Spootieottiequotaliscious

They've got five on it

Watching Jerry Maguire this weekend, I realized that there are lots of movies with lines trumping the oft-repeated "show me the money". So, I've taken the liberty of going through my little black cinema vault, in the hopes of finding a few spottieottiequotaliscious moments. Share the popcorn with your neighbor and don't forget to pass the jujubees. *Singing OutKast* "Let's go to da mooooovies..."

-Eddie, the substance abusing lead singer of the Motown-era singing group the Five Hearbeats knows that Flash, the leader of a rival group, is gunning for his spot. Eddie is backstage in a drunken stupor and tries to get all up in his face.

Eddie: "You wanna be me?! Hmm? You wanna be me? Well, you caint get it. Cause YOU AIN'T GOT IT!!!" [pounding the door like the po-po]

And caint nobody sang like Eddie Kang

-Then, there is the art that is School Daze. In Spike Lee's classic tale of life on a black college campus, Julian, president of Gamma Phi Gamma, a fictionalized black fraternity, dislikes Dap, the militant Huey P. Newton-meets-H. Rap Brown cousin of one of his pledges, Half Pint. Dap gives the hataration right back. But they come face-to-face one day and Julian (i.e. "Dean Big Brother Almighty") decides to get on a soap box of his own, albeit a very shaky one, to teach him a lesson about black history.

Julian: "YOU do not know a thing about Africa ... I am from Detroit -- Motown. So you can Watutsi yo' monkey a#$ back to Africa if you want to!"

I so love intelligent black people. Really, I do. LOL

-What I wanna do now is go back. Waaay back. Back into time. *Mahogany wipes the dust off this attic find and sings with Rose Royce* "You might not ever get an itch, but lemme tell ya it's better than digging a ditch ... It's always cool and the boss don't mind sometimes if ya act a fool, at the Car Wash!!!" This movie, with Richard Pryor, Bill Duke and a host of other legends, tells a tale of working all day at a dead-end job. One car wash employee, T.C. , wants to be a cartoon character and shares his musings with friends. He's kind of like that dude from around your way who keeps trying to convince you that he's "bout ta blow up as a rapper"/ "just got signed"... Yeah, you know the type. Anyways, this guy is just as convincing.

T.C.: Yeah, man I would be able to walk up buildings. I would be sharp, sharp, sharp. Cause I would be the FLY!"

-And, not to let him hog the moments or anything, but one more nod to Spike. In my book, Crooklyn was a much slept on jewel. (I can see you smirking now) Furreeall though... I luv-did-did that movie. True, it has no real point, only tells the story of a middle class family in Brooklyn in the 70s. But I'm sold cause it shows in a cute and funny way that real, normal, non-magical black people exist in real families who a) do not have side jobs as hustlas and b) have more than a basic mastery of English. LOL ... Anyways, at one moment in the movie, Troy and the other young girls on the block are chillin' on her stoop, making observations about the people around them, when two of her friends share their thoughts on the silky tresses of one of their friends.

First girl: Ooooh, she got good hurr!
Second girl: (Correcting her friend) She got PETER RICAN hurr.

Later, Troy goes down south to visit her Aunt Song and a cousin who's about her age. Aunt Song is kinda crazy, but in a good (your great aunt Willie Mae might be a little like her) way. She loves her midget dog, Queenie and her chile "with good hair". Troy, whose hair she attempts to comb out and press, is another story.

Aunt Song: What you call these -- beads, shells and things?
Troy: They're called braids...(the comb pulls her hair) Ouch!
Aunt Song: You got nerve to be tenderheaded? With all these naps?!!

LOL. Classic, just classic.

Ahh... Koolaid -- 5 for $1 ... Now & Laters -- 10 cents ... Hug juices -- 25 cents ... Growing up young, gifted and black? Priceless. *smile*

Stay tuned. More spottieottiequotalisciousness in the coming weeks...