Thursday, January 19, 2012
“Red Tails” Could Set Black Film Back
Over at NewsOne, my newest outlet for writing opinions of all kinds, I've sparked a discussion about the movie "Red Tails," the all-black film produced and marketed by George Lucas. Below is an excerpt. Check out the full story here.
Red Tails, an all-black film, is opening January 20 at a theater near you. If you happen to see it, do me a small favor: take a gander at the rest of the audience and see if they resemble the thespians on film. Chances are, they will. Supporting black films, and black art in general, should be a tenet of the African-American community. And frankly, it’s usually the African-American community that Black films are accustomed to relying on. What makes Red Tails unique in this regard is that it was produced, financed, and marketed by George Lucas, the billionaire creator of the “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” franchises, who is white.
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Red Tails tells the story of a crew of African-American pilots who are called to service while in the Tuskegee Airmen training program during World War II. Lucas is to be commended for truly believing in this story — he started working on it in 1988 — to bring it to the big screen and to do so with his own money. Sure, he has plenty, but Red Tails cost $58 million to produce and another $40 million to market — that’s not chump change. And Lucas also gave us a candid bird’s-eye view into how Hollywood thinks.
Red Tails tells the story of a crew of African-American pilots who are called to service while in the Tuskegee Airmen training program during World War II. Lucas is to be commended for truly believing in this story — he started working on it in 1988 — to bring it to the big screen and to do so with his own money. Sure, he has plenty, but Red Tails cost $58 million to produce and another $40 million to market — that’s not chump change. And Lucas also gave us a candid bird’s-eye view into how Hollywood thinks.
While appearing on the John Stewart Show, he said he was shocked not only at the fact Hollywood wasn’t willing to get behind the film but also by the reason he was given: they didn’t “know” how to market a film with an all-black cast, Hollywood said.
Red Tails is a universal story of integrity, leadership, perseverance, and values. There’s little doubt that everyone should watch it. I wish for it to be successful and spawn more faith in the creation, promotion, and patronage of black film, but chances are it won’t achieve any of that.
And George Lucas is to blame.
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