Black is White ... for Horses

Arabian horses have phenomenal stamina and dominate endurance contests.  They are among the most intelligent and cooperative breeds of horses and are often the most highly-prized.  Underneath all that hair their skin is as black as Shaft (i.e. Isaac Hayes).


The subject came up as, in "Ben-Hur," Judah gives Masala a horse.  Masala say it's a beautiful Arabian and I think, hey, that's not a fookin' Arabian.  There's a characteristic slope to the area in front of the horse's eyes but Masala's horse was flat there and you can see how the one in the picture holds the tail.  Holding his tail up high is characteristic of Arabians as well and Masala's horse wasn't doing it.  I'm also not sure if the skin was black for Masala's horse as part of his snout is pink.

The eyes don't look so big and it doesn't have the larger area behind them which, I believe, is said to involve more sinus area to survive in the desert.  I'm probably wrong but I don't think this horse is pure Arabian, if it's Arabian at all.

The part about the sinus doesn't make any sense to me as it seems the sinus area would be in front of the eyes and down to the snout.  It also seems the larger area behind the eyes would be for a larger brain case but higher intelligence doesn't necessarily equate to a physically-larger brain, it doesn't in humans.

I'm probably wrong but I've absorbed as much as I can from Cat and have read a bit so there is a small chance I might even be right.  Cat knows Arabians like Lotho knows the inside of a V-8.  You don't have to be rich to appreciate excellence and she loves these horses.

Note:  the way to be sure of his skin color is to inspect his equine gentleman's area.  The interested student is invited to go forward with that at his or her convenience and report back to the class with the result.


The only other observation on the movie is the world was better when Sam Jaffe was in it.


One more ... "Ben-Hur" is one of the few movies that would benefit from a re-make.  The acting in it is so egregiously awful and the music is an end-to-end horror.  It couldn't have been more over-played if it were done by a ten-year-old with his first bass drum.  It's the Biblical equivalent of "Gone With the Wind" for the scale of Hollywood abomination.

Where the movie could have real importance would be if Jesus were not portrayed in the stereotypical John Lennon image.  That would require a director with real balls as Jesus appears four times in the movie.  The first is mystical when he helps Ben-Hur, the third is when he carries the cross to Golgotha, and the fourth is the Crucifixion.

Where the really big balls come to it is in the second appearance as that was the Sermon of the Mount.  As it is portrayed in the movie, distantly, neither the face nor the voice of Jesus are ever revealed.  In my view, that wasn't very courageous and doesn't allow the intimacy of meeting Jesus, to the extent that's possible in a movie.  The object isn't proselytization but rather telling the story straight-up as best it is known.  There's little reason to argue whether Jesus existed or that he really did give a Sermon on the Mount.

The special effects in the movie are also a horror and CGI really could be artistic if used with an extremely delicate touch.  While God can't reveal himself, Jesus is speaking and he is revealing himself so that gives some license with CGI to shine the light.  If you're really good, not everyone will be sure you did it.

For the Crucifixion, throw out the music altogether and use Mozart.  There are two miracles portrayed as the Crucifixion causes the thunderstorm to start and the rainwater carries the blood of Jesus to Miriam and Tirzah to cure them of leprosy.  In the movie this is done with the subtlety of a demolition derby.

Your CGI people will be challenged to do these things with grace and it may piss them off to go easy with the effects for these scenes but tell them to have a ball with the chariot race and the naval battle they will be ok.


Lyrics to "Shaft"

Shaft
Who's the black private dick
That's a sex machine to all the chicks?
(Shaft!)
You're damn right
Who is the man
That would risk his neck for his brother man?
(Shaft!)
Can ya dig it?
Who's the cat that won't cop out
When there's danger all about
(Shaft!)
Right on
You see this cat Shaft is a bad mother
(Shut your mouth)
But I'm talkin' about Shaft
(Then we can dig it)
He's a complicated man
But no one understands him but his woman
(John Shaft)