By nature, I am a contrarian. Or, as Dave Chappelle so poignantly put it, a "chronic dissenter." If I feel I'm being forced in a certain direction, I immediately stop and break the situation down. Sometimes, I really am JUST being ornery and I recognize it and I get over myself, but I don't feel that way this time.
I am chagrined by the abrasive guilt marketing campaign of 'Red Tails.' Making me feel that if I don't see it, I'm letting my people down. This kind of campaign wasn't necessary for 'Shindler's List.' When I saw the trailer for 'Red Tails' a few months ago, I thought it looks pretty good and I'm a big fan of historical drama. Then, I saw George Lucas on 'The Daily Show' and so he made some good arguements. Then I got on twitter and everyone was like "YOU HAVE TO SUPPORT THIS MOVIE?!? IT COMES OUT THIS WKND!! IF IT DOESN'T SUCCEED, THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER BLACK MOVIE!!"
This mania confused me, especially since I knew about the movie for a long time. I was bewildered by this last ditch effort to get people to the theaters. It reminded me of Troy Davis (dude was on death row for years, but a week before the injections 'We gotta save him!' Too late, folks). I mean, the ads were everywhere, why the panic? The future of the Black film industry does not live or die with 'Red Tails.' Why? Because there is no Black film industry. Why? Because the money is "White." And by "White" I mean, the money used to finance high budget studio motion pictures come from corporations.
Sidebar: So what is a "black film"? Is The Color Purple not a black film because Steven Spielberg directed it? Is The Italian Job actually a black film because F. Gary Gray directed it? Or it is only a black film if it's financed by Blacks?
I was also bewildered by the "Twitterverse" because Blacks were exclusively gearing their tweets for support to other African Americans. But Lucas's main purpose was to create a crossover success with an all Black cast, meaning White people need to see this movie, too. In fact, the success of 'Red Tails' actually depends on the white audience, not the black, so why the exclusionary tweets? No one would spend 100 million on a film (production/marketing/distribution) JUST for Blacks. It just wouldn't make fiscal sense.
It took the studios ten years to get on board with 'Braveheart.' That script floated around aimlessly for years because no one wanted to invest in an expensive historical war epic. It wasn't until the screenwriter got Mel Gibson involved that the studio changed it's tune. And if I recall correctly, that movie was all White people. And how often do you see sweeping period epics like 'The English Patient' and 'Dances with Wolves' come out? History, not just Black history, is a hard sell.
Hollywood is a business, always looking for a sure thing. And there is no such thing. While 'Red Tails' is tracking at 10million (not good), if it happens to perform way above expectations, does that mean there's going to be a boom in mega budget pics with all-Black casts? Umm, no. Because, to reiterate, Hollywood is a business. Why do you think there are so many shitty movies?
But I think people should see what truly interests them. As the consumer, we don't have to do the movie industry any favors. It's there job to win us over. Unless it's your college roommate's thesis film, never go to a movie JUST to support it. And maybe I say this because I have a true passion for film. 'Red Tails' interests me and I will see it, but because I want to see it.
If anything, SUPPORT INDIE FILMS! ALWAYS!!
