LIer's look at misogyny and homophobia a key note among music-driven movies
In the society of hip-hoppers, there are some places that you just don't go. Take the time when Smithtown-born filmmaker Byron Hurt asked rapper Busta Rhymes to explain the link between machismo and homoeroticism in hip-hop. Rhymes was so unwilling to go there he got up and walked out of the room.
This agitated flight is captured in a new documentary that Hurt will unveil at this year's Sundance Film Festival - which kicks off tomorrow - entitled "Beyond Beats and Rhymes: A Hip-Hop Head Weighs in on Manhood in Hip-Hop Culture."
...Among the other notables who had their feathers ruffled by Hurt's crusading camera was hip-hop entrepreneur and social activist Russell Simmons, who, when asked to weigh in on the sexual objectification of women in hip-hop, replied, "I think we have to challenge sexism as it stands in the community, and not the poetry that is a reflection of it ... I can't address every issue because I don't have the equipment."
The 36-year-old Hurt seemed unconvinced. "I thought it was a bit of a cop-out," he said from his home in Central Islip. "Here is someone ... the Rockefeller drug laws are important to, voting and registration is important to, reparation is important to. He's a spokesperson for PETA. But he's not willing to delve into issues of sexism and respect for women. It's reflective of the general belief system a lot of men have, that it's not a priority..."
