OK, so I finally caught the movie “Just Wright” from the beginning. And I’m pissed. Not just because the plot kinda stunk and there was no chemistry between the two main characters… but because it’s set in my home state (New Jersey) and in the scene where Common and Queen Latifah meet, they’re at a gas station pumping gas. In New Jersey.
Whoever wrote, directed, fact-checked and.or produced this film gets an “F” for effort. Seriously, the movie is set in one of only two states in the union where it’s illegal to pump your own gas, and the main characters meet while doing just that? As a Jersey girl, Latifah should know better.
Shame on you, Dana.
As I was watching it I went straight to Facebook and Twitter to vent my frustrations:
I was happy that a lot of my fellow New Jerseyans were disturbed by this as well. But I wasn’t satisfied. I know I was a little late to the game (the movie came out almost a year ago), but I needed to know if this inconsistency had been exposed and discussed on the Internet previously. So I Googled “just wright gas station jersey” which brought up a Wiki Page. I then scrolled down to the “Plot Errors” section and found this.
Mmmmm… Sweet validation. Yum.
There’s nothing that can be done about it now. But for all the big movie directors and producers who read this blog: If you decide to base your film in New Jersey and you need an activity around which characters meet and interact, stay away from gas pumping. Dinner at a diner or a White Castle will work just as well.
They’d be unemployed. That’s a given. But even though I managed to hail a cab last nite — 4 cabs actually — I never got a ride home. And that’s just as bad.
Now, of course I’m not new to the concept that cab drivers, chinese food carry outs drivers, etc. don’t always wanna travel to what folks consider the hood at nite, but dammit, if you refuse to enter an entire quadrant of the city, it’s time to rethink your career choice.
I’d been out of my house since 7:30 AM, so by the time I got off stage at about 9:30 PM I was ready to hop in a cab, go home and make myself a turkey sandwich and go to sleep. I was in Adams Morgan and I got a cab pretty quickly…
I got in and shut the door and here’s what transpired next:
Punk-ass cabbie #1: [Inaudible grunt] Where you going?
Me: [Street number, Street name] Southeast.
Punk-ass cabbie #1: NO.
No? Really? Cause I think the answer is yes. That is absolutely where I’m going. But he didn’t move. He didn’t look at me. He didn’t even ask me to get out of the cab. He just sat there. So I flicked him off and got out of the cab.
So now I hail another cab, and here’s what transpired next:
Bitch-ass cabbie #2: [Gurgle]
Me: Hi, I’m going to [Street number, Street name]……………….. Southeast.
Bitch-ass cabbie #2: Sorry, I have to pick someone up by 10.
Me: Then you shouldn’t have stopped.
Bitch-ass cabbie #2: Sorry, No.
Again no movement. Just a No. Once again I flipped him off and got out of the cab. Pissed. To the point of maximum pisstivity… But I tried again.
This time I was picked up by an American Black cab driver. I’m not saying that for any other reason than I figured., “Finally… This brother is gonna understand where I’m coming from. He knows people who live in Southeast. Hell, he may live over there too. Yay!” So I get in the cab, shake it off — ready to tell him about the 2 other drivers who wouldn’t take me home when…
Bald-Uncle-Tom-ass cabbie #3: Good evening, sista
Me: [Exhale] Hi, how are you? I’m going to [Street number, Street name] Southeast.
Now at this point I’ve unclenched my jaw. I’m rolling my neck around, ready to close my eyes for the 20 minute or so ride across the river, when…
Bitch-ass cabbie #3: Awww, hell no. You gon’ have to find another ride.
Alright, am I being punked. Really? What happened to “Good evening, sista?” This time as I was getting out of the cab, I added some colorful profanity to my bird flipping. It felt good to get that out, but I was still standing on the corner with no ride home. I won’t even go into what happened with Cumin-smelling-ass-cabbie #4 cause I think you see where this is going, but suffice it to say I had to go back into the show and wait for it to be over so my friend Jason could drive hella out of his way to take me home. (Thanks, J).
Now I know some of you are thinking, “That’s illegal, EJ. They can’t do that. You should have gotten their permit numbers and reported them.” And I gotta tell you. Each time it happened I thought the same thing. But I was exhausted and in disbelief and each time I told myself… No way is the next guy gonna do the same thing… Now I wish I’d done it, because as my boy John pointed out, D.C. Mayor Fenty is big into cracking down on this type of thing. A letter with the four drivers’ numbers may have done some good.
Also as I was typing the paragraph before last, I remembered the “Looking Ass N***a Youtube clip that I saw on a friend’s blog and it made me smile. Maybe it will make you smile as well. Here is his explanation of the title phrase in case you don’t quite get it… ENJOY!
For those of you not familiar with all the ins and outs of black culture the term, “Looking Ass Nigga” is an insult. It’s like playing the dozens. Here’s how it goes, You think of an insult about a person, and then you say the insult and follow it with the phrase, “Looking ass nigga”. For example, an insult one could spit at Michael Jackson would be a “Ol Chimp Loving Single White Female Looking ass Nigga.”