I’m consuming brings to anyone, and these posts don’t receive as much engagement as my think pieces. I’m also in a phase where I regularly consider leaving the internet altogether (my Instagram is deactivated right now). It all felt pointless and frivolous until I started to think about how I feel when someone shares a show, film, or album to check out with me. A song or film recommendation can generate more closeness with the people you care about and are community with. It lets you know that someone understands you enough to know when you might enjoy something. Conversing with a long-term girlfriend about how we resonated with and cried our eyes out to Daughters or my best guy friend about our mixed feelings about Quantum Baby is a way to engage in conversations about things that spark curiosity, breed joy, or keep me up at night. I hope you consider my recommendations in this way, and I would love to see your name in the comments if you do. August was filled with work travel, very little socializing, and way too many feelings. I consumed much of this content in airports, planes, and hotel rooms, and they all helped me feel a little more grounded and a little less lonely on the road.
Documentaries that spoke to my Black girlhood
Daughters (2024)
Grab a box of tissue or three for this one. Daughters is a documentary about a program that allows incarcerated Black men, who typically are not granted in-person visits, to attend a Daddy-Daugther dance after participating in a 10-week parenting course. Filmed over the course of three years, we see the stories of Black girls ages 6 to 18 cope with the absence of their fathers. During the 10-week parenting course, fathers unpack how social and familial conditioning led them down nefarious paths and how their actions will impact their daughters. Co-director Angela Patton is the activist who founded this program, which centers on empowering Black girls. In a scene where she visits the inmates, she reminds them that their daughters are attending this dance because they want to count on their fathers. It’s a simple yet powerful statement that drives home the disconnect between Black girls and their absent fathers.
The setting of a Daddy-Daughter dance creates a level of emotional intimacy that these fathers and daughters cannot have due to the circumstances. These fathers must be fully present in ways they may not have been before. The documentary purposely leaves out the reason these fathers were incarcerated, and for good reason. This is a beautiful portrait that humanizes families who are impacted by incarceration. Frequent readers of this newsletter may recall that I love Unprisoned, a sitcom on Hulu starring Kerry Washington and Delroy Lindo with a similar theme to this documentary. It’s not surprising that Washington was the executive producer for Daughters, and I’m glad to see her using her influence to get these important stories into the world. This documentary also reminded by of Ashley C. Ford’s memoir Somebody’s Daugther. Watching these girls at various stages, I could see the parallels between the stages of grief Ford went through as she came of age and the evolution of these young girls. It is a beautiful and heartbreaking portrait that everyone in our community should watch, regardless of our circumstances.
Butterfly in The Sky (2022)
It should be a surprise to no one that I was a child raised by Reading Rainbow. I still sing the theme song at random to myself. I was not expecting the opening scene of him reading Amazing Grace, one of my favorite books as a child, to move me the way it did. I had forgotten this book, but as he re-read it, I instantly recalled why I resonated with Grace so much as a character; she was a strong-willed little Black girl who was curious and fearless, like me. It reminded me of how literature shaped me and my outlook on the world as a child. No wonder I was more interested in books than my classmates as a kid. Watching this documentary brought me back to simpler times and made me long for a space in today’s world where children can be encouraged to love reading as much as we Scholastic Book Fair millennials did. I say it all the time, and I will say it again: I’m so grateful for the era I was born in.
Black Barbie (2023)
Barbies were hands down my favorite toy to play with as a child. Unlike many of the women in this documentary, I didn’t grow up with a complex relationship about my identity due to only having the option of white Barbie dolls. I realize now that is largely because of the work Black women at Mattel did to ensure that Black Barbies were prioritized. I also had a mother who exclusively bought me Black Barbies, which I’m sure was because she did not grow up with the option to have one when she was a little girl. It’s wild to see how white supremacy even has negative impacts on something as simple as playing with dolls. In recent years, Mattel has been more inclusive of different sizes, ethnicities, hair textures, and skin tones, which I love for the new generation. However, they still have quite a bit of way to go. There’s no excuse for them not to have had a Black designer for the 40th Anniversary of the Black Barbie doll, even if it did get a co-sign from Kitty Black Perkins. I also think there were parts of this documentary that kind of glazed over the negative impacts of the rigid beauty standards (specifically in terms of size) the Barbie brand upheld until recently. Overall, it was cool to learn the history behind these dolls, which were a formative part of my childhood.
Some much-needed laughs from comedic OGs
Soul Men (2008)
Samuel L. Jackson and Bernie Mac star in this buddy comedy as two former members of a 1960s soul group called The Real Deal. Decades have passed since their heyday, and beef between Louis (Jackson) and Floyd (Mac) has gone unresolved. When the lead singer of The Real Deal, Marcus (John Legend), passes away, the duo has the opportunity to pay tribute by performing at the Apollo Theater and reviving their careers. This film showcased the full range of Bernie Mac’s comedic genius, and Samuel J. Jackson is the perfect adversary turned wingman. There is also an awkward and hilarious sex scene between Bernie Mac and Jennifer Coolidge that has been burned into my brain. I can’t believe I’d never seen this film, but I wouldn’t be the only one — it was a commercial failure when it came out. Director Malcolm D. Lee thinks part of the failure is due to people not being interested in watching a story about two old soul singers, which is a shame because Bernie really gave his all to this role, and it was one of his final films. It’s been 16 years, and I still can’t believe he’s gone.
Bad Boys: Ride or Die (2024)
I had very low expectations watching the latest installment in the Bad Boys franchise. The third film, which was the first in the franchise to be directed by Adil & Bilall (not without a Michael Bay cameo/co-sign), felt a little disconnected from the first two films. Also, did we really need a new Bad Boys film? No. But I think this fourth film has worked out some of the kinks of the third one. Martin and Will’s chemistry is nearly as good as the second film, with Martin being the comedic glue. The directors also enhanced their action-sequence chops, upping the ante and making this most recent installment much more exciting than the third one.
Entretanto em Brasil…
I initially started watching the Brazilian version of Love is Blind, Casamento Ás Cegas (which actually translates to Bling Marriage), to absorb more Brazilian Portuguese but baby, I got invested! You all may recall that I have issues with Love is Blind, but the Brazilian one is so much more interesting to watch than the American version. Not only is it more Black, but there is more body diversity, contestants with children, and people with physical disabilities. Brazilians are vibrant and have so much conviction. When they first meet each other, they get hot and heavy. They sip chimarrão when meeting their partner’s parents for the first time. They howl like wolves to each other when their engagements are consummated. They bond over macumba and samba’s history of being a tool for resistance. They have bachelor parties at arcades and get impulse tattoos when they meet their partner’s friends for the first time. They are built different. It’s also interesting to see conversations about Black love and the complexity of sharing racial trauma from the perspective of folks from a completely different part of the diaspora.
Sometimes, the people you think are closest to you are your biggest opps
Bachelorette (2012)
Boom-Bap, Oontz Oontz, Ooohyeaaa Tunes for You.
After looking at the past few playlists I’ve curated for this newsletter, I realized there wasn’t much hip-hop featured. Admittedly, I’ve been a bit bored of the genre and don’t listen to it casually nearly as much as I used to. I have featured more hip-hop on this month’s playlist, including some women rappers you should know about, like SixSaidIt, Stacy N.K.R., Ricki Monique, and Doechii (who you all probably know unless you’ve been under a rock). The journey of this playlist starts with hip-hop, leads into house/dance, ventures into afro beats and reggae, a splash of synth-pop, and ends with hip-hop soul. Enjoy!
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With love,
LaChelle
I miss Bernie so much and I also have never heard of Bachelorette. When I come out of Industry obsession, I’ll check out Love Is Blind: Brasil, too. You’re the fifth person I’ve heard recommend it and I also have my qualms with the US version.
Daughters WRECKED me 😭 so heartbreaking & beautiful.