Daily Dialogue — October 29, 2012
INT. COMIC BOOK CONVENTION LECTURE HALL — DAY
HOOPER fills the frame. He comes off like a typical, pro- black/anti-white homeboy.
HOOPER: For years in this industry whenever an African-American character — hero or villain — was introduced usually by white artists and writers — they got slapped with racist names that singled them out as negroes: Black Panther, Black Lightning, Black Goliath, Black Mantra, Black Talon, Black Spider, Black Hand, Black Falcon, Black Cat..
VOICE FROM CROWD: She’s white.
HOOPER: She is? (beat) Well bust this — regardless.
We’re at a panel discussion. The room is full. Five creators sit at a long table, their names on placards in front of them. (One of them is a very striking Girl.) The banner behind them reads: WORDS UP — MINORITY VOICES IN COMICS’.
HOOPER (holds up comic): Now my book,’White-Hating Coon’, doesn’t have any of that bullshit. The hero’s name is Maleekwa, and he’s a descendant of the black tribe that established the first society on the planet, while all you European motherfuckers were still hiding in caves and, all terrified of the sun. He’s a strong role model that a young black reader can look up to, .Cause I’m here to tell you — the chickens are comin’ home to roost, ya’ll: the black man’s no longer gonna play the minstrel in the medium of comics and Sci-Fi/Fantasy! We’re keeping it real, and we’re gonna get respect — by any means necessary!
During the speech, Holden and Banky enter and sit up front.
HOLDEN (calling out): Bullshit! Lando Calrissian was a black man, and he got to fly the Millennium Falcon!
Hooper whips his head around, looking for the source of the comment.
HOOPER: Who said that?!?
HOLDEN (standing): I did! Lando Calrissian is a positive black role model in the realm of Science Fiction/Fantasy.
HOOPER: Fuck Lando Calrissian! Uncle Tom nigger! Always some white boy gotta invoke the holy trilogy’! Bust this — those movies are about how the white man keeps the brother man down — even in a galaxy far, far away. Check this shit. You got cracker farm-boy Luke Skywalker, Nazi poster boy — blond hair, blue eyes. And then you’ve got Darth Vader: the blackest brother in the galaxy. Nubian God.
BANKY: What’s a Nubian?
HOOPER: Shut the fuck up! Now Vader, he’s a spiritual brother, with the force and all that shit. Then this cracker Skywalker gets his hands on a light-saber, and the boy decides he’s gonna run the fucking universe — gets a whole Klan of whites together, and they’re gonna bust up Vader’s hood the Death Star. Now what the fuck do you call that!
BANKY: Intergalactic Civil War!
HOOPER: Gentrification. They’re gonna drive our the black element, to make the galaxy quote, unquote .safe’ for white folks.
HOLDEN: But Vader turns, out to be Luke’s father. And in Jedi, they become friends.
HOOPER: Don’t make me bust a cap in your ass, yo! Jedi’s the most insulting installment, because Vader’s beautiful, black visage is sullied when he pulls off his mask to reveal a feeble, crusty white man! They’re trying to tell us that deep inside, we all want to be white!
BANKY: Well isn’t that true!
Hooper explodes, He pulls a nine millimeter from his belt, draws on Banky and fires. Banky goes down, falling forward into the crowd The crowd screams and starts to scatter, Hooper jumps over the table and raises his fists in the air.
HOOPER: BLACK RAGE! BLACK RAGE!! I’LL KILL ANY WHITE FOLKS I LAY MY MOTHER FUCKIN’ EYES ON!!!
The crowd-is gone. Holden sits in his chair, laughing. Hooper steps off the stage and picks Banky’s head up off the floor.
HOOPER (breaking character): What’s a Nubian!’ Bitch, you almost made me laugh!
Hooper sounds different Actually, he sounds gay. Actually — he is. Banky smiles.
BANKY: Well what about you! You didn’t tell me you were going to scream .Black Rage’. I nearly pissed myself.
— Holden (Ben Affleck), Hooper (Dwight Ewell), Banky (Jason Lee), Chasing Amy (1997), written by Kevin Smith
The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is Kevin Smith, suggested by Sean Harris. Today’s suggestion by MonieNTheMoment.
Trivia: Before Mallrats was released, Kevin Smith had written this movie as a teen flick in the same vein as Clueless, taking place in high school with Ethan Suplee as one of the leads. Since Mallrats failed at the box office, this film’s setting and premise changed.
Dialogue On Dialogue: This is a classic ‘riff,’ a scene with a central bit of business, then exploit it through character dialogue.
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