R apper Meek Mill is making an impact beyond music. The Philadelphia-bred hip-hop artist has been dedicated to empowering the youth in his hometown. Weeks after unveiling renovated basketball courts in North Philly Meek—whose real name is Robert Rihmeek Williams —returned to his former elementary school to donate backpacks and school supplies, CBS Philly reported. Meek Mill Donates More Than 500 Backpacks To His Former Philadelphia Elementary School https://t.co/8eEIvagUdn — CBS Philly (@CBSPhilly) September 13, 2019 Williams visited the James G. Blaine Elementary School to provide students with encouraging words and distribute 500 backpacks filled with supplies. He also gifted 30 teachers at the school with classroom supplies that will last the entire year. The initiative was a collaborative effort between Williams and Puma. This isn’t the first time that he has stepped up to support the youth during the back-to-school season. In the past, he’s hosted several school drives benefiting children in his hometown. Last year, he teamed up with the School District of Philadelphia to donate 6,000 backpacks to underprivileged students. “Growing up in Philly, I’ve watched families struggle to make ends meet and buy basic school supplies for the kids,” he told Billboard in a statement. “Those memories stay with me and that’s why I’m committed to giving back to families in my hometown, putting smiles on kids’ faces and helping them start the school year on the right now with the right supplies.” Williams’ donation comes at a time where many students and teachers at schools throughout the country need support as financial obstacles have prevented them from being able to purchase essential supplies for school. According to the National Center for Children in Poverty , 15 million children throughout the country live in extreme poverty and are unable to afford school supplies. A study conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics revealed that 94 percent of public school teachers have spent some of their own money on school supplies without reimbursement. SEE ALSO: Meek Mill Unveils Renovated Basketball Courts For Youth In Philly Exonerated Five’s Korey Wise Donates Backpacks, School Supplies To Underprivileged Children In Harlem [ione_media_gallery src=”https://newsone.com” id=”3039818″ overlay=”true”]
O ne Black college student will likely soon be able to call himself the youngest state lawmaker in the nation. RELATED: Obama and Black Lawmakers Talk Poverty, Criminal Justice At White House Meeting [VIDEO] This history-making title will presumably go to Kalan Haywood , a 19-year-old student at Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee who is set to become a Wisconsin legislator in just three months. Haywood will be sworn in the Assembly chambers of the Wisconsin Capitol to represent Milwaukee’s 16th District before the year’s end — a feat that will likely lead people to cheer and chant even more for Black excellence. His age will help him with reaching all people and achieving excellence in the position, he said. “My age is my biggest asset,” Haywood, who is a Democrat and a second-year business major, said to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel . The youngest state lawmaker in America? It's likely 19-year-old Kalan Haywood of Milwaukee. https://t.co/l3N7kVdaQC — Journal Sentinel (@journalsentinel) September 28, 2018 No lack of experience will seemingly stop Haywood from taking on the role, which will likely become his without a fight. The 19-year-old won a five-way primary election in August and has no Republican challenger. The Wisconsin assembly seat is nearly his, with the only possible obstacle being if an unexpected candidate pulls together a quick, successful write-in campaign. Also, Haywood has undoubtedly proved that lawmakers don’t have to older white men. He has joined a slew of other Black men and women who have won primaries and major support to take on various offices nationwide. A primary win is already a huge victory in itself, with many social media users having celebrated candidates of color for besting opponents. What candidates do after primary victories and once they’re in office has sparked interesting online dialogues among Black Twitter. Haywood, who was elected to the Milwaukee Youth Council at age 14 and ultimately won the presidency, said he plans to introduce an amendment for a new state law requiring high school students to pass a civics exam. His proposal included requiring students to register to vote at age 18. SEE ALSO: Bill Cosby Sued By Former Lawyers Heartbreaking: 15-Year-Old Reportedly Found Dead And Mutilated, And It’s Getting No News Coverage [ione_media_gallery src=”https://newsone.com” id=”3828869″ overlay=”true”]
Your browser does not support iframes. Freeway Rick Ross was hanging out at “ The Rickey Smiley Morning Show ,” where he detailed his whole rise, and fall, and rise again. He talked about how he sold drugs to get out poverty, and then, once he was in prison on a life sentence, managed to learn to read and write, and successfully lifted himself out of the prison system by learning law. Sign Up For Our Newsletter! Close Thank you for subscribing! Please be sure to open and click your first newsletter so we can confirm your subscription. Email Submit He explains why the drug business is so seductive even after you meet your financial goals. He also talks about the rapper, Rick Ross , who he sued over his use of a name that he made popular. He remarks at the fact that he doesn’t have any kind of friendship with Rick Ross, even though the rapper certainly owes him a thank you. Click on the audio player to hear more in this exclusive interview from “ The Rickey Smiley Morning Show .” Listen to “The Rickey Smiley Morning Show” LIVE every weekday from 6/5am C. RELATED: Freeway Rick Ross Details How Playing Tennis Taught Him To Hustle Out Of Poverty [EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW] RELATED: Rick Ross Reprimands Birdman Some More For Not Paying Lil Wayne [EXCLUSIVE] RELATED: Did Rick Ross Disrespect Toni Braxton In Latest Birdman Rant? [EXCLUSIVE] The Latest : Top 10 things we NOT doing in 2018! #ReecQOTD Issa New Years Move! Blo5k Drops 2 New Songs FT 21 Savage Produced By Chill Go Hard & Pluto Pooh! Stream Fasscoupe & Jose Guapo ‘Percocets & Pounds’ Mixtape [ione_media_gallery src=”https://rickeysmileymorningshow.com” id=”1646544″ overlay=”true”]
90 Day Fiance is still running and has three different spin-offs. It’s a successful series. But … how much are the stars actually paid? Two recent guests on the series are exploiting a loophole to reveal everything about what goes on behind the scenes, and they’re not holding back. And yes, they’re letting us know exactly how much this pays. Though we’ve had our suspicions about this series for a while now, seeing the actual numbers in front of us was a real shock. The 90 Day Fiance couples that we know and love (or know and whatever) give out whatever updates they can. Remember how Mohamed Jbali has been giving moving updates ? He has now in Texas. And Paola Mayfield has apologized for her and her husband’s controversial Halloween costumes . But there’s only so much that they can tell us about what went on behind the scenes on 90 Day Fiance . Because, well, reality shows come with contracts. If you want to get paid for being on a reality show, whether you’re one of the stars or just behind the scenes, it’s standard for you to sign documents that you won’t reveal trade secrets. Plenty of jobs come with those, in fact. Since nobody stars on reality shows just for charity and since nobody just volunteers to film or edit a reality series solely for fun, no one who knows details — like how much the stars of 90 Day Fiance are paid — is at liberty to say, right? Until now, that is. Annie is from Thailand and David is from the US. There’s so much to their story — Annie comes from extreme poverty, David is fresh out of a divorce (and lost a lot of weight, too). David is about twice her age, Annie is hoping to live in comfort and she’s been a little surprised that David isn’t as rich as she’d imagined. Nothing in their story was too painfully awkward, though, until this last episode. David and Annie were offered a place to stay by Chris’ good friend, Chris, and Chris’ pregnant wife, Nikki. In a jaw-dropping, horrifying scene, Chris suggests that Annie could “pay him back” for letting them stay there … by giving him a massage. Now, especially in the wake of the Weinstein scandal, we hope that we don’t need to explain that “massage” is too often a code for someone trying to leverage a sexual encounter. (And, worst of all, when it’s a white guy asking an Asian woman, there are often racist undertones because of a long history of racist perceptions of Asian women within the US) Chris asked this in front of his wife, by the way. It was a shocking moment. To all of us — but not to anyone on the show. Because Nikki and Chris have taken to social media to clear things up. And they say that Chris’ overture was scripted . “Yes, the awkward scene of Chris asking for a massage was SCRIPTED,” Nikki posted. View Slideshow: 90 Day Fiance: Meet the Season 5 Couples! “The producer asked him to say it & Chris had to say it more than once because it didn’t come off as natural.” Honestly, it’s hard to imagine being talked into that, but when you’re doing a favor for a friend, it’s easy to feel pressured to go along with things to help your buddy out. “We were fed our lines while sitting at the table, which is why no one reacted. WE ALL KNEW WHAT TO EXPECT.” That, folks, is not how reality shows are supposed to work. Little prompts, like what topic to cover, are normal. Edits are normal. What Chris and Nikki described is not normal for reality shows. Nikki is eager to let the world know: “I’m a very outspoken person you’d be a fool to think I just sat there & [allowed] my husband to disrespect me, Annie, & our marriage.” Good that she included Annie in that. How can they reveal this? Well, Nikki and Chris say that they aren’t under contract with TLC or the production company and weren’t in any way paid to appear on the show. (They only agreed to it as a favor for Chris.) So: how much do 90 Day Fiance stars make? According to Chris and Nikki, David only makes about $1,000 per episode, and was paid $2,500 to appear in the tell-all. Look, $1,000 is a nice thing to make, but remember that 90 Day Fiance stars don’t appear in every episode. For a successful reality series, these numbers are shockingly low. For a little perspective, the good folks over at Starcasm compared 90 Day Fiance income to that sweet, sweet Teen Mom money . We know that Teen Mom 2 stars are banking about a quarter of a million dollars, or more, every year. Even the dads who appear on the show are making six digits. View Slideshow: Teen Mom: HOW MUCH Do The Stars Make?! Now, 90 Day Fiance isn’t supposed to be anybody’s full time job, which is good — because it sounds like that would put David below the poverty line. But 90 Day Fiance does at least as well, and sometimes better, in ratings than Teen Mom does. (It looks like slightly more viewers, but slightly fewer in the coveted still-culturally-relevant age demographic) We imagine that couples like Paola and Russ are making a little more than a brand new star like Chris, but … how much more? It sounds like part of 90 Day Fiance ‘s success is that they’re not paying their actors anything close to what we’d consider to be industry standards. Which might be even shadier than the accusation that they also go to such lengths to stir up drama where it doesn’t exist. Chris and Nikki suggested that they might have more to reveal in coming weeks, as new episodes air. We’ll be interested to find out what they choose to share. View Slideshow: Reality Star Salaries: REVEALED!
90 Day Fiance is still running and has three different spin-offs. It’s a successful series. But … how much are the stars actually paid? Two recent guests on the series are exploiting a loophole to reveal everything about what goes on behind the scenes, and they’re not holding back. And yes, they’re letting us know exactly how much this pays. Though we’ve had our suspicions about this series for a while now, seeing the actual numbers in front of us was a real shock. The 90 Day Fiance couples that we know and love (or know and whatever) give out whatever updates they can. Remember how Mohamed Jbali has been giving moving updates ? He has now in Texas. And Paola Mayfield has apologized for her and her husband’s controversial Halloween costumes . But there’s only so much that they can tell us about what went on behind the scenes on 90 Day Fiance . Because, well, reality shows come with contracts. If you want to get paid for being on a reality show, whether you’re one of the stars or just behind the scenes, it’s standard for you to sign documents that you won’t reveal trade secrets. Plenty of jobs come with those, in fact. Since nobody stars on reality shows just for charity and since nobody just volunteers to film or edit a reality series solely for fun, no one who knows details — like how much the stars of 90 Day Fiance are paid — is at liberty to say, right? Until now, that is. Annie is from Thailand and David is from the US. There’s so much to their story — Annie comes from extreme poverty, David is fresh out of a divorce (and lost a lot of weight, too). David is about twice her age, Annie is hoping to live in comfort and she’s been a little surprised that David isn’t as rich as she’d imagined. Nothing in their story was too painfully awkward, though, until this last episode. David and Annie were offered a place to stay by Chris’ good friend, Chris, and Chris’ pregnant wife, Nikki. In a jaw-dropping, horrifying scene, Chris suggests that Annie could “pay him back” for letting them stay there … by giving him a massage. Now, especially in the wake of the Weinstein scandal, we hope that we don’t need to explain that “massage” is too often a code for someone trying to leverage a sexual encounter. (And, worst of all, when it’s a white guy asking an Asian woman, there are often racist undertones because of a long history of racist perceptions of Asian women within the US) Chris asked this in front of his wife, by the way. It was a shocking moment. To all of us — but not to anyone on the show. Because Nikki and Chris have taken to social media to clear things up. And they say that Chris’ overture was scripted . “Yes, the awkward scene of Chris asking for a massage was SCRIPTED,” Nikki posted. View Slideshow: 90 Day Fiance: Meet the Season 5 Couples! “The producer asked him to say it & Chris had to say it more than once because it didn’t come off as natural.” Honestly, it’s hard to imagine being talked into that, but when you’re doing a favor for a friend, it’s easy to feel pressured to go along with things to help your buddy out. “We were fed our lines while sitting at the table, which is why no one reacted. WE ALL KNEW WHAT TO EXPECT.” That, folks, is not how reality shows are supposed to work. Little prompts, like what topic to cover, are normal. Edits are normal. What Chris and Nikki described is not normal for reality shows. Nikki is eager to let the world know: “I’m a very outspoken person you’d be a fool to think I just sat there & [allowed] my husband to disrespect me, Annie, & our marriage.” Good that she included Annie in that. How can they reveal this? Well, Nikki and Chris say that they aren’t under contract with TLC or the production company and weren’t in any way paid to appear on the show. (They only agreed to it as a favor for Chris.) So: how much do 90 Day Fiance stars make? According to Chris and Nikki, David only makes about $1,000 per episode, and was paid $2,500 to appear in the tell-all. Look, $1,000 is a nice thing to make, but remember that 90 Day Fiance stars don’t appear in every episode. For a successful reality series, these numbers are shockingly low. For a little perspective, the good folks over at Starcasm compared 90 Day Fiance income to that sweet, sweet Teen Mom money . We know that Teen Mom 2 stars are banking about a quarter of a million dollars, or more, every year. Even the dads who appear on the show are making six digits. View Slideshow: Teen Mom: HOW MUCH Do The Stars Make?! Now, 90 Day Fiance isn’t supposed to be anybody’s full time job, which is good — because it sounds like that would put David below the poverty line. But 90 Day Fiance does at least as well, and sometimes better, in ratings than Teen Mom does. (It looks like slightly more viewers, but slightly fewer in the coveted still-culturally-relevant age demographic) We imagine that couples like Paola and Russ are making a little more than a brand new star like Chris, but … how much more? It sounds like part of 90 Day Fiance ‘s success is that they’re not paying their actors anything close to what we’d consider to be industry standards. Which might be even shadier than the accusation that they also go to such lengths to stir up drama where it doesn’t exist. Chris and Nikki suggested that they might have more to reveal in coming weeks, as new episodes air. We’ll be interested to find out what they choose to share. View Slideshow: Reality Star Salaries: REVEALED!
Issa Rae is clearly having one of the best years ever…and she definitely deserves it! Not only is her critically-acclaimed and ratings hit show Insecure killing it in its second season, but she has also graced magazine covers, walked high-profile red carpets and been honored for her inspiring talent and vision. Now, she can add movie star to her resume, as she was just cast in the highly-anticipated film The Hate U Give . . @IssaRae joins the cast of film adaptation of BLM-inspired novel, 'The Hate U Give,' led by Amandla Stenberg https://t.co/QjhYJV9lVK pic.twitter.com/fxy02YWXXm — Shadow And Act (@shadowandact) August 24, 2017 Based on the popular Black Lives Matter-inspired novel, The Hate U Give is the upcoming film adaptation that stars Amandla Stenberg and Regina Hall (as Stenberg’s character’s mother.) The casting process has been ongoing for months, with Common and The New Edition Story ’s breakout star Algee Smith recently signing on as well. Shadow and Act reports that Issa Rae has been cast in the drama as an activist who provides support to Stenberg’s character Starr. The synopsis of The Hate U Give reads: “The Hate U Give” tells the story of 16-year-old Starr (portrayed by Stenberg), who navigates between the poverty-stricken slum she has grown up in and the upper-crust suburban prep school she attends. Her life is up-ended when she is an eyewitness to a police officer shooting her best friend, Khalil (Smith), who turns out to have been unarmed during the confrontation – but may or may not have been a drug dealer. As Starr finds herself even more torn between the two vastly different worlds she inhabits, she also has to contend with speaking her truth and, in the process, trying to stay alive herself. The novel was written by Angel Thomas, who was a student in Belhaven University’s creative writing program at the time she came up with the idea for The Hate U Give in 2011. It was originally written as a short story for her senior-year project, but it quickly expanded into a novel-length work. The title comes from a tattoo worn by Tupac Shakur (with the acronym T.H.U.G.) Check out today’s Top Stories here: George Foreman Slams Kaepernick As Unpatriotic While Praising Trump’s Leadership White Supremacist Arrested For Participating In Violent Charlottesville Rally
Donald Trump Thinks The Black Community Can Benefit From His Leadership One has to hand it to Donald Trump . Never, in the history of a presidential election, has a candidate tried so earnestly to lose a general election. Trump was in Dimondale, Michigan to talk about the Democratic Party and how they’ve let down the African-American community. His solution? All black people should vote for Trump. Trump, in a video of his speech posted on the Washington Post , talked about how Democratic policies have affected African-Americans and promises to get 95% of the Black vote within the next four years. “No group in America has been more harmed by Hillary Clinton’s policies than African Americans,” he said, apparently pointing to individuals in the crowd. “No group. No group. If Hillary Clinton’s goal was to inflict pain to the African American community, she could not have done a better job. It is a disgrace.” “Detroit tops the list of most dangerous cities in terms of violent crime, number one,” he said from a city 90 minutes away from Detroit with a population that is 93 percent white . “This is the legacy of the Democratic politicians who have run this city. This is the result of the policy agenda embraced by crooked Hillary Clinton.” He went on. “The only way to change results is to change leadership. We can never fix our problems by relying on the same politicians who created our problems in the first place. A new future requires brand new leadership,” he said. “Look at how much African American communities are suffering from Democratic control. To those I say the following: What do you have to lose by trying something new like Trump? What do you have to lose?” he asked. “You live in your poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs, 58 percent of your youth is unemployed. What the hell do you have to lose?” It’s almost like Donald Trump is trolling everyone but he thinks nobody’s paying attention. Image via AP
Jeezy Releases A Letter To All His Fans Voicing His Concerns For the last week, Atlanta’s T-R-A-P-S-T-R, Young Jeezy, has been teasing fans with a cryptic Instagram post that displayed a countdown. A countdown to what? We had no idea, until today… I would like to take this time to address the Street Disciples and Congregation to express my concerns and frustrations on what’s going on in our communities all over the world today. With the poverty level at an all time high, it’s damn near impossible for one to take care of him or herself without the possibility of prison or death. You have law enforcement officials gunning down unarmed black men. You have misinformed young men gunning down unarmed women, children and men in churches, movie theaters and public events. There’s a war going on, but you have to ask yourself, who is the enemy? They ask why you black males are so militant? My answer to that would be because they are making us soldiers. Soldiers in a war on humanity. We have nothing to lose and everything to fight for. We are fighting for our people; we are fighting for our right to live. We die to claim our streets and hoods when we don’t own as much as a mail box. That tells me one thing – If we all were on the same page and had the same cause, there is nothing in the world we can’t change or make happen. They ask us why we hustle? To feed our families; to take care of our households; to pay our bills on time. Just like any other American. The only problem is there’s not enough jobs and opportunities for everyone. As a matter of fact, people are being laid off at an alarming rate. Black men getting out of prison try to turn over a new leaf in life, but are placed on parole so they are not able to find employment. They are forced to return to the only way they know to survive. That means sacrificing his freedom and life for his family’s survival. You may call him a criminal, a felon, a societal problem or all the above, but I see someone that is noble and honorable. I see a leader. Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King died for what they believed in; so did Bob Marley. They all have a cause and wanted to make a difference in this crazy world. When an individual would do anything for his or her community and the people in it, that is a Godly act. Not in the biblical sense, but in the sense of the word. We are all Gods in our own right. We all have the ability and the power to change the things around us. We all have the ability to affect lives; to raise our sons and daughters to become Kings and Queens; Leaders and Prophets. To make a difference on Earth while they are here. I know you may be reading this and thinking to yourself, why so dark? Why so sinister? When in fact, it is the exact opposite. Hit the flip to find out what this is all about…
Are Republicans to blame for minorities being stuck in poverty? Minorities Remain In Poverty While GOP Refuses To Increase Minimun Wage Republicans have found yet another way to indirectly have a negative impact on the lives of thousands of minorities, as new reports show that the GOP’s refusal to approve the proposed minimum wage increase is keeping at least 300,000 people of color living in poverty. via Think Progress Three and a half million people of color would be lifted out of poverty if Congress raised the minimum wage to $10.10, according to a new report from the restaurant workers’ group ROC United. They would be the majority of the six million people overall who would be lifted out of poverty. People of color are far more likely to work minimum wage jobs, as they represent 42 percent of those earners even though they make up just 32 percent of the workforce. That big number is in large part thanks to the overrepresentation of people of color in low-wage restaurant industry jobs. Over 500,000 of those lifted out of poverty by a raise in the minimum wage would be restaurant workers, 300,000 of whom would be workers of color. Restaurants are the single largest employer of people of color, but they are disproportionately concentrated in the lowest paying positions. As the report notes, “Two of the lowest-paying jobs, dishwashers and fast food preps and cooks, are 59% and 35% people of color, and earn a median wage of $8.78 and $8.85, respectively.” Forty percent of tipped workers — who make an even lower minimum wage of $2.13 — are people of color. The people of color who hold these jobs are also more likely to live in poverty. They make up more than half of tipped workers and restaurant workers with incomes below the poverty line. There’s no doubt that the Republican party is hardly interested in improving the lives of minorities, as they continue to prove, but do you think they are to blame for this abundant amount of people of color living in ‘poverty’ by our society’s standards. Or are the people themselves to blame? Let’s discuss.
What if The Sting ‘s Henry Gondorff and Johnny Hooker could be your surrogate parents? And what if they were also SoCal slackers? That seems to be the thought at the center of Brian Crano’s directorial debut, an uneven but appealing dramedy about two car thieves and petty con-artists who end up taking charge of an abandoned 12-year-old boy. It’s a film that should be appallingly twee, but more often than not is actually scruffy and sweet, thanks to a nicely underplayed turn by Chandler Canterbury as the kid, Kelsey, and the chemistry between Jason Ritter and Jake Sandvig (who co-wrote the film with Crano) as hipster grifters Ben and Alan. The pair are incredibly unconvincing as criminals, which is partly the idea — they dress up in hideous bow-tied uniforms and stand outside funerals with a notice offering complementary valet parking. It works because they look like schmucks — why would anyone wear formal shorts and stand outside in the sun for hours if they weren’t getting paid to do so? When someone bites, they take his or her car, throw their sign in the back and drive straight to a shady garage run by Marty (Todd Louiso), the least threatening stolen vehicle fence imaginable. This low-key illegal operation is barely sketched out — wouldn’t someone eventually spread news of this scheme? — and ends up being more symbolic of the man-child refuge the two have created for themselves. Ben and Alan live in the guest quarters in the backyard of a larger house they rent out to tenants; they have cookouts on the porch, on which they also like to sit in fancy bathrobes; and they pay regular visits to Alan’s sister Mel (Rebecca Hall), who works at a chain diner that requires employees to do a dance to welcome their customers, and who’s in school and disapproves of their illicit moneymaking schemes. It’s hard to say whether A Bag of Hammers is deliberately stylized or simply so lo-fi it inadvertently comes across that way, but the simplicity of its elements works. (It resembles last year’s Bellflower in that it creates a sense of an enclosed alt Los Angeles universe by stripping away all the mundane details and consequences.) Ben and Alan have created a loafer’s Neverland in their Burbank back house, an easy life that’s far from the troubled childhoods they mention in passing. They don’t have any further plans to expand their criminal enterprises — when presented with a gun by Marty, Ben looks shocked. And they have no desire or motivation to change, until Kelsey comes into their lives. Kelsey and his mother Lynette ( True Blood ‘s Carrie Preston) are the front house’s current tenants, driven, according to Lynette, from their home in Louisiana by Katrina. Kelsey’s a serious kid, but his mother seems scattered and frazzled. While Ben and Alan are idly talking about who would win in a fight (the Ultimate Warrior being the answer to all scenarios) or accidentally stealing the car of Ben’s ex girlfriend (Amanda Seyfried) while leading charmed lives (“What if our luck runs out?” one asks, to which the other replies “Our con luck or our regular person luck?”), Lynette goes from job interview to job interview. In her desperation for cash, she completely neglects her son — and things get worse with child services and a concerned teacher (Gabriel Macht) lurking in the wings. The shift between quirky comedy and emotionally scarred drama doesn’t really work out, but A Bag of Hammers remains fairly light despite some serious developments threatening to encroach on the boys’ bubble. When Kelsey ends up in their care, Alan is ready to commit to raising him (despite being utterly unprepared to care for a child), while Ben is alarmed — “We can’t even keep fish!” — and Mel is the voice of reason, a voice pointing out that they’re being ridiculous. A Bag of Hammers ‘ mistrust of systems and authority figures — who tend to either be abusive or too caught up in their own problems to pay attention — seems strange given the bromantic whimsy with which its main characters have chosen to live their lives, like eternal kids whose parents are away. But Lynette’s dilemma comes across as genuinely distressed and free of bathos, conveying the despair of running up against an unmovable wall again and again. The title comes from the name Ben has for the difficulties life hands you — you’re burdened with “a bag of hammers” representing the poverty in which you grew up, or the cancer that claims your loved ones, or the accident in which your brother died, or the divorce that splits up your family. “The thing is what you do with these hammers,” Ben explains. As metaphors go, it doesn’t make much sense — isn’t the saying “a box of hammers,” and doesn’t it refer to someone’s idiocy? — but then, neither does the world in which the movie takes place. That it works as well as it does is a pleasing accident. Follow Alison Willmore on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
