In the new popcorn flyboy flick
Red
Tails, Colonel A.J. Bullard (Terence Howard) lobbies the Pentagon for more
meaningful work for his platoon of World War II fighter pilots. At present,
they have been regulated (segregated) to patrolling unused airspace above Italy, the
US Army Air Corps equivalent of cleaning the slop buckets in the mess house.
"Give us this mission," Bullard pleads, "and we'll light up the
board." In many ways, the Tuskegee Airmen Project and Anthony Hemmingway,
John Ridley and Aaron McGrudder's
Red Tails share an inter-lapping storyline:
The mission was green-lit.
Battling power structures for opportunity, for dignity, for the chance to
carry the cause of many upon the shoulders of few, is natural fodder for dramatic
narrative. The triumph of the underdog has always been a popular cinematic
genre, and yet we sometimes fail to connect how and why "underdogs"
are systematically subjugated by the very establishment we root against. In most of these
stories, someone from inside the power structure must "stick his neck
out" (to borrow a line from the film) on behalf of the faction that has
not gotten its proper due. In the case of
Red Tails, this person is
executive producer George Lucas.
Never before has Hollywood opened its checkbook to finance and promote a
film that could be classified as -- for lack of a better term--
Black Cinema.
(Crudely defined, "Black Cinema" is a film production that features a
black writer OR director AND a modestly diverse cast.) With a production budget
of $58 million, well above the median for any film that isn't a sequel or
prequel or based off a comic book, or best selling novel, or 80s TV show, or
Greek myth;
Red Tails may be the litmus test for the next wave of black
American filmmaking. It is also important to note that this movie does not
feature anyone, on either side of the camera, with an established pedigree in
studio tentpoles. Just Lucas, who is one of the few names in Tinseltown with
enough box office clout to push this "experiment" through. And even
though he financed it himself, it still took him nearly two decades. This got
me thinking: If George Lucas started developing
Red Tails around 1993 and it didn't hit theaters until 2012, how
many fantastic projects are littered throughout this city, sitting on a dusty
shelf at a studio lot? Or worse, the dusty shelf in the former office of an aspiring agent.
If the 1990s were the Golden Age of hip-hop, we witnessed a direct
correlation between the quality and diversity of "black films" of the
same era. It was as if the zany empowerment of Blacksploitation evolved and
matured, blazing pathways for sub-genres like "hood films,"
"black biopics" and "urban satires." Brilliant young
auteurs like John Singleton, Spike Lee, Reginald Hudlin, Ernest Dickerson and
the Hughes brothers changed the landscape of Hollywood with astonishing
directorial debuts. Not only were their films critically lauded, they were
extremely profitable, which kept the pipeline full of content. From
Do The Right Thing
(1989) and
House Party (1990) to
Boyz in the Hood (1991),
NewJack City (1991) and
Juice (1992) to
Malcolm X (1992),
MenaceII Society (1993) and
Poetic Justice (1993); stories about the black
American experience were being told by black Americans and, for the first time,
seen by broader audience.
This had a rippling effect. Suddenly, voices from deep within the margins
were given a small spotlight and a faint megaphone. Renegade filmmakers like
Matty Rich, who wrote the screenplay for
Straight Out of Brooklyn (1991)
when he was 17 years old, directed the film at 19 on a budget of $450,000; and
it found a distributor.
'Brooklyn's overall gross quadrupled its cost.
F. Gary Gray was barely old enough to drink when he started directing music
videos like Ice Cube's "It Was A Good Day." At 24, he helmed
Friday
(1995) on a budget of $3.5 million.
Friday raked in $28 million at the
box office, plus endless streams of ancillary revenue as a DVD cult classic.
Reginald Hudlin wrote and directed a short film called "House Party"
as his thesis project at Harvard and later remade it as a feature starring rap duo Kid
'n' Play. The movie earned ten times its budget, spawned two sequels and first
paired Martin Lawrence and Tisha Campbell, who parlayed their on screen chemistry into the Fox sitcom
Martin, which ran from 1992-1997. Relative to the historical
precedent, opportunity abounded. It was a mini-renaissance.
Black Cinema of the 1990s helped launch the careers of countless actors,
comedians, writers, directors, producers, cinematographers, production
coordinators, PA's, gaffers, and music supervisors. But, by the end of the
decade, tastes had changed, the culture changed, priorities shifted and the
pipeline of content (and opportunity) dried up. The parallels in rap music are
not insignificant. When "the industry" (a predominately hegemonic
power structure controlled from the top down) took over
who-what-how
black entertainment was disseminated, it created an enormous void in the market.
Following the formula of the urban music business, Hollywood kept pandering to that
same demographic that bought up 2000-era rap CDs; but movies could not find a
similar niche... until Tyler Perry finally broke through with his unique brand
faith-oriented, family-friendly fare. Hollywood execs were stunned. A renegade
filmmaker in his own right, Perry not only made it rain, but led the industry
to the water and forced it to drink from his well. This was ultimately not such a
good thing.
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I have never been one to vilify Tyler Perry. I admire his passion and
persistence and I have enormous respect for his ability to toe the line between
mogul and artist. I enjoy his movies for what they are and they certainly have
place in our culture. What I dislike about Perry has more to do with the
industry itself, in that his one-note portrayals of the "black
experience" have come to define Black Cinema as we now know it. Aside from cross-dressing
grandmas, "dance movies" like
Step It Up (2004),
You Got
Served (2006) and
Stomp the Yard (2007) have been the only
consistently identifiable sub-genre. Whimsical "party flicks" were
replaced by intelligent romance comedies like
The Wood (1999),
The
Best Man (1999) and
Brown Sugar (2002) but have since faded.
"Hood films" have turned into B-movies starring C-list rappers that
go straight to DVD. This leaves "Tyler Perry Presents..." as one
monolithic brand; and since Hollywood generally lingers a few long paces
behind the curve of creativity
--replicating and re-replicating box office "hits"-- we get a
constant drip of mindless, soul-less schlock. (Imagine if Hollywood only
allowed white people to make movies about vampires, car chases and
corporate
crooks.)
Interestingly, as Black Cinema faded, we've seen a
juxtaposition in storytelling.
Hustle & Flow (2005) for instance,
was an extraordinary, 90s-style "hood film" written and directed by
Craig Brewer (produced by John Singleton.) Prominent "black biopics" like
Ray (2004),
Get
Rich or Die Tryin' (2005) and
American Gangster (2007) and even
Oscar fodder with black ensemble casts like
Dreamgirls (2006) and
The
Help (2011), have been made by white filmmakers. Conversely, black auteurs
from yesteryear have successfully "crossed-over" (to borrow a phrase
from EPMD) and now routinely churn out four-quadrant blockbusters.
Babershop's
Tim Story went on to helm the
Fantastic Four franchise.
Inside Man
(2006) is Spike Lee's most successful film. John Singleton's last three movies
have been
2 Fast 2 Furious (2003),
Four Brothers (2004) and
Abduction
(2011). F. Gary Gray's reel includes
The Italian Job (2003),
Be Cool
(2005) and
Law Abiding Citizen (2009). I do not mean to present this as
something that is so (hiccup) black or white. All of the aforementioned titles
are American films made by Americans filmmakers. Nothing is inherently wrong
with white directors telling stories about black people (for Godsake, David
Simon created
The Wire) or black directors helming bigger-budget action
flicks. The problem is still the void in the market. Other than Tyler Perry,
dance movies and the occasional slapstick comedy about a wedding, a funeral or
a family reunion, there is a gaping.........
I also have a healthy respect for Lee Daniels.
Monster's Ball was an
import film. I thought he was ambitious to take on "Push." I applaud
Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry for getting this movie made. But let's be
honest,
Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Saffire (2010), was an
overwrought melodrama. There, I said it. And while Mo'nique's performance was
superb (she won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress), her portrayal of Mary could certainly be characterized as
inflammatory imagery in a world with Fox News. Yet
Precious has been the
recent standard bearer for Black Cinema.
It is easier today to be a
"renegade filmmaker" than at any other point in history. Technology is accessible and relatively inexpensive, with plenty of
platforms to bring original content to an audience. For years
I've been asking my liberal friends about inequalities in Hollywood. I pose the
same questions to panelists at industry workshops. And it's as if the
"lack of opportunity" default reflex kicks in for everyone. It seems
to be the only answer. But that is too simplistic. Sure, Hollywood is generally
disinterested in almost ALL original content,
particularly when it comes from under-represented minorities; but, as
previously discussed, this does not mean stories about black people go entirely
untold.
Which brings me to some questions:
Why did the quality and diversity of Black Cinema of the 90s deteriorate? How have the
successful filmmakers of the 90s parlayed their limited clout into developing projects for
this decade that will help advance the next? If a torch exists, who will be the
one to carry it? Does that modicum of opportunity that existed for 17 year-old
Matty Rich in 1989, still exist? I would argue emphatically yes.
Yet the pipeline has been dry for far too long. Why?
In 2011, it started trickling. Admittedly,
Precious' box
office receipts were the catalyst.
Rashaad Ernesto Green made an impressive directorial debut with
Gun Hill Road, a poignant and meticulously crafted story about family and
sexuality in the South Bronx, circa now.
Pariah was Dee Dee Rees' astonishing first film.
Dee Dee and Rashaad were classmates at NYU-Tisch. They were mentored by Professor Spike Lee.
Pariah
is raw... and equally relevant and takes place in contemporary Brooklyn.
(And the cast does not feature anyone with a music career to fall back
on!)
British visual artist turned filmmaker Steve McQueen has now
made two powerful films,
Hunger and
Shame. On his next project he
teams up with John Ridley on
Twelve Years a Slave,
starring Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
This brings me back to a great story about a family reunion. It takes place on a
film set in the Czech Republic. A few of our favorite relatives made the trip. Michael was there, Bubbles, Wallace, Bird...
even Cheese showed up late. Anthony Hemmingway was filming his first
feature,
Red Tails.
Hemmingway originally cut his teeth working as a First Assistant Director
for David Simon on
The Corner (2000.) He directed episodes of
The
Wire and
Treme amongst a potpourri of American television. On
Red Tails, he reunited many of the actors he worked with previously.
John Ridley, who got his start as a staff writer for
Martin in 1993, wrote the script. His versatility stands out amongst all current
American writers. He has also blessed us with insightful commentary on NPR for
years. After
Twelve Years a Slave, he's collaborating with Spike Lee on HBO's
Brick City as well as a movie about the
L.A. Riots.
Aaron McGruder helped polish the script. He's perhaps most known for his criticism
of hyper-commodified black culture. A Ralph Nadar supporter in 2000, he often
gets
South Park on people or organizations he deems regressive. On
The
Boondocks, for example, he's dedicated entire episodes to lampooning
Tyler Perry and
Black Entertainment Television. I cannot wait for McGruder to pen the next great
"urban satire" or "hood film."
We should give credit to George Lucas for ultimately getting this thing
done, but
Red Tails is a chiefly a collaboration of Hemmingway, Ridley and McGrudder.
"Give us this mission, and we'll light up the board."
It is crucial we support
Red Tails -- at the box office-- with our hard-earned dollars. I saw it twice. (Yes, I paid both times. No, it was not a
great movie.) I’ll conclude with a Public Service Announcement:
Please
make a point of
supporting ALL original work. If something you want to see is not
available locally, the least you can do is ask the dude popping your
corn if his theater might get it. This is how we, the consumers, wield
control in a market-based
democracy. It would be nice to start
occupying movie theaters
with more fresh content, which just might spark another Golden Age of
Black
Cinema.
@HebrewRational
Happy
Oscar day world! Reminding all my of east-of-Sepulveda friends not to
venture north of Melrose between La Cienga and Vine, unless you're prone
to masochism. Today in Hollywood we celebrate...the French? Between
Woody Allen's mystical Parisian escapade, Scorsese's love letter to
George Méliès, and the cast and crew of The Artist, it's time put away the Freedom Fries and break out a beret, a baguette and your fruitiest Bordeaux. Off we go... 
