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Jikanit you!
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Student Research Week
Awards Ceremony
April 7,2003 at 5:30pm
Chemistry Building Rm. 100
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TONIGHT!
MSC WILEY LECTURE SERIES
wriTi
The Honorable Madeleine Albright
Former Secretary of State
The Honorable Edward P. Djerejlan
Former Ambassador to Israel and Syria
With the latest developments in the Middle East, the
road to peace and stability in the region has never
been more unstable. Former Secretary Albright and
former Ambassador Djerejian will discuss the role of
the United States in the Middle East.
TONIGHT!
Friday, April 4,2003 - 8:00 p.m.
Rudder Auditorium
Tickets on sale at the MSC Box Office
$5 & $7 for Students, $10 & $12 for Non-Students
W//ey Lecture Series - Bringing the
World to Texas A&M since 1983
http ://wiley. tamu.edu
I'llii 1 ip < \Krso • KRI
Director, producer, co-writer and star Chris Rock, right, shares a laugh with co-star Bemie Mac
set of “Head of State."
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By
Isaac Guzman
KRTCAMPUS
In Chris Rock’s mind, the first black man to be
elected president won’t fantasize about
Inauguration Day, reviewing the troops or pro
posing legislation that advances social justice.
Instead, he’ll be obsessed with a singular image:
being assassinated while delivering a speech in
front of the American flag.
That’s the recurring nightmare of presidential
candidate Mays Gilliam. Rock’s character in
“Head of State,” a new political satire that marks
the comedian’s directorial debut. Despite the
undercurrent of tragedy implicit in the scene, it’s
a huge laugh-getter.
Like a lot of Rock’s material, the joke’s so
funny that it takes a few moments before it begins
to resonate. By the time you’ve remembered that
that scene recalls the deaths of Martin Luther
King Jr., Malcolm X and the Kennedys, Rock has
already moved on to the next gag.
That’s because Rock, despite his reputation
for provocative comedy, doesn't really want
“Head of State” to be anything more than a lark.
While the film addresses everything from racism
and economic inequity to the empty sloganeering
of political campaigns, it spends even more time
on co-star Bemie Mac-who
plays Mays’ brother and run
ning mate-and his nasty
predilection for smacking
people upside the head.
“The audience out there
wants their politics very sim
ple and very practical,” says
Rock, 37. “Are we at war?
Are we not at war? How’s
the money going? Am 1
going to have a job? That’s
what the people want to
know. They don’t really get
into policy things.
“So I’m not trying to push
a message,” he adds. “If you
No. 19
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u
So Vm hot trying to
push a message. If you get
a message out of it, it's
great. But for the movie to
succeed, it had to be a
comedy first.
that uas one o! ihe mo-,! impori.mi °. <
popular culture in the 1.1 ' • M - e.us. * a ‘ 10rna *
Crouch, the African-American culmiakr: A '' na gm
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to do u nh iacism. n has io do u ith inespe side, as the
violent, aggressive types who do not char, 1-0 lead in i
an ethnic group.” Jl seventh.
For that brief flash of genius .uiii quickly chai
upioarioiis oltermgs ol Ins weekly, After giv
HBO series. Rock was christened “fheF Sooners sea
Man in America” by much of the media.:
Hollywood, those accolades never paid
they did for Rock’s hero and mentor.:
Murphy, or for contemporaries such as.I
Sandler and Jim Carrey.
In 1998, it Itxiked like his sidekick b
“Lethal Weapon 4” might elevate Rock t
Smith-like status. But he followed that with'
er roles in films such as “Dogma" and
Bells." In 2(M)1, he starred in .md co-urotel Series in se
to Earth,” which lound onl\ middime mici: ence recorc
was followed b\ the Hoppine ol ' I’oolicL A&M is cc
spinoff from his HBO series. On Tuesday
"Two or tluce ream aeo. people wereek The Soon
that it was either going io he Chris Tud; last place in
Chris Rock who could go into the mold of: of 12-13.
Murphy,” say s James Ulmer, eieatoroftkl Oklahom.
Scale, a ranking of Hollywood stars accord a nine-gam
their box-office draw. “But the market isp
racist and there are only:
ited number of slots for:
stars. And so far. Christ
proved himself.”
If some of Rock’s
roles have been a disapp
ment to his fans, “He:
State” is probably his bes
at giving them what they v
A pan in which he’s re®
to give speeches plays
standup strengths and l
a moment-during his
working class “It Ain’t
address-when anyone
ever struggled with
probably will wish he
ers that are
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The first g,
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— Chris Rock
star of "Head of State"
get a message out of it, it’s great. But for the
movie to succeed, it had to be a comedy first.”
The premise of “Head of State” is fairly sim
ple. Mays Gilliam is a Washington, D.C., aider-
man with a good heart, but the political instincts
of a boy scout. When the Democratic presidential
nominee dies in a plane crash with just 10 weeks
left in a campaign he was losing, the party deems
Mays a sure-to-lose stand-in who might attract
minority voters to future Democratic hopefuls.
Mays, of course, chafes under the conservative
guidelines set up by his handlers and heads out on
his own. He doffs suit and tie and dons diamond
earrings and a succession of Sean Jean, Mecca
and Fubu track suits. His campaign posters make
him look like a hard-blinging rapper and his
rhetorical refrain becomes, “I’m running for pres
ident. Ya heard?”
In 1997, Rock ran a prickly, almost painful
current of comedic voltage through our social
grid with his HBO special “Bring the Pain.” Its
highlight was a routine that’s become known as
“Niggas vs. Black People.”
In less than five minutes, Rock managed to
sum up decades of pentup racial tension and
frustration, simultaneously skewering the
black bourgeoisie while excoriating the rene
gade spirit promulgated by some elements of
the hip-hop generation. For his white audience,
the bit subtly demanded that they reassess their
own prejudices.
“When he details the difference between nor
mal black people and these buffoons out there.
was running for office.
Rock, meanwhile, always has been w
what Hollywood has to offer him. He decrie
business’s preference for what he calls “T:
movies,” films in which a naive, poor black
acter is “discovered” by whites and finally
over mainstream society with a combinatii
their help and his own street smarts.
“People do what works and no black
has ever worked better than Eddie Muff
Rock says. “So a movie like ‘Trading PI
is great, when you do it on the highest I
with Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd
John Landis at their peak. But if yoin
cheap version of it, you really have somell
that’s not so cool.”
Rock still hasn’t decided what he
after “Head of State” opens on March 28
First he plans to spend several montk
home with his 8-month-old daughter, 1
Simone, and his wife, Malaak Compt
Rock. In addition to recent fatherin'
Rock’s other big change last year was
move from hometown Brooklyn to subuf
New Jersey.
“I was getting to be kind of a big fish in
neighborhood,” Rock says. “Plus, I justs'-
ed space. I had a baby coming. You war
yard. The whole rest of the country has
I’m not asking for my own basketball co|
but a hoop over my garage is fine. Is th
much? That’s not ‘MTV Cribs,’ is it? C
ATTENTION
NATIONAL GRADUATE AND PROFESSIONAL
STUDENT APPRECIATION WEEK
APRIL 7-APRIL 11
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itartyour ' _ ~ ■; 1 Join mat ttie
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Thur. April 10th &ooanHO:ooani @ Vet School
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Snack Crew!!
Take a break in your ichedule for ionic relaxation! Come
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M April 8th i2:oopm*2:oopm @ Rudder Fountain
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