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A review by pangnaolin
Black Movie by Danez Smith
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.75
I don't think I'll ever get over Danez Smith's poetry. It's beautiful in such a blunt, powerful, reflective way, and I absolutely adored the way this chapbook was both poetry and film. I absolutely adored Lion King in the Hood & Dinosaurs in the Hood, and I've reread them so many times since I first did.
I think there's something so special about his simultaneous acceptance and rejection of the constant deaths of Black boys, and how he pushes for both acknowledgement and for us to not force the Black experience to be just this story. He doesn't shy away from nuance to baby a white audience-- just says what needs to be said in the most stunning ways.
I have to say, though-- as much as I adore the to-the-point style, there was something especially striking about the moments he took to be more traditionally poetic, in pieces like Scene: Portrait of a Black Boy with Flowers.
I'm honestly not sure how to encapsulate my feelings on this chapbook. It was incredible in every sense of the word, and I encourage you to read & feel it fully. It's so worth it.
I think there's something so special about his simultaneous acceptance and rejection of the constant deaths of Black boys, and how he pushes for both acknowledgement and for us to not force the Black experience to be just this story. He doesn't shy away from nuance to baby a white audience-- just says what needs to be said in the most stunning ways.
I have to say, though-- as much as I adore the to-the-point style, there was something especially striking about the moments he took to be more traditionally poetic, in pieces like Scene: Portrait of a Black Boy with Flowers.
I'm honestly not sure how to encapsulate my feelings on this chapbook. It was incredible in every sense of the word, and I encourage you to read & feel it fully. It's so worth it.