This is a touchy subject...

[The Hero]

Don't watch 'em genius.

Uh...he's not.That's sort of the point.

 

[facsmth]

Well, he's not black, but... he's a minority.... M. Night Shaymalan.

 

[Chris Wallace]

Don't watch 'em genius. Its not like you don't know what you are getting, especially if you are considering watching Little Man or The Cookout.

Missed the point entirely.

 

[Cachete25]

Wow, really good thread here. I'm not that old but so far in life I've learned there's nothing new under the sun. Spike lee through D. Washington and Wes snipes in Mo better blues had the same conversation about jazz. And it's a debate, ppl want clear cut black and white, ppl want to make general statements about how "black movies sucks" or how "hip hop is terrible" when there are genuine good movie, actor, musicians and hip-hop artist out there. I use to say the say thing about hip-hop, now I say I know there’s good music out there I just have to find it. Same with movies, we're having this conversation because of the recent release of Little Man and that other Tyrse movie. But there has been and continue to be good "black" movies out there. I just found out that the producer Lee daniel ( monster ball- a movie i dis like because the two interesting characters died), is scheduled to release a new movie. Spike lee continues to shine. Crash, through not considered a "black" movie was great. What this thread is reviewing is a glimpse in time; we should look at the bigger picture.

Like a poster said before "black" actors are now apart of the acclaimed movie, they are now apart of genre commonly not associated with them. i.e. Sci Fi films. We continue to have boundaries to cross as a country, but please don’t forget how far we have come and the presence of great entertainment that here at the present moment.

 

[Pink Ranger]

Well, he's not black, but... he's a minority.... M. Night Shaymalan.

And I could rattle off a whole bunch of Chinese or Chinese-American filmmakers that are known in the U.S.--Ang Lee, Wayne Wang, Wong Kar Wai ...

Speaking as a Chinese-Canadian myself, as I get older I've come to the realization that being part of a minority group that's almost completely off the pop culture radar (like Indo-Americans) could well be one of the best things that could have happened to my culture. I strongly believe that it's enabled Asian-Americans to work in the industry utilizing their own individual talents and creativity, rather than be broadly categorized into popular stereotypes and archetypes.

Of course, there are hardly any prominent Asian-American actors (Indian, Chinese, Japanese, etc) in Hollywood at all. However, as the Jewish experience in Hollywood has shown, one producer, one writer or one director carries more weight than 100 performers.

 

[Chris Wallace]

Uh...he's not.That's sort of the point.

That pisses me off. Here we were having a great, intellectually stimulating discussion, free of trolls or any ignorant remarks of any kind, & this guy had to come along & ruin it.

 

[The Hero]

Anyone here catch Fox's Method & Red Show a while back? It was a modern-day minstrel show,where the black characters (rappers,of course) did nothing but smoke weed,sleep with white women,and act unbelievable stupid. And,of course,they lived with their bossy,overweight mother who's catchphrase was "Aw,hell nah!" and who frequently warned them about 'dem white women.

That show was demeaning to black people,white people,women,men,and humanity as a whole. I was so f'ning glad when it got cancelled.

 

[Chris Wallace]

I never watched it b/c it didn't appeal to me. Was it on the "U Pick a N***a" Network?

 

[The Hero]

No,it was Fox.Not even UPN would air a show like that.

 

[KenK]

Speaking of UPN, I must confess to enjoying Girlfriends. Four VERY diverse representations of black women with just as many strengths as weaknesses, and handles the issues of race, sexism, marriage, and parenthood from several perspectives. And you have to admit, William's a funny dude! Sitcom or not, I think it's one of the better black shows to come out in a while.

 

[Chris Wallace]

I watched the arc where he was courting Jill Scott; overall, the show's not bad. At one point I even liked Eve & All Of Us, but they took very stupid turns w/both.

 

[KenK]

Well, Eve was always rather silly, but it was surprising to see Eve have such good comedic timing. I had become used to her as a hard-ass rapper.

I never followed All Of Us much, but I gave up on the show when Elise Neal left.

 

[The Storm]

I really enjoy Girlfriends, used to watch it a couple of years back and there are now re-runs on Trouble. Which is the best channel for airing African American programmes. My Wife and Kids has to be my favourite; Eve, One on One and Cuts although funny at times lacks the quality of My Wife and Kids. The show is such a different type of comedy to that of Damon's brothers Marlon and Shawn's movies.

 

[KenK]

Anyone heard Angelina Jolie's playing the real-life widow of Daniel Pearl, the reporter who was kidnapped and murdered by terrorists? Why am I talking about it here? 'Cause Mariane Pearl is bi-racial!!!

Cleopatra and Jesus weren't enough, whites gotta play colored folk that are still alive!!

 

[Chris Wallace]

The other day while I was at the con this guy came to me wanting to sell me a copy of his new comic, "Superpimps". As the title suggests, it was about a team of ex-pimps turned superheroes. And it was the most offensive, degrading piece of crap I'd ever seen. As I flipped through this blaxploitation comic, the writer-a white guy-seemed very proud of his work. I wanted to slap him.

 

[terry78]

^On the one hand, it's more offensive when someone non-black does something like that, but when one of our own does it, it doesn't exactly feel all that good either.

 

[KenK]

^On the one hand, it's more offensive when someone non-black does something like that, but when one of our own does it, it doesn't exactly feel all that good either.

It's worse!! Black people should know better!

 

[The Question]

This is regarding my growing dissatisfaction with movies that have either predominantly black casts, and/or are made by black filmmakers.
What is wrong with these people? Do they really think this mindless tripe is entertaining? If so, it says a lot about my community-none of which is good.
Yesterday a co-worker asked me if I'd seen "Little Man", & when I said I had no interest in seeing it, she went into a rant about how I had a "responsibilty" to support all black films.
That is the most ridiculous thing I'd ever heard. As I see it, by not supporting mediocrity, I am demanding better. I am saying that my standards are higher than what I am being offered, so I pass.
Here's what really irks me about it. 40-50 years ago, a black character in any given film was either a slave or a maid. That's because that's all that was available to them. Fast-forward about 20 years, and all you see us playing is pimps, junkies & ****es. Again, that's what was being offered. But now we have an opportunity to change all of that. We have black filmmakers. Black writers, producers & directors. And what do they choose to make? THE SAME THING! The same roles that were being offered to black actors in the 70's by white directors are now being offered by black directors. it's ridiculous. And if we're not getting another rapper starring in another "Hood" movie, we're getting lame comedies filled with ignorant stereotype humor.
How can we ever be taken seriously in Hollywood if this is what we do to ourselves?

Well, thank god for Spike Lee.

 

[Chris Wallace]

^On the one hand, it's more offensive when someone non-black does something like that, but when one of our own does it, it doesn't exactly feel all that good either.

When someone non-black does it, it just tells me that that's all he's really seen of us. Which is as much our fault as it is theirs.

 

[Chris Wallace]

It's worse!! Black people should know better!

See, you'd like to think that, but the truth is that our own are just as bad. Which is one of the main points of this thread.

 

[Goddessreicho]

Anyone heard Angelina Jolie's playing the real-life widow of Daniel Pearl, the reporter who was kidnapped and murdered by terrorists? Why am I talking about it here? 'Cause Mariane Pearl is bi-racial!!!

Cleopatra and Jesus weren't enough, whites gotta play colored folk that are still alive!!

Um, I'll start with the obvious and work my way up.

Cleopatra was Roman. Her father was a vicroy sent from Rome to govern the newly aquired state of Egpyt. Her mother was her father's sister. I hate to be the one to break it to you but Cleopatra was an inbred Italian. We all need to face it. When she became a religious figure head and adopted the culture, crown, and beard of a King, she was then portrayed as a Royal. Sorry dude. But yeah, she was Caucasion.

Jesus...wow uhm. Let's not debate wether God is black or not, since God is everything or nothing, depending on what you believe, he is and isn't. So let's talk about Mary. She was a decendant of King David. Wasn't David a direct decendant of the 12 tribes. Those tribes were from Mesopatamia, which was found in between the Tygress and Euphrates. Better known as the Middle East. So that would mean that Jesus was techinally Jewish with ansestory in the Middle East. Neither African or European.

 

[Chris Wallace]

Not that it really has a lot to do with what this thread is about.
But for the record, what color were the original Hebrews, if the Egyptian royal family could mistake Moses for one of their own?

 

[Chris Wallace]

Well, thank god for Spike Lee.

Dude, he's one of the worst offenders.

 

[Chris Wallace]

Uh...he's not.That's sort of the point.

And isn't it funny that this was coming from a guy who calls himself "porchmonkey"? That's one of the lesser-known slurs for us.

 

[Goddessreicho]

Well all I was trying to say was that Cleopatra and Jesus generally aren't portrayed by black people because of the overwhelming evidence that says that they aren't black.

I might have been inclinded to agree if KenK had listed historical figures who were black like Nefferetiti, the Queen of Sheba, Wiseman #2...