Paul Mooney: Know Your History - Jesus Is Black... So Was Cleopatra (2007)

That was an excellent one.

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Most social commentators, mainly comedians, think that they are edgy but lets be honest most, if not all, have limits, but that's not the case with Paul Mooney. He has the amazing ability of finding that darkness in race relations, a darkness some would like forgotten or ignored because of the pain in the injustice of it and then point it out in such a way that we can't help but laugh at the comedy aspect of it but then sigh at the immensity of its truth. His jokes are very cleverly crafted and while they might offend you they will cause you to admire the art in them. Listening to Paul Mooney shows you the potency of the truth. If you think you are open-minded, if you think you believe in free speech, if you think you have the courage to speak your mind to whomever you want then watch & listen to Paul Mooney perform, he will be your litmus test to verify that. Except for the late Tupac Shakur, the most conscious of rappers fails to portray the kind of boldness that Paul Mooney does. A legend in our lifetime.

There's no doubt in my mind that Paul Mooney is a comedic genius, but it's also very clear that he's a left over from a much more racist time in America. Watching this material tinges between semi-hilarity, disgust, and sheer disbelief at some of the things he tries to pass off to his audience as fact. I'm not referring to certain details of a story being exaggerated for the sake of artistic license or the humor of a joke. What I'm talking about are blatant lies. Perhaps his audience is uneducated and he is telling them what they want to hear. I do know one thing, Paul Mooney is educated enough to know that he isn't telling the truth, but I suppose everyone has an agenda to feed and that only makes him human. Watch and enjoy this special if you like Paul Mooney. Just remember that nearly all of the facts he's using to wrap his jokes around are quite the opposite. I watched most of it, but between that and the racist banter I decided enough was enough. It seems to me as though in this day and age that as long as someone says something on TV, everyone else instantly entertains it as fact and that is sad. 1) Sad that people would believe something just because they saw it on TV and 2) Sad that they weren't educated enough to pick out that it was false in the first place.

A good deal out of context, or just plain wrong. I've seen PM for years, and I think he mostly annoyed he was born too late to be a 60's militant.Nobody is trying to hide history. The reason "you weren't taught this in school" is twofold: 1 - You weren't paying attention, and 2 - You only took it for a year. The average history teacher has to go from Plato to NATO in 38 weeks. In classrooms full of kids who don't care. Take a look at an average HS history 101 text. Each PARAGRAPH deserves a separate book to cover the basics. Can we all stop pretending it's a big plot? You think you've been lied to or glossed over? Go to the local library and do some work.Love and kisses, a cranky ex-high school history teacher.

Paul Mooney is truly one of the greatest comedians of all time. He has never ceased to make me laugh, which is why I bought this film. I watched this piece expecting to get only laughs. However, not only did I laugh my butt off, but I was also educated. He has a way of delivering the truth in such a funny way. Unlike most comedy shows, I left this one with knowledge. I received a lesson in Black History that I've never gotten anywhere else. He made me proud to be an African American. I STRONGLY recommend this film to anyone who is a fan of Mooney. Word to the wise...I would not watch this film with a different race. If you are WHITE, approach this film with caution. You will be slightly offended. Whether you like Paul Mooney or hate him, one can't help but respect his style of comedy. This does contain strong language and I don't recommend the presence of children. Never the less, this is truly one of Mooney's finest performance that deserves to be seen.