Hip-hop view of women a hot topic at U. of C.

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(Free-Press-Release.com) April 30, 2007 -- Some panelists blasted hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons for not doing enough when he called this week for the recording and broadcast industries to ban three words -- ''bitch,'' ''ho'' and ''n-----'' -- from all so-called clean versions of rap songs.

Others at the event said hip-hop shouldn't be made a scapegoat for what's wrong in America. ''We allow this language to go on,'' said Amina Norman-Hawkins, a Chicago hip-hop emcee. ''As a community, we don't teach our little boys how to grow up to be men and respect women. We allow them to learn from the street what's acceptable.''

Because of his recovery, Ebert relied on family and friends this year to take over onstage duties that he usually would handle. His devoted wife Chaz introduced many of the films and moderated some of the post-screening Q&A sessions. Pulling all the details together was the festival's associate director Mary Susan Britt. Also helping out onstage were film scholar David Bordwell of the University of Wisconsin; Michael Barker, co-president of Sony Pictures Classics; producer-screenwriter Anna Thomas ("Frida") and journalistic colleagues Jim DeRogatis (Chicago Sun-Times pop music critic), Michael Phillips (Chicago Tribune film critic), Peter Sobczynski (a Chicago-based film critic) and David Poland (of the online journal Movie City News).

Other participants in the festival's many dawn-to-dusk activities were filmmakers Cox, Herzog, Adams, Toronto Film Festival founder Dusty Cohl and Rudi Dolezai (director of "Freddie Mercury"), who sat in on the morning panel discussions. "Perfume" star Alan Rickman, who graciously signed autographs at a midnight gathering at the Steak 'n' Shake, one of Ebert's favorite hometown hangouts. (The sign outside the Neil Street location bore the greeting: "Get Well, Roger Ebert.")

Earlier in the evening, Rickman regaled the crowd with his comments on the "Perfume" experience: "Somewhere along the way I realized I was walking through a field of naked people."

Source: http://www.msn.com

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