Space Is the Place
Encyclopedia
Space Is the Place is an 82-minute film
made in 1972 and released in 1974.
It was produced by Jim Newman
, directed by John Coney, written by Sun Ra, Joshua Smith and features Sun Ra
and his Arkestra. A soundtrack
for the film was released on Evidence Records.
strip club where he used to play piano with the name "Sonny Ray" in 1943. There he confronts The Overseer (Ray Johnson), a pimp
-overlord, and they agree on a duel at cards
for the fate of the Black race. Each card drawn is a minor goal to achieve for Ra or The Overseer which will determine the winner of the duel. Then, to present time, Ra disembarks from his spaceship at Oakland and tries to spread his word by meeting with young Blacks at an Oakland youth centre and opening an "employment agency" to recruit people eager to move to the planet. He also agrees with Jimmy Fey (Christopher Brooks), the minion of The Overseer, to arrange radio interviews, a record album, and eventually a concert that will help him dictate his message. At the end, Ra takes Fey's "Black parts" with him to the spaceship, leaving him with his White parts. Fey, now acting white
, leaves The Overseer who loses the duel. The planet Earth is destroyed after Ra's spaceship flies into the space.
Ra's greatest adversary in his quest is The Overseer, incarnation of evil in the Black community who poses himself to be a community leader and a man of charity. But in fact, he is the tool of the power structure
. Ra is also pursued by White government agents (presumably from FBI
) who attempt to assassinate him. On the other hand, Jimmy Fey is representative of the Black people in entertainment
industry and mass media
.
message of Ra is ambiguous at times and metaphors employed are hard to interpret: He plays his music, which he describes as his instrument of transportation, to a Black and White audience. Of the three people shown applying to Ra's "employment agency", two are White, one of whom is a blonde attempting to seduce Ra. The Overseer feels he lost the duel only when he is left by Fey and Tania (Erika Leder), the major White figure in the film. Ra also takes "Chili Pepper" (Sinthia Ayala) a non-Black Hispanic prostitute to his spaceship along with a number of Black people who submit to his message, including radicalised youths from Oakland and a petty pimp junkie. Jimmy Fey is inclined to act like a buffoon until his "Black parts" are taken by Ra. After that, he becomes well-meaning and self-confident, addressing to The Overseer in the Standard American English he had kept for radio broadcasts and in a humiliating way, losing his AAVE
. The character of Tania is also problematic. She is originally a nurse who also lures her Black colleague Candy (Barbara Deloney) to the world of sex and money led by The Overseer. She seems to enjoy his company and being pimped by him but in a following scene, she is depicted as victimised. Finally, Tania (apparently also a favourite of Fey) leaves The Overseer, calling him a "nigger
" and goes with Fey.
, after a heavily-edited 63-minute version on VHS
. The original cuts were requested by Sun Ra, which director John Coney attributed to Sun Ra's prudishness. The scenes indeed follow a racy "pimps and hos" narrative that is not entirely congruous with the rest of the film, and there was a notable backlash from fans of the original film. The fact that the director inserted these scenes without the consent of Sun Ra does in fact leave room for scrutiny, considering the absence of Sun Ra in the scenes themselves.
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
made in 1972 and released in 1974.
It was produced by Jim Newman
Jim Newman (Dilexi Gallery, Other Minds)
Jim Newman is a film and television producer, contemporary art curator, gallerist and musician.-Musical career and festival management:...
, directed by John Coney, written by Sun Ra, Joshua Smith and features Sun Ra
Sun Ra
Sun Ra was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions and performances. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama...
and his Arkestra. A soundtrack
Space Is the Place (soundtrack)
Space is the Place is an album by Sun Ra and His Intergalactic Solar Arkestra. The music was recorded in early 1972 in San Francisco, California for the film Space Is the Place. However, the music remained unreleased until Evidence Music issued a compact disc in 1993.During the late-1960s and...
for the film was released on Evidence Records.
Plot
Sun Ra, who has been reported lost since his European tour in June 1969, lands on a new planet in outerspace with his crew "The Arkestra" and decides to settle African Americans on this planet. The medium of transportation he had chosen is music. He travels back in time and returns to the ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
strip club where he used to play piano with the name "Sonny Ray" in 1943. There he confronts The Overseer (Ray Johnson), a pimp
Pimp
A pimp is an agent for prostitutes who collects part of their earnings. The pimp may receive this money in return for advertising services, physical protection, or for providing a location where she may engage clients...
-overlord, and they agree on a duel at cards
Playing card
A playing card is a piece of specially prepared heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic, marked with distinguishing motifs and used as one of a set for playing card games...
for the fate of the Black race. Each card drawn is a minor goal to achieve for Ra or The Overseer which will determine the winner of the duel. Then, to present time, Ra disembarks from his spaceship at Oakland and tries to spread his word by meeting with young Blacks at an Oakland youth centre and opening an "employment agency" to recruit people eager to move to the planet. He also agrees with Jimmy Fey (Christopher Brooks), the minion of The Overseer, to arrange radio interviews, a record album, and eventually a concert that will help him dictate his message. At the end, Ra takes Fey's "Black parts" with him to the spaceship, leaving him with his White parts. Fey, now acting white
Acting white
In the United States, acting white is a pejorative term usually applied to African-Americans, which refers to a person's perceived betrayal of their culture by assuming the social expectations of white society. Success in education in particular can be seen as a form of selling out by being...
, leaves The Overseer who loses the duel. The planet Earth is destroyed after Ra's spaceship flies into the space.
Ra's greatest adversary in his quest is The Overseer, incarnation of evil in the Black community who poses himself to be a community leader and a man of charity. But in fact, he is the tool of the power structure
Power structure
Power Structure may refer to:* Hierarchy* The Establishment...
. Ra is also pursued by White government agents (presumably from FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
) who attempt to assassinate him. On the other hand, Jimmy Fey is representative of the Black people in entertainment
Entertainment
Entertainment consists of any activity which provides a diversion or permits people to amuse themselves in their leisure time. Entertainment is generally passive, such as watching opera or a movie. Active forms of amusement, such as sports, are more often considered to be recreation...
industry and mass media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
.
Racial discourse
The space-age GarveyiteMarcus Garvey
Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr., ONH was a Jamaican publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator who was a staunch proponent of the Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements, to which end he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League...
message of Ra is ambiguous at times and metaphors employed are hard to interpret: He plays his music, which he describes as his instrument of transportation, to a Black and White audience. Of the three people shown applying to Ra's "employment agency", two are White, one of whom is a blonde attempting to seduce Ra. The Overseer feels he lost the duel only when he is left by Fey and Tania (Erika Leder), the major White figure in the film. Ra also takes "Chili Pepper" (Sinthia Ayala) a non-Black Hispanic prostitute to his spaceship along with a number of Black people who submit to his message, including radicalised youths from Oakland and a petty pimp junkie. Jimmy Fey is inclined to act like a buffoon until his "Black parts" are taken by Ra. After that, he becomes well-meaning and self-confident, addressing to The Overseer in the Standard American English he had kept for radio broadcasts and in a humiliating way, losing his AAVE
African American Vernacular English
African American Vernacular English —also called African American English; less precisely Black English, Black Vernacular, Black English Vernacular , or Black Vernacular English —is an African American variety of American English...
. The character of Tania is also problematic. She is originally a nurse who also lures her Black colleague Candy (Barbara Deloney) to the world of sex and money led by The Overseer. She seems to enjoy his company and being pimped by him but in a following scene, she is depicted as victimised. Finally, Tania (apparently also a favourite of Fey) leaves The Overseer, calling him a "nigger
Nigger
Nigger is a noun in the English language, most notable for its usage in a pejorative context to refer to black people , and also as an informal slang term, among other contexts. It is a common ethnic slur...
" and goes with Fey.
Director's Cut
In 2003, the movie was re-released in its entire 82-minute format on DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
, after a heavily-edited 63-minute version on VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
. The original cuts were requested by Sun Ra, which director John Coney attributed to Sun Ra's prudishness. The scenes indeed follow a racy "pimps and hos" narrative that is not entirely congruous with the rest of the film, and there was a notable backlash from fans of the original film. The fact that the director inserted these scenes without the consent of Sun Ra does in fact leave room for scrutiny, considering the absence of Sun Ra in the scenes themselves.