Who knew that 70 years after African American pilots had to work hard to
overcome the prejudices of whites in the United States Armed Services, and the
nation having its first black commander-in-chief, the men known as the Tuskegee
Airmen would still be doing battle with an entrenched institution of white
power brokers, all based on the color of their skin.
Many of you may have seen the flashy commercials advertising “Red Tails,” the
major motion picture that chronicles the amazing and true story of true American
heroes: black pilots who had to expend enormous energy fighting racism in
America just to go overseas to fight for the very freedom and democracy that
they could not enjoy at home. The film opens January 20 in theaters nationwide,
and for its producer George Lucas, it has been a 23-year odyssey.
You would think that someone considered one of the most powerful players in
Hollywood — a man who has made billions with blockbusters such as the “Indiana
Jones” and “Star Wars” franchises — would have been able to get “Red Tails”
approved without any hesitation. Yet what many African Americans have always
long known in Hollywood is that the color of your skin — or that of the story
you want to tell — often falls victim to the racial boxes in Tinseltown.
Oh, sure, Hollywood is seen as a liberal bastion where folks talk about
equality and supporting civil rights. But when it comes to telling stories that
have mostly black casts, Hollywood might as well return to the ’50s and ’60s and
erect signs that say “Whites Only.” When Lucas approached the major Hollywood
studios about backing “Red Tails,” he was told, “Thanks, but no thanks.”
“There’s no major white roles in it at all … I showed it to all of them, and
they said no; we don’t know how to market a movie like this,” Lucas told Jon
Stewart on “The Daily Show.”
Let’s juxtapose that against some other facts:
- In 2008, 69 million people elected Barack Hussein Obama as president of the
United States.
- The most talked-about woman in America over the last 25 years was Oprah
Winfrey, who redefined the talk show genre.
- Which athlete has the top-selling jersey in the NBA? LeBron James.
- Who is considered the top-grossing actor of all-time? Samuel L.
Jackson.
- Arguably the greatest entertainer of all time is Michael Jackson.
- The greatest golfer in the world? Tiger Woods.
- The most dominating players in women’s tennis? Venus and Serena
Williams.
- The top singer today? Beyonce.
- Hip-hop, an outgrowth of black culture, is a worldwide phenomenon. And 80
percent of the consumers of hip-hop music in America are white kids.
So whites all across America have come to accept African Americans in a
variety of entertainment mediums, but Hollywood continues to tell us that
somehow seeing Blacks on the big screen is anathema to its values.
Maybe what no one in Hollywood wants to own up to is that in many ways, it’s
a closed-minded society where it’s hard to find African Americans in positions
of true power.
In the history of Hollywood, no African American has ever headed a major
studio. Yes, we’ve seen Black CEOs at American Express, Time Warner, Xerox,
Merrill Lynch, Symantec and other major companies, but the doors of
opportunities are closed in Hollywood. Does this mean African Americans aren’t
hired? No. But those are low-level positions where they desperately fight the
good fight, knowing full well they will never ascend to the top of the food
chain in Hollywood.
Part of Hollywood’s problem is that when looking at a movie that has, like
“Red Tails,” a mostly black cast, it is considered a “black film.”
“Red Tails” isn’t a black movie. It’s a war movie. It’s an action movie. It’s
a story of true American heroes overcoming great odds to succeed. That was the
conclusion of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban, who showed the film to his
team the night before they demolished LSU for the BCS national title.
Did Saban conclude that it was a “black film”? Not at all. He simply gave it
a resounding endorsement.
This racial fight may be new to George Lucas, but to African Americans, this
has been a long and painful battle.
A few months ago on my TV One Cable Network Sunday show, “Washington Watch,”
I talked with actor Brian White, who has starred in “Stomp the Yard,” “Fighting”
and the critically acclaimed TV show “Men of a Certain Age.” He told a stunning
story that shows the ignorance of Hollywood regarding an independent movie he
starred in with Zoe Saldana, “The Heart Specialist.”
“Dennis Cooper, the writer, director and producer, is a caucasian man who had
some friends,” White said.
“His friend David was the inspiration for Dr. Z and Dr. Howard — a
Harvard-educated doctor that was involved with the film. And Dennis sold this
great script to the studios, but he left the character descriptions out.
“When the studios found out the leads were black, they didn’t want to make
the movie anymore, and Dennis had to go take his own money and his friends’
money and make this movie himself and then start the long road to getting a
distribution deal.”
This isn’t just the big studios.
The Weinstein Company produced “The Hurricane Season,” a basketball film
about two teams coming together in the wake of Hurricane Katrina to win the
Louisiana state championship. Yet the movie went straight to DVD, angering lead
actor Forest Whitaker and others in the film, including Taraji Henson, Courtney
B. Vance, Isaiah Washington and the rapper Bow Wow.
The excuse given to the actors? The Weinstein Company’s people said they
didn’t know how to market the film. Really. A movie with basketball at the
center of the story? Folks, come on!
Hollywood critics will be quick to say, “What about Will Smith? Denzel
Washington? Halle Berry?” What’s interesting in Hollywood is that if you’re Will
Smith, Denzel Washington or a handful of others, you really aren’t seen as
“black.” For them, they have crossed the post-racial threshold, and in
Hollywood’s eyes, white America will watch them.
But if you talk to them and so many other top Hollywood actors, they will
also tell you stories of having doors slammed in their faces, trying to get
movies made featuring mostly blacks and being told, “Can’t you make the
characters white?”
What is also at play is that for Hollywood, having one black guy in a film
that has mostly whites is never called a “white film.” But if it’s one or two
white guys in a film with mostly blacks, uh-oh — black film!
The latest excuse offered up by the Hollywood studios is that black films
don’t sell well overseas. What that means is that foreigners also don’t want to
see black people. Again, I believe the problem is how the movies are
categorized.
Let’s take two black men dressing up as women. When Martin Lawrence does it
in “Big Momma’s House,” that isn’t marketed as a black film. As a result, it
grossed $117.5 million in the U.S. and $56.4 million worldwide.
Yet Tyler Perry’s “Madea Goes to Jail,” another movie featuring a black guy
dressed as a grandmother, did $90 million in the U.S., and they didn’t even
bother to show it overseas. Maybe that’s because Tyler Perry’s “Madea’s Family
Vacation” sold only $50,000 worth of tickets worldwide three years earlier and
grossed $63.2 million in the U.S.
Now, if Hollywood knows how to sell white men dressed as women — Robin
Williams in “Mrs. Doubtfire” and Dustin Hoffman in “Tootsie” — along with
largely white casts, it can’t figure out how to do the same for a Tyler
Perry?
George Lucas has clearly expressed his fears with “Red Tails,” hoping it
opens huge so it will send a message to Hollywood that a big-budget action film
with lots of black folks can be successful. The downside? If it fails, it will
be seen as a failure of
all black action films.
Several Hollywood executives told me that when the Queen
Latifah/Common-helmed film, “Just Wright,” didn’t meet expectations and grossed
only $21.5 million — it was marketed as a black film — the result was a virtual
shutdown of all romantic comedies featuring African Americans. Yet Jennifer
Aniston can put out failed romantic comedy after romantic comedy, and no one
says “white romantic comedies” should end.
Have we returned to the days when Jackie Robinson couldn’t fail because if he
did, the whole race would be set back? That’s essentially what Hollywood is
saying.
I want you to go and see “Red Tails” not because it is a historical depiction
of a true period in America, but because it’s one helluva film. The action
scenes are first-rate, and the storytelling is superb. Are the main characters
black? Yep. Just do as I do when I go and see a movie that features an all-white
cast, which is most of the time: Go for the enjoyment.
If so, maybe the libs in Hollywood will finally realize that a great story,
when sold as such, rather than being specifically marketed as a black film, can
bring people of all stripes to the movie theater.
There used to be a time in the movie theater when whites would sit
downstairs, and if blacks were allowed in, they had had to sit upstairs. Today,
it’s clear that such a racial divide is no longer in place in the seats but now
on the screen. And that’s a damn shame.
read more
http://rolandmartinreports.com/blog/2012/01/roland-s-martin-seeing-red-over-hollywoods-treatment-of-blacks/
