Brave New Voices

So I've been watching this show Brave New Voices on HBO for the past few weeks, and as it begins to wind down, I realize now that I'm pretty into it.

I was skeptical at first. I haven't been too into the slam world lately (except for Brian Francis, but only because he's amazing. Ask me about buying his first book) and this show illustrated some of the reasons why. While it's awesome to see kids doing something positive and artistic and being supported on a larger scale (500 young poets competing in a national competition is an amazing feat), there's just too many trumped-up stories about the one tramatic incident in someone's life. Too much emphasis put on the personal emotion behind something, not enough on the emotion on the receiving end. On the technical/artistic end, as much as I hate to say it.

At one point, one of the team mentors (the show follows teams from NYC, Philly, Ft. Lauderdale, Ann Arbor, San Fran, Santa Fe, & Hawaii) says to a poet, "Not all poems are slam poems."

I wished he'd taken it a step further--not all slam poems are slam poems.

As I said to Brian while discussing the show: it's not slam therapy--it's slam poetry.

But I'm not sure if everyone can appreciate the difference.

Regardless, there are still some great moments on the show, moments where you can tell a young person learned something that they won't soon forget, which is always a positive thing. One of the poets on the Philly team, Josh Bennett, I wouldn't be surprised to see his name getting big soon. He's a great writer and a great performer. Only good things can be in store for him.

Make sure to catch Brave New Voices, as I believe there are only 2 eps left. Sunday nights on HBO at 11pm/et.

America's youth is alive, people.

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Check out HBO's Brave New Voices website.

Check out the Brave New Voices website.


More soon.

JS