Parallax Views w/ J.G. Michael
Society & Culture
The Parallax Views Halloween special continues as we talk to a filmmaker who has been bringing together social issues, specifically racism, and horror together years before Jordan Peele's Get Out and Us. Pittsburgh-native Rusty Cundieff has directed episode of of Chappelle's Show, acted as a correspondent on Michael Moore's TV Nation, acted in Spike Lee's School Daze, and helmed the hip hop mockumentary Fear of a Black Hat. But he is perhaps best known for his 1995 horror anthology Tales from the Hood starring Clarence Williams III as the Crypt Keeper-esque storyteller "Mr. Simms", Psych's Corbin Bernsen, Rosalind Cash, David Alan Grier, and Wing Hauser among others.
The film touched on a number of issues including police brutality and domestic abuse as well as pointedly commenting, in one specific segment, on then then hot topic of former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan David Duke. Duke, at that time, had once served as a Congressman in the Louisiana House of Representative and made campaign runs for Senate and Governor. If you ever wanted to see David Duke menaced by dolls possessed by the spirits of plantation slaves, well, then this is the movie for you. Or, for that matter, if you ever wanted to see corrupt, drug dealing, murderous cops get their just desserts or hearing Clarence Williams III repeatedly say "THE SHIT!" (this particular aspect of the film has become legendary) you'll have a ball with Tales from the Hood.
Since its release Tales from the Hood has produced two sequels, Tales from the Hood 2 and Tales from the Hood 3, and the similarly-themed anthology, also made by the duo of Rusty Cundieff and Darin Scott, entitled American Nightmares. These three films have continued the tradition of social horror found in Tales from the Hood and featured such actors and actresses as Keith David, Candyman's Tony Todd, Saturday Night Live's Chris Kattan, Vivica A. Fox, and Danny Trejo among others.
In this conversation we cover all of those films, the social power of the horror genre, Dave Chappelle and having one's art misinterpreted, the influence of the Twilight Zone's Rod Serling on Cundieff and Scott's horror anthology, different racial reactions to Tales from the Hood, a great Corbin Bernsen story, and much, much more.
This Episode Brought to You By:
The War State:
The Cold War Origins of the Military-Industrial Complex and the Power Elite, 1945-1963
by
Michael Swanson
of
The Wall Street Window
Dear Palestine: A Social History of the 1948 War w/ Prof. Shay Hazkani
Columbia U Protests + the Kent State Massacre, Project Censored's State of the Free Press 2024, Forever Chemicals, & Remembering Daniel Ellsberg w/ Mickey Huff
Applying the Lessons of the French Evisceration of Algeria to the Gaza War w/ Sean Tomilson
Examining Biden's Policies on Economics, Gaza, and the Border Heading Into Election Season w/ Karen Dolan/How Autocrats Seek Power w/ Richard Abel
Inside the World of Deathmatch Wrestling w/ Mike Krueger
Is the U.S.-Israel Special Relationship a Strategic Liability? w/ Jon Hoffman
"White Rural Rage" Book Receives More Criticism from a Scholar It Cited w/ Kristin Lunz Trujillo/Culture Warriors Push Propaganda About Haiti Crisis w/ Patrick MacFarlane
Prominent Jewish Americans Sign Letter Opposing AIPAC w/ Alan Minsky
Jonathan Glazer's Oscar Speech, Its Parallels to Vanessa Redgrave's 1978 Oscar Speech, & the Meaning of THE ZONE OF INTEREST w/ Corey Atad
Gaza War Update w/ Prof. James M. Dorsey
Schaller & Waldman's "White Rural Rage" Thesis Misuses Data to Push an Unhelpful Narrative w/ Prof. Nicholas F. Jacobs
Europe Must Look Beyond the U.S. for Its Future in a Changing World + Biden, Netanyahu, and the Gaza War w/ Amb. Patrick Theros
The Death of Film Criticism and the Infantilization of Cinema (+ Oscar Talk) w/ Jim DiEugenio
The Islamophobia Network and the Israel-Palestine Discourse w/ Sahar Aziz and Mitchell Plitnick
Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America w/ Josie Riesman
BEST OF: The Enduring Legacy of V, the Hit Sci-Fi TV Series That Used the Alien Invasion Trope to Explore the Dangers of Fascism w/ Kenny Johnson
Israel/Palestine, the Gaza War, and Rebel Governance in the Middle East w/ Abdalhadi Alijla
The Confederation Model Approach to Israel/Palestine w/ Josef Avesar
Free Your Mind!: Giovanni 'Tinto' Brass, 'Swinging London' and the 60s Pop Culture Scene w/ Simon Matthews
The Future of Israelis & Palestinians Are Intertwined: Peter Beinart on His Belief in a Single Democratic State, Gaza, and More
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Voices of Misery Podcast
House of Whimsical Terror
Just Dumb Enough Podcast
Stuff You Should Know
Timcast IRL