"If begging should unfortunately be thy lot, knock at the large gates only" ~Arabian proverb
I'm not a big fan of begging. It's a desperation move and it rarely works. Hence my dislike of Keith Sweat, he not only begged but added the whining which is all around a bad look. But then again, if you could craft up one really great plea to get what you want… uh, no - I still don't know if I could do it. (Yes, yes – pride goeth before a fall) Okay, it depends on what I was begging for… the life of a loved one, probably. My last dime? Probably not. Someone to stay with me/come back to me? Heckie naw. In the past few days, I've had occasion to witness begging at different levels. Take a look and tell me what you think…
The Good: Saturday night, thanks to Thembi of What Would Thembi Do, I had occasion to participate in live tweeting my favorite episode of A Different World. It was the episode where Dwayne finally grows a pair and breaks up Whitley's wedding to Byron. First, it's a really fun two-parter lampooning bougie excess. Second, there are some of the best guest appearances ever: Joe Morton, Orlando Jones, Ron O'Neal, Michael Warren, Gary Dourdan as the ever fine Shazza Zulu. Basically, this was hands down one of the best written/acted sit-com sequences of all time.
Completely depending on both comedic and dramatic timing and delivery, you move one word or chance one character's inflection and this scene wouldn't work. Great script and brilliantly actied. Anyway, witness the magnificence of Dwayne's begging around the four-minute mark.
How much do we love Diahann Carroll? "Die. just.. die!" <<>
The Bad: Bow-Tied Boy Wonder, otherwise known as CBreezy or Chris Brown broke off some begging of his own last week. Check it out from Yahoo:
The 20-year-old singer-dancer, who plead guilty to felony assault and is on probation for five years, recorded an audio message Wednesday on Say Now asking his fans to "bring [him] back." A humbled Brown said he needs his fans' help. "Some radio stations aren't playing my records," he said. "They're not being that supportive and I wouldn't expect them to. But it's on the fans...It's in your power to bring me back."
Brown said he is doing everything he can do. He refers to himself as a "better person" and said he is doing his music for the love, but added that his career is in jeopardy.
"It won't be possible for me to be an artist if I don't have support from people who give me an artist outlet," Brown said. "I can't be an underground mixtape artist."
I tried (for a minute) to feel bad for him but may I suggest he enroll in college with what's left of his dollars, get himself a degree and a profession that does not require people to like you? Cuz right now, they just don't CBreezy. They really, really don't.
The Ugly: A friend of mine, John recently split with his girlfriend of three years. So I can now be free to say… I never liked her. She was brash and loud (instead of being bold and outgoing), she was flashy (instead of having sparkle), and she was a little too familiar with a tendency to overshare intimacies (instead of being warm and inviting). In short, she was just a little bit too much of everything. But John swore we weren't seeing her at her best. {surreptitious side-eye}
Last week (post-break-up), she sat outside of his house (in the rain) waiting for him to come home. Upon his arrival, he invited her in. She proceeded to cry, whine, beg and shout for an hour before he got her back outside the door. She sat outside for another few hours (we're not sure how long she sat there, he went to sleep) waiting for him to open up and re-consider. When this tactic did not work, she took to showing up wherever she knew he was going to be and shouting at him, "You know you still want me! Just take me back and get it over with! Please! Don't you know how much I love you!?" The only reason I know this to be true is because he started videotaping her from his iPhone and sending it to me (and the police). If I wasn't afraid that she would show up here with the crazy, I would upload it and share it. It's quite frightening and ugly. And I have to wonder – does she really think all of that will work?! What about "mental breakdown stalker" equals "oh I should take her back"?
So I ask BougieLand… Is there anything you would beg for? Don't you miss A Different World (especially since they haven't replaced it)? Is it that we don't forgive Chris Brown or does his new album just suck? Inquiring minds want to know. Thoughts, comments, insights?