I agree. I think that there should be more movies with the main characters a married black couple. Hollywood has it looking like the only black couples out there is the Huxtables.
On Mon, Jul 27, 2009 at 1:31 PM, Keith Johnson <keithbjohn...@comcast.net>wrote: > > > See, I hear that, but I disagree with this "little by little" method. You > mention Tyler perry, well he's become a multi-millionaire by doing "black" > movies. Granted, the vast majority of his audience is black people, but > that's alright by me. I guess I'm just tired of my people's stories and > perceptions and presentations all being filtered and reworked to please > another group's desires and likes. I grew up in a home with two black > parents, my wife is a black woman, I know lots of black couples who are in > love and doing it well. You're really telling me I should just be grateful > and patient because someone sees fit to only tell half the story, that I > shouldn't find it offensive that in a country where most black people marry > black people, the story is shifted just so whites will show up? > Sorry, that bothers me. and it really bothers me because the cliche is > still the same: black woman gets handed off to men of other races, as has > been done for centuries. Do you think white Americans would have been okay > had all the early Disney cartoons put Snow White, Cinderella, etc., with > non-white men? Nope. > > At the end of the day, though, it's back to FUBU: For Us, By Us. I guess > until more black people pool money and resources and continue to make our > own projects, we can't expect truly diverse presentation of our life on the > big--or small--screen. > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Omari Confer" <clockwork...@gmail.com> > To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com > Sent: Monday, July 27, 2009 1:51:26 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern > Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] EXCLUSIVE: Disney's The Princess and the Frog > Directors Address Racial Concerns > > > > Keith, > > Love the comments on the subject. As I was reading your post I was itching > to respond. By the end I just have to clap and give you a pat on the back > saying.....its ok man. > > Here is another perspective. > > It is altruistic to think that an all black romantic cast will play to all > audiences. > > Black movies consist of the following: > > 'Comin up' stories/Hood to Good > Black Love mixed with comedy > > (This excludes Spike Lee movies of course) > > So creating a movie with two black leads clearly fits within this paradigm, > thus seemingly excluding white audiences. Be honest.....most white audiences > see an all black or partly black cast and they think either hood movie or a > tyler perry flick. > > The transition to truly racially fluid entertainment has to be gradual. The > key demographic, just by numbers alone has been all white and is > transitioning to a blended look. > > Not only should we be happy that there is a black princess but we should > rejoice. This means that the math and the money was right enough to make it > happen...translation- Executives with big bucks accept that black characters > have universal appeal and can be human..not just black. > > This is progress........Rome was not built overnight. > > c w m > > > > On Sun, Jul 26, 2009 at 1:04 AM, Keith Johnson > <keithbjohn...@comcast.net>wrote: > >> >> >> They can explain all they want, but the truth of this is the "Hitch" >> effect: H'wood refusing to back a big romance with a man and woman of >> clearly African-American roots. Will Smith himself said the folks behind >> "Hitch" didn't want a black female lead, as they feared it wouldn't draw >> whites. A white female lead--not a goal in my book to be sought--was of >> course right out. >> >> So it is here. It makes no sense that for the first African-American >> female lead, the male is not also African-American--or at least "African". >> Why couldn't he be a rich brother from New Orleans? Why can't his family be >> wealthy? Why can't he be an African prince of purely African heritage? All >> this talk of diversity is interesting, as it only comes up when blacks are >> involved. i don't recall Snow White, Cinderalla, Belle, Mu Lan, or any of >> the other Disney heroines being paired with a guy of an obviously different >> racial background. Oh: let me correct myself. Disney did pair one lady with >> a guy from another race. It was the story of Pochahantas and her love for a >> European. >> >> It troubles me, not because I'm against diversity, multi-culturalism, or >> marriages between people of different ethnicities. It troubles me simply >> because once again, when other cultures--especially whites--are allowed to >> love their own on screen, we're being told that black-on-black love just >> won't play at the cinemaplex. And saddest of all is that we are so happy >> just ot have *one* black person on screen, we'll just take this as a sign of >> progress. I got into a long debate with a black female friend on this, and >> her summary statement was, "You're right, it's unfortunate both leads aren't >> African Amerians. But you have to be realistic, keith, this is a good first >> step, and we can't force Disney to meet our needs." Besides, she said, her >> young daughter is so happy to have a princess look like her on screen. >> >> I asked, how were her two sons feeling about the movie, and she said, they >> were disappointed and confused the male lead wasn't just like them, but >> better something than nothing. >> >> sigh... >> >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: "brent wodehouse" <brent_wodeho...@thefence.us> >> To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com >> Sent: Saturday, July 25, 2009 2:09:09 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern >> Subject: [scifinoir2] EXCLUSIVE: Disney's The Princess and the Frog >> Directors Address Racial Concerns >> >> >> >> >> http://www.movieline.com/2009/07/disneys-the-princess-and-the-frog-directors-address-charges-of-racism.php >> >> Comic-Con 09 >> >> EXCLUSIVE: Disney's The Princess and the Frog Directors Address Racial >> Concerns >> >> Written by Seth Abramovitch | 24 Jul 2009 >> >> Disney’s The Princess and the Frog marks the studio’s long-overdue return >> to hand-drawn animation, and those hands belong to Ron Clements and John >> Musker - two animation veterans responsible for later-era classics like >> The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. From the beginning, Disney proudly >> trumpeted that Frog would feature their first African-American princess >> with Tiana, a gesture that would go a small way towards righting the >> wrongs of all the yarn-spinning uncles, jive-talking crows and Neverland >> savages that came before her. >> >> But as scenes trickled out, there were murmurs of concern. Princess Tiana >> would be paired with Prince Naveen - a royal of seemingly South American >> lineage, voiced by Brazilian-born actor Bruno Campos - raising eyebrows >> and ire among a segment of the African-American blogosphere. Then we were >> introduced to Mama Odie - a blind, swamp-dwelling voodoo witch doctor. >> Dated caricature? Lovable sidekick? Both? >> >> Movieline had an opportunity to talk to Clements and Musker today at a >> series of Disney Animation roundtable interviews at Comic-Con. Both are >> chipper, unassuming men with a cute tendency of finishing each other’s >> sentences. Telling us the film is close to finished - just digital >> coloring is all that’s left in the animation process - we then broached >> concerns over its minority representations. Here is what they said: >> >> MOVIELINE: Have you heard any of the race-related criticisms about The >> Princess and the Frog, that Disney’s first African-American princess has >> not been paired with an African-American prince, and that Mama Odie comes >> across like a stereotype? How do you react to that? >> >> RON CLEMENTS: The first thing is that all the criticism of the movie has >> been from people who have not seen the movie, who don’t know the context >> of the movie, who don’t know the story. From the very beginning, when the >> project was first announced, there have been these issues. From the very >> beginning I think we wanted to be certainly as sensitive as possible with >> what we were doing. I mean, really early on it was clear that this was a >> major, major thing. >> >> So we did a lot of consulting, and our co-writer on the film Rob Edwards >> was African-American, and we talked to many African-Americans. We took >> them through the story, we showed them things, and we’ve since previewed >> the movie. The reaction we’ve gotten from everyone who’s actually seen the >> movie, and knows the story, has been very, very positive, and that’s been >> very encouraging to us. We’ve gotten notes and we’ve addressed some >> things, but I say overall people who know the context of the movie - >> >> JOHN MUSKER: And that includes multiracial audiences - African-American >> and otherwise. And in fact the numbers coming out of our preview are high >> across the board - it didn’t matter. >> >> MOVIELINE: You have Oprah Winfrey’s stamp of approval. >> >> RC: Oprah’s a character, and she does a great job. Terrence Howard did a >> great job. So it’s been kind of tough for us, and the Internet is at a >> place where it wasn’t necessarily a few years ago. Speculation tends to >> run rampant, but the only thing I can say is that if people have concerns, >> just see the movie and I think a lot of the concerns will go away. >> >> The issue with the Prince, the Prince is not African-American, and he’s >> not white. He’s played by a Brazilian actor and he’s definitely a person >> of color. Again, it’s the context of the movie, and the context of the >> story - that’s very important in terms of how the story works, and how >> things sort of work out… >> >> When people will see the movie, the reasons for things will be more clear. >> Not that there won’t be issues. I’m sure many people will have issues, but >> we feel good about the movie, and I think we feel that it works for all >> audiences the way we hoped it would. Because certainly you don’t want to >> do this kind of movie and have it divide people. You want to bring people >> together. That’s always been the intention. >> >> > > > -- > clockworkman blog > http://centralheatingblog.blogspot.com > STRING THEORY > http://www.stringtheory.mypodcast.com > Netflix Friends > http://www.netflix.com/BeMyFriend/P5Vr384ukvNnY78xUJOT > > > > > -- Bringing diversity to perversity for 9 years! Mahogany at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/
