The Carter (1/21/09)

One of the movies I was looking forward to seeing was The Carter, a documentary on rapper Lil Wayne. I've always liked his music, and had heard his life story was pretty interesting. FYI, it is.

For starters, Lil Wayne is extremely smart. He clearly doesn't like to let on this little known fact, but it's apparent right from the start that he knows exactly what he's talking about. He speaks quickly and slurs, and thus this U.S documentary had subtitles. Each scene featured him, a joint, and a styrofoam cup that we later learned contained cough syrup. Wayne does not drink, does not smoke cigarettes, but he is constantly getting and staying high, while drinking his syrup.

I thought the way The Carter was filmed was fantastic. The director jumps from scene to scene, and then back again to different interviews Wayne has participated in. Most of the time, he wasn't answering the questions of the director, but other interviewers from on the road. One asked him about his cough syrup and was promptly asked to leave the room. It was clear that Wayne wasn't offended by the question, as he never hides his cup, but that he was experiencing a power trip and enjoyed the look on the interviewer's face.

While I liked the way this film presented itself, I can honestly say I didn't enjoy much of its content. Wayne seemed cocky the entire time, and while I can see why he would be, I didn't see any reason why I should respect him as a music artist. He joked about his first sexual experience; one that he referred to as him being "raped" at age 11. I didn't see anything funny about this fact, but he sure had a fun time retelling the story to his friends, laughing the entire time. When asked what he would do as President, he said he would "of course" make marijuana legal, put cocaine back in Coke, and eliminate child support (among other things). Keep in mind he has a 12 year old daughter at home who thinks of him as king of the world. His attitude wasn't one I appreciated, and I felt he was using this documentary to show the world how "cool" he was. It was a great film, but one that shed light on someone I didn't end up liking very much.