I come from an different educational background (film and media) but i agree with almost everything you say here.

The bottom line (speaking in generalities, of course) is that White audiences have little interest in partaking in authentic Black experiences. Yes, Red Tails will be an interesting case study but as you point out, The Wire already provided us with maybe the best example. Despite being perhaps the most critically lauded television program to ever air, not only did it attract paltry audiences, but it was also completely ignored by all those people who hand out nice looking trophies. I find that to be a bigger slap in the face because the commonly held belief is that that community is ahead of the curve when it comes to societal progression.

By and large, White audiences are comfortable with Black entertainment as long as it either a) reinforces commonly held beliefs or stereotypes; or b) doesn’t force them to acknowledge that Black people can be multidimensional. But to be fair, this really isn’t limited to White audiences.

Well put

Lucas was on with Oprah …..she showed his house and African- American girlfriend
Thats house was crazy (and I just saw the commercial)….this dude don’t need my money

I see what you are saying Bo and my only issue is with African-Americans that would rush to the movie theater to see most Tyler Perry movies or any movie w/ blacks in it that perpetrate negative/typical stereotypes (i.e. “Soul Plane”) rather than see a movie that highlights a historical series of events that shows one of many contributions we have made in American History. I’m all for anyone who wants to see movies w/ blacks playing the leading role, but as a culture, our priorities are often misguided and we clamor for the glitz, rather than substance.

Lucas was on with Oprah …..she showed his house and African- American girlfriend
Thats house was crazy (and I just saw the commercial)….this dude don’t need my money

I see what you are saying Bo and my only issue is with African-Americans that would rush to the movie theater to see most Tyler Perry movies or any movie w/ blacks in it that perpetrate negative/typical stereotypes (i.e. “Soul Plane”) rather than see a movie that highlights a historical series of events that shows one of many contributions we have made in American History. I’m all for anyone who wants to see movies w/ blacks playing the leading role, but as a culture, our priorities are often misguided and we clamor for the glitz, rather than substance.

Lucas was on with Oprah …..she showed his house and African- American girlfriend
Thats house was crazy (and I just saw the commercial)….this dude don’t need my money

I think you make a valid yet obvious point. The bottom line for the movie studio is will 18-34 yr old Ken take 18-34 yr old Barbie to the movie. Probably not. BUT if 18-34 year old Kareem doesn’t take 18-34 yr old Keisha then black non comedic movies have a chance to go the way of black tv shows. I’m guilty of guilt tripping folks about this movie cause to me I’m feeling like this may be the last hoorah. Us movie goers may be reduced to the Big Momma/Tyler Perry junk. I wanna see more of us in more than just puerile flicks and if this movie makes no money, not even from black folks, then there’s no hope for any actor not named will or denzel.

I’m not going to see Red Tails, either, but for reasons that have nothing to do with race. You see, the movie industry’s lobbying arm, the MPAA, is giving money to our reps in Congress to try and pass a couple of terrible laws that would impose a massive censorship regime on the Internet — this awesome invention that allows Bo the opportunity to speak upon topics like this and find ways to profit from it.

So I’m not going to see ANY movie right now. I’m not giving any of my cash to an organization that suggests — with a straight face — that the Internet in America should be more like the Internet in China and Iran. Seriously, folks, let’s find find something else to do.

I can’t stand Terrence Howard or Cuba Gooding Jr. I am not a big fan of war movies, but I am going to see Red Tails. It is a rare chance to see an amazing story of black courage with cool special effects. I expect to be entertained & perhaps inspired for 2 hours. That appeals to the historian and the nerd in me. It is not just the execs, white audiences are extremely narcissistic. They cannot fathom a narrative with a black lead & a black supporting cast. They relate better to the aliens in Avatar & ET than complex black characters. Even if this film makes money it will do very little to change the minds of white execs. They will blow it off as a fluke or attribute it Lucas’ popularity. I am not expecting a damn thing to change in Hollywood.

Of course he does not need the money that is not the point,the point is it is a good true story about brave black men.And Hollywood would not produce it or any big budget “black film” because they don’t make money.That is why we get Tyler Perry films and that’s about it! If it is not a comedy or some gangster kingpin story they don’t want to hear about it.It’s about what they perceive about us.

no vampires = no audience!

Wonder how long it will take before a movie is made about the white guy, who against all odds, made a movie about black heroes with an all black cast.

Bomani, you may have some points brother. I cannot argue with that perspective. All I would say is that Black Americans are the 5th largest per capita nation based upon GDP. I’d like to believe…and the greed of American Capitalism seems to attest…that despite their wishes and/or White America’s apathy towards honored notions of Blackness, money talks. If the movie grosses more than any other movie this weekend and remains at the top for longer than any other movie, then it won’t matter if Blacks or Whites were the ones who made it happen. Hollywood will be seeing Green! And, since Lucas stated there’s already a prequel and sequel to Red Tails, we know there’ll be at least two more.

I, for one, don’t REALLY care if White folk support it en masse. I would LOVE for them to know our history. But, I’d be glad enough to have the opportunity to show my seven year old son something that inspires him to be part of this Country

If this movie is the last Hurrah for black movies in general then don’t bother going to see the movie out of obligation. If Hollywood would judge the viability of black cinema on one movie, from one genre (war movies, which most people don’t even like) then that is a stubborn kind a racism that won’t ever extend it’s hand to the black film industry.

Even if it made more money than Transformers and Hollywood decided to make a slew of films with all black casts and black filmmakers (guaranteed they wouldn’t) the moment one of those movies bombed, Hollywood would go back to it’s old racist ways.

George Lucas spent “$58 Million” of his own money on this film? Good. It’s about time he pulled out the checkbook for forcing the cinematic abortion that was Jar Jar Binks on to the world in Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. And that is if we go in chronological order with the film’s timeline (I freely admit that I am a geek and was horrified when I first saw the movie and every subsequent addition to the Star Wars films.) Think of this as a good will tax. Pay it forward, homie. Pay. It. Forward.

Hey Tim! I thought I recognized you here. : ) Excellent comment. I agree with you 100%.

I believe if you put sorry black shows out year after year black folks will turn to something else, but when Martin and living single and New York undercover was out, Thursday was a day every black person was in the house laughing and watching as a family, when Cosby and a different world was on black folks were proud to see our college life on tv. But after that nothing was worth our time, and our shows were watered down with home boys from outer space. They turned us off like they are turning off native Americans with this we should not call them Indians and we shouldn’t show pictures of them on our sports teams or high school mascots, they are trying to erase them from history by using reverse psychology on society, we have been fooled to think black shows are not wanted or needed, But I beg the difference, we need other images that are positive to show we too are human and we are tired of coming thru the back door because we are strong enough to sit at the table too…

You can’t generalize and say most black people don’t like, because it’s never been made before, so hollywood is foul, but until we support the movie makers like tyler perry, or spike lee, which no one talks about how much his movies made, then we have nothing to say

I am African American and Jewish. I’m trying to make a project happen on my family’s experience in slavery, but I’m scared to put it out there just because of these kinds of cultural politics that always swirl around us. However, if it was about the Shoah/Holocaust I wouldn’t have to worry….In one of my communities people rally around–they don’t pass up opportunities to improve the image of the community and get sympathy/empathy from others. That’s a problem for us African Americans–sometimes we rally, sometimes we don’t–and we need to reinforce consistent community values much like my Jewish side…when it comes to making cultural priorities and looking at media images! I will say this—when I’ve done programs or presentations on slavery–Black folks–unfortunately are often the first to get up and leave when its time to sell the books or other things that support my work…its whites and white guilt that pay my bills. I don’t want to say that–but more often than not–its less black pride and more white guilt that keeps my lights on. And I think that’s sad…

I will definately be there friday to see this movie because i’m interested in the history……also one of LaGranges’ finest will be featured in the movie.ELIJAH KELLY. yeah someone from lil-ol’ LaGrange made to the big screen!

I see a lot of movies—I’m usually at the theater once or twice a week—so I don’t know if that makes me the best or worst case for how the average white viewer is going to approach RED TAILS. I’m not particularly a “target audience.” I’ll see just about anything if I have reason to believe that it’s going to be good. Hell, I’ll see some things that I don’t expect to be good if I think they might do something that’s interesting. And right, I’m not sure if RED TAILS falls under either.

I haven’t seen any review for RED TAILS yet, and that in itself may be a bad sign. Until they start to trickle in, I’m basically left to look at the filmmakers’ pedigree and the marketing.

This is the first feature film that Anthony Hemingway has directed. He’s done a lot of TV work, a lot of good TV work, but film is a different medium. Then you’ve got the two credited writers, Aaron McGruder and John Ridley. Again, two guys who’ve worked mostly in television. Ridley’s involvement with THREE KINGS, one of the most underrated movies of the last 15 years, would give me some hope had it that not been so long ago. Also, I’m not sure how much of the credit he really deserves for that movie.

Marketing, unless it’s done extremely well, tends not to have as much of an impact on my movie-going decisions. That being said, the marketing for RED TAILS hasn’t been very good. The newest “hip-hop” cut of the commercial seems like a major miscalculation. It’s made the marketing campaign seem scattershot. Different pieces of the advertising make it look like completely different movies. If the studio is unsure of its own movie, it doesn’t breed a lot of confidence in the audience.

I hope RED TAILS proves to be both good and interesting. It’s a story that, in the right hands, could turn out to be a good movie. I’m just not sure that what we’re getting will be that. And if the movie isn’t good, I think it’s dangerous to assign such importance to how it performs. Hollywood is nothing if not reactionary. If the movie bombs, it’ll be blamed on the primarily black cast when there are so many other factors at work. Of course, if it’s a breakout hit, studios will be looking to replicate that success by rushing out similar-looking movies without really understanding what made it work.

Why are you an uppittity nigger?

When anyone doesn’t like them selves, it doesn’t matter what is presented to them, they wont like it either. Go read any book that can help you to discove who you are; then, maybe I would want to hear your opinion.

You and I have similar views, but I will be supporting this film at the theater. In a recent blog post of my own, I compared “The Help” to “Red Tails” and asked the same question, will white people aka “mainstream” rush to support “Red Tails” as it did “The Help”. I’d love your take on that discussion in a blog comment. Check it out! http://www.hollywoodliveandwork.com/2012/01/red-tails-george-lucas-on-getting-black.html

I find the success of THE HELP to be far more damaging than it is helpful. That movie takes far too superficial a approach to race relations. It seems designed to help people feel better about their themselves by painting a cartoonish portrait with which they can compare favorably. For far too many people, the simple act of watching THE HELP allows them to say, “Yes, racism is bad and thankfully, I’m above such things.”

If RED TAILS treats the Tuskegee program with the same lack of gravitas and depth, it may prove to be a crossover hit, but it will have failed at having any real impact.

There’s the superficial, self-serving conversation Lucas started, and then there’s the conversation beyond/about that conversation, and it’s one that would span literature, journalism, and television as well as film. It’s about class, race, privilege, mediocrity, and the sad, misguided, insidious idea that certain people’s lives and perspectives are more interesting than others, more worthwhile, more authoritative.

Talented writers and performers of all stripes have been marginalized by the commodification of art, but none suffer as much as minorities, because virtually none of their legitimate stories get through. I’ve watched too many sharp directors, authors, and performers fall by the wayside because they wouldn’t compromise their work to fit a narrow conception of “what sells” as opposed to “what is.”

When some white billionaire comes down off his perch to explain to blacks why his Hollywood schlock is tantamount to some sort of social movement because he has Method Man, Ne-Yo, and Cuba Gooding Jr. in it, the world is officially too topsy turvy on some up is down shit.

“Why It Doesn’t Matter If I Ride This Montgomery Bus or Not”. Not a perfect parallel, but close. A successful White man finally wakes up, (hopefully) stops being White Supremacist in his imagery, and speaks out against racism, and it gets called “an excuse to get on Black people for going to see Tyler Perry movies”?? I watched the entire interview, and I don’t think for one second that he was even speaking to Black people, while on The Daily Show.

“Truth is, the money in media remains certain that white people cannot handle authentic depictions of blackness”. No, brotha Bomani. The real question is… can WE, as Black people, handle authentic depictions of Black people, that don’t involve: Black men brutalizing Black women ["The Color Purple"], Black people being used to promote the claim that Africans engaged in chattel slavery ["Amistad"], which they DID NOT; Black people being depicted as anything other than intelligent and heroic [Almost any Hollywood film we can name!]; etc..

I haven’t seen this film yet, but I SHALL be seeing it, and that DOES matter. If it depicts the Tuskegee Airmen I’ve met in MY lifetime, in a respectful and accurate way [not matter how much Cuba and Terrence make me CRINGE], then I will absolutely spread the word, and encourage others to go see it. It will then be a matter of respecting and honoring those who have gone before us. We do INDEED stand on the shoulders of giants! And if this does them honor, we DO owe it to them, and to future generations [and psyches] to spread the word. This mentality of self-hatred needs to END.

I think it’s this writers feelings that keep us (Black people) bound now. Thinking that it doesn’t matter. Really? That’s the same thing that many of our community members thought about voting but yet we finally believed and went out to vote and got Obama in office.

We are too busy downing a good movement where we can come together and make some history and black people are trying to find a way that we shouldn’t see it. I’m going to see it because I think it will be a good film and for the story behind it. Yeah he makes a point of Tyler Perry but Tyler had to put up his own money too to put out his films. Big Momma’s House is with a Martin Lawerence, a major black actor and he’s known for his comedy and was coming off of Bad Boys film when they made this & a few others so he was in his prime so I’m quite sure that had to do with them supporting that film & since the first one did good, why not make sequels.

However those are also two different genres, like he said this is the FIRST ALL BLACK ACTION FILM… Lord knows we need more of those and less of the Big Momma films! lol That alone should be a great step in the right direction and since I know a lot of people trying to make it in this same entertainment industry I’m going to support for them and for my children and their generation that want to be the next Halle Berry or Will Smith because it starts with us! It’s worth 10 bucks to go and try to see if it makes a difference! People thinking it’s a guilt trip, noooo, It’s helping you to see it from a different perspective! Far too often we are not supportive of ourselves, of our own. This is a time to be supportive and understand why you should be supportive. Far too often we are supportive in the wrong areas that have nothing to do with us, well this does! This is what the Civil Rights Movement was about! Most of the Black Americans that fought for our rights were FREE! Or living well! They were educated, they were a lot better off than the people they were fighting for but because they believe in what is right & equal and I think that is what this movie stands for, to believe in what is right & what is equal! We are equal and our story deserves to be heard again & again & again! And if George Lucas wants to put it out there as he best knows it then I want to support that reason! It’s well worth the 10 bucks to the movies & not waiting for the DVD (or bootleg:in some people’s case) to come out!

It’s looking like RED TAILS is going to do about $6-8 million today, which could extrapolate to anything between $13-20 million for the weekend. That probably puts it right in the range of what a movie with its budget needs to do. It won’t be a flop that’s a disaster for the studio, but it’s also not going to be a breakout hit. After all the discussion leading up to the release, there’s not much we’ll be able to glean from this experiment.

I don’t even wanna get too much into the “know our history”/”we deserve to tell our story” argument…but this movie was just Tyler Perry wit a bigger budget. Aside from some random facts written on the screen, I don’t think you will learn a damn thing from it. Well except they drank a lot for no reason, flew planes like they had a death wish and were tryna holla at the Italian women. Not gonna say the movie was crap, not gonna ask for my money back…but if this is supposed to be “our history”, what the hell did you teach? George Lucas, I hope you break even…I’m just a nice guy like that.

I went to see Red Tails and took my parents, my father was a wwII veteran and he was very moved. The credits listed the Tuskegee airmen and I think it honored those who served and died in a much more credible way because it was a patriotic film that while not deep does show the heroic deeds these men did. You don’t have to go, but you better have a better excuse than that BS you wrote when you meet a real airman and explain why. Charles McGee an airman who is 92 and still driving came to speak to students at the school I teach at for Veterans Day. He as wonderful and all the children and many teachers were so grateful to him. This is more than just a movie, it is a movement, it is a statement of community and as a Tuskegee Alum whose boyfriend got his wings in Tuskegee in the 80s, it is long overdue. What it is NOT is a Tyler Perry movie, its much better than that. I am sorry that all you cynical negroes don’t want to support our veterans but it is your choice, but it is sad. Even if you didn’t want to go, take a child to see something other than what they are taught in school.

I don’t agree frank3d. First off, there have been movies made independantly about the airmen that have gotten less fanfare.

No one wants to see authentic depictions of humanity, PERIOD. That’s partly why biopics/historical movies don’t sell without over dramatization. No matter how real the story may be or no matter how much of reality the story may be based off of, they will never tell you the true story. It’s the little things that they leave out that people don’t want to face. Whether it be about slavery, war, or government.

I think if anyone is so interested in supporting black films, black artists, and accurate black themes then we need to make sure the black principles are in front AND behind the camera. The distribution and the production is the key to supporting black films and accurate story telling of ANY kind. Of all the cries for support, we don’t actually show support when it comes to how we spend our money.

We are so afraid of the truth. We are so afraid to hear that in many ways, the black population is not relevant. The reality is that when it comes to mass media, we are not as relevant as we think. We are a small percentage of the population. We are unorganized and not focused on any particular agenda. It is easy for those with money not to take us seriously. Globally, we are even more obscure. Outside of the US, blacks by and large live in Africa which is consistently seen as a place of resource, not of capital. And the risks to obtain these resources are often times seen as too great to profit from. We are irrelevant in many ways. But that isn’t to take away from who we are. It’s just to say that to others this is how we are perceived. The question then becomes: does it matter what others think?

@Sirpsikotic

“Well except they drank a lot for no reason…”

Really? Please read about the Jim Crow South, Black Codes, the Hayes-Tilden Compromise, etc. Jeez, your writing says you’re young, but come on ~ you’ve gotta learn the hell that Black Folk have been through that caused, for better or worse, for us to lapse into booze and drugs(a la Billie Holiday, and other Jazz artists and others) as coping mechanisms for the stress of enduring the American Crucible. My father was a WWII vet and he grew up in the backwoods of Georgia, which began as a penal colony and, arguably, remains one of the more viciously bigoted, dangerous southern states toward Black Men—just ask Troy Davis.

With that said, McGruder and Ridley, the writers, did a grave disservice having the Captain’s boozing undermine his leadership and, in effect, causing the death of the best fighter pilot in the squadron. For that reason, I wouldn’t recommend the movie, despite the fact that it was superbly crafted with a star-turning role for the brotha who played Lightning. I could see the movie being greenlit because it highlighted this glaring weakness, this abject failure that I found troubling as I was exiting the theatre. Moreover, I question if whether the airmen would’ve enjoyed their success had any of them been so dependent upon booze while combat flying. Yeah, that storyline sucked completely. There have been many movies that have painted black soldiers like Platoon in a bad light. I didn’t expect this movie to be troubling in that regard.

Having grown up in the 50′s where we were told that “Negroes” did not participate in any of the American wars. “Negroes” are not patriotic. “Negroes” are not smart, I am happy to see Hollywood make a movie about the Tuskegee airmen. It amazes me that this discussion is even taking place. I was glad to see that EZ was a more complex character than the usual. He was middle class, his father was a judge and he was reluctant to think independently unlike Joe who was impulsive and a daredevil. Obviously, there must have been some truth to these characters or Lucas could be sued. I would not begin to compare this movie to Tyler Perry’s stereotypical and misogynistic movies about black people.

What a dumb article. I cannot believe you spent time writing this and i certainly hope you were not paid. i think you must be very young. I don’t think Jewish people have long discussions over whether or not to see a “Schindler’s List” or other holocaust movies, or whether to see, “Fiddler” because it depicts poor Jews in a Shtetl in Russia.
We need to support films about us that are not stereotypical (Martin, Tyler Perry), but that dramatically depict aspects of black life that are universal and with which (internal conflicts, fights against repression and oppression) people everywhere can identify.

I “witnessed” “Red Tails” this past weekend partially at Tyler Perry’s pleading to support it and George Lucas’ piteous appeals during his promotional appearances. Lucas’ supposedly long- gestating project subjected to his supposedly long-suffering to “sell” the movie to Hollywood did not live up to its billing. I expected a provocative and complex script (since it was coming to the “big screen”); Instead I was lured to the cinema, essentially robbed of my hard earned money evidenced by being served a deficient diet of substance – My bad, I should have known better.

Much to my dismay, the movie starts out in high gear – no character development, it does not interweave nor invoke the concurrent dynamic history of the times thus no moral teaching or practical lesson, no accounts of how the men fought to prove their individual and collective intelligence to fly, no accounts of the heartaches, setbacks and scrub outs and why – I mean who was Joe “Lightning” Little and what drove his propensity to his daring air maneuvers, who was the air squadron commander and what were the pressures that drove his relationship with the bottle, who were Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Terence Howard and what purpose(s) did they serve – What value did they add to the “movie”? Some nameless, faceless people could have played those parts. I won’t try and enumerate all the deficiencies; I think you get the picture.

Yet as all Hollywood movies of this type never fail to do is include the Black man’s “insatiable desire” for the white woman, depict predictable racial aggravations with ensuing confrontation along racial lines where only the Black man is to blame and is incarcerated, kill the hero and bestow posthumous honor.

While “witnessing” this shallow and hollow “plot” of a “movie”, it reminded me that Black folks can’t rely on and should reject self-appointed white protagonists’ (e.g. Tim Wise, George Lucas, Bill Maher, et.al. of the like) efforts to tell our story, speak to our struggles and/or speak on our behalf formally or informally and why they are incapable of doing so. There is a distinctive conflict of interests whereas the white protagonists set out to ingratiate and patronize in contrast to Black folks’ diametrical expectations of absolute truth, substance and fulfillment – none of which ever happens. Because as true to the white protagonists’ biological reality invariably proves, with the aid of de facto “Negro leaders” who have bought into the dominant society’s culture, when it comes to Black folks, the white protagonists’ in their self-serving, mass-marketable dramatizations, avoid the arduous, aggravating task of telling Black America’s story and sell us a raw deal and “down the river” every time.