From the reviews I’ve read, and the fact that I read the book, “Push”, several years ago, it’s just flat out depressing.

Now, I have gone to see “The Blind Side” and no, the “Captain Save-A-Negro” concept was not lost on me, but that movie left me believing that LeeAnn Tuoey is just as much as proud mother of Michael Oher as Shaquille O’Neal’s mother is proud of him.

Having said that, I have to write this post in defense of the brothers, because I’m getting sick and tired of Black Men being portrayed as oversexed, vile, rapists, bragging about penis size and how many women they can pull, yada, yada, yada.  “Precious” appears to be another one of those “express your hatred for Black Men” movies that Oprah Winfrey is getting all too good about attaching her name to.  Our Black men, for the most part, are hard working, decent men, family men, caring men….those who are molesting their kids, beating their women and shyt, are exceptions to the overall rule – I don’t give a rats ass how Hollywood tries to portray them.

I’m not standing for it any longer.  And others are expressing themselves as well:

From Ishamael Reed:

The black sexual predator is represented obsessively in the novel that inspired the bombing of the Oklahoma Federal building and the recent murder of three Pittsburgh policemen. But not even The Turner Diaries, by William Pierce stigmatizes black men as violators of the incest taboo at a time when the black male unemployment rate is 25% in some cities, 50% in New York. It took Hollywood liberals and their pathetic black front people to do that. Is there a role that black actors won’t perform? One that celebrity blacks won’t lend their names to? (If the white Oscar judges perpetrate a cruel joke by awarding this film Oscars, will the black audience members stage a walk-out even though it might mean never working in that town again?) Indeed it was Oprah Winfrey’s endorsement of the film that convinced the investors that they were on to a hot property.
From JJP’s Marcus Toussaint:

I get that you feel the personal connection with the viewer has a lot of power, but someone telling you that they are abusing their 14-year-old daughter is not an award unless it’s the Roman Polanski Lifetime F*ckery Medal. Let’s not even talk about the fact that you find Oscar prospects scary and not a stranger admitting to you that they abuse their own kid.

Once again, we are treated to movies guaranteed to either ameliorate white guilt, while tearing down Black people, and this is one area of movie making where we can’t  totally blame white people.

Our own people who have the clout, are doing this to US.  Movies like “The Great Debaters” or “Miracle at St. Anna’s”, movies that portray us in a positive, contributors to society’s advancement, from what I’m told, do not sell well at the box office, but even in the art of acting, there should be some roles African-American actors should be unwilling to take, and unwilling to take part in, for the sake of getting paid. Yes, I know Ms. Winfrey produced “The Great Debaters”, but not until this occurred:

“Since the publication of ‘Ruthless,’ I noticed several profound changes in the way Oprah Winfrey is doing business.
1) Oprah produced ‘The Great Debaters,’ which was the first film produced by Harpo Films (in my opinion) to not have negative stereotypical images of black men.

And I totally disagree that Black folk don’t want to see movies that portray us as successful, hard working people.  Some fool in Hollywood started that shyt, but even in the worst Blacksploitation movie, we were not portrayed as downtrodden as we are in “Precious”.

But, CPL, Hollywood won’t give us a chance.  Only Tyler Perry has gotten it done.

Yeah, that’s true, but the way he got it done is with himself in drag, playing a character that is reminiscent of our own grandmothers.  And I’m not really hating on Tyler – because he usually includes a do-right brother winning over the heart of the sista that has had her heart broken too many times to count, and healing her with love.  At least Tyler manages to put some redemption in his movies.  “Why did I Get Married?” was one of his best movies that didn’t come complete with “Madea’s” mess.  It was complex and portrayed brothas very positively.

But, there appears to be a pattern emerging from those who have the clout to get Black movies made, and I’m not liking it. 

It seems that Oprah puts her name on everything that has a Black woman downtrodden, beaten up, left by her no-good Black man and has to struggle for the rest of her damned life.  Which, might be somewhat biographical, but from where Oprah has ended up, her ending seems to be one that says “You can Do anything you set your mind to”, but the majority of the movies she has put her name to as Executive Director, do not reflect her success.  Why is that?

What is uplifting about a young girl being sexually abused by BOTH PARENTS? And being infected with AIDS from her father, while bearing him two children?

What I remember from the book, Push, was that the story ended with Precious determined to become literate and make the best life she could, considering her circumstances.  So it really didn’t have a happy ending, but it was a hopeful ending.

While I’m fully aware we need to discuss taboo subjects like incest and the like, surely there’s a better forum from which to do it, and one that does not include individuals working out their own issues of hatred or either men or women, mother or father, siblings, sexual abuse, etc.?  Can’t it be done in a way that facilitates true identification and discussion of the issues?  Does the discussion have to portray all Black men as sexual predators and monsters, while portraying Black Women as either “Mammy” or “Sapphire”?

Who has gone to see this movie?  And what was your take on it?  Please share with us in the comments section, because, while I’m always down to support Black filmmakers, with movies costing $11.00 in this economy, I’m selective in where I want to spend my money.

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