January 16, 2023 • 33 mins
Gammy takes a seat at the virtual Red Table for the first time to recap the Red Table Talk discussion she wasn’t a part of. Gammy lays down why everyone must watch Emancipation–the Smith family, included. Hear about the shocking scene that didn’t make the final cut of the movie and Gammy’s answers to all the Red Table Talk questions Tracy and Cara have been saving up, including how Gam really feels about Olivia Jade Giannulli’s infamous Red Table Talk appearance.
Hosts Information:
Cara Pressley
@thecareercheerleader Cara’s Instagram
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@the1cheering4U Cara’s Twitter
@FeelinSuccessful Cara’s TikTok
Tracy T. Rowe
@tracytrowe Tracy’s Instagram
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@tracytrowe Tracy’s Twitter
@tracytrowe Tracy’s TikTok
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Before we get started, I did want to warn you
there are Emancipation spoilers ahead. So if you haven't watched
Emancipation yet, paulse this episode, watch Emancipation on Apple TV
and then don't forget to come back and hear the
insights Gammy had to share with us. Hey y'all, Hey,
what's up? And welcome to Let's Red Table that I'm
(00:20):
Tracy t wrote and I'm Cara Pressley, and boy, what
a truly special episode we have today. Tracy ay Man
Will Smith came to the table bringing all three of
his kids with him to talk about his new movie,
Emancipation that just came out on Apple TV. He really
dug deep for this role and this Red Table Talk exclusive.
(00:41):
And now we get to bring a Red Table Talk
host who wasn't at the Red Table, so she has
to come to the virtual Red Table for the recap.
Welcome the one and only gimme. Hey, guys, thank you
for having me. Yeah, thank you so much for joining us.
All right, well, let's jump into our favorite segments. It's
(01:10):
my favorite part of the show. Wait what okay? This
is the part of the show where we reveal which
moments made us pause rewind and listen again. So let's
get into it. Tracy want to kick it off. Absolutely.
Since the trailer dropped, we've been told that Emancipation is
not just another slave movie. And at the Red Table,
(01:32):
Will said when the first teaser came out, as people
were like, why another slave movie, and it's like, this
is not a slave movie, this is a freedom movie.
I love that because it's so true. Did Emancipation feel
like a freedom movie to you, Gammy? Absolutely? Absolutely, it
felt like a freedom movie, and it felt like a
history lesson. I agree. You know, it was really important
(01:54):
for us to see the struggle and remember the resilience
and power that we have as a community and a culture.
And that's what I want people to see in the movie.
I want them to see the power of faith that
was really strong in in that movie. It also helped
me understand how religion's so grounded in our culture. That
(02:21):
was the way we survived. But it was really depicted
so beautifully there, and it was almost hard to understand,
you know what I mean, because when you're struggling like
that and going through those kinds of wow, tumultuous times,
it's like that kind of brutality like, how can you
survive it? So that was really powerful for me. So
(02:43):
it was faith, freedom, resilience, black love, right, family, that's
the undercut for me. The backstory is the black love
because he did everything for his family. Yeah. Yeah, it
was the being fed up like we we all go through,
and of course we're not dealing with that level of
well stress. However, the moment he got fed up and
(03:06):
decided to retaliate, I definitely resonated with that because we
all said, what if I fought back? I did this,
I did that, and to see it for that time
was powerful. How do you feel about slave films being
made today? Not emancipation but just other slave films? Hey, listen,
I feel like it is really important, but I do
(03:27):
understand people's resistance to it. But it is part of
our history. No, it is not our entire history, but
it is the beginning an important part of our history
here in America. And we can't forget it. We cannot
because I'm telling you, and I think even Jaden said
it in the show, and I say it all the time.
(03:49):
Those who forget are doomed to repeat, repeat it. The
normalization of bigotry and racism in America. That is continue
wing today is dangerous and so for me it is
really important, not so much for people in my generation,
but for younger people because they think it's so far removed.
(04:12):
It is not. It is not, and we are living
and dealing with this today. Now I'm gonna say this,
and you all can cut it if you want, But
this past Saturday in New York City, there was a
gathering of white supremacists and white nationalists at a very
(04:35):
fancy gathering and dinner. They were there to support one
another and to strategize, right, okay, and that is dangerous
and dangerous. It is dangerous, and we can't forget that.
So we have to remember who we are and take
these moments to help bring us together as a community,
(04:58):
as a culture, as as a race, because if we don't,
we're not going to survive. And if we can ever
put all of that aside, all of our differences just
within our culture aside and come together as a community
and as a culture, the power that we have, baby man,
it's unstoppable. It's unstoppable, and we are missing it. We
(05:22):
are missing the importance. We are totally missing. And young people,
let me tell you, they're worried about the wrong ship,
say it again, worried about the wrong style. It is
the truth. I had a conversation earlier about this, and
I think that's why emancipation is right on time, because
there's so many people who are so far removed either
(05:43):
by time in generation, but also not being exposed to
it in proximity that they put themselves in a suburban environment,
they don't have to deal with any of the things.
They're not quote unquote seen as people of color, are
black people, so they don't feel the true pressures that
are out in society until they get fully exposed, and
(06:04):
then they're literally blindsided by it and don't know how
to handle it. So this was a phenomenal for everyone.
And listen, it was important for the Smith family to
see it, m okay, because they're removed. Yes, they're removed,
and they have individually had their experiences though, but it's important.
(06:25):
It is just important because sometimes you get caught up
in your everyday life and if you are not subjected
to it, you kind of forget what's going on for
the average person. You are so right, and if you're
growing up black in America or if you're living black
in America. You are suffering from PTSD, yes and period. Yes,
(06:51):
that's a fact, no cap Yeah, yeah, So I think
it's important. I think that it's important that these stories
continue to be told. And yes, we have so many
more stories that need to be told. But trust me
and believe that there were students in that room that
are creatives, that are future filmmakers, that are future writers
(07:14):
and directors and cinematographers, and they need to see that
and then be inspired to create other stories. The stories
that we have to tell. We have to tell our
own stories, but we also have to teach our own history.
We're sitting around waiting for somebody else to teach us
(07:37):
our history. No, that's our job. It's our responsibility. In
your own family, yeah, you have to responsibility for what
your children are exposed to. You can't expect them to
get it. You ain't in around for them to get
in school. You'll be waiting a long damn time. You
will just have you'll die before you get to exactly.
Absolutely listen, when we'll explain how he feel on his
(08:00):
character that was empowering, I'm gonna say number one because
he chose to dig deep. It won't be too much
work to find this character putting the chains on. As
an actor, you're always trying to find the thing that
makes you understand the character. When those chains went on,
can you imagine even wearing those? And then the additional
(08:22):
chains he shared at the table. The part that stuck
out the most was when he said, who even imagines this?
You know? So that's why when white culture is like, oh,
let's just forget about it. Let's not forget about it.
Let's talk about how you even thought about it? So, yeah,
exactly what is that experience? Like, what do you think
about those chains? Oh? Man? You know it was. It
(08:44):
was so emotional. It was so emotional and hard to
sit there and watch the movie. And I think what
a young lady in the audience that had a question
for Will also talked about the fact that it's one
thing to read it, yes, but then you see it
kind of come to life, and that's just I mean,
And that was lightweight, right, light that was lightweight to
(09:09):
what we know really what's going on? Right, that's right?
I had no words. It's that heartbreaking. Yeah, when Will
said they lost the key for a minute, so they
put it on and doing so I'm standing there and
then he goes to take it off and it doesn't work,
(09:32):
so it's locked on and my heart jumps and I'm like,
oh no, oh no, oh no. So I'm sitting there
now he's running around looking for the keys, and for
fifteen minutes, I'm stuck there in the chain and my
heart is pounding, and I'm like, will do not freak right?
(09:53):
And I'm sitting there and then it's like I got it.
It's like I'm Will Smith with Pete both running around
looking for Keen and my heart is still pounding and
I'm still scared. Imagine what it was like for Peter
to have that stuff on. Oh my gosh. I felt
(10:15):
that anxiety and that claustrophobia anxiousness with him, even his
piece when he said he felt embarrassed, I feel as
though he felt embarrassed to maybe even react like you,
because they want you to be subdued right in these
chains and night have any emotion that's baffling to me.
I hope that people really watch this episode of Red Table,
(10:35):
because it's important for people to understand what goes into
making a film like that and how deep you have
to go to just to try to get close to authenticity, yes,
and so yeah, just close to authenticity. When Ben Farster
was talking and Will was talking about the fact that
(10:58):
he never spoke to him, how could it be that
they could work and do scenes like that to the
level that they did it and then be laughing and
joking at this word. It wouldn't work. It wouldn't have worked.
(11:19):
I think that it made it even more effective and
believable that Ben Foster took the approach he did because
he stayed so deep into his character. And if that
is the antithesis of who you really are, I imagine
that you have to have some constant reminder of the
(11:39):
brutality of the hatred that feeds that type of character
as an antagonist. And so the wait what for me?
When he talked about hen who played that antagonist and
he was the antagonist of all antagonists and emancipation not
knowing Will until the final shot was complete, that was powerful.
(12:00):
I'm doing my you know thing, and the extras, Hey,
thank you all very much, everybody, blah blah blah. In
my mind, I was giving my best Will Smith, and
Ben just walked past me and didn't say nothing. I
was like, Oh, he must he must not have seen me,
(12:22):
and then for six months, he didn't speak to me,
he didn't make eye contact with me, he didn't say
a word, he didn't acknowledge me for six months. Okay,
even though it was for the film, seems like this
added to how emotionally draining this production would have been
(12:47):
for Will. I cannot imagine tapping out of the day,
and like he said, he was reaching back trying to
find himself and couldn't always make that connection. How does
hearing some of those behind the scenes stories affect how
you viewed the film as a whole gaming Oh, because
there were times when they had to break from film
because of weather and stuff like that. I knew what
(13:09):
was going on, and I had those conversations with him
during those break periods, and all I could do was
just sit and listen. That's all I could do, was
just sit and listen, because I just couldn't imagine. I
just couldn't imagine putting myself in those circumstances and going
back there. Like you said, the brutality and violence and
(13:30):
dehumanization that was experienced during the times, it's just unimaginable.
It's just like right now, just us thinking about what
we saw what our own people experience because their stories
that are like Peters throughout all of our family histories
are lineage exactly. That's the hardest part about it. And
(13:52):
you can forget about it if we want to, but
it's still there. It's still there, critical race theory, teaching
or not exactly. Listen, we're gonna take a quick break
because it's just getting juicy, so listen. But when we
get back, we're gonna ask him all the questions we've
been saving up this season. So stay tuned. We're back,
(14:16):
and let's just talk about what we all overall felt
and what we thought of emancipation. Was there a scene
or a moment of emancipation that really stood out to
you guys? Oh my god, pick one, right, I can
kick it off. I'm gonna kick it off. One of
the things that stood out for me, of course, was
just the overall color of the movie. The cinematography was
(14:38):
amazing and eliminating. That color really helped me focused on
the story more so. I was appreciative of that, because
who knew I needed that. I have so many dudes,
I have three that are my top three. Okay, do
you know what, let me say this. I have felt
like you have been my voice this entire season, because
(14:59):
almost everything you've said this season, I'll be like, yeah,
I agree, gam I gave Side I to the person
forever Side I, just like damn gave you. So you
forget it. So go ahead and say three game because
I think we'll probably align with this too. Probably. So
one of the ones was because I saw the film
(15:21):
before it was totally complete, and then I went to
the premier and saw it and this scene was not
in there, and so it shocked me. And that when
was when Dodienne put her hand into the cotton gin
to maim herself. That through me the extent that black
women have to go through and the suffering, like she
(15:44):
maimed herself to save her family because she was gonna
get sold away, right to stay. So it was that.
The second one was when the little girl cried runner
runner mm hmm, I said, who knew? This is when
Karen's were born. That is taught, Hate is taught. And
(16:07):
then Ben Foster's scene again proof that hate is taught,
when they were at the campfire and he was talking
about the woman that cared for him. But the important
thing was his statement of if you give them a crumb,
they'll take the world. There are people that still believe
that to this day to day. The thing, that's the thing. Yeah,
(16:34):
that's the scary part. We're on the same scene now,
you know, I didn't know about the hand, but now
the campfire scene was one of my favorites because it
showed how Ben Foster's character was this loving and he
knew he was being taken care of, he was being
nurtured by this person. And he's like, it's something so
simple as let's just share a meal together, and the
(16:57):
dad was like, and then what no compassion at all?
And then even though she's raising you, the lack of
there's a detachment. It was just hard because at that moment,
that was his breaking that was his breaking point, that
was the turning point for him and the point of
no return right at a younger and watched her die
(17:17):
for three days three days, so that means you went
to check. Like a part of him was like, well
let me well, okay, that makes it worse. That makes
it worse. And I can tell you that while at
the campfire. Of course, now y'all know there's always gonna
be one who's got the same scan but not can.
That's another part in that whole same scene that made
me sick because I was not looking at you. The
(17:38):
other slave just said that you two were slaves together
and now here you are helping him. Okay, that's a
whole We can have a whole another weight conversation that too.
But that was his means of survival. That was his
means of survival, as ugly as it is and as
as difficult, but he's just trying to get through. You had,
(18:00):
Gammy that watching emancipation was emotional for you. Were you
surprised at all by your reactions to it? No, No,
you knew I lived through the Civil Rights and so no,
I was not surprised at how I felt. I feel
the same way whenever I see one, no matter whether
it's well done or poorly done, I understand the intent.
(18:24):
What do you think it means as a black woman
in America? Well, I have to go back to that
scene with Dodien. But I also think about the statement
that Trevor Noah made recently, is that black women can't
afford to sit around and find out right and that
and that really resonated when Dodiene maimed herself but I
(18:46):
also think about that Malcolm X quote from all those
years ago, the black woman is the most disrespected, disrespect
the most unprotected, the most neglected. So all of that
kind of comes into my head when I'm watching the film.
But once again, for me, the most important thing for
(19:08):
us to remember is that this is part of our history,
and I wanted to be used as a way to
bring us together and not separate us. Now, how do
you think that? How does that happen conversations like this? Yeah,
I think it's conversations. I think it's education. I think
we have to educate ourselves and try to regain some
(19:33):
pride in who we are and what we bring to
the table and who we can be. It starts at home,
that part. It starts at home. That's big. And you
even saw it through Peter, through Will's character, because there
were several instances where he remained true to him through
his kindness, and the movie opens up with him choosing
(19:56):
to help someone working right alongside him, so he was
able to stay himself Peter anyway throughout his character. We
got to ask this because people are talking, what did
you think of Will's accent? Did you get to hear
him practice it beforehand, because you know he's immersed in
these roles. I didn't. I did not get to hear
(20:17):
him practice his accent, and mind you, I didn't know
what he should sound like. I'm not familiar with that accent.
But my father was from Barbados, my mother was from Jamaica,
and I cannot do a West Indian accent if you
pay me right. And my nephew speaks Patois to me
(20:40):
all the time just to make me laugh because he
knows I love to hear him speak that way, but
I can't do it. Accents and dialects are difficult and challenging.
So if he didn't get it exactly like, Okay, he
tried and he did his best, that is a minor situation.
It is you know what I mean that, Gammy. I'm
(21:00):
gonna just back you up here, because for all of
the films that I have watched and people have butchered
the southern accent, I'm gonna give will a pass. Are
very very difficult, Like come on, and here's the other
part of it. If you don't know where he's supposed
to be from, then you don't have any familiarity with
(21:21):
what he's supposed to sound. There's that. I loved it. Listen.
He couldn't do any wrong. The execution was there was
so much more other things to focus on. Whether his
accent was quite right? Please understood? Yeah, I want to
hear somebody say, y'all executed. Listen. We do want to
(21:54):
ask you if you red Table Talk questions that he
building from the past five seasons Jesus from the past
five seasons of Red Table Talk. So to start. This
is a good one though, because this is one of
my favorite episodes is the very first episode of Red
Table Talk. It discusses all things motherhood. Okay, so from
(22:14):
blended families to how your mother daughter relationships have evolved.
You touched on a few of your own specific struggles
and impactful moments with each other. Then it came full
circle with the mother Hunger episode this season. That was
an amazing, amazing episode. What have been the most impactful
discoveries that you've made on this Red Table Talk journey
(22:36):
of introspection. It's interesting because I had someone asked me
this question recently of how is it that I can
just gracefully sit and listen when Jada is talking about
her journey and her childhood and how she felt neglected
(22:56):
and uncared for and unprotected, and that I just I
sit and listen to it and receive it. The only
thing that I can say about that is that it
is part of the healing process. To try to defend
yourself against something like that is almost negating what the
other person has experienced. That was her experience, and so
(23:19):
me being able to listen to that, here that and
accept it as her truth is important for me to
understand the damage that I did, how I did it,
so that I don't repeat the same mistakes. So it's
part of our healing journey. And when I can sit
and have compassion and grace for her, then I can
(23:43):
have it for myself. Now, Jada would tell you that
it's the other way around, that I have to have
compassion for myself in order to have compassion for others.
I just don't see it that way. I think that
my ability to have compassion for other people than allow
me to have compassion for myself, because I don't know
(24:03):
if there's anyone who's harder on themselves than I am,
and I still am to this day. I still carry
people think that I am totally completely relieved of guilt
from the damage that I've done. Absolutely not. I don't
know that I ever will be, but I've learned to
grow from it. Jada has taught me that all experiences,
(24:24):
good and bad, help create and make you the person
that you are. Absolutely but trust me, if I could
have done it, I wish I could have done it differently.
There is no parent on the face of the earth
that doesn't say that, no matter what, they had to
overcome me. I mean, that's a fact. So I appreciate
(24:45):
you being in the position, though, to take those experiences
and learn from them and grow a lot of that
also is just how I was raised, was how I
raised Jada. Even though my mother obviously did not suffer
from any form of addiction, there was still a way
that she had with us. How she cared for us
(25:06):
and handled us was not the tender, loving way that
Jada mothered her children. You give as much as you
can give, and that circumstance, You know what I mean
When you look back as a mother and not me,
I'm a mother of a twenty year old boys, he
taught me some things. When you look back and you
just recognize I did do my best and then we
(25:28):
just continue to evolve. That helps the process because, like
you said again, we all absolutely beating ourselves up or
wishing and shooting, and could we have done all of
us When you welcome Olivia Ja Gia Nali to the table,
(25:48):
you were very against it, and I was with you.
Your parents are gonna go in and they're gonna do
their sixty days and they're gonna pay their fine, and
you guys will go on and you'll be okay and
you will live your life. And there's so many of
us that it is not going to be that situation.
It just makes it very difficult right now for me
(26:12):
to care. Less than a year later, Olivia got a
spot on Dancing with the Stars proven your viral claim
when you said, at the end of the day, I
really feel like she's gonna be okay, you know, and
she's going to recover whether her ass was sitting at
this table or not, and you were right, okay, So
now how do you feel about her and haven't had
(26:33):
her at the table? What you think? I don't feel
any differently. I knew then she was gonna be all right.
She was gonna be all right, whether she got Dancing
with the stars or not. That's the thing. That's the
thing she and her family were gonna be okay, And
that grace and that ability to move forward with almost
(26:58):
a clean slate is not something that most African Americans
are given. We're not giving the same forgiveness, the same
grace when we make our mistakes, that some of those
things we take to the grave and even from our
own not just from you know, but even within the community.
I was gonna say, even when your peers are at
(27:18):
the top, you know, we can be very judgmental and unforgiving.
Poking poke Chop didn't get the nickname Pokin polk Chop
for no reason exactly. So I don't so at the
end of the day, I don't feel any differently about Olivia.
But that is the point of the red table, you
know what I mean. If we all agree with everything,
(27:40):
then what's the conversation. That's true. I was with your center.
I was like, Okay, the last thing this girl needs
is a dog on platform. But okay, and not a
platform from black widow, Like really, listen, well, that's the thing.
If she had it, we can only have our platform,
but the other women as well, or any other women
like I don't think because it's not wrong that she
(28:01):
got a new start, Absolutely not right. She just don't
have to do it. All good black women are tired
of saving the world. Hell yeah, come on, it is
all good. It's all good. She's not the only one
that came on there that I didn't think should be
on there. And don't be asked to who else, because
I'm not doing that. I wasn't going there. I was
(28:25):
not going there. You did tease it up, jazz. Nope, listeners,
don't you know? Tune in next time for boring tea
with dam and she ain't spelling it. Okay, listen. Give
me about a year ago, I got to ask you
what your favorite role of Jada's is. You know you're
(28:45):
proud of Jada. Do you have a favorite role she played? Oh? God,
go ahead, Yil. What I want to know now is
is just still your answer? And secondly, what made you
(29:07):
so confident that Jada would succeed in Hollywood? Okay? Yes,
it is still Peaches, because I think that Jada just
is such a great I love to see her in comedy.
I'd love to see her in comedy, and I'm her
biggest fan, so I love everything that she's done. Girls Trip,
Jason's lyrics set it off your name. But I also
(29:30):
have to say that I think one of the proudest
things when it comes to her career is actually Red
Table Talk because I know how important that was to
her and to share her journey of healing and recovery
(29:50):
with the world, and it was something that like it
started out for just the three of us, for Jada,
Willow and I and then expanded out in to the
world and a community and everything. Just what just when
it's taking to the world, Just being able to open
up conversation like that, I think was really important work.
(30:12):
So I am hugely proud to be a part of that.
Someone came to me the other day and said, I
just want you to know. I know you're connected to
Red Table Talk, and I keep a notebook and the
growth that I've had from watching those episodes has helped me.
And I've been able to take what I've learned and
shared with my sisters and we've gone through such tremendous
(30:34):
helland so no, it matters as absolutely it definitely it's
changed my life. If you haven't noticed, I love Red
Table Talk always will It's just there was the first
space building the community online where I had a voice
when I didn't have a voice with my employer, where
I was that only black person in the workplace, and
(30:54):
I just was able to connect with my women, was
able to It's important. It's helped me tremendously and I
thank you, yeahing me, thank you. Yes, there's so much
more we could talk about, because I mean, we have
you here, like we want to keep you, but we
know that we want you to come back. It's what
we want to do, so we won't keep you this definitely,
So we want to thank you, thank you for having
(31:15):
me on. I was glad to be here, glad to
have this conversation, particularly about Emancipation, which is such an
important film, and I hope people can go and see
it and be open minded. And it's about the message.
It's about the message, and it's not a black film.
It's a film about history and things that happened to
(31:38):
black people, but it's not a black film. Everyone should
see Emancipation. Yes, thank you, jam thank you so much
for being with us and coming to our virtual red tape.
Thank you and just reminding people that they can see
Emancipation on Apple TV. That's right right. It's streaming now,
and if you're smart, you'll go to Will's i G
(32:00):
page and get a special promotion that's going along with
Apple TV to get two months months. Can't beat that.
Thank you so much, Gammy. All right, thank you guys.
We want to know how you're feeling about this new
season a Red Table Talk. We are open to talk
about anything with you, so please send in your questions
at Let's red Table that at red table talk dot com,
(32:23):
or there's another option, leave us a voicemail at speak
pipe dot com slash Let's red Table that. Yes, we
want to hear your voice. Thank you so much for
listening to us. We want you to make sure that
you subscribe on I Heart Radio app and please rate
this podcast on Apple Podcast. Y'all know we want to
find We'll be back next week for another episode of
(32:46):
Let's Red Table That Special. Thanks to executive producers j D. P.
Pett Smith, Valan Jethro and Ellen Rakinton. Thank you to
our producer Kyleague Candiru and our associate producer Yolanda Chow.
And finally, thanks to our sound engineer Stephanie Aguilar. Let's
read Table that. Let's read table that Hey
Before we get started, I did want to warn you
there are Emancipation spoilers ahead. So if you haven't watched
Emancipation yet, paulse this episode, watch Emancipation on Apple TV
and then don't forget to come back and hear the
insights Gammy had to share with us. Hey y'all, Hey,
what's up? And welcome to Let's Red Table that I'm
(00:20):
Tracy t wrote and I'm Cara Pressley, and boy, what
a truly special episode we have today. Tracy ay Man
Will Smith came to the table bringing all three of
his kids with him to talk about his new movie,
Emancipation that just came out on Apple TV. He really
dug deep for this role and this Red Table Talk exclusive.
(00:41):
And now we get to bring a Red Table Talk
host who wasn't at the Red Table, so she has
to come to the virtual Red Table for the recap.
Welcome the one and only gimme. Hey, guys, thank you
for having me. Yeah, thank you so much for joining us.
All right, well, let's jump into our favorite segments. It's
(01:10):
my favorite part of the show. Wait what okay? This
is the part of the show where we reveal which
moments made us pause rewind and listen again. So let's
get into it. Tracy want to kick it off. Absolutely.
Since the trailer dropped, we've been told that Emancipation is
not just another slave movie. And at the Red Table,
(01:32):
Will said when the first teaser came out, as people
were like, why another slave movie, and it's like, this
is not a slave movie, this is a freedom movie.
I love that because it's so true. Did Emancipation feel
like a freedom movie to you, Gammy? Absolutely? Absolutely, it
felt like a freedom movie, and it felt like a
history lesson. I agree. You know, it was really important
(01:54):
for us to see the struggle and remember the resilience
and power that we have as a community and a culture.
And that's what I want people to see in the movie.
I want them to see the power of faith that
was really strong in in that movie. It also helped
me understand how religion's so grounded in our culture. That
(02:21):
was the way we survived. But it was really depicted
so beautifully there, and it was almost hard to understand,
you know what I mean, because when you're struggling like
that and going through those kinds of wow, tumultuous times,
it's like that kind of brutality like, how can you
survive it? So that was really powerful for me. So
(02:43):
it was faith, freedom, resilience, black love, right, family, that's
the undercut for me. The backstory is the black love
because he did everything for his family. Yeah. Yeah, it
was the being fed up like we we all go through,
and of course we're not dealing with that level of
well stress. However, the moment he got fed up and
(03:06):
decided to retaliate, I definitely resonated with that because we
all said, what if I fought back? I did this,
I did that, and to see it for that time
was powerful. How do you feel about slave films being
made today? Not emancipation but just other slave films? Hey, listen,
I feel like it is really important, but I do
(03:27):
understand people's resistance to it. But it is part of
our history. No, it is not our entire history, but
it is the beginning an important part of our history
here in America. And we can't forget it. We cannot
because I'm telling you, and I think even Jaden said
it in the show, and I say it all the time.
(03:49):
Those who forget are doomed to repeat, repeat it. The
normalization of bigotry and racism in America. That is continue
wing today is dangerous and so for me it is
really important, not so much for people in my generation,
but for younger people because they think it's so far removed.
(04:12):
It is not. It is not, and we are living
and dealing with this today. Now I'm gonna say this,
and you all can cut it if you want, But
this past Saturday in New York City, there was a
gathering of white supremacists and white nationalists at a very
(04:35):
fancy gathering and dinner. They were there to support one
another and to strategize, right, okay, and that is dangerous
and dangerous. It is dangerous, and we can't forget that.
So we have to remember who we are and take
these moments to help bring us together as a community,
(04:58):
as a culture, as as a race, because if we don't,
we're not going to survive. And if we can ever
put all of that aside, all of our differences just
within our culture aside and come together as a community
and as a culture, the power that we have, baby man,
it's unstoppable. It's unstoppable, and we are missing it. We
(05:22):
are missing the importance. We are totally missing. And young people,
let me tell you, they're worried about the wrong ship,
say it again, worried about the wrong style. It is
the truth. I had a conversation earlier about this, and
I think that's why emancipation is right on time, because
there's so many people who are so far removed either
(05:43):
by time in generation, but also not being exposed to
it in proximity that they put themselves in a suburban environment,
they don't have to deal with any of the things.
They're not quote unquote seen as people of color, are
black people, so they don't feel the true pressures that
are out in society until they get fully exposed, and
(06:04):
then they're literally blindsided by it and don't know how
to handle it. So this was a phenomenal for everyone.
And listen, it was important for the Smith family to
see it, m okay, because they're removed. Yes, they're removed,
and they have individually had their experiences though, but it's important.
(06:25):
It is just important because sometimes you get caught up
in your everyday life and if you are not subjected
to it, you kind of forget what's going on for
the average person. You are so right, and if you're
growing up black in America or if you're living black
in America. You are suffering from PTSD, yes and period. Yes,
(06:51):
that's a fact, no cap Yeah, yeah, So I think
it's important. I think that it's important that these stories
continue to be told. And yes, we have so many
more stories that need to be told. But trust me
and believe that there were students in that room that
are creatives, that are future filmmakers, that are future writers
(07:14):
and directors and cinematographers, and they need to see that
and then be inspired to create other stories. The stories
that we have to tell. We have to tell our
own stories, but we also have to teach our own history.
We're sitting around waiting for somebody else to teach us
(07:37):
our history. No, that's our job. It's our responsibility. In
your own family, yeah, you have to responsibility for what
your children are exposed to. You can't expect them to
get it. You ain't in around for them to get
in school. You'll be waiting a long damn time. You
will just have you'll die before you get to exactly.
Absolutely listen, when we'll explain how he feel on his
(08:00):
character that was empowering, I'm gonna say number one because
he chose to dig deep. It won't be too much
work to find this character putting the chains on. As
an actor, you're always trying to find the thing that
makes you understand the character. When those chains went on,
can you imagine even wearing those? And then the additional
(08:22):
chains he shared at the table. The part that stuck
out the most was when he said, who even imagines this?
You know? So that's why when white culture is like, oh,
let's just forget about it. Let's not forget about it.
Let's talk about how you even thought about it? So, yeah,
exactly what is that experience? Like, what do you think
about those chains? Oh? Man? You know it was. It
(08:44):
was so emotional. It was so emotional and hard to
sit there and watch the movie. And I think what
a young lady in the audience that had a question
for Will also talked about the fact that it's one
thing to read it, yes, but then you see it
kind of come to life, and that's just I mean,
And that was lightweight, right, light that was lightweight to
(09:09):
what we know really what's going on? Right, that's right?
I had no words. It's that heartbreaking. Yeah, when Will
said they lost the key for a minute, so they
put it on and doing so I'm standing there and
then he goes to take it off and it doesn't work,
(09:32):
so it's locked on and my heart jumps and I'm like,
oh no, oh no, oh no. So I'm sitting there
now he's running around looking for the keys, and for
fifteen minutes, I'm stuck there in the chain and my
heart is pounding, and I'm like, will do not freak right?
(09:53):
And I'm sitting there and then it's like I got it.
It's like I'm Will Smith with Pete both running around
looking for Keen and my heart is still pounding and
I'm still scared. Imagine what it was like for Peter
to have that stuff on. Oh my gosh. I felt
(10:15):
that anxiety and that claustrophobia anxiousness with him, even his
piece when he said he felt embarrassed, I feel as
though he felt embarrassed to maybe even react like you,
because they want you to be subdued right in these
chains and night have any emotion that's baffling to me.
I hope that people really watch this episode of Red Table,
(10:35):
because it's important for people to understand what goes into
making a film like that and how deep you have
to go to just to try to get close to authenticity, yes,
and so yeah, just close to authenticity. When Ben Farster
was talking and Will was talking about the fact that
(10:58):
he never spoke to him, how could it be that
they could work and do scenes like that to the
level that they did it and then be laughing and
joking at this word. It wouldn't work. It wouldn't have worked.
(11:19):
I think that it made it even more effective and
believable that Ben Foster took the approach he did because
he stayed so deep into his character. And if that
is the antithesis of who you really are, I imagine
that you have to have some constant reminder of the
(11:39):
brutality of the hatred that feeds that type of character
as an antagonist. And so the wait what for me?
When he talked about hen who played that antagonist and
he was the antagonist of all antagonists and emancipation not
knowing Will until the final shot was complete, that was powerful.
(12:00):
I'm doing my you know thing, and the extras, Hey,
thank you all very much, everybody, blah blah blah. In
my mind, I was giving my best Will Smith, and
Ben just walked past me and didn't say nothing. I
was like, Oh, he must he must not have seen me,
(12:22):
and then for six months, he didn't speak to me,
he didn't make eye contact with me, he didn't say
a word, he didn't acknowledge me for six months. Okay,
even though it was for the film, seems like this
added to how emotionally draining this production would have been
(12:47):
for Will. I cannot imagine tapping out of the day,
and like he said, he was reaching back trying to
find himself and couldn't always make that connection. How does
hearing some of those behind the scenes stories affect how
you viewed the film as a whole gaming Oh, because
there were times when they had to break from film
because of weather and stuff like that. I knew what
(13:09):
was going on, and I had those conversations with him
during those break periods, and all I could do was
just sit and listen. That's all I could do, was
just sit and listen, because I just couldn't imagine. I
just couldn't imagine putting myself in those circumstances and going
back there. Like you said, the brutality and violence and
(13:30):
dehumanization that was experienced during the times, it's just unimaginable.
It's just like right now, just us thinking about what
we saw what our own people experience because their stories
that are like Peters throughout all of our family histories
are lineage exactly. That's the hardest part about it. And
(13:52):
you can forget about it if we want to, but
it's still there. It's still there, critical race theory, teaching
or not exactly. Listen, we're gonna take a quick break
because it's just getting juicy, so listen. But when we
get back, we're gonna ask him all the questions we've
been saving up this season. So stay tuned. We're back,
(14:16):
and let's just talk about what we all overall felt
and what we thought of emancipation. Was there a scene
or a moment of emancipation that really stood out to
you guys? Oh my god, pick one, right, I can
kick it off. I'm gonna kick it off. One of
the things that stood out for me, of course, was
just the overall color of the movie. The cinematography was
(14:38):
amazing and eliminating. That color really helped me focused on
the story more so. I was appreciative of that, because
who knew I needed that. I have so many dudes,
I have three that are my top three. Okay, do
you know what, let me say this. I have felt
like you have been my voice this entire season, because
(14:59):
almost everything you've said this season, I'll be like, yeah,
I agree, gam I gave Side I to the person
forever Side I, just like damn gave you. So you
forget it. So go ahead and say three game because
I think we'll probably align with this too. Probably. So
one of the ones was because I saw the film
(15:21):
before it was totally complete, and then I went to
the premier and saw it and this scene was not
in there, and so it shocked me. And that when
was when Dodienne put her hand into the cotton gin
to maim herself. That through me the extent that black
women have to go through and the suffering, like she
(15:44):
maimed herself to save her family because she was gonna
get sold away, right to stay. So it was that.
The second one was when the little girl cried runner
runner mm hmm, I said, who knew? This is when
Karen's were born. That is taught, Hate is taught. And
(16:07):
then Ben Foster's scene again proof that hate is taught,
when they were at the campfire and he was talking
about the woman that cared for him. But the important
thing was his statement of if you give them a crumb,
they'll take the world. There are people that still believe
that to this day to day. The thing, that's the thing. Yeah,
(16:34):
that's the scary part. We're on the same scene now,
you know, I didn't know about the hand, but now
the campfire scene was one of my favorites because it
showed how Ben Foster's character was this loving and he
knew he was being taken care of, he was being
nurtured by this person. And he's like, it's something so
simple as let's just share a meal together, and the
(16:57):
dad was like, and then what no compassion at all?
And then even though she's raising you, the lack of
there's a detachment. It was just hard because at that moment,
that was his breaking that was his breaking point, that
was the turning point for him and the point of
no return right at a younger and watched her die
(17:17):
for three days three days, so that means you went
to check. Like a part of him was like, well
let me well, okay, that makes it worse. That makes
it worse. And I can tell you that while at
the campfire. Of course, now y'all know there's always gonna
be one who's got the same scan but not can.
That's another part in that whole same scene that made
me sick because I was not looking at you. The
(17:38):
other slave just said that you two were slaves together
and now here you are helping him. Okay, that's a
whole We can have a whole another weight conversation that too.
But that was his means of survival. That was his
means of survival, as ugly as it is and as
as difficult, but he's just trying to get through. You had,
(18:00):
Gammy that watching emancipation was emotional for you. Were you
surprised at all by your reactions to it? No, No,
you knew I lived through the Civil Rights and so no,
I was not surprised at how I felt. I feel
the same way whenever I see one, no matter whether
it's well done or poorly done, I understand the intent.
(18:24):
What do you think it means as a black woman
in America? Well, I have to go back to that
scene with Dodien. But I also think about the statement
that Trevor Noah made recently, is that black women can't
afford to sit around and find out right and that
and that really resonated when Dodiene maimed herself but I
(18:46):
also think about that Malcolm X quote from all those
years ago, the black woman is the most disrespected, disrespect
the most unprotected, the most neglected. So all of that
kind of comes into my head when I'm watching the film.
But once again, for me, the most important thing for
(19:08):
us to remember is that this is part of our history,
and I wanted to be used as a way to
bring us together and not separate us. Now, how do
you think that? How does that happen conversations like this? Yeah,
I think it's conversations. I think it's education. I think
we have to educate ourselves and try to regain some
(19:33):
pride in who we are and what we bring to
the table and who we can be. It starts at home,
that part. It starts at home. That's big. And you
even saw it through Peter, through Will's character, because there
were several instances where he remained true to him through
his kindness, and the movie opens up with him choosing
(19:56):
to help someone working right alongside him, so he was
able to stay himself Peter anyway throughout his character. We
got to ask this because people are talking, what did
you think of Will's accent? Did you get to hear
him practice it beforehand, because you know he's immersed in
these roles. I didn't. I did not get to hear
(20:17):
him practice his accent, and mind you, I didn't know
what he should sound like. I'm not familiar with that accent.
But my father was from Barbados, my mother was from Jamaica,
and I cannot do a West Indian accent if you
pay me right. And my nephew speaks Patois to me
(20:40):
all the time just to make me laugh because he
knows I love to hear him speak that way, but
I can't do it. Accents and dialects are difficult and challenging.
So if he didn't get it exactly like, Okay, he
tried and he did his best, that is a minor situation.
It is you know what I mean that, Gammy. I'm
(21:00):
gonna just back you up here, because for all of
the films that I have watched and people have butchered
the southern accent, I'm gonna give will a pass. Are
very very difficult, Like come on, and here's the other
part of it. If you don't know where he's supposed
to be from, then you don't have any familiarity with
(21:21):
what he's supposed to sound. There's that. I loved it. Listen.
He couldn't do any wrong. The execution was there was
so much more other things to focus on. Whether his
accent was quite right? Please understood? Yeah, I want to
hear somebody say, y'all executed. Listen. We do want to
(21:54):
ask you if you red Table Talk questions that he
building from the past five seasons Jesus from the past
five seasons of Red Table Talk. So to start. This
is a good one though, because this is one of
my favorite episodes is the very first episode of Red
Table Talk. It discusses all things motherhood. Okay, so from
(22:14):
blended families to how your mother daughter relationships have evolved.
You touched on a few of your own specific struggles
and impactful moments with each other. Then it came full
circle with the mother Hunger episode this season. That was
an amazing, amazing episode. What have been the most impactful
discoveries that you've made on this Red Table Talk journey
(22:36):
of introspection. It's interesting because I had someone asked me
this question recently of how is it that I can
just gracefully sit and listen when Jada is talking about
her journey and her childhood and how she felt neglected
(22:56):
and uncared for and unprotected, and that I just I
sit and listen to it and receive it. The only
thing that I can say about that is that it
is part of the healing process. To try to defend
yourself against something like that is almost negating what the
other person has experienced. That was her experience, and so
(23:19):
me being able to listen to that, here that and
accept it as her truth is important for me to
understand the damage that I did, how I did it,
so that I don't repeat the same mistakes. So it's
part of our healing journey. And when I can sit
and have compassion and grace for her, then I can
(23:43):
have it for myself. Now, Jada would tell you that
it's the other way around, that I have to have
compassion for myself in order to have compassion for others.
I just don't see it that way. I think that
my ability to have compassion for other people than allow
me to have compassion for myself, because I don't know
(24:03):
if there's anyone who's harder on themselves than I am,
and I still am to this day. I still carry
people think that I am totally completely relieved of guilt
from the damage that I've done. Absolutely not. I don't
know that I ever will be, but I've learned to
grow from it. Jada has taught me that all experiences,
(24:24):
good and bad, help create and make you the person
that you are. Absolutely but trust me, if I could
have done it, I wish I could have done it differently.
There is no parent on the face of the earth
that doesn't say that, no matter what, they had to
overcome me. I mean, that's a fact. So I appreciate
(24:45):
you being in the position, though, to take those experiences
and learn from them and grow a lot of that
also is just how I was raised, was how I
raised Jada. Even though my mother obviously did not suffer
from any form of addiction, there was still a way
that she had with us. How she cared for us
(25:06):
and handled us was not the tender, loving way that
Jada mothered her children. You give as much as you
can give, and that circumstance, You know what I mean
When you look back as a mother and not me,
I'm a mother of a twenty year old boys, he
taught me some things. When you look back and you
just recognize I did do my best and then we
(25:28):
just continue to evolve. That helps the process because, like
you said again, we all absolutely beating ourselves up or
wishing and shooting, and could we have done all of
us When you welcome Olivia Ja Gia Nali to the table,
(25:48):
you were very against it, and I was with you.
Your parents are gonna go in and they're gonna do
their sixty days and they're gonna pay their fine, and
you guys will go on and you'll be okay and
you will live your life. And there's so many of
us that it is not going to be that situation.
It just makes it very difficult right now for me
(26:12):
to care. Less than a year later, Olivia got a
spot on Dancing with the Stars proven your viral claim
when you said, at the end of the day, I
really feel like she's gonna be okay, you know, and
she's going to recover whether her ass was sitting at
this table or not, and you were right, okay, So
now how do you feel about her and haven't had
(26:33):
her at the table? What you think? I don't feel
any differently. I knew then she was gonna be all right.
She was gonna be all right, whether she got Dancing
with the stars or not. That's the thing. That's the
thing she and her family were gonna be okay, And
that grace and that ability to move forward with almost
(26:58):
a clean slate is not something that most African Americans
are given. We're not giving the same forgiveness, the same
grace when we make our mistakes, that some of those
things we take to the grave and even from our
own not just from you know, but even within the community.
I was gonna say, even when your peers are at
(27:18):
the top, you know, we can be very judgmental and unforgiving.
Poking poke Chop didn't get the nickname Pokin polk Chop
for no reason exactly. So I don't so at the
end of the day, I don't feel any differently about Olivia.
But that is the point of the red table, you
know what I mean. If we all agree with everything,
(27:40):
then what's the conversation. That's true. I was with your center.
I was like, Okay, the last thing this girl needs
is a dog on platform. But okay, and not a
platform from black widow, Like really, listen, well, that's the thing.
If she had it, we can only have our platform,
but the other women as well, or any other women
like I don't think because it's not wrong that she
(28:01):
got a new start, Absolutely not right. She just don't
have to do it. All good black women are tired
of saving the world. Hell yeah, come on, it is
all good. It's all good. She's not the only one
that came on there that I didn't think should be
on there. And don't be asked to who else, because
I'm not doing that. I wasn't going there. I was
(28:25):
not going there. You did tease it up, jazz. Nope, listeners,
don't you know? Tune in next time for boring tea
with dam and she ain't spelling it. Okay, listen. Give
me about a year ago, I got to ask you
what your favorite role of Jada's is. You know you're
(28:45):
proud of Jada. Do you have a favorite role she played? Oh? God,
go ahead, Yil. What I want to know now is
is just still your answer? And secondly, what made you
(29:07):
so confident that Jada would succeed in Hollywood? Okay? Yes,
it is still Peaches, because I think that Jada just
is such a great I love to see her in comedy.
I'd love to see her in comedy, and I'm her
biggest fan, so I love everything that she's done. Girls Trip,
Jason's lyrics set it off your name. But I also
(29:30):
have to say that I think one of the proudest
things when it comes to her career is actually Red
Table Talk because I know how important that was to
her and to share her journey of healing and recovery
(29:50):
with the world, and it was something that like it
started out for just the three of us, for Jada,
Willow and I and then expanded out in to the
world and a community and everything. Just what just when
it's taking to the world, Just being able to open
up conversation like that, I think was really important work.
(30:12):
So I am hugely proud to be a part of that.
Someone came to me the other day and said, I
just want you to know. I know you're connected to
Red Table Talk, and I keep a notebook and the
growth that I've had from watching those episodes has helped me.
And I've been able to take what I've learned and
shared with my sisters and we've gone through such tremendous
(30:34):
helland so no, it matters as absolutely it definitely it's
changed my life. If you haven't noticed, I love Red
Table Talk always will It's just there was the first
space building the community online where I had a voice
when I didn't have a voice with my employer, where
I was that only black person in the workplace, and
(30:54):
I just was able to connect with my women, was
able to It's important. It's helped me tremendously and I
thank you, yeahing me, thank you. Yes, there's so much
more we could talk about, because I mean, we have
you here, like we want to keep you, but we
know that we want you to come back. It's what
we want to do, so we won't keep you this definitely,
So we want to thank you, thank you for having
(31:15):
me on. I was glad to be here, glad to
have this conversation, particularly about Emancipation, which is such an
important film, and I hope people can go and see
it and be open minded. And it's about the message.
It's about the message, and it's not a black film.
It's a film about history and things that happened to
(31:38):
black people, but it's not a black film. Everyone should
see Emancipation. Yes, thank you, jam thank you so much
for being with us and coming to our virtual red tape.
Thank you and just reminding people that they can see
Emancipation on Apple TV. That's right right. It's streaming now,
and if you're smart, you'll go to Will's i G
(32:00):
page and get a special promotion that's going along with
Apple TV to get two months months. Can't beat that.
Thank you so much, Gammy. All right, thank you guys.
We want to know how you're feeling about this new
season a Red Table Talk. We are open to talk
about anything with you, so please send in your questions
at Let's red Table that at red table talk dot com,
(32:23):
or there's another option, leave us a voicemail at speak
pipe dot com slash Let's red Table that. Yes, we
want to hear your voice. Thank you so much for
listening to us. We want you to make sure that
you subscribe on I Heart Radio app and please rate
this podcast on Apple Podcast. Y'all know we want to
find We'll be back next week for another episode of
(32:46):
Let's Red Table That Special. Thanks to executive producers j D. P.
Pett Smith, Valan Jethro and Ellen Rakinton. Thank you to
our producer Kyleague Candiru and our associate producer Yolanda Chow.
And finally, thanks to our sound engineer Stephanie Aguilar. Let's
read Table that. Let's read table that Hey
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