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...if you look. And you don't have to look far. The multiplex is not the only place, and certainly not the primary place, to find blacks on film in three-dimensional roles. As a matter of fact, most times those roles intersect with characters of other races and the plotlines are not race-based.
But even if you look at just the "all-black" fare out there, then you're suffering from short-term memory loss. Just two weeks ago you got "Something New". I see a couple of new African-American themed movies released on a monthly basis, not to mention DVDs. Oh, and there's TV, inDemand, and Premium Cable. Not to mention (Gasp!) books and periodicals galore that represent a full spectrum of African-American experiences - yes - that's plural, because they're legion. Just get your high-end expectations out of the Hollywood machine and the world opens up.
From Amiri Baraka to Ward Connerly? Well, you can always count on Spike Lee-coming up, a documentary on Katrina for HBO and a theatrical release in a few weeks starring Denzel Washington. Oh, and if you're looking for right-wing controversy, there's always Larry Elder's "Michael & Me". And Samuel Jackson's "Freedomland" came out the same day as "Family Reunion".
We got plenty 'o somethin'. What happens is one movie gets its fifteen minutes of dissection in the mainstream press and we feel compelled to defend or denigrate it as if it's the only offering or as if we must validate said critics' politically correct indignation.
White liberal movie and cultural critics don't get black people. Hell, they don't even get white people for that matter. Their reviews tend to be more about class dynamic-and they skew to the upperclass-than about anything else. Tyler Perry's plays probably made more money than Eugene O'Neill's and Arthur Miller's combined and now they take notice? And because someone white goes into a dark room and sees black people on screen for 90 minutes being broadly funny, and perhaps even stereotypical, I'm supposed to gag from the "embarassment" my people have brought forth on screen? Oh, please!
When Roger Ebert, et al are ashamed of "Blue Collar Comedy", the "Ernest" series and "My Name is Earl", then I'll hang my head over "Madea".
Note to Mr. Smith: It's pronounced "Ma-Dee'r" (silent 'r'). Shorthand for "mother-dearest". Term of affection for one's mother used by black southerners and carribeans. Nothing to do with the fictional character of Greek mythology.
