"Black Film" ... A Lost Art or A Lost Cause?

As an aspiring filmmaker/director it kind of pisses me off when people want to put Black directors or actors in a box and keep them there.

What's even worse is when we do it to ourselves.

{Take BET for example .. Am I the only one shaking my head at the foolishness on that channel? Is that honestly supposed to represent Black America???}

I personally don't care for Black awards shows because it seems to me like we have to give ourselves accolades because the majority won't.

And I honestly think we should ring our bells louder and MAKE them notice and give recognition. But we don't.

We keep making idiot films like Soul Plane and Norbitt and then complain we don't get the same billing as a Steven Spielberg or a James Cameron (Titanic).

Well just like with music, when you make a hit, we'll support it (I'll do more on the downfall of Black music at a later date lol) ...

I say all this because I was perusing the Louisiana Movies Blog and I came up on an entry about Black film by the Times' Alexandyr Kent. (click the link to check it out).


Now Kent isn't the reason for this blog, but in this entry he mentioned a conversation with an anonymous person who apparently was ignorant to the fact that Shreveport had a Hollywood buzz about town with the film industry in full swing.

This person asked if Shreveport made a lot of "Black movies".

The question perplexed the reporter and caused him to be as diplomatic as possible in his answer ... then he turned the question to the reader:

• Are you comfortable with the label "black film" or "African American film?"
• Does it advance or squash efforts to diversify the marketplace?
• Do you believe that Hollywood studios are purposefully making "black films" for black audiences? Urban films for urban audiences? White films for white audiences?
• Is marketing or thinking about black films as a distinct category or distinct genres (e.g. African American comedy, African American drama, African American bio pic, urban crime) a good idea? Economically? Socially?

I could write pages and pages to answer those questions (I nearly did in the blog's comment box), but I won't. However, it did get me thinking about the labels not only Hollywood puts on US but the labels we put on ourselves.

If there's a Black cast ... it's a Black movie ... But if a Black director (like my idol Spike up there) directs something like Inside Man, it's just a movie. Or if Denzel stars in DeJaVu, it's just a film.

When Will Smith stars in a movie, he's just an actor in a movie ... When he stars with Martin Lawrence in Bad Boys, it's just another movie ... But when Martin is alone .. it's an "urban comedy".

Why are things labeled so differently? Maybe because of the audience they are targeting? Is the color of the movie-goers driving the labels?

If so, how can you explain all the White people in the showing of Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins when I was there?

I think the more WE (Blacks) label things as Black -- BET, Black Reel, Black Movie Awards, NAACP Awards -- the more we put ourselves into this Black box ...

The more we close the door on forcing the majority to accept us as equals because we go in our corner and just make up something for ourselves instead of pushing through that door and breaking down that wall to be identified as People and not a race or skin color.

I think the days of great "Black film" are lost in labels. When was the last time you saw anyting CLOSE to a Boyz N Da Hood or Do The Right Thing?

I think we become too focused on trying to be like "them" that we lost us.

We stopped making films that mattered to those like us ...

We stopped delivering messages of our struggle to the masses ... No matter what color they are.

We stopped caring how we were represented not only by them but by US.

Where are the new generation of Spike Lees and John Singletons and Melvin Van Peebles'?

Black youth are eager to want to be in front of the camera but we need some BEHIND them as well so our voice won't be lost in translation .... or marketing lingo and mass-produced buffoonery.

I believe the most powerful thing you can leave behind is a record of your ideas, beliefs and experiences (which is probably why I love writing).

Even if your film is a box-office flop (or goes straight to DVD) or your book never hits the best-seller list ... we should all leave behind a record that we were here ... and what better record than a film --- something that will evoke emotion, conversation and possibly inspire others to pick up a pen or camera.

I think the more we start focusing on making a product and showing our creativity (and less on who of what color is getting what role in which movie) the better off we'll be.

So, step outside of the box ... please!

Encourage your children to write just like you encourage their jumpshot or total yards. Show them how to use a camera like they use their IPODs and PSPs.

Start teaching them how to tell a story -- their story, your story ... it doesn't matter. Just teach them a different way to leave a legacy.

We'd love to think our child, grandchild, godchild, niece, or nephew could be the next President, Michael Jordan or Serena Williams ... but what if they were the next Alice Walker, James Baldwin or Spike Lee?

Now that's one label I wouldn't mind wearing ...

- mahogani

(c) 2008