I Know Why Zane Sells
by Guest Contributor M. Dot, originally published at Model Minority
Zane sells because her fiction allows Black women to be sexual in a culture that refuses to acknowledge that we are sexual, a culture that calls us hos if are so inclined to be sexual, talk about sex, or even look like we are human and have a sexual appetite.
When was the last time you saw a Black woman have a love interest and sex in a movie?
Or a tv show?
Yesterday, I was doing all this reading of Hortense Spillers, Tricia Rose and Hegel (whom I struggle with tremendously), as I am developing an outline for a writing sample.
When instantly, Zane’s popularity clicked for me.
Professor Spillers essay titled, Intercises: A Small Drama of Words discusses, the position of Black women’s sexuality in American culture.
She writes,
Our sexuality remains an unarticulated nuance in various forms of public discourse as though we are figments of the great invisible empire of womankind.
If I attempted to lay hold to any fictional text-discursively rendered experience of Black women, by themselves- I encounter a disturbing silence that acquires paradox, the status of contradiction.
Granted, the essay was published in 1984, so there has been some work published on Black women and sexuality such as Naked, Traps, Black Sexual Politics and Longing to Tell: Black women talk about Sex and Intimacy and I would imagine many others.
However, this profound silence still rings out loud in light of the presence of aspiring video vixens in rap videos, the desire of our little girls to be video vixens and our culture’s obsession with pimps and strip club culture in general.
This silence is deafeningly loud in the light of the fact that Black women were brought to the United States specifically to perform as laborers and to produce, via sex, more laborers.
As enslaved Africans residing in America, we held a very particular status, we were the Capital that Produced Capital, with capital being productive property.
This brings me back to why Zane sells. Zane sells because the women have sex in those books. They have affairs, they have sex with their husbands, some are lesbians, and dare I say it, some have sex with other women.
Speaking of sex with other women, I was very intrigued when I learned while researching this post that Zane’s latest title, Purple Panties, was being boycotted because it is about lesbian erotic fiction and it features two clearly Black women on the cover.
Welcome to the world of heterosexism.
Think about it like this.
If Black women aren’t allowed to have sex, then TWO most definitely are forbidden from doing so.
Even in the face of this boycott, Zane’s work stands a testament to the fact that erotic fiction, written by Black women, and arguably some Black men, is the place where we have found that we can have sex and not just simply produce capital or be called hos.
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of 
Marilyn wrote:
“When was the last time you saw a Black woman have a love interest and sex in a movie”
Wait, what?
Are you new to movies?
Posted 23 Sep 2008 at 9:59 am ¶
RoslynHolcomb wrote:
Long before Zane came along black women were having sex AND romance in books. There are dozens of black women who write romance novels, including me. Donna Hill, Monica Jackson, Deidre Savoy and countless others have been around for more than a decade.
Zane sells because she writes erotica. For lack of a better word porn sells and always will. It appeals to the prurient.
Posted 23 Sep 2008 at 10:00 am ¶
Latoya Peterson wrote:
@Marilyn,
Name a few.
I’ll throw some restrictions on you though.
The movie must be (1) mainstream (i.e., Hollywood made, not backed with an indie budget)
and (2) not a black movie, meaning that segregated genre in which blacks get to perform comedy, work for Tyler Perry, or relive our brief heyday in the 90s when black films (drama and comedy) were able to get a chunk of funding.
I can think of two in the last five years.
This gets a bit more complicated when we say love AND have sex.
(Other readers, feel free to play along.)
Posted 23 Sep 2008 at 10:09 am ¶
asada wrote:
@ Marilyn
I agree, in the movies blacks ( men and women) are having sex and plenty of it.
I think the author just wants the issue of sex and black womanhood not to be degraded. I’ve heard complains that the women are either ho’s or sexless. A happy medium would be nice, I suppose.
Posted 23 Sep 2008 at 10:42 am ¶
RainaWeather wrote:
well now I’m gonna have to read Purple Panties
Posted 23 Sep 2008 at 10:44 am ¶
Kepler wrote:
Re: Black women never having love interest or mate.
I think it has more to deal with the lack of fully developed characters available to black actors. Given most black actresses are offered to play the role of ‘best friend’ (a role that is rarely fleshed out, as this character serves as a cheap alternative to psychoanalysis), that isn’t much of a surprise. I’d be more interested in examining the ratio of asexual black female characters to sexual ones, because I have few recollections of black actresses offered a more substantial role than ho/prostitute/free-standing-lamp-in-the-background.
However, to play the game, here are a few off the top of my mind.
1. Lakeview terrace (centers around an interracial couple)
2. The women (Jada’s character is a lesbian)
3. Grey’s Anatomy (Chandra Wilson’s character is married; )
4. The L word (Jennifer Beal; Pam Grier)
5. The Wire (Sonja Sohn’s character)
I tried to focus on Love AND Sex. It’s not an impressive list, however, I am more of a bookworm than TV/Movie fan.
Posted 23 Sep 2008 at 11:01 am ¶
Brigitte wrote:
When I worked in a public library, teenage girls were the patrons that checked out Zane’s books the most.
I’m all for erotic fiction featuring Black women, I just find Zane’s fiction unreadable.
Posted 23 Sep 2008 at 11:08 am ¶
m.dot wrote:
The issue isn’t about Zane per se.
Zane is symbolic here.
Its about the moment we ARE sexual
we run the risk of being called 15 different kinds of ho’s especially in Pop Culture in General and Hip Hop specifically.
Karinne Stephans anyone?
Halle Berry in Monsters Ball?
Nola Darling in She’s Gotta Have it?
Hustle and Flow?
Where is our sex?
Again, I tie this to the fact that historically, we WERE brought to this country to have sex, WORK FOR free, and give birth to children that would work for free. The myth of the Black women as Hypersexual was created in those times (to keep us in our place and justify the exploitation) and haunts us today.
@Kepler
I think that is an astute point that
IT has to d o with developed characters.
Fully developed characters ARE human like, and subsequently have sex.
@ Marilyn
“When was the last time you saw a Black woman have a love interest and sex in a movie”
=======
And I would add, what was the power dynamic and was she made to look like
what we have been made to believe is a “ho”?
Posted 23 Sep 2008 at 11:27 am ¶
DEAF FEMINIST PUNK!! wrote:
LaToya, the only movie with a Black woman that involves sex and love I can think of right now is “How Stella Got Her Groove Back,” but I didnt see it cos it came out in the mid 90s and my parents wouldn’t let me watch that.
Posted 23 Sep 2008 at 11:33 am ¶
monica wrote:
Zane sells the same reason hood lit books sell. Mindless entertainment
Posted 23 Sep 2008 at 11:44 am ¶
Jamerican Muslimah wrote:
I have to agree with monica on this one!
Posted 23 Sep 2008 at 12:26 pm ¶
deb wrote:
Back in the day my mom used to read magazines like “Bronze Thrills” , “Jive” and “Sepia”, they were what you would call “confessionals.” These stories about love, lust, and lies where catered to a black, female audience. They weren’t porn (I don’t know if you could even call them soft porn) but they always involved romance. In hindsight: fluffy, escapist, chick lit.
Posted 23 Sep 2008 at 12:36 pm ¶
Kismet wrote:
@Marilyn
My first thought on love and sex was Love Jones. But then Latoya threw own the rules and I’m out of options. As @M.Dot notes–it is either love or sex and I can’t think of one following Latoya’s rules that does either in a way that is not degrading, disempowering or exotifying.
Including the ones @Kepler mentions. Chandra Wilson has yet to have sex on screen with her husband–and last I checked they were having strong-black-woman-has-a-career problems.
And as for Zane–I’ve got no problem with good erotica. And I’ve actually got no problem with teenage girls reading good erotica. I’d prefer they read Zane to porn, and it would be interesting to have a conversation about HOW TO have a conversation about Zane with a sixteen year old girl who is going to read/buy the book anyway.
But Zane isn’t porn. There is a big difference, namely the amount and character of domination and violence involved.
Thanks for the post, Latoya. I appreciate it.
Posted 23 Sep 2008 at 12:40 pm ¶
The Cruel Secretary wrote:
@ RosalynHolcomb–oooh, I think you’re about to step in the “erotica vs. romance novel” debate, friend. I’m not going to debate it with you, though, partly because I fear derailing the thread. I’ll offer my thoughts instead:
When I was in my pre-teen and teen years, romance novels were my erotica, from Harlequin Romances to Kathleen E. Woodiwiss. Yeah, the (usually hetero) romances were beautiful wrappings (or trappings, depending on zie’s viewpoint) to the sex scenes, which brought forth all sorts of lusty feelings in me–the definition of “prurient,” if I’m not mistaken. I have a dear friend who writes erotica who told me she and her friends would call each other and read the novels’ sex scenes to each other when they were the same age. Again, romance novels serving as erotica for a certain set of people.
Now, like older Black folks say, when I got grown and out my momma’s house, my first book of erotica by and about Black folks was Black Erotica/Erotique Noir, published in 1992–almost a decade before Zane’s Sex Chronicles;. An some of those short stories and poems read like the very same sex scenes I read when I was younger. The couples are just as in love and were just as lusty–and the scenes (again!) create the same lusty–prurient–feelings in me, too.
What I’m saying, Roslyn, is the line between romance novels and erotica may not be quite so clearly delineated, if based on just the “prurience” factor..or could it be that I’m just a prurient woman?:-D
Posted 23 Sep 2008 at 12:55 pm ¶
m.dot wrote:
@ Kismet
I’d prefer they read Zane to porn, and it would be interesting to have a conversation about HOW TO have a conversation about Zane with a sixteen year old girl who is going to read/buy the book anyway.
========
GURRRRl thats why Im starting Hip Hop and feminism study groups.
Learning about sexuality from Zane and Rap Videos in 2008 is NOT what the hood wants.
For certain.
Posted 23 Sep 2008 at 12:56 pm ¶
The Cruel Secretary wrote:
Damn…I’m bad with the HTML, aren’t I? Sorry about that, Racialicious crew!
Posted 23 Sep 2008 at 12:56 pm ¶
Ange wrote:
@Marilyn - Have YOU been watching movies? Sorry, the only thing I could come up with was “Love Jones” and that dropped about ten years ago and does not meet the guidelines as described by LT.
Miranda Bailey for all her complexity as a doctor is paper thin as a black woman. She’s not shown as particularly sexual and generally shown as a harpie who people were (surprised) to know she had a man (Remember season 2 or so when she was dolled up and Derek expressed shock about her having a man.)
I would say Tasha on the L word might be close in terms of a character having both love and sex, again, this is not exactly mainstream. Ditto for Jennifer Beals who gets all kinds of love and ass on the same show.
Posted 23 Sep 2008 at 12:58 pm ¶
The Cruel Secretary wrote:
@ Brigette–I’m all for erotic fiction featuring Black women, I just find Zane’s fiction unreadable.
You know that uncanny mind-reading ability you have? Yeah, we need to talk about that.:-D
@ m.dot–I know you said the post isn’t about Zane per se, but understanding why she sells. But then, you write:
Learning about sexuality from Zane and Rap Videos in 2008 is NOT what the hood wants.
Which gets me to thinking you have an opinion about the author herself. If I may ask, what is it? I know my feelings about her fiction–and I do give her props for her sex-advice book–but I feel really conflicted about her. Your thoughts?
Posted 23 Sep 2008 at 1:44 pm ¶
Angel H. wrote:
Movies:
1. “Something New” (maybe; not sure if it’s labeled as a “black” movie)
2….can’t think of anything else
THIS!!!!
Posted 23 Sep 2008 at 1:47 pm ¶
The Cruel Secretary wrote:
@ everyone–taking #16 back. It just looked bad when it said it was in moderation on my screen. Again, my apologies…
Mod Note - Sorry girl, I tend to just fix people’s messed up formatting if I see they forgot to close a tag. You weren’t tripping, that was me! - LDP
Posted 23 Sep 2008 at 1:48 pm ¶
The Cruel Secretary wrote:
@ Mod–LOL Thanks for that!
Posted 23 Sep 2008 at 2:02 pm ¶
Brigitte wrote:
What about Jason’s Lyric? If you can look past Allen Payne’s taco meat body hair, you have him and Jada making sweet love in a field of flowers which is probably the only time I’ve ever seen something like that in a movie.
Posted 23 Sep 2008 at 2:22 pm ¶
A.D. Nix wrote:
Taco meat????
Thandie Newton in Mission Impossible Boo, I mean, ‘2′ had sex and love (though she also had a record and was basically asked to to loan her body to The Cause.)
God. I do not see enough mainstream movies with black women.
Posted 23 Sep 2008 at 2:56 pm ¶
Pheagan wrote:
I just picked up a Zane book in Borders for the mindless entertainment angle. But it was fun, and you’re right. I also think that what women are looking for isn’t really satisfied by being a video vixen– it’s the same for white women. Although women who are video vixens might get something out of it, mainly they’re there for the men. Women of all color need to see THEIR desires in some narrative form– hence the popularity of mindless entertainment like Sex and the City, and Zane, and the good stuff like Their Eyes Were Watching God, or on the white side Lady Chatterly’s Lover.
Posted 23 Sep 2008 at 2:59 pm ¶
gatamala wrote:
If you can look past Allen Payne’s taco meat body hair
*logs off*
Posted 23 Sep 2008 at 3:50 pm ¶
m.dot wrote:
@ The Cruel Secretary
Which gets me to thinking you have an opinion about the author herself. If I may ask, what is it? I know my feelings about her fiction–and I do give her props for her sex-advice book–but I feel really conflicted about her. Your thoughts?
========
I have read her work.
However, I am the only person, of my crew who will do High Brow, Low and Middle Brow. Meaning in the last week I have read Paul Beaty’s Slumberland, Karrine Stephans The Video Vixen Diaries and I am trying to jack Latoya for her Advanced copy of Tricia Roses new book The Hip Hop Wars **hint hint**.
Have I read Zane in the past, yes. Now? No. However, I don’t read a lot of Black erotica anymore, in general. I found that I read a lot of it when I was in a relationship that was, ahem, erotica free, if you will.
Zane’s writing is okay. I am not of the mind that all Black women need to bring it like Alice or Zora.
As I have said before, what moves me about Zane is how Black women love her work.
When you get on the subway Black folks are reading street lit or reading her.
Posted 23 Sep 2008 at 3:56 pm ¶
EvilAngelfish wrote:
Sorry to veer off topic, but has anyone else seen the commercials for Cinemax’s new “urban erotic series” (their words, not mine), based on Zane’s novels, premiering on October 10th? I’ve never read any of Zane’s fiction (I like about an 80-20 distribution of novel when it comes to erotica novels), but according to the commercials, the series centers around 5 of her protagonists (all women of color; I think 3 are black and 2 are latinas) and their sex/love lives. Not that I watch “skinamax” or anything, but I am curious to see how this series treats the characters and their stories…
Posted 23 Sep 2008 at 4:03 pm ¶
Latoya Peterson wrote:
@M - Dot:
As I have said before, what moves me about Zane is how Black women love her work.
When you get on the subway Black folks are reading street lit or reading her.
Cosign. I’m generally not moved to pick up a lot of erotica but I did grab some Zane just to see what the hell the big deal was. I would be on the train, and women were just open mouthed, staring at the page. (Same thing with E Lynn Harris and whoever wrote B-boys Blues.)
But you want my advance copy of HHW? Hmm…that’s going to take some serious trade especially since the interview was off the chains. The politics of the word ho, how sexually explicit isn’t always exploitative, power dynamics, homophobia, hip-hop culture beyond the US black/white binary…
Nah, nah, nah - It’s too good. Permanent hip-hop feminist canon fodder. You would have to have serious intellectual weight to get me to part with this one.
@Kismet - This was M. Dot’s post. My ideas on sexuality are a little different, but I love the connections she makes between capital and appropriate sexuality. My rules stand though - a lot of the stuff we are coming up with is from that fab period in the 90s.
@Keppler - I’ve got some issues with the women you choose to illustrate with, but I will leave that for another post. Good job with the list though.
@EvilAngelFish -
Hmm. no, never heard of it. Anyone have Skinemax and want to take a peek?
Posted 23 Sep 2008 at 4:15 pm ¶
m.dot wrote:
Latoya,
You like how I sneaked that Tricia Rose book
grab in…right? Lols…
Our theories on sexuality differ?
I am intrigued.
Perhaps we can do a post about it.
{Gap toothed} Smile.
Posted 23 Sep 2008 at 5:53 pm ¶
alices wrote:
Erotique Noire is one of the best erotica anthologies around, period. The original copy I bought while on foreign study is still dog-eared and well-worn, and holds a prominent place on my bedroom bookshelf.
I used to read a lot of romance novels/romantica. But the constant barrage of porcelain-skinned heroines with silken hair…it gets old. For better or worse, readers hunger to see themselves in the pages, and erotica is certainly no exception. My first forays into writing erotica were exactly because I didn’t see characters that looked like me: no soft, springy hair, no caramel-colored skin, no plush lips. And no man (or woman!) to want that. It was — is — a rebellion of sorts.
Posted 23 Sep 2008 at 8:07 pm ¶
superchunk12 wrote:
I don’t like Zane, the BIG GLARING reason is her normative heterosexuality. Additionally, objectification of women. She gives certain conventionally attractive Black women permission to be sexy, I read about 5 pages of a story in her SEX anthology where she described a woman who was constantly repeating her measurements, insisting she was fit, and didn’t need to exercise to be beautiful. Of course she didn’t. The woman was like 5′9 and 125lbs . To me, she isn’t doing anything revolutionary to help the sexuality of anyone, she’s using the masters tools.
Posted 23 Sep 2008 at 9:31 pm ¶
Versai wrote:
I have Cinemax and saw the 15 minute sneak peak “on Demand” and honestly, it looks like the other skin flicks they show late night/early morning. I do remember thinking that the women had all passed the “paper bag ” test though and wondered if any of their were any darker skinned woman in the series.
Posted 23 Sep 2008 at 10:46 pm ¶
defmunition wrote:
*Disclaimer: I have not read this book, and I am not familiar with this particular author.*
I have thought about it, and I have come to the conclusion that the only real definition of ho can be:
ho (n) : 1. a derogatory name for a sociopath (m/f/t) who uses sex to manipulate people or get things. 2. a derogatory name for a sex worker. 3. an insult used to demean a female by projecting aforementioned connotations of hypersexuality and worthlessness upon her simply because she is female.
I have to admit that I hate romance novels, but if it connects with people, then that’s a good thing, I think. Personally, I don’t understand the fascination with this kind of stuff, but to each their own. I guess the thing that bothers me about it is that there is an emphasis on the identity of women as romantic and sexual beings first, and intellectual beings second. In other words, women are bodies with minds, instead of minds with bodies. The idea that the ultimate fulfillment of womanhood is sex or romance bothers me. There is more to life than just that for women isn’t there? I feel like this kind of stuff is so empty and thin, giving one-dimensional versons of soap-style trysts. To me, this genre (including Tyler Perry) is on the level of Goosebumps. I realize that for some people, it is GROUNDBREAKING, and I don’t want to take away from their insight into themselves and their communities. I also understand that Erotica and Romance novels have a purpose that is very well defined, but I can’t help wanting romance and sexuality to be seamlessly integrated into more meaningful and interesting narratives!
I guess people just like to keep their grits out of their eggs, and maybe I just have to accept the fact that there will be no black erotic/romantic literary masterpiece in our time.
Posted 23 Sep 2008 at 11:46 pm ¶
Tara Betts wrote:
I would say that there’s a range of titles that cover a lot of ideas of Black sexuality. What about the Brown Sugar series or Black Women’s Erotica 1 & 2?
Or even the classic “Black Erotica/Erotique Noire”? I know I’ve seen that on Black folks’ shelves in many house since it popped up in the 1990s.
As far as the movies, we might be pressed, but there are lots of independent filmmakers who are trying to show a range of black people in a variety of relationships. It’s just a shame that they don’t get promotion budgets, festival access and other resources. Anyone up for researching Black film festivals?
Posted 24 Sep 2008 at 12:32 am ¶
RoslynHolcomb wrote:
@M.dot, there are plenty of romance novels that don’t have ‘porcelain-skinned heroines’ and there have been for fifteen years or so now. Mainstream publishers like Harlequin publish them and they’re widely available.
@The Cruel Secretary, I don’t think there’s a question that there’s a difference between erotica and romance. Even more clearly defined now with the e-publishers and their erotica. I don’t think there’s anything necessarily wrong with it. I just question the notion that no one was writing about black women getting some until Zane, and that’s simply untrue. There are tons of black women writing about sex and romance long before Zane came along.
Posted 24 Sep 2008 at 8:08 am ¶
N wrote:
I think the issue isn’t black women having sex. The sexuality of black women is everywhere. We have a hypersexualized image.
The differences is that we dont usually OWN it. We’re being sold or traded or exploited or used. Portrayals of women who have mutally beneficial sex and who are not OBJECTS of desire, but normal humans who desire, are rare.
Posted 24 Sep 2008 at 8:36 am ¶
Fiqah wrote:
Ridiculously happy that you cited the brilliant Hortense Spillers - my favorite critical race/gender theorist and the queen of my deconstructive analysis world - in this piece. Well done.
Posted 24 Sep 2008 at 11:51 am ¶
Michelle wrote:
M.Dot,
We are going to have to agree to disagree on this one.
I believe that the reason why Zane sells is because of Jesus.
Hear me out.
I have read a few of her books. At the end of each book, the characters out of pocket, gleeful sexuality is always rationalized away as “I had a split personality” and couldn’t help it, or “I had a repressed memory of abuse” and couldn’t help it. In the end, all the characters find salvation with a marriage/stable relationship, and they go on home to Jesus/church knowing that they will be saved for their sins cause all that raunchy sex was not really their fault.
Zane plays into the very stereotype that Black women have bought into. As a whole, there is a narrative that runs through our lives that says that as Black Women we must keep our legs closed other wise we are hoes (hos? hose?) or worse. We have bought into that and as a result, repress ourselves and our sexuality. AS A WHOLE PEOPLE, NOT ALL OF US. I am speaking about a thread that runs in the background of our conversations about ourselves.
Zane offers a raunchy, nasty, dirty, rip roaring good time through the back alleyways of sexual expression and gratification and then offers the characters and by extension, readers, absolution when the characters leave their nasty ways behind as they sit in their first Nymphomaniacs Anonymous class, with the trusty therapist and fine ass man who really loves them standing by their side.
Posted 24 Sep 2008 at 1:39 pm ¶
bdsista wrote:
Ok anyone remember the movie Tap with Gregory Hines? That had a really nice love scene. I review romances for an online zine and there are a LOT of Black romance writers. My favorite is Beverly Jenkins who writes historical and contemporary fiction but the characters connect via lineage. Also Anita Richmond Bunkley who also writes in both historical and contemporary genres. I have read some Zane and some writers she promotes and I would agree that its not deep and not always pretty. I do kinda feel that its not entirely appropriate for teens.
Posted 24 Sep 2008 at 7:56 pm ¶
Chele Belle wrote:
Movies that feature Black adults being romantic/sexual:
G starring Richard T. Jones and Blair Underwood and the very pretty Cheona Maxwell
ASUNDER starring Blair Underwood
MIAMI VICE[the movie] starring Jamie Fox and Naomie Harris
Posted 25 Sep 2008 at 3:17 pm ¶
Monia wrote:
“Beg Me” by Lisa Lawrence is a well written black erotic book, imo….it is part murder mystery, part action, with great multicultural sex scenes (and not all heterosexual). She has another book, “Strip Poker” that is pretty good too. Zane’s writing irritates me. I used to read her work simply because I wanted some erotica with black women in it. I have always thought that perhaps I need to write my own…
Posted 25 Sep 2008 at 3:56 pm ¶
just me wrote:
Let me just say that…. I am a white female who has found no other better female porn than ZANE!!!!!!! She is damn good at how she writes sex scenes in literature.
Posted 25 Sep 2008 at 4:00 pm ¶
Michelle wrote:
Oh!
All About Us, starring Boris Kudjoe. Well, it is an independent, but still. Boris is fine and it is about a relationship between a husband and wife.
Posted 25 Sep 2008 at 11:02 pm ¶
kerrita k. wrote:
uhm.
akira’s hip hop shop - my most fave recent purchase. :0)
brown sugar - i didn’t think it was a “black film” per se. in part because it didn’t feel boys in the hoodish. does class count as a ‘black movie’ descriptor?
flirting - out of australia - starring thandie newton - but about a million years ago.
and dudes - there’s a lot, lot of erotica and erotica romance (another sub-genre) out there starring or featuring fully-formed women of color. lots. Shelly Laurenston, Jeanne Laws, Sylvia Day,
Maya Reynolds, Nalini Singh, immediately come to mind.
Posted 26 Sep 2008 at 1:14 pm ¶
KyhaTheWriter wrote:
You all should listen to what RoslynHolcomb has been saying because she’s right! Also since no one can think of a movie with black romantic lead I did. I’m so surprised no one else has thought of it. That movie would be “Dreamgirls”!
Not a lot of people would consider this an option but it is and if you knew anything about writing and publishing or producing you would know why! There is a such thing as having sex in a film or movie without appearing to do so. This could also be just as erotic as watching it happen. Again, if you knew anything about writing or even watching a movie you’d know this!
Erotica has been out way before Zane came into play. The reason why she has been able to sale so much is because of that age old clever marketing and a good synopsis to the publisher! It has nothing to do with the sex or the erotica. Hell, anybody with a good healthy sexual appetite can write erotica! The challenge is writing around the genre. Now has anyone watched her new show on Cinemax “The Sex Chronicles”? It started out great but now then it started getting dull but now it’s interesting again because they’re adding “Buddha” from “I love New York 2″ to the cast!
Oh yeah, some of the other movies I know that fits inside the box set by Latoya:
Perfect Stranger, Things We Lost in the Fire, Strange Days, The Score, Swordfish, Guess Who, The Preacher’s Wife (again one of those movies where sex is present without appearing to be so), The Bodyguard, and I would say Crash but it was an indie movie, Ray (and I can’t believe how you folks missed that one), Clerks 2, and BadBoys 2 to name a few! I can name a hell of a lot more because I do watch movies, films, what have you. I also write movies, films, what have you and just because I do it doesn’t mean that it don’t count. Whether I have it backed by a huge budget (which I am) or an indie budget it doesn’t mean that you (Latoya) can put me in a box, which by the way is hideous, that says I’m not legit. No matter where the idea comes from if it’s been produced where thousands or millions have watched it that should be legitimate enough for even you!
Posted 08 Nov 2008 at 8:37 pm ¶