Ellison is considered by many to be one of the most important literary figures of American literature in the 20th century. His existential novel Invisible Man is about race, identity and alienation. It was published in 1952 to critical acclaim and won the National Book Award the following year. In cooperation with Oklahoma City University, […]
Ralph
Posted inNews
Banned, but not in Oklahoma
The novel is told from the perspective of an African American man who opens the story by explaining that he is invisible “simply because people refuse to see [him].” It also contains commentary on social, intellectual and identity issues of African Americans in the twentieth century and explores contrasts in regional racism. It won the […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Heavy Traffic
It was years before Heavy Traffic — Bakshi’s second theatrical film — would find its way into my VCR. It came my way long after I had digested his PG-rated fantasy films like Lord of the Rings and Wizards and had memorized every line of dialogue to Coonskin, Heavy Traffic’s uber-controversial follow-up. And when I […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Disorderlies
While most of it is my fault, I like to take comfort in the idea that I was doomed from the get-go: • Blame a Depression-era father who forced me to clean my plate through shame and guilt.• Blame a public school free-lunch system that taught gravy as a food group.• Blame cable television for being so […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Beauty Day
It debuts on demand Feb. 12 from FilmBuff. As Beauty Day informs us, Zavadil was a man before his time as cable-TV personality Cap’n Video, a David Lee Roth-looking, Jackass-style camcorder prankster who was doing his thing in the mid-1990s, before Johnny Knoxville and the gang even dreamt of getting paid to puke. Director Jay […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The write stuff
Photo: Shannon Cornman Oklahoma has a long, varied history in pop culture. From actors and filmmakers like Brad Pitt and Blake Edwards to musicians and singers like Charlie Christian and Garth Brooks, the state has been a leader in exporting world-class talents. One area that often gets overlooked is the state’s role in the realm […]