In honor of the actor's passing I wrote about his tremendous and remarkably different performances in "Candyman" (1992) and the "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" 1995 episode "The Visitor".
What you wrote about Jake, about bereavement, means a lot. This time of year reminds so many of us of people we can’t find anywhere anymore, gone suddenly and sometimes forever.
I’d never seen that interview of Tony Todd. “This is your gift calling.” That’s a message that Todd’s heart was open enough to hear, and to turn into the inspiration for an extraordinary performance.
Thanks for a tribute to him, and to DS9, that reminds me why DS9 has mattered for so long and for so many reasons to so many of us.
This piece was stunning—an elegy, a celebration, and a masterclass in film criticism all at once. You not only honored Tony Todd’s legacy, but expanded it. The way you draw out the erotic, melancholic, and political dimensions of Candyman, and then juxtapose that with the quiet ache of The Visitor, is just... masterful. Thank you for writing with such depth and care. Todd deserved this kind of reflection—and so do we, the readers lucky enough to sit with it.
Love that episode alot. Glad you were able to reference and use it for your centerpiece. Also glad to know there are others who experienced what I thought was one of the worst cinematic experiences of my lifetime in the Nia Long remake. Did she actually watch the original or just skim the cliff notes, 😬
What you wrote about Jake, about bereavement, means a lot. This time of year reminds so many of us of people we can’t find anywhere anymore, gone suddenly and sometimes forever.
I’d never seen that interview of Tony Todd. “This is your gift calling.” That’s a message that Todd’s heart was open enough to hear, and to turn into the inspiration for an extraordinary performance.
Thanks for a tribute to him, and to DS9, that reminds me why DS9 has mattered for so long and for so many reasons to so many of us.
This piece was stunning—an elegy, a celebration, and a masterclass in film criticism all at once. You not only honored Tony Todd’s legacy, but expanded it. The way you draw out the erotic, melancholic, and political dimensions of Candyman, and then juxtapose that with the quiet ache of The Visitor, is just... masterful. Thank you for writing with such depth and care. Todd deserved this kind of reflection—and so do we, the readers lucky enough to sit with it.
Love that episode alot. Glad you were able to reference and use it for your centerpiece. Also glad to know there are others who experienced what I thought was one of the worst cinematic experiences of my lifetime in the Nia Long remake. Did she actually watch the original or just skim the cliff notes, 😬