Lee Daniel’s New Film The Butler Is Boring Black Films Are Unoriginal Only Focuses In Race.

Lee Daniel’s new film The Butler is the number one film for two weeks in a row. The box office for The Butler is also solid earning over $52 million dollars. However, I am not interested in seeing The Butler because it is basically a black male version of The Help. These race movies are big box office for Hollywood, the Help was a huge box office hit two years ago.
Hollywood has an extremely myopic perspective about the black life experience and it is all about money.

The narrative is, the black life experience is ONLY ABOUT RACE. The commercials tell me I am supposed to see The Butler, because I am black. However, I am not African American, I am a black Canadian, and I’ve seen my fair share of black films that revolve around racism. It is tired, boring, and I am sick of it!

Another film, I won’t be seeing in the fall is Idris Elba’s biopic about Nelson Mandela. There have been several movies already made about Nelson Mandela the famous South African civil rights leader. However, I am fatigued, and I am exhausted watching another boring movie about race. How many films can Hollywood possibly release about Nelson Mandela?

Why hasn’t anyone made a movie about the struggle of black gays and lesbians in South Africa? Why are all the films released about African people always about the black heterosexuals? Why can’t a black dramatic film be made about black people that does not REVOLVE AROUND THE ISSUE OF RACE? It is so derivative, and so tired.

According to the ideology of Hollywood filmmakers, black dramatic films must revolve around race and be about two points in history slavery and the civil rights movement! If there is a movie set in the present about a black person it involves race such as the film Fruitvale Station.

This is BORING! Yes, I said it IS BORING! Yes, I know racism is a serious problem in society, and black people still struggle. However, I am also cognizant as a black man, that I don’t just think about being black every single minute of my life. Isn’t there more to the black life experience than just RACE? Seriously, can’t a screenwriter or filmmaker make a movie about black people that doesn’t revolve around the past? What about life right NOW IN THE PRESENT?

For instance, one area of black film that is ignored is the issue of homosexuality in the black community. Only indie films such as Brother To Brother which was released almost a decade ago dealt with gay black men.

In black cinema, there are numerous films that could be made revolving around black gays and lesbians from the past. However, black films have a tendency to downplay the homosexuality of black queer icons. For example, Lorraine Hansberry the playwright who became famous for her 1959 play A Raisin In The Sun, is a lesbian. It is well known, that Hansberry wrote for the lesbian publication The Ladder in the 1950s. However, how many people know Hansberry was gay? I hear there is an indie biopic being made about Hansberry life, but will this biopic explore the fact she was a black lesbian?

There is a paucity of films being created about black gays and lesbians. I heard there was supposed to be a film made about E Lynn Harris first novel Invisible Life. Tracy Edmonds was supposed to produce the film yet according to the black film blog Shadow & Act Tracy Edmonds is no longer producing the film. E Lynn Harris mother sued Proteus Spann a man who has the rights to all of Harris books. A LA judge sided with Spann and he states he is going to make a film adaptation of Harris novel Not A Day Goes By. However, a film still has not been released yet about black gay men.

Rodney Evans a gay African American filmmaker does have an indie film out called The Happy Sad. However, how many black people are actually going to watch this film? There are no high profile black actors in the film.

Two years ago Dee Rees film Pariah was released, but the film’s box office was luke warm it didn’t even earn $1 million dollars. I believe more black films should be made around issues such as homosexuality because they move beyond JUST RACE. Pariah was a very interesting film, because it dealt with the struggle of a young black teen lesbian coming out of the closet.

There is a film adaptation of the erotic writer Zane’s best selling book Addicted, and I am interested in seeing the movie. However, I am also concerned, because there haven’t been many black films that explore the issue of sexuality well.

Hollywood needs to understand, the film audience, at least I hope people are thirsty for something new, something different.