Chalky White: A Trailblazer for American Progress?
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shootemwon
Members Posts: 4,635 ✭✭
EDIT: OK, to be honest, I want to reiterate what I said before about adding content just to justify the video. I thought if I phrased it any differently, it would get sent to R&R. But this angle of discussing crime as a vehicle for American progress just seems to be an albatross. So ? it. This thread is a cool video that shows a fictional depiction of a 1920's black man getting some satisfying justice against the local leader of the KKK.
I would prefer this not get moved to R&R but maybe it has to be done.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zweq4ZabNd8I would prefer this not get moved to R&R but maybe it has to be done.
Comments
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Not really. The rich and powerful got their hands ? too. Very few wealthy families got their wealth on the up and up. They are just more generations removed from the laundering.
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Not really. The rich and powerful got their hands ? too. Very few wealthy families got their wealth on the up and up. They are just more generations removed from the laundering.
Yo shut up. I'm posting a cool video for you and my other SL homies, the commentary is just to meet standards for an SL thread. -
shootemwon wrote: »Yo shut up. I'm posting a cool video for you and my other SL homies, the commentary is just to meet standards for an SL thread.
Oh my bad. Continue on my ? ..........also lmao at the name chalky white.
What pasty white wasn't available? How about ? white? -
Oh my bad. Continue on my ? ..........also lmao at the name chalky white.
What pasty white wasn't available? How about ? white?
LOL. Well I suppose it's one of those ironic nicknames. Like how a big tall dude might use the prefix "Lil" or this one dude I met with even darker skin than "Chalky White" and his nickname was "caucasian".
When you think about it, that ? 's only mildly amusing, and only the first one or two times. Glad I dont have that kind of nickname. -
Omar doing big things. The name sucks ass tho. They should have just called him Omar.
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thesoulcontroller wrote: »Omar doing big things. The name sucks ass tho. They should have just called him Omar.
It's a nickname, but still, popularity for the name "Omar" was significantly lower during the 1920's than it was in the early 2000's when the Wire began.
Maybe we will learn Chalky White's real name eventually, but for now the scene I posted is his real limelight moment and he's been a secondary character otherwise. That must require a lot of restraint from the creators since this is Michael K. Williams first return to a bigtime television drama since playing Omar Little on The Wire. In other words, he played the best character on the best television show ever made, so lots of fans are foaming at the mouth. Their limited use of Chalky White, on one hand, builds up a ton of anticipation and hype among Wire fans who can't wait to learn more about Chalky to see if he's anywhere near as complex and three dimensional as Omar, not to mention, if he's anywhere near as vicious and unfuckwitable. On the other hand, most people who have seen The Wire and now are watching Boardwalk Empire refer to Chalky White as "Omar" when discussing Boardwalk Empire. I imagine Michael K. Williams has had trouble even getting offers to play anything other than a crazy, unpredictable ghetto gunslinger. They still have to distinguish this new character from the aura of "Omar", but I think there's great potential in Chalky. -
nice.... "I aint buildin no bookcase" ha ha
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nice.... "I aint buildin no bookcase" ha ha
All our run-ins aside Funky, have you ever seen The Wire? You'd enjoy it. -
shootemwon wrote: »All our run-ins aside Funky, have you ever seen The Wire? You'd enjoy it.
seen every episode -
seen every episode
And yet, from some of your posts, I get the feeling you still view inner-city violence the same way that the old black ladies at Colvin's district meeting did: "OH LAWD! I DON'T FEEL SAFE GOIN TO MY HAIR APPOINTMENT NO MORE, MAJOR COLVIN!"
Ok, I know you don't have hair appointments, but you see my point, please respond. -
he's not playing Omar, thoughthesoulcontroller wrote: »Omar doing big things. The name sucks ass tho. They should have just called him Omar. -
he's not playing Omar, though
Oh, disregard what I just posted in that kutlu thread then.
But yeah, it sucks enough that Michael K. Williams is already "Omar" before he walks into an audition for a new role, but now even when he has another great character which he plays amazingly, people still want to call his new character on a different show "Omar". I almost understand though. Omar seriously is the best television character of all time. -
shootemwon wrote: »And yet, from some of your posts, I get the feeling you still view inner-city violence the same way that the old black ladies at Colvin's district meeting did: "OH LAWD! I DON'T FEEL SAFE GOIN TO MY HAIR APPOINTMENT NO MORE, MAJOR COLVIN!"
Ok, I know you don't have hair appointments, but you see my point, please respond.
I dont have to be afraid of my town to know its got issues. No one should ever feel afraid of their own hometown. Just buy a gun. Its easy. ..unless you live in Chicago or New York City, then its a tad difficult -
but lets keep this on track shall we?
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these cities are probably not completely alone on this list; see also: Washington, DCI dont have to be afraid of my town to know its got issues. No one should ever feel afraid of their own hometown. Just buy a gun. Its easy. ..unless you live in Chicago or New York City, then its a tad difficult -
SMH @ being afraid to walk around without a gun. Unless you're into some dirt, that's kind of stupid.
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my pops said he remembers his aunties and uncles in Jersey talkin bout Chalky White back in the day.......
*REPS DA SIG -
Swiffness! wrote: »my pops said he remembers his aunties and uncles in Jersey talkin bout Chalky White back in the day.......
*REPS DA SIG
Well, the real life Chalky (according to Google and this not-very-authoritative looking website) was Chalky Wright, who was a professional boxer and considerably younger than the character "Chalky White". Wright was born in 1912, and in the show's plot, it's currently 1920, so the real life Chalky Wright was only 8 years old at the time. I don't really see a lot of similarity between the two, and from what I'm hearing from a few other people, Chalky White is just a completely fictional character, and Chalky Wright's inspiration for the character starts and ends with the similar name. -
shootemwon wrote: »Well, the real life Chalky (according to Google and this not-very-authoritative looking website) was Chalky Wright, who was a professional boxer and considerably younger than the character "Chalky White". Wright was born in 1912, and in the show's plot, it's currently 1920, so the real life Chalky Wright was only 8 years old at the time. I don't really see a lot of similarity between the two, and from what I'm hearing from a few other people, Chalky White is just a completely fictional character, and Chalky Wright's inspiration for the character starts and ends with the similar name.
Was he related to Winky? -
shootemwon wrote: »SMH @ being afraid to walk around without a gun.
Its so coooold in the D -
Was he related to Winky?
Not that I know of. BTW I just watch a special feature piece from HBO about the show which confirms that Chalky White's name was simply borrowed from Chalky Wright, and his character is otherwise not based on a real person. -
OK, to be honest, I want to reiterate what I said before about adding content just to justify the video. I thought if I phrased it any differently, it would get sent to R&R. But this angle of discussing crime as a vehicle for American progress just seems to be an albatross. So ? it. This thread is a cool video that shows a fictional depiction of a 1920's black man getting some satisfying justice against the local leader of the KKK.shootemwon wrote: »Chalky White is a character in the new HBO series "Boardwalk Empire", which is set in Atlantic City, New Jersey during the early 1920's. Chalky White represents a convergence of empowerment and enfranchisement with force and lawlessness. Chalky is a leader for his community, and sees to it that his people empower themselves by ensuring maximum voter turnout in a time when many Americans were still not allowed to vote. Chalky uses his power to get a seat at the table with Atlantic City's rich and powerful elites, despite being from a humble background. But Chalky's rise to prominence was fueled by the dark underworld of corruption and organized crime. Violence and intimidation are standard for him.
Does this represent the tradition for your standard "Man of the People" type of figure in American history? The rich and privileged have the luxury of being legitimate and "model citizens", while those who build clout for the poor and marginalized gotta get their hands ? before they can stand up for justice and progress the "clean" way?
I would prefer this not get moved to R&R but maybe it has to be done. -
That's one of the best scenes I've ever seen. Mike K. Williams is a helluva an actor. He took ? to school on that scene.
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bornnraisedoffCMR wrote: »That's one of the best scenes I've ever seen. Mike K. Williams is a helluva an actor. He took ? to school on that scene.
Yeah, there's still an Omar scene or two from The Wire that is above this scene for me, but not by much. The unfortunate thing is that, as great as this scene is, Wire fans are probably still looking at Chalky like "Omar with a time machine" because Mr. Little would certainly have had a presentation for the situation to rival Chalky's.
I think we're soon going to see that Chalky is not the same character as Omar. Though he's politically connected, rich, and extremely confident, I think Chalky is still forced to use more restraint than Omar because of his race and the time period. Not to mention, Omar was always a hero for the audience to cheer for, even if he was gunning down one of our favorite gangsters. I think there will be some tension between Chalky and Nucky in which Chalky's antagonism won't be so glorified, due to the story being told more so from Nucky's point of view. -
shootemwon wrote: »Yeah, there's still an Omar scene or two from The Wire that is above this scene for me, but not by much. The unfortunate thing is that, as great as this scene is, Wire fans are probably still looking at Chalky like "Omar with a time machine" because Mr. Little would certainly have had a presentation for the situation to rival Chalky's.
I think we're soon going to see that Chalky is not the same character as Omar. Though he's politically connected, rich, and extremely confident, I think Chalky is still forced to use more restraint than Omar because of his race and the time period. Not to mention, Omar was always a hero for the audience to cheer for, even if he was gunning down one of our favorite gangsters. I think there will be some tension between Chalky and Nucky in which Chalky's antagonism won't be so glorified, due to the story being told more so from Nucky's point of view.
Yeah, Chalky seems pretty much like the Alderman of the black hood back then, and they gotta keep the blacks somewhat happy because (a) they provide the cheap labor and (b) they vote Republican. The Black folk listen to Chalky so Nucky makes sure to tread lightly with him. It will be interesting to see how things turn out.
