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New York, 6:28 AM
Sat Nov 21
67 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/09/09
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First recorded in writing toward the end of the 19th century in the United States, snuck has become in recent decades a standard variant past tense and past participle of the verb sneak: Bored by the lecture, he snuck out the side door. Snuck occurs frequently in fiction and in journalistic writing as well as on radio and television: In the darkness the sloop had snuck around the headland, out of firing range. It is not so common in highly formal or belletristic writing, where sneaked is more likely to occur. Snuck is the only spoken past tense and past participle for many younger and middle-aged persons of all educational levels in the U. S. and Canada. Snuck has occasionally been considered nonstandard, but it is so widely used by professional writers and educated speakers that it can no longer be so regarded. #gaboureysidibe
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Just another reason that she's my new favorite person. #gaboureysidibe
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Pardon my skepticism and call me jaded but given the lack of Hollywood roles for seasoned African-American actresses, I sadly do not envision Gabby's acting career taking off after this role. I can only hope that there are people around her managing her expectations (and earnings from the movie).
Moreover, the public is notoriously fickle when it comes to stars in popular indie flicks. Keisha Castle Hughes, anyone? #gaboureysidibe
11/09/09
Trailer [www.youtube.com]
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Daniels said when they auditioned the girls they found a bunch who "were" Precious--girls who had survived horrendous things and were still standing---and though those actresses were a dead ringer for the character he felt like casting them would be making a documentary. It would be too close to their lives and their lived truth and would end up being exploitative because it would be microscoping their personal stuff and trying to make it a stand-in for fiction. He also felt like they would be overpowered by the material because they would have to relive stuff all the time.
Though this might come across to someone else as judgmental or elitist (i acknowledge that it is to a degree) I found a kernel of truth to his statement. Because in most movies of this kind from what i've seen they do find someone just like the lead character, and make it a real rags to riches story. The young star is thrust into a life they do not have the emotional resources to cope with. And then the young star in interviews unwittingly universalizes the experience of what a (insert movie trope here) looks like or sounds like because in real life they are pretty much the character. It does such a disservice to all the other people living in similar bodies or similar existences because then it suggests that all overweight dark-skinned women are downtrodden and sad. Which of course then implicitly suggests that being discovered by Hollywood is the only thing that gives them some measure of redemption in their lives. The next logical conclusion then is that since most dark-skinned, overweight women aren't in Hollywood they must thus be all near-suicidal. Cue, well-intentioned folks treating every fat, dark-skinned girl they see like she must a "Precious." Gabby turns this shit completely on its head. And it couldn't have come a moment too soon. #gaboureysidibe
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Like Gabby said in an interview "People act like I did this movie and then I became awesome. I was awesome all my life. Then I did this movie"
She has a world of opportunities out there. The other girls might not have had that. For them that would have created a psychological dependency on the film and the fame it brings that ultimately rendered them emotionally fraught. Gabby doesn't have to deal with that. #gaboureysidibe
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11/09/09
This is a beautifully written comment. I think it vocalizes exactly what it is about her that I like.
(that's why I promoted it) Sorry!!! #gaboureysidibe
11/09/09
FWIW I don't know if casting like that is always inappropriate. I just think it encompasses a ton of dynamics that the filmmakers are usually not thinking through because they are seeing everything clouded by the lens of their own privilege. Daniels thought it through and I respect him for it. #gaboureysidibe
11/09/09
Still, good thinking, Daniels. #gaboureysidibe
11/09/09
FWIW though, I think it's very nice of you to let me know it was a mistake. You didn't have to and could just have let it stand and no one would have been the wiser =) #gaboureysidibe
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At least Gaby was kind enough to be gentle with them after she realized that they share a single manic yet slow-functioning brain. #gaboureysidibe
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Bless her. This is an awesome quote for so many reasons. #gaboureysidibe
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kathy lee... oh kathy lee. you emphasize the positives in your co-host in all the wrong ways. #hodakotb
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