I
had a person leave a comment on my blog regarding Halle Berry’s impact on Black
Cinema. In it they make numerous excuses for Halle Berry. From their response they
sound like a clueless Suburban Black person who has been indoctrinated into the
Hollywood’s twisted way of thinking. After I make my rebuttal to their
comments, I’ll explain why this type of brainwashed Black person is dangerous
to brothers and sisters and the entire Black community overall.
Their
comments are in bold and responses are regular text.
Halle has a soft screen presence that gets
attention. It doesn't demand attention. People will look, comment on her
beauty, and move on. Her presence and acting doesn't emit that wow factor.
Which is why Halle Berry
is not a good leading actress or a good actress period. Having a soft screen
presence is not the quality of a leading lady. A leading lady has to have that
WOW factor, that ability to command the screen and carry a film.
A leading lady has to have
a screen presence. She has to have charisma. She has to radiate energy from her
first frame of the film to the last.
Commenting on her beauty
is one thing. Paying $12 for a movie ticket is another. And Halle Berry can’t
make people excited enough to pay for a movie where she’s star of the show.
Black Cinema existed before Halle came along.
She doesn't have that much power to have that kind of effect. She is seen as a
beautiful icon who made history. That's it. She is not concerned about black
cinema. Halle is only concerned with HER status in Hollywood as the most
prominent black actress.
You just
summed up the problem. Halle Berry is only concerned about Halle Berry.
Halle’s status as the most
prominent Black actress wasn't made by white people spending their money to see
her films. It was made by the support of brothers and sisters who supported
her. And when she turned her back on the Black community that was paying money
to see her in those movies she LOST her position.
Without Black flimmakers offering
her roles like Boomerang, Strictly Business, Jungle Fever and Queen There would
be no Halle Berry.
And
because she’s not concerned about Black Cinema, she doesn’t understand how
racists are using her to keep Black cinema from moving forward. As I stated
before it’s hard for a Black film to get produced. A Black star like Denzel Washington, Will Smith or Halle Berry can get a film greenlit or put into production by getting behind it.
But when top Black stars like Halle Berry star in five or more box-office failures it makes it harder for other film makers to get their projects made.
But when top Black stars like Halle Berry star in five or more box-office failures it makes it harder for other film makers to get their projects made.
A Black
actor can’t be an individual. A Black Film maker can't be an individual. A Black Screenwriter can't be an individual. In White Supremacist America One Black person’s
actions affect the entire group of Black people.
When
Halle Berry fucks up, it fucks things up for other Black actresses.
And That
keeps other actresses from getting work. Moreover, it keeps young new talents
from finding an opportunity to get work. When a Halle Berry movie fails, that
role for a Black woman gets turned into a role for a Hispanic woman, an Asian
woman or a White woman.
Anonymous goes on to say:
There are enough talented famous and non famous
black filmmakers out there who can finance their own stuff. I don't understand
why black people don't do this. I live on little money, yet I financed, wrote
and starred in a short film that won Best Thriller at a local film festival
here in LA.
This kind of individualized
thinking is how Black people wind up being picked off by White Supremacists who
want to maintain the power of institutional racism in this country.
Again, this brotha or
sister is showing how they have been brainwashed by White Supremacists in Hollywood
to believe they are an individual. They think they are a “special” nigger
because they made a movie and they won a Best Thriller at a local film festival.
They obviously have no
understanding of how Black films are made and financed. Or how they’re
distributed in America.
Seriously, Where are these
individuals again? Most Black filmmakers famous and non-famous I’ve heard from
say that it’s next to impossible to get financing for their projects. And even
harder to get distribution when they do get those films made.
It’s a know FACT that
Black films are THE RISKIEST films to get made because they RARELY pull a
profit in the U.S.
Worse, they can’t be sold
in foreign markets usually due to the subject matter and the inept way they’re
made.
Now you can self-finance a
short. There aren’t that many scenes. But a feature length-film requires
serious cash. Like a minimum of $20 million to $40 million dollars.
And it’s already hard to
raise money for a Black film. And that money that becomes harder to get from
investors when people like Halle Berry star in flop after flop after flop.
Just because YOU financed,
wrote and starred in a short film that won at a local film festival doesn’t
mean other brothers and sisters will get that opportunity or have access to
that kind of cash.
Anonymous also goes on to
say:
Halle is not responsible for the success of
black cinema. She does not go out of her way to do "black movies"
anymore either, and I am not faulting her for this. She doesn't want to be
boxed, and that's a good thing.
Halle is not responsible for the success of
other Black movies. I’ll agree with you on that. But she has been granted a
tremendous opportunity because she starred in Black movies. Moreover, she
became a star with the help and support of Black people and Black dollars.
When she says she does not want to do Black
movies she is spitting in the face of the very people who supported her. Killing
her money making potential at the box office.
Halle Berry became a star due to
African-Americans paying money to see her movies. If she can’t draw brothers
and sisters to go see her movies. she doesn’t have any star power.
That’s why Halle Berry needs to go out of her
way to reach back to the people who made her a star. It is HER RESPONSIBILITY
to reach back to the next generation of Black filmmakers and help them get that
toehold in the cinematic arena.
Halle does not want to be boxed? Ironically,
that’s what those White Supremacists in Hollywood have done for the past ten
years. BOXING HER into the jezebel stereotype with stuff like Swordfish, Die
Another Day, Perfect Stranger and Monster’s Ball.
Packaging people is what Hollywood DOES.
Hollywood executives take an actress and put them in films that allow them to
sell an actress. The goal of the packaging is to maximize profits at the
box-office.
Every big budget commercial film Halle has
starred in post-Oscar has been some bland thriller or action pic where they
play up her sexuality. Even the arty films like Things we Lost in the Fire and
Frankie and Alice all utilize some element of sexuality or sensuality.
And now that they can’t make any money off her
at the box-office they’re boxing her in to the Sapphire stereotype. When she
turned on Gabriel Aubry, the White Supremacist media turned on her, portraying
her as a domineering emasculating Black Bitch who berated and humiliated her
man.
I know there are great black writers out there
who write scripts, sell them, only to have the studio execs cast only white
people in them.
I’ll
agree with you on this. It’s one of the reasons I want NOTHING to do with Hollywood.
It’s one of the points I detailed in my screenplay All About Marilyn. I’d
advise you to read it.
Black people should write and finance and
distribute their own stuff. We may not get the results we want in this
generation but it will set up the next generation to have it easier.
This person is totally CLUELESS when it comes
to life as an African-American. They must come from the suburbs and their
parents must have taught them to believe in the God damn rainbow where everyone
just gets along regardless of color. They have to be living under a magic rock
to be THIS fucking oblivious to White Supremacy and Racism.
Seriously, How can Black people who have no
money finance their own stuff when we don’t control the money?
How can we get films distributed when we don’t
control the distribution systems?
In America Cinematic distribution is controlled
by six conglomerates: Viacom, Newscorp, Disney, Comcast/Universal, Warner
Brothers, and Sony. If they don’t buy your film no one will know it exists
until it appears on direct-to video where it’ll be stigmatized and seen as crap
by the audience.
And where are Black people they going to learn
about screenwriting in a White Supremacist education system where many brothers
and sisters barely know how to read at a fifth grade reading level? How will
they get skills to make films in a world 50% of Black people don’t finish High
school?
Now I was blessed enough to teach myself about
screenwriting. But film school is a four-year commitment after college. How are
Black people going to get to film school if most of them can’t even finish High
School?
And how will the next generation of Black
people have it easier if a majority of them are being raised by a bunch of
illiterate people and stranded in poverty on public assistance or dead-end jobs?
Whoever this is really takes their position in
life for granted. They haven’t taken a look at the real world objectively.
If you are Black, there will always be a
struggle to make any progress in life. There will be an even greater struggle to
maintain wherever you are when you get there. No matter your position in life you
will always encounter racism. You will always encounter discrimination. You
will always have to FIGHT.
Many of the gains brothers and sisters made
throughout the last 25 years after the Civil Rights Movement were wiped out
soon after the verdict of the OJ Simpson trial.
Why? Because a generation of Brothers and
sisters like Halle Berry and this Anonymous individual got comfortable and took
their position in life as Black people for granted. They thought were finally
part of this great American Melting pot. They didn’t understand that White
Supremacist America NEVER has had a place for Black people.
And because they took their position in life
for granted, African-Americans no longer own radio stations. We no longer own
newspapers or magazines. We no longer own TV channels or movie theaters. We
have no businesses or wealth in our communities. 90 percent of Black America’s
wealth is now owned by a White Supremacist corporate oligarchy. 98 percent of
Black dollars go out of the community into the hands of someone of another race
to make them wealthy.
I dare to say Black people today are worse off
today than they were during slavery. And the next generation will be worse off
than our slave ancestors 20 years from now.
At least the slaves had skills like tailoring,
blacksmithing, carpentry, and farming when they were freed. And our Northern
Free people of Color like Fredrick Douglass had skills in publishing, barbering
printing, law, Medicine, and other trades.
Most of today’s Black people don’t even have
those abilities. All they’re being raised to be are entertainers and athletes.
And every Black person can’t be Halle Berry or
Lebron James. Hell, they can’t even be Shawn James.
Here’s the facts. The next generation of Black
people will NOT have it easier. That is a delusion of grandeur Black people in
denial say to themselves.
The next generation of Black people are going
to have it WORSE than my generation in 20 years. 70 percent of them are being
raised by single mothers. 70 percent are living in poverty 50 percent of them
don’t have can’t even get a High school diploma even though the material has
been dumbed down to the sixth grade level. Most are destined to be stuck in
low-wage jobs for the rest of their natural born lives or in and out of the
prison system.
Brainwashed brothers and sisters like this are
dangerous. They’ve been programmed to believe that they are “individuals” or “Americans”.
That their actions only effect them and only them. That their mistakes don’t affect
others.
They’re the kind of Black people who take their
position in life for granted. They think everyone has an opportunity not
understanding that America has historically denied equal opportunities to Black
people for over 400 years. That White Supremacists in a corporate oligarchy
continue to use a combination of business policy, laws and unwritten social
rules to keep Black people oppressed.
When Black people like this are in positions of
power And they have the ability to make decisions that impact the lives of brothers
and sisters in the Black community. And because they’re clueless, their
decisions keep other Black people in poverty.
All while they say they pulled themselves up by
their bootstraps.
Not understanding the many privileges they were
blessed with over brothers like me who grew up in poverty.
None of us are individuals. Not me, Not Halle Berry, and not this Anonymous
person. We are all connected to each other on this planet. When one of us acts
it impacts other people. And when you’re Black your actions can either help other
black people or hurt them.
****
This individual also comments on the Halle
Berry Baby Mama drama without the understanding of why Halle Berry’s behavior is
embarrassing to All Black women. I’ll be commenting on that in the next blog.
Based on your constant blaming of white supremacy, you're the one that's dangerous. The difference between you and me is that I don't live my life in bondage to white supremacy. I don't view my blackness as a "problem" or "obstacle".
ReplyDeleteYes, I've had struggles, rejections, and setbacks because of my skin, but I don't become a victim to my situations and experiences. I get up and keep it moving. I don't let white supremacy stop me nor do I let it stop me from thinking positive.
The problem with the majority of black people is that they become bitter and give up to easily. Yes, I know this to be true because I grew up around the working class and those who lived in poverty, and I have witnessed their actions and heard their words.
If it won't become better for the next generation, your type of thinking is the reason why. Instead of passing down words of encouragement, self-esteem, and an "I can do anything I put my mind to" attitude to our youth, we pass down our bitterness and negative way of thinking, which gives our youth nothing to look forward to. And the 70% of youth growing up in a single-parent home is a result of that way of thinking. (You don't think you can do better, and therefore don't want your kids to do better, so you set them up to repeat the cycle.)
Yes, white supremacy is a problem, but guess what how you handle it, and what you do about it, is what matters in the end.
I refuse to become bitter. I am happy and am looking forward to my future. You have your way of thinking, and I have mine.
Well said anonymous ....
ReplyDeleteWilliam packer is a successful famous producer in hollywood. He didn't go to the top distributor viacom,sony,lionsgate etc....his first movie trios was made on a 250,000 budget and made over one million at the box office. Packer self distribution his movie without the help of famous distributors. After the success of the trios movies he got a deal with sony columbia tri-star.....
ReplyDeleteSome distribution companies in america.mgm,paramount,weinstein, universal,warner bros,yari film group etc...
ReplyDeleteWilliam packer raised the money to fund and distribute his movie. By asking for donations and charitys. Theres plenty of funding websites for aspiring film makers to raise funding. Examples kickstarter,gofundme...
ReplyDeleteYou don't need 20million-40million to fiance a movie. Blaire witch project was made on a 30,000 budget got distribute by artisan entertainment. And went on to make over two hundred million worldwide. Paranormal activity was made on a 15,000 budget got distribute by paramount pictures. And went on to make two hundred million worldwide....
ReplyDeleteTheres over 90million blacks in brazil, over a million in the uk. Why not target black people overseas? Include foreign blacks and make black cinema worldewide. The more blacks to support the greater the box office. The same with black magazines they need to be worldwide for blacks all over the world.
ReplyDeleteThe whites have white movie stars all over the world in there movies. Some from uk,australia,swedin,greece. There magazines and movies target whites everywhere in the world. Not just the usa thats why there movies,magazines,high fashion clothes make alot of money......
ReplyDelete