What People are Saying about Nina Kennedy's Review of "Maestro"

By

The provocative title of my last blog (Bradley Cooper's "Maestro": Ho-Hum! Another Movie About White People) brought lots of comments, re-posts, and controversy. Interestingly, all positive comments came from black people (American and otherwise), and several whites as well. All negative comments came from whites. It was shocking to me how blissfully unaware some of the non-melanated people are when it comes to the history of racism in Hollywood. They have no idea of the degree to which African Americans have been discriminated against, excluded, relegated to servant status, or portrayed as criminals. When a film about Leonard Bernstein completely ignored his contributions to the Civil Rights Movement, I could not keep silent.


Here are some of the comments:


Mark Bailey:

"Brilliant review -- I agree with every word. Thanks for posting it. I was deeply bothered by the homophobia and gay-shaming in the film, especially by Felicia. The lack of inclusivity is yet another missing link that is essential to understanding even a remnant of his artistry."


Thomas Warfield [Re-posted]

"This is an important read….. 

and the deep friendship and long-lasting professional relationship with William Warfield (my uncle) is missing as well…"


Thalia Moore:

"Nina, Thank you for your honest and thoughtful critique, Maestra!"


Khary Wilson:

"I appreciate this review. It's a perspective I've never considered and I'm not mad at it."


Anansi Kassandrides:

"The title has me HOWLING!

Also, issa fair review IMO. A period piece that goes through the Civil Rights movement, about someone who did actually participate, and that part of his life is MIA? All we get is a nurse for his sick wife and a Black boy for him to try to push up on at the end? Seems like a missed opportunity to put it mildly. Given the things WE have been called IN PRINT IN MAJOR NEWS PUBLICATIONS, I think a little spice in the title is no problem. 🤷🏾‍♂️"


DèMontrà DèVonneè Cole:

"I haven’t seen it. I’m excited to watch it. This write up by Nina Kennedy was quite good I thought."


Terrance McNicholas:

"'Another movie about white people?' Wow! Just Wow!"


Jackie Brown [Re-posted]

"There's a lot of chatter about Maestro, the film about the legendary conductor and composer, Leonard Bernstein. I advise you to read this brilliant critique by Nina Kennedy."

"It's really quite a brilliant take; I learned a lot. I also read another critique that pointed out failure to portray his active support of the Black Panthers."


Patricia Ann Neely [Re-posted]

"Food for thought."


Carolyn McDonald:

"🙏🏾🤎✊🏾 thank you! I had a feeling it was what you say."


Sherrie Fell:

"Great Article Nina. I haven’t seen the film yet… but sadly, I’m not surprised at the exclusions you mentioned… but the trailer did have a Ho-hum! Feel."


Susan Wicks:

"Great blog Nina!

I actually loved this film - brilliant film making - lush gorgeous soundtrack - great acting - 🎭"


Zachary Gordin:

"You make great points! Thanks for sharing this. 🙌🏽"


Shelley Marlow:

"Thank you, Nina! Well said."


Talise Trevigne:

"Thank you for this! So nice to read that people see right through this very pallid and wasted attempt at retelling history. Please leave it to those who truly know. Thanks!"


Deekay Zee:

"Love this!"


Alex Davis:

"Great article, thank you for writing and sharing 🙏🏼❤️"


Tim Butz:

"Insightful assessment, Nina. Thank you for highlighting another side of this story. Far too many missed opportunities."



I was also surprised to learn in some of the comments that some Jewish people do not consider themselves to be white, even when their ancestors are from Europe. By using the word "White" I am referring to people of European ancestry. I am fully aware of the Sephardim with Iberian or North African ancestry, but no Sephardim were portrayed in Maestro.

When I went on to point out that pianist André Watts and soprano Grace Bumbry had been excluded from the news broadcast lists of people who had died in 2023, composer Kevin Scott wrote:

"I tossed off a letter to ABC News with David Muir in mind, stating that it was a disgrace that they didn't mention André Watts' passing, and they never did respond. If Watts were a 77-year old R&B gospel rapper who had twenty kids from fifteen mamas and knew how to profane everyone from the normal person on the street to DJT, he would have been all over the news and they wouldn't stop talking about him.

Instead, silence. Total silence. A total disgrace."


If you're not paying attention, you won't recognize racism when you see it. And some of us see it all day every day. Hopefully, the tremendous box office success of The Color Purple on Christmas Day will force Hollywood producers to think twice about excluding black characters.

Nina Kennedy is a concert pianist, orchestral conductor, and award-winning filmmaker. She holds a master’s degree from the Juilliard School. Her memoir, "Practicing for Love," is a 2021 Lambda Literary Award Finalist.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Khatia Buniatishvili: Beyoncé of Piano?

By
Image
Georgian pianist Khatia Buniatishvili April Gibson and Nina Kennedy both contributed to this article to share their respective insights and opinions. April grew up listening to Hip Hop, Pop,  R&B,  and Hair Bands. Nina, herself a classical pianist, grew up listening to jazz and R&B, as well as symphonies and opera. Nina: While living in Paris I got in the habit of watching the news channel “France24,” and was delighted to find that I continued having access to France24 here in Manhattan. Now that most American news channels have become The Trump Show, I became more dependent on France24 to be able to hear some authentic international news. One day this summer while going about my business with the TV on, I heard the news anchor announce a feature story on “The Beyonc é  of the Piano.” I stopped what I was doing to sit down and watch. The subject of this segment was world-renowned Georgian pianist Khatia Buniatishvili, who has been referred to ...
Read more

Where Was James Baldwin's Boyfriend?

By
Image
James Baldwin As we are nearing the end of Black History Month, I find myself reading and listening to the words of James Baldwin. He became one of the most articulate voices of the Civil Rights Movement, yet it is hard to find any description or discussion - in his own words - of his life as a gay man. One could guess that he describes some of his gay life in the novel Giovanni's Room , which can easily be dismissed as a work of fiction. We know that he met the man who became the love of his life, Lucien Happersberger, in Paris in 1949, when Lucien was 17 and James was 25. The fact that Lucien was white could have served as proof that, at least in Baldwin's mind, black men and white men could love each other. But unfortunately, Baldwin chose to remain in the closet, using references to "... my wife" and "... my woman, my children..." in his interviews. The truth is, the most significant woman in his life was his mother, and the children he referred to were ...
Read more

Don Shirley, "Green Book," and Me

By
Image
I finally got the chance to sit down and watch the Oscar-winning film Green Book , on the life of African American concert pianist Don Shirley . As I had written in an earlier blog ( "Ebony and Ivory: A Dissonant Truth" ), I had visited with Dr. Shirley in his apartment above Carnegie Hall when my parents were in New York with the Fisk Jubilee Singers. The film gave a very accurate depiction of his home and the extravagant, ostentatious décor. The Real Don Shirley in his home Don Shirley was praised early in his life as a genius, a wunderkind whose forte was the traditional classical repertoire. Composer Igor Stravinsky said of him: "His virtuosity is worthy of Gods." But his record label forced him to play jazz, and sent him on tour with a jazz trio. In an interview, Shirley said that his record label wanted him to appear in overalls with a red bandana around his neck on the album cover. He refused. In my own book I have written about facing racism as an African Am...
Read more

Anne Gamble Kennedy (Not to be found on Wikipedia!)

By
Image
Since Wikipedia refuses to publish this article because they claim, "The subject's references do not adequately show the subject's notability," I am publishing it myself. I'd like to see any of those editors try to survive as a Black female in the American South during the 1940s and 50s. Anne Gamble's accomplishments are notable as HELL! Anne Gamble Kennedy From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Anne Gamble Kennedy  (25 September 1920 – 11 June 2001) was an American classical  pianist , piano professor, and accompanist for the  Fisk Jubilee Singers  of  Nashville, Tennessee . Anne Gamble Kennedy Contents      1 Early life 2 Career 3 Selected discography 4 Notes Early life Anne Lucille Gamble was born in  Charleston, West Virginia  to Dr.  Henry Floyd Gamble  and the former Nina Hortense Clinton of Zanesville, Ohio. She was the younger of two children born to that union. She also had two o...
Read more

Bradley Cooper's "Maestro": Ho-Hum! Another Movie About White People

By
Image
  Granted, most Hollywood films about American celebrities of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s are going to be about white people. But in a film about Leonard Bernstein, there were several opportunities to tell the story about Lenny marching with Martin Luther King in Selma, Alabama, or Lenny introducing young André  Watts to the world concert stage, or even Lenny conducting Marian Anderson with the Israel Philharmonic. But no. The producers of Maestro chose to ignore the existence of African Americans, except when Bernstein's wife, Felicia (portrayed by Carey Mulligan), needed a nurse more than an hour and forty-five minutes into the film. At the very end, Bernstein directs his drunken, romantic attention toward a young black male conducting student, whom he had just instructed in a conducting master class. I suppose this young conducting student represented the future of classical music. But for a people who had been so discriminated against after the Second World War that young Ber...
Read more

Juilliard Covers Its Ass

By
Image
On April 23rd, I received an email from the Juilliard Alumni Association director. In it was an email from the president of the school addressing an issue concerning a workshop conducted by the Drama Division. Evidently, the Drama Division invited a guest lecturer who conducted a workshop on the African American experience during slavery. In the words of President Woetzel to students, faculty, and staff:       "I write to you to address a September 2020 Drama Division workshop that has impacted our school community. While I am s haring a message below that was sent to the drama community by Evan Yionoulis, dean and director of the Drama Division, I believe it is important for our school community to hear directly from me.      To live our values requires an acknowledgment of mistakes we have made. To that end, I want to state unequivocally that this workshop was ill-conceived and should not have occurred in the manner that it did. I extend a heartfelt ...
Read more

Love, Like Music: A Review of Nina Kennedy's "Practicing for Love: A Memoir" by Dean and Petra Aldrich

By
Image
Love, Like Music A joint review by Dean and Petra Aldrich of Practicing for Love , Nina Kennedy’s richly detailed and frank memoir. “For those in the world of classical music, Kennedy’s book is a winner. Her musical talent and technical achievements are obvious to anyone familiar with the works in her repertoire. Moreover, her descriptions of the challenges she faced as a Black woman in classical music provide essential, timely, and pointed critiques of the field. Musicians, composers, conductors – take note!” - Dean Aldrich, father, trained concert pianist, teacher of music and history, and graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music in piano performance and music education (Bachelor and Master degrees). “Kennedy’s memoir provides fascinating and essential insights into lesbian history and the experiences of lesbians in New York City in the 1980s and 1990s. Truly, the value of this opportunity to see such a pivotal period in LGBTQ+ history through Black and lesbian...
Read more

The Fisk Jubilee Singers at the Kennedy Center

By
Image
Matthew Kennedy directing the Fisk Jubilee Singers of 1971-72 Again for posterity (since all of the articles appearing in this blog can be found online in perpetuity), here is the review of the Fisk Jubilee Singers' concert at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. as it appeared in Down Beat Magazine in 1972. It is listed in the Down Beat magazine archives . 
Read more