In a very special episode of “This Too Much” Rod and Bassey discuss feedback on NBC’s family drama, “This Is Us.†Then we discuss the Oscar Award Winning film “Moonlight.”
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“In that moment Randall became the foundation, period.” Van Jones voice. I love how they continued to illustrate how the stages of grief play out in real life. It was great to see Randall take positivity from Jessie and the mailman’s stories and ultimately turn that into the strength to help his family deal with Brother William’s passing. Particularly, when it came to helping Kate and, and most importantly, Beth.
As for Jack. These writers keep playing with me and I’m gonna have to pull up. He turned that alabaster bed wench down and went to go get his baby back. I chuckled when he got up and said “I’m going to the bathroom!” loud as hell, just in case somebody seen her hand on his lap. If he drive all the way to Cleveland and see Rebecca scratching Sam the dog under his chin, there ain’t no coming back for her as a record label and a whole motherfucking crew. The fact that Kate said, as an adult, that it was her fault her daddy died makes me think something fishy about what Jack stumbled upon when he gets there. I just don’t think he bought that six pack of PBR on his way to go see her show. I think Rebecca got a secret she’s keeping from Kate that would be earth shattering. Her AND Miguel, seem to be birds of a gotdamn feather.
Which leads me to it’s not me it’s you.
Toby gotta get it for this week, based off what we know. Even though he was well intentioned, he came off as a bit overzealous in his attempts to get Kate to open up more. But when Randall put his black ass hand on Kate’s shoulder, I yelped out loud for some strange reason.
Anyway, I love what y’all do each and every damn week. I’ve been a listener to the free show for a while now, but when y’all released the first freemium episode, I had to sign up for premium. I’m thankful that I did because PG, BDS, SMR are appointment listening now. The hotep off is worth the price of admission by its damn self. Don’t want to give away too much free game, but if you’re considering going premium, do it.
I have seasonal allergies but the only weeping willow around is me.
I see Randall got his signature fade with the bevel blade. Did he always have that Nas side part? I continue to walk my path of loving Randall and his black family. What I loved this week is that Randall redeem all his points on his black card. Pears my nigga? When he tells Beth he has to head to the office, I knew I had to grab my UV lamp cuz there was gonna be hella shade coming and I don’t like a dark house.
Tyler had the nerve to roll his eyes and sigh when Randall (aka Bernadine from Waiting to Exhale) started telling him how he was the S’ecy, office manager, computer, and how he built that firm. On the 3rd viewing I noticed Sanjay give Tyler a look like “WHO DID DAT?” (Porsha voice) when Randall was talking about the memorial or maybe it was a look like “whatchu gone do dog!?” I can’t tell cuz I hate Sanjay that much. Either way he needs to be slapped. Him and Mr. Charlie.
The wight man stay scheming on ways to kill Black men even when they brought in 80% of the wight mans business. Tyler, you gone kill the greatest black man on tv with pears!!? He even took it back to the antebellum south talnbout, “WHATCHA GONE DO BOY?!” Let this black man leave ur plantation in peace!!
Beth- again Beth is the VIP, only a woman would’ve found that note. Now, I seen Queen Sugar and I know you ain’t supposed to cater food to family. Ur supposed to “serve comfort food to those who need comfort” Beth. Smh! She once was fitna tell William he overstayed his welcome and the next she was trying to find a way to get some closure. She’s right, everything is going to be referred to as BW & AW (before William and after William) Damn this show!! Now where can I get some of that blue Hawaiian?
Sophie-still basic. Even her sex life is basic (when u gone let Kevin FUUUCK Ms. Parker) (this was written before the completion of the show when she FINALLY decided to stop being a prude.
Tess got more spunk and attitude with her “We’ll allow it” than…(sigh) Sophie. They made a memorial a FUNeral (damn these writers are clever) Annie is just a cutie patootie
Jack-is it that the writers want us to believe he died in a drunk driving accident or are they going to surprise us with sthing else? The only thing Jack lost a point on this week is the fact I don’t trust any white man who has the flag on his person, keys, or car. Jack had the flag on his keys. When they zoomed in on his keys when he was sitting in the house I was like, is he a Reagan supporter?
William IS a soft armrest for weary souls to lean on indeed. With his short stay with the Pearsons, he effected so many ppl. Even the damn mailman- AND IM A MAILMAN!! I’ve never cried for a customer the way this white man teared up for William-even the ones I talk to. I still can believe he thought the neighborhood was going to miss him. Um…you mean the same neighborhood that called the cops on him??? NBC got me crying over fictional characters. William was really a joy and had thought of everything and everyone. The tears came, YET AGAIN, once I saw the postcard and how he thought of Beth, as the daughter he never had (☔ï¸)
Kevin-He’s Steph Curry at any 3-pt line. He stay winning. Even when the critic didn’t show up he still got Ron Howard! OAN- I tried saying the “yellow leather, red leather” warming technique and yeah…I can see why I ain’t an actor. I sounded autistic. The Back of an Egg. This is a play I wouldn’t mind seeing. The way Kevin said that monologue with his eyes closed and then POPPED his eyes open when he said “can u stay a lil longer?”…shhhit I was tilting my held to be kissed too.
Now to watch s’thing stupid like Being Mary Jane so I can reset and remember what tv was like b4 This Is Us.
Sorry for the long post…I’ve been missing y’all for 3 weeks so I had a lot to write
Greetings Rod and Bassey!
Your Moonlight discussion was right on time! Similar to This Is Us, I haven’t been able to discuss this movie with my friends. And it’s SOOOOOO good so I’ve been deprived. The movie and this recap have been very therapeutic for me. Like Bassey, Little/Chiron/Black has been on my mind since I saw it back in January. I would have watched it sooner, but it wasn’t at my neighborhood theater until late January. I guess they needed to win the golden globe before being fully released.
I can relate to Chiron in so many ways:
– I was teased a lot when I was little, mainly because we didn’t have much money and my clothes reflected that.
– My mother was into drugs, drinking and spent a lot of my childhood in and out of jail.
– While my grandmother raised my sisters and me, I had my own personal “Juan and Teresa” – my church choir director, Mrs. G. My grandmother had her hands full dealing with my older sister being a teenager and my mother being downright trifling, but Mrs. G always provided a safe space.
– My mother was always quick to remind me who my mother was, in other words she didn’t care for Mrs. G and to this day doesn’t like how much time I spend with her.
– I got in a fight every year from kindergarten to 9th grade. With the exception of 9th grade, it was always with ‘friends’ and I always wondered why they wanted to fight me. Like your example Rod, it always started with a lie (I talked about their momma, I said she stuffed her bra). In 9th grade I actually hit the girl with a chair – not as violently as Chiron did Terrell but she got hit nonetheless. I thank God they didn’t have the strict rules like they do now, I think I was only suspended twice. Back then all the teachers knew about my home situation and, after a fight, would take me aside and tell me I was too smart for all that. But in today’s world, I would have been in the system.
So Moonlight really had me reflect on my childhood and hurt for all the children that are hardened by life. I’m actually headed back to Cleveland this weekend to see Mrs. G. The only thing I envy about Black is that his mother recognized her faults and apologized. I never got that from my mother. I forgave her a long time ago, but I still wish she’d own up to her shortcomings instead of acting like I’m obligated to do certain things because she birthed me. I was raised by a village – Mrs. G got me through school and my UncleDad got me through college. Right now my energies are directed towards making sure my village has what they need.
Thanks for such a wonderful discussion on such a wonderful movie! I still haven’t watched the latest episode of This Is Us because I’m still very much in my feelings from Memphis – that I watched again last week.
That episode last night! I hated that I knew where that arc was heading when we got to the end of the show. Definitely an emotional hour.
Wooo-sah!
Loved the memorial.
Dreaded hearing the “talk” with Rebecca.
The mailman! The package! Heather!
When the episode ended, I definitely said “this too much!”
Hi Rod and Bassey,
I just watched “Moonlight” last night, and I absolutely loved your recap. I could tell it would be a movie that would be in my brain for a long time after I saw it, and that it may take a few days for the initial impression to sink in. When I first saw “Glengarrry Glenn Ross” (white person alert! lol), I was like, what was that?? But a couple days later it hit me. I do agree “Moonlight” is something completely different, absolutely groundbreaking, but there is a bit of similarity at least for me, just in terms of the ‘slice of life’ and ‘you’ll get the impact fully in a day or so’ aspects.
I completely agree with your comments that the three actors that played Chiron had the same eyes — that was my first thought once the movie ended. WOW!! Casting Director Yesi Ramirez should have gotten an Academy Award for that, SO BRILLIANT. (There currently is not an Oscars category for Casting Directors, crazy!!)
One other point brought up by my man Philip, who was a sound man in TV and film for many years, is that in addition to the silence at a lot of times which you mentioned, they also left in a LOT of ‘room sound’, even if it was just a fuzzy background hum. I think that added very much to it seeming very real, very visceral.
One final thing: I had seen headlines about the scene where Kevin prepares the meal for Chiron but didn’t read them (yet) because I didn’t want spoilers. DAMN. How that scene was shot was SO great, you see the love and care that Kevin puts into preparing the dish, and as you mentioned, how much joy Chiron gets from eating it. Wonderful.
Thank you both so much for doing the recap, so great!!
Hello Ron and Bassey. I absolutely loved your Moonlight recap. It was because of your podcast that I even decided to watch it. I had no idea what it was about prior to hearing your podcast, but I am so glad I watched it. I am a single mother and my son and I are very close. He’s 8 years old. Because of his mannerism and the way that he carries himself, I wonder if he is gay. I believe that people are born gay. I could not imagine being the kind of mother that shames my son for being who he is if that is who he is going to be. So I just tell him with love that if you are gay, I will always love and support you no matter what. He doesn’t really understand what I mean now, but one day he will. Just like when I was a 5 years old and my father told me not to accept drinks from men in bars because he might try to slip me a Micky. Yeah. I eventually remembered his advice. Back on track, my son has a very homophobic father, and I see my son changing himself whenever he’s around him or on the phone with him. He can never be himself and it drives me crazy. He tells me he lies to his dad because he knows his father wouldn’t understand him or listen so it’s easier to just lie to him. I tell how terrible that is, but in a way I understand, and I encourages him to be the truth, even if people don’t like it. This movie has helped me to realized what my son could potentially face in the future and what my job as his parent needs to be to help him along the way. Thank you for the recap. Love ya!
Eve
P.S. Fuck all the Hoteps out there that believe that black male gayness is a product of single motherhood. Obviously your mothers were pieces of shit, causing you to hate all black women. Get some counseling.
Sorry I meant Rod, not Ron. Forgive me.