The Halle Berry Baby Mama Drama…Part Umpmillion: END OF THE ROAD!

Welp, we knew how this was gonna end.

Just this week, Halle Berry filed for divorce to end her marriage to Oliver Martinez under the pseudonym Hal Maria. But anyone who could connect the dots regarding Halle Berry’s previous relationships pretty much figured out this was gonna be the outcome back in 2010 when she got involved with Ollie.

All anyone has to do is look at the string of dudes TEH HALLE has left behind in her wake of relationship failures to figure out what was going to be the eventual outcome.

Just like clockwork right around the five-year mark in the relationship is where Ol’ Halle gets tired of the men she involves herself with. And that’s when she puts them out on the curb for the garbage man to pick up at 6 AM.

With Ollie giving Halle’s daughter Nahla a baby brother to play with and giving Halle some laughs when he beat up her baby daddy Gabriel Aubry, the Simp de Tool has outlived his usefulness.

And now that she’s filed for divorce we’re probably gonna get the same old sob storry from Halle. Cue the violins! Soon we’ll hear from Halle telling us all how awful Oliver Martinez is. How he treated her so badly. How he’s so much of a jerk. How he beat her and the kids and used up all the hot water and toilet paper. And how he spent all her grocery money on Ripple and Kools.

And if she follows the playbook she ran on Gabriel Aubry she’ll be telling us how he called her the N-Word and what a racist he was. Funny how Halle loves to revise history when things don’t go her way in a relationship.

Three going on four men (Six if you probably count Michael Ealy and Wesley Snipes) tell the exact same story about Halle. And we’re supposed to believe she’s the victim.  

Let’s hope Ollie was smart enough to spend some of Halle’s money on good divorce attorney. And he’s smart enough to call one or two of these men as witnesses.

Yeah, Oliver Martinez was a jerk. And he mooched his fair share of Ripple and Kools with Halle’s money in the time he was living in her house. But hey, what does a broke guy do when he’s offered a free lifestyle upgrade?

Oliver’s pretty much gonna get himself a big payday just like Gabe got when Halle decided to broom him to the curb. Because she makes more than he does he can get himself a nice fat child support check for his son. And because she gave him that lifestyle upgrade he can get himself a nice alimony payment too.

And it’s all legal in Mr. Charlie’s courthouse. Why? Because Halle makes more than Oliver Martinez. And she gave him that lifestyle upgrade. So she has to keep him in the lap of luxury with Ripple & Kools until he marries again or he dies. Whichever comes first.

This is why you Negro women shouldn’t take bum ass White dudes into your house off the street.

All you single successful well-educated Negro women who dream of swirling with Mr. White need to heed the harsh lessons your girl Halle Berry refuses to learn. When you go out and get that White dude to be your Knight in shining armor make sure he makes more than you do. Because when it’s time to divorce your strong Independent Black ass he’s gonna make your wallet fifty pounds lighter in court.

Oh, Oliver Martinez is gonna do well from this divorce. Child support, alimony and an heir to pass the rest of Halle’s money onto when he dies. He’s set for life.

But this is pretty much the END OF THE ROAD for TEH HALLE. After three marriages and a Baby Daddy she’s now a 50-year-old baby mama with crinkled face, flapjack tits, tinsel pubes, a blown out pussy and two kids from two different fathers she’s DONE. In the dating world she’s not DAMAGED GOODS, she’s a TOTAL LOSS. Every man with half a functioning brain now knows what a domineering emasculating controlling manipulative shrew she is. And no matter how pretty she is on the outside, everyone sees how ugly she is on the inside.

Outside of Simps like Bobby “Juice” Johnson Halle’s got a snowball’s chance in Hell of finding another sucker to get involved with her. With a large pool of younger women out there who bring more to the table than old ass Halle most men with common sense will be telling her to move her psychotic ass to the left so they can get with a woman who can actually offer them some respect and cooperation.

When it comes to washed up old hoez Halle Berry is now officially the new poster girl. After three husbands and a baby daddy and two kids by two different fathers, she’s got herself a seat reserved on a bus headed for BUSTDOWN TOWN.

African-Americans In the Goth Subculture

Are there African-American Goths? Yes there are. Does the Black community know about them? No, they don’t.

When I made a video a few months ago about African-American Goths in the pre-promotion for my new novel Spinsterellla many of my viewers were actually surprised that Black people actually participated in the Goth Subculture. But the truth is that many brothers and sisters are living on the dark side of the Black community and enjoying the spooky side of life right now.

What many Black people don’t know is that the Goth Subculture is a worldwide thing. And yes, even Black people participate in it. In my research for Spinsterella I read many Black Goths’ blogs, watched their videos and visited their websites and Facebook pages. 

I even learned Rihanna went Goth for her Ghetto Goth for an ad campaign a few months ago. And I’d have to say she looked awesome wearing the dark makeup and dark clothes.

Why don’t we hear more about Black Goths? One of the reasons I believe has to do with it being a small subculture within a racial minority. Black people only make up 13% of the population. And the Goths in the Black community are small part of smaller subculture in the world.

But the other reason I believe we don’t hear about Black Goth is because it doesn’t fit the American narrative for what is considered “Black” in the media. Most American people regardless of race are comfortable with the story of Black people being hip-hoppers wearing sagging pants, Air Jordans and baggy T-shirts and telling stories about life in the inner city. Anyone telling a story about Black people living a life that’s different from that narrative makes those in the mainstream media both Black and nonblack very uncomfortable.

The whole idea of a Black Goth scares some in America. But not because usually Goths wear all Black and appear to be spooky. It’s because Black Goths puts a human face on those Black people who participate in the subculture and shows us the humanity that connects people beyond race. The Goth subculture is a very open subculture and most people who participate in it are willing to accept people regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation.

One of the reasons why I wrote Spinsterella was to show brothers and sisters how broad African-American culture is. Many have no idea how far Black culture reaches nor what places it’s a part of. I’m hoping readers can broaden their perspective after reading Spinsterella and learn a bit more about the brothers and sisters who participate in the Goth subculture.

What Shawn Learned About The Goth Subculture Writing Spinsterella

While I was writing Spinsterella I learned a lot about Goths and the Goth subculture. And after doing over a year of research for that novel I thought I’d share what Goth is NOT with readers.

Goths are not weirdos. While most Goths see things from a darker perspective there’s nothing strange of bizarre about them. Underneath the surface of the dark and spooky makeup and dark clothing they’re just regular Joes and Janes. And once you start talking to them you’ll soon learn they’re just like everybody else.

Goths are not always dark and brooding. The Stereotype about Goths in media are that Goths are dark brooding and angsty people who hang out in cemeteries or coffehouses reading poetry.

Definitely NOT True.

Most Goths are actually some of the happiest out there. While they wear dark clothes and spooky makeup, many often have bright and sunny personalities. And quite a few are very friendly and kind. If people took a moment to approach them, they’d actually meet someone who possibly could be be a good friend to them.

Goth is not a phase. Some parents think Goth is a phase that their teenagers will grow out of when they get into their mid to late twenties. However, this is not the case at all. There are actually 30, 40 and even 50 and 60 year old people who are part of the Goth Subculture. And some people have been part of the Goth subculture for 25-30 years! While some people do leave the subculture for various reasons, others often feel so comfortable living on the dark side that they make it part of their lifestyle way into their adulthood and even their senior years. 

Goths are NOT only White kids.  Some believe that Goth is a subculture that only White kids get into. However, this isn’t true at all. While the origins of the Goth Subculture have their roots in the United Kingdom in the 1970s, Goth is now a worldwide subculture that people participate in large countries like the U.S. and Canada to small countries like New Zealand and Fiji. There are White Goths, Black Goths, Hispanic Goths, Native American Goths, Indian Goths, Asian Goths, and Arab Goths. In almost every corner of world people participate in the Goth subculture and are enjoying living on the dark side of life.

There is no “right” way to be Goth. Many, even some in the Goth subculture think that there’s only one way to be a Goth. While there are certain fashion staples that most Goths wear, and certain music that Goths listen to and certain movies and TV shows that they watch, there are no defined set of rules for being a Goth. So don’t let the so-called“Elite” Goths discourage you or try to define what Goth is for you.

What is considered “Goth” is what an individual feels comfortable with and whatever someone feels comfortable about expressing. Some may want to go for a more conservative look, while others may go for a more visually striking one. Some Goths like tattoos and piercings while others don’t. And some Goths may like traditional Goth bands like The Cure, VNV Nation, and Souixsie and the Banshees, while others may like pop music like Katy Perry and Bruno Mars. What is considered Goth is like a fingerprint, and no two people will have the same views regarding the subculture or the same interests in it, and it’s cool to agree to disagree. 

There are numerous subcultures within the Goth Subculture. The standard image of Goths in media often show people who dress up in all Black and look all sullen and angsty. However, there are actually numerous subcultures within the Goth Subculture. And some do not wear black at all. There are Traditional Goths, Victorian Goths, Retro Goths, Corporate Goths Pastel Goths, Lolita Goths, Fit Goths, Techno/Cyber Goths, Gothabillys and Ghetto Goths.

Each subculture in the subculture has its own style and sometimes subcultures actually overlap in terms of style and asthethics. So there is no true definition of what “Goth” truly is just like there is no one true definition of what “Black” truly is.

The Goth subculture is not about witchcraft, or the occult. While a few Goths are into wicca and some are into occult, The overall Goth subculture is not all about these subjects. Goth is actually about fashion, music and expressing oneself with a dark style and a dark asthetic.

Goths have a variety of hobbies and interests. Many believe that Goths only care about dark things like skeletons, bats and horror movies. However, this is not the case. Underneath the dark clothes most Goths are average Joes and Janes and they have all sorts of hobbies and interests outside of the Goth subculture.

Some Goths collect action figures, while others are into video games. A few are into Manga, others into comics and fantasy. A few are into crafts like candelmaking, knitting and making their own clothes or even fixing and building computers. Some are even into cooking! What a Goth likes varies for person to person, and their hobbies and interests sometimes will tell the world more about them than their appearance.

Goths are not Devil Worshippers or Satanists. A common misconception many parents have about Goths are that they worship Satan. However this is definitely NOT true. The Goth subculture has absolutely nothing to do with any religion whatsoever.

Many Goths are actually Agnostic and do not declare a religious affiliation. While Some Goths are Christians, others are Muslims and even Bhuddists. However, one does not need to be part of any religion to be a Goth. Goth is a celebration of the dark side of life, and is not about the worship of any deity.

Goths are usually not violent. While quite a few Goths may wear all black and appear intimidating to some due to the ghoulish make-up, Goths are actually some of the LEAST violent people on the planet. Oftentimes a group of Goths will meet in a place for a gathering or an event and it’ll come and go without incident. In fact, Goths have met up annually in family friendly places like Disneyland for YEARS without any trouble!

Most Goths often know they’re judged by their appearance and will make efforts to try to avoid trouble whenever they see it. Because they know that the entire subculture may be judged by the actions of an individual, most Goths will make every effort to walk away from a fight.

Goth Girls and Women are NOT sexual deviants. Many will look at a Goth Girl wearing things like spiked collars, leather shorts, ripped stockings and corsets and think that she’s into BDSM or all sorts of deviant sexual practices. However, this is not the case.

From what I’ve read and seen in videos where Goths spoke for themselves, most Goth girls and women are actually quite conservative about their sexual behavior. It’s not common for many Goth teen girls to be virgins into their twenties and many adult women in the Goth subculture to be in long-term committed relationships. Quite a few women in the Goth subculture are happily married and some have families.

Goths are people too. Oftentimes people judge Goths by their appearance. Not understanding that Goths are people too.

When a Goth is out and about on the street there are those who would stand and stare at them. And others who will take pictures of them and think its okay. Not understanding how they’ve violated that person’s personal space and completely disrespected them.

A few even think it’s okay to discriminate against Goths in places like restauraunts and jobs and deny them service and employment based on their appearance.

And there are a handful of bigots who would think it’s okay to put their hands on someone and assault them just because they are Goth.

People need to understand A Goth is a person too. They have feelings like everyone else and they have a every right to live and work just like everyone else. Just like it’s wrong to disrepect or attack a person because they’re Black or Gay, it’s also wrong to disrepect or attack someone because they’re participating in the Goth subculture.

When I was writing Spinsterella I wanted to make every effort to present a positive portrayal of Goths and the Goth subculture. As a fan of the Goth subculture for the last 25 years I wanted to create a multidimensional character who would help readers learn more about Goths and the Goth subculture and see the humanity of the people who participated in it. I’m hoping this novel will help readers get a better understanding of Goths and the Goth subculture and they’ll learn to see what’s great about the darker side of life.

Spinsterella is currently available in paperback on Amazon.com and will be available for sale on Kindle & Kindle Unlimited this Halloween. A dark and spooky romantic comedy, Spinsterella is a great treat for those looking for some laughs in a fun love story.

Star Wars and Racist Fanboys

There’s a small group of racist fanboys calling for people to boycott Star Wars: The Force Awakens when it opens in December. And the reason they’re calling for a boycott of the film is because the hero is Black.

One of these lost souls even killed himself when he heard the news.

Damn. Just Damn.

Is Star Wars REALLY that serious for some of you out there?

I’ve been a part of the fantasy/Sci-fi/Comic hobby for over 35 years. And I’ve never seen White people express this kind of racism openly about any fantasy franchise. Sure, many fans have had their issues about the casting of Black actors in White roles like Hemidall, Catwoman, and Kid Flash. However, this is not the case of a film producer not staying true to the source material.

This is a new Star Wars franchise and the hero character can be whatever race the producers want him to be. So there’s no reason for all of this anger.

Now I know some fans wanted to see the Star Wars Saga continue with the expanded Universe of the Star Wars novels featuring Luke’s wife Mara Jade and Han and Leia’s daughter and see them duke it out with the Clone Emperor. And that contingent of fans has good reason to be upset about having all the stories they invested time and money in retconned out of canon by this movie.  

But those Expanded Universe Fans have been fairly silent about all the changes. No, this protest about boycotting Star Wars is being done by a small group of dysfunctional White male fanboys who felt entitled to the Star Wars franchise. These are the kinds of guys who live vicariously through these characters. For these insecure White males Star wars wasn’t just a movie, it’s an actual world where they could escape to feel a sense of worth about being White Men. As long as White men like Luke and Han beat the Empire they felt like they could have a chance of making it in the world.

And the whole idea of a Black man being the lead in the fantasy world of Star Wars injects reality in their fantasy and prevents those White Males from feeling that sense of superiority. Presenting the concept of a Black man who beats down White men in the Empire is a concept that scares the shit out of them.

If kids of all races start looking up to Black men as heroes in franchises like Star Wars, these racist White men know they won’t be able to have their little world to escape to be superior White Men. So they call for a boycott to keep Star Wars White and Male.

I think I’ll go buy a ticket. No, I think I’ll go buy two tickets. I want to see more movies like this made, not less.

The greatest irony about all this racism is that Star Wars was supposed to be a universe filled with all sorts of aliens, droids, wookies, and people of of all races from different worlds. So you’d think a Black main hero would have come along a long time ago in the franchise. But for six straight movies the lead hero was always a White Male.

If there’s ever a place that needed more diversity it’s the science fiction and fantasy genre. The genere is still populated by heroes that are 90 percent White and 90 percent male. Sure characters like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Xena: Warrior Princess and Selene from the Underworld franchise have made some inroads for White women, but the genere hasn’t had a Black male leading a mainstream fantasy franchise since Wesley Snipes was Blade in the 1990’s.

Having a Black male lead in Star Wars could be the breakthrough  African-Americans in the fantasy genre have been waiting for. If this movie succeds we could see more fantasy projects with Black men and women in the lead. That should give brothers and sisters more incentive to spend money to go see this movie.

If a small group of pissy, pouty white men want to stay home and miss out on the new Star Wars movie then let them sit in their mother’s basements to bitch and moan about it on the internet. Fantasy and science fiction shouldn’t just mean White males as the lead characters. Star Wars is a universe filled with robots, aliens and monsters and the people interacting with them onscreen should be just as diverse as the creatures featured in them.

What’s wrong at Marvel and DC Part 5- Does ANYONE KNOW HOW TO DESIGN A COSTUME?

Trenchoats. Pouches. Straps. Leg belts. Kneepads. Leather Jackets. Seams. Piping and shoulderpads. Lots of shoulderpads. That’s what most comic artists today think make up a great look for a superhero. Unfortunately, they wind up producing some of the UGLIEST costumes in the history of the medium.

I’m gonna go on record as saying I HATE most of today’s new superhero costumes. From a design perspective most of today’s Superhero costumes are just too busy. They give a viewer an eyeache looking at them. With all their seams, piping, shoulderpads kneepads and other bells and whistles most are visually distracting. 

Then there are those artists who just give up and put a hero in civilian clothes and call it a day. We can thank James Robinson for starting this trend with Jack Knight’s Starman.

Thanks to the excesses of the 1990’s a generation of artists grew up not learning about how to design costumes that catch a reader’s eye. Many just went with what they tought was cool not understanding a costume is how many will remember a character. So it has to leave a strong first impression on them. Unfortunately, thanks to all the excessive piping, seams shoulderpads and other widgets and doohickeys that artists THINK look cool it’s hard for readers to get that defining image of a character memorized in their minds.

These days it’s hard to recognize a character just by looking at them. You just can’t look at a picture of a character and say “Hey, that’s Superman!” Or “Hey, that’s Spider-man!” With every reboot comes a new costume. And most of them are so gaudy and overdesigned these days that most people can’t recognize their favorite characters.

A good Superhero costume design is simple. It tells the reader a story in a single image. And in that story that’s told in that image is who the character is and what they do.

The second thing a good costume design does is draw the attention up to a characters’ face. A good design takes the reader up from the feet to the trunks to the chest emblem and eventually the face. The face is the most important part of a costume design because a characters’ face is where the story will be told in panels.

And a characters’ face is what readers will remember from panel to panel. It’s a character’s face that becomes an iconic image in reader’s heads. In the most iconic designs over the last 75 years less has always been more.

Unfortunately, in most of today’s new modern designs it’s hard to see the story a character is telling in their appearance. Thanks to all the piping, seams and other effects the reader winds up getting distracted. And instead of readers being drawn up to the characters’ face, they’re forced to look at some seam or piping or shoulderpads or other doohickey on the outfit. So the reader never sees the story the character tells. And thanks to all those busy designs readers can’t recognize anyone to tell their friends how great a character is.

When it comes to costume design comic artists and writers just need to follow the KISS method Keep It Simple Stupid. The simpler the lines in a character’s design, the easier it is for a reader to remember who their favorite character is and what they look like. And the easier it is for people to remember a character’s image the easier it is to sell comics to the reader.

No More Nudes in Playboy :(

In March of 2016 Playboy will no longer feature nude pictorials. I’m kinda sad about that. But in a way I kind of understand why Hef and company are making the change.

Anyone can find pictures of naked women everywhere these days, not just the internet. Regular women’s magazines like Woman’s Day, Cosmopoplitan, Glamour, and Family Circle regularly feature pictures of them. And almost every day I see on in a newspaper ad or an article with some naked or half-naked woman selling everything from cereal to soap powder.

Nude women can be found on book covers in paperback and hardcover. Heck, I’ve even featured them on book covers myself.  

Nude women are so prevalent in today’s society that you can even them live and in person in Times Square. What was once taboo is now mainstream. Why should a horny man buy Playboy for a picture of a naked woman when he can see a picture of a bare body in any regular magazine in a supermarket?

And women no longer need to aspire to be Playmates in order to launch a modeling or acting career anymore. I know of several models who post their own nude photographs on their official blogs and official websites. No woman needs to be Miss March at Playboy when they can launch their own brand with their own official website and their own self-published calendars made with a POD company like CreateSpace, or Lulu and other merchandise launched from Spreadshirt.com or Cafepress. And they can pay for funding their projects with donations Gofundme.com and Patreon. 

In today’s internet age Playboy found itself played out of the adult entertainment business. No longer able to sell with flash, now it has to focus on substance. And I’d have to say it’s a good strategy. As a regular reader of Playboy back in the 1990s I can tell you the articles are very well written. Yeah, they’re a little on the liberal side, but the Playboy Journalism team is one of the best in the country from the articles I’ve read. If the journalism team is given a chance to show what they’re made of I believe the magazine could resurface as a competitior again on the level of Time and Newsweek.  

Unfortunately, washed up celebrities are gonna have to find another venue to post nude photos to jump start their dead careers.

But there’s a part of me that’s gonna miss the Playboy Playmate Pictorials. Yeah, there are a bunch of pictures of naked people on the Internets. But they weren’t as tasteful or as well done as Playboy.

I’ll say this about Playboy: Yeah, they featured nude women in pictorials. But they were done with a fun artistic flair that put a distinct style on the nudes they featured. Yeah, they were airbrushed male sexual fantasies. But they were tastefully done with a unique balance of art and sexuality that gave them a personality and spirit all they’re own. There wasn’t anything like a Playboy nude in the world. That’ll be missed in today’s media.

 Yeah, there’s a lot of nudity on the internet. But outside of a few art photographers most of it is just uninspired pictures of naked people trying too be hard to be sexy.

Unfortunately, many taking off their clothes will never understand that sexy is something that comes from within and radiates from the outside. Anyone can take a picture of themselves naked with a cell phone or a video camera. But what makes a picture an artistic nude requires a photographer to have skill to set a mood and a tone and make a model comfortable enough to express their personality in a picture. A truly great nude makes the viewer look at the model’s face, not their body. It takes vision to create those kinds of images and more vision to appreciate them for the art they are.

I’m sad to see Playboy end nudity in their publications. But this change in direction could be the start of something new and great for the magazine. If the journalism team can continue to prouduce rock solid content on the regular this could be the start of a new age for the magazine. If Hef and co focus on hard hitting journalism, Men’s issues and topics related to MGTOW Playboy could be the magazine that men go to for substantive articles instead of flashy pictures of half-naked women.