Red Tails Does The Media Rounds: Are George Lucas’ Fans Listening?

The pedigree question was surprising because it was so clear both men had thought bubbles above their heads saying “it’s a race thing.” Stewart even ignored when his audience cheered enthusiastically at the movie having all Black actors for leads.  

Will admit, I had zero interest in seeing this movie before I saw the Lucas interview. (I assumed it was a regular woo-planes-and-guns war movie.)  I think I didn’t even realize it was historical because I saw clips of the Black pilots. (Sad that I never would have guessed WWII.)  Now I have a definite plan to see it.

Other sad part: I sometimes skip the interviews on the Daily Show, and if they did have one of the actors from the movie, there’s a chance I would have skipped it.  But I stayed for Lucas…And I don’t even like Star Wars that much.  

I look forward to supporting this film and am hoping that it has a positive effect on the efforts of Black filmmakers, directors, and story writers.  I also hope people become aware of just how much resistance even George freakin Lucas gets when he wants to make a movie with all Black leads…and what that implies for the *rest* of the entertainment industry.  It really brought it home for me: I never would have guessed that people would say “No” to Lucas. This is definitely making me think about all the brilliant directors and actors that are and could have been, that I don’t know about, because the only green the industry can currently imagine is white. 

I hope this movie does well for a variety of reasons. I teach aviation history and make a big deal pointing out the struggles of Blacks, women  and other non-white, non-males in aviation. I am also struck by how few people, even in aviation, know of the Tuskeegee Airmen and the WASPs and their struggles.

I also loved the comment by Lucas: “This is as close as you’ll ever get to Episode VII.” I have often wondered if we are all so centrally focused on our own racial, religious, ethnic and national identities that we cannot identify with another person being oppressed unless they are just like us – or at least not different enough to become “other. ”

I sure hope people will watch and identify with the very real people portrayed in this movie.

I hope this movie does well for a variety of reasons. I teach aviation history and make a big deal pointing out the struggles of Blacks, women  and other non-white, non-males in aviation. I am also struck by how few people, even in aviation, know of the Tuskeegee Airmen and the WASPs and their struggles.

I also loved the comment by Lucas: “This is as close as you’ll ever get to Episode VII.” I have often wondered if we are all so centrally focused on our own racial, religious, ethnic and national identities that we cannot identify with another person being oppressed unless they are just like us – or at least not different enough to become “other. ”

I sure hope people will watch and identify with the very real people portrayed in this movie.

Agreed! 

George must have exec produced this one, because imdb notes other people as director & screenwriter? (for which I am thankful)

I hate how Jon Stewart played dumb. I hope he just did that for the TV and doesn’t actually believe that the reluctance to take on this movie wasn’t racially motivated. 

I am going to see the shit out of this movie. I’m actually looking forward to it, which has been a long time coming with Lucas’ muddy-fuddling with Star Wars.

Agreed, was disappointed in that. Think I remember Lucas being quite clear about it though, and saying something about it being because it was a movie starring black people, which was pretty awesome. Will have to watch it again to be certain.

I’m not a fan of Lucas’s work. But, while I appreciate that he made this movie and that it has a stellar cast of Black actors, I would love for directors like Lukas to make a film like Star Wars with a cast that’s people of color. In other words, a “regular” movie with Black, Latinas/os, Asian, filipinas/os actors in it. That’s difference. That’s change. Don’t get me wrong, more films about people of color need to be made, but white audiences have been taught to dismiss films about the Black experience. If you make a “green,” movie like a Star Wars episodes, with an all Black cast or a predominantly Black cast, white folks are more likely to go see it. (Don’t get me wrong, good on Lukas. Yay!) Also, the Daily Show, as much as I love it, has always skirted around the issues of race. He is the face of white liberals. He’ll point out egregious racism but doesn’t really dig in. He’s a surface man. And being comedian does not mean he can’t be held to the same standards as a “real” newsman. All art forms are political. Although, I was shocked last night to see Jessica Williams, who I believe to be the first Black female correspondent. Let’s hope she gets some serious air time. 

I generally do not go see “war movies” but I do see science fiction ones, so I suppose I am part of the Lucas fan base, despite Episode I-III and Lucas’s futzing with what was, to some of us, his classic work.   That said, after reading this, YES, I do intend to go see this movie.  I like to be entertained and am bored to tears with unrealistic/white-washed casting.  I want my entertainment to look like *my* world, *my* family, and *my” friends. Seems then like supporting this effort with my $ is a “vote” for what I’d like to see more of from Hollywood.

I loved the dig at Glory!

Where “Green” Hollywood is totally missing the boat is that the reason a lot of “black” films don’t do well is that it doesn’t culturally resonate with white america, or the rest of the world, hence the comment regarding oversees distribution. This movie is massively and substantially different though. It’s a historical movie… heck at 75 years old, this story is practically a period piece. It’s really not the color of the actors’ skin that turns people off to a movie. 78% of those who voted for Obama were not black. The issue is with the culture. This movie is set in a completely different culture. I for one was totally excited to see it from the first time I saw the trailer. It looks awesome, and the performances (from what you can see in a two minute trailer) were stellar.

So, yeah, I want to see this movie, and no, I wouldn’t really be interested in going and seeing an urban comedy set in modern Chicago. It’s not because I don’t want to see black people on screen, as Hollywood seems to think, it’s because I can’t connect to that lifestyle and it doesn’t interest me. Red Tails does.

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“A completely different culture”? This movie is about black AMERICANS—it’s an American movie—probably not that different from the average Hollywood film, except that it focuses on black people as the leads for a change. I find your comment silly because a lot of Americans (including myself) watch films from different cultures around the world ALL the time,some of which have been successful in this country despite the language barriers. You make it sound like African-American culture is some weird,mysterious culture that no one can understand outside of the U.S. borders. Considering that AA culture has been hugely popular overseas (in terms of music & fashion) in parts of Europe, Japan, Africa, & other countries for years, what you’re saying dosen’t make any sense, period.

The real reason black films don’t always make it big in the overseas markets is because the lily-white distribution system is still run by folks  stuck with  these outdated attitudes/assumptions that black films don’t sell, apparently because according to them, overseas audiences can’t relate to a main character being black , but yet they don’t mind only white leads ALL the damn time—yeah, right. Basically, because of these stupid beliefs, the distributors won’t promote black films, therefore it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy that these films don’t sell BECAUSE they aren’t promoted. There’s nothing THAT inherently weird or difficult about these films that would make them THAT a hard of a sell all the time to every foreign country.  It’s just the white distributors’ racist attiudes against anything that dosen’t focus 100% on white people simply because THEY aren’t interested in black films. That part about black films not selling overseas is an excuse they’re used for years—how do they explain Denzel’s,Will Smith’s and Eddie Murphy’s box office successes, both foreign & domestic, then? Give me a break!  I would love to see this film, mainly because it seems like African-Americans’ contributions to World War II always get overlooked—hell, MOST of our contributions to this country ALWAYS get overlooked, no matter what the hell we do—you should see how many sites I go to where any comment about race degenerates into “Black people always want something for nothing, they’s always on welfare,” and all this other ignorant BS.  If RED TAILS ever makes it to my neck of the woods (the Detroit tri-county area) I sure enough am going to see it. It’s sad that even in this day & age, promoting a film with all-black leads is even STILL an issue in the age of Obama—that’s pretty pathetic in itself!

How old is Mr. Pero in that he can relate to the “culture” of a film set in WW2 era but not modern-day Chicago? What “culture” is he talking about when he thinks of “black” film? There’s various cultural differences even within the black community so i have to question if it’s just black people he feels he can’t relate to or find interest in? He points out that 78 percent of Obama voters weren’t black. That being the case, i would expect those same people to be able to have no problem seeing a movie with all black leads, whether or not it was historical or modern day.

Thank you, Logoskaieros. When boiled down to its basic components, it all comes down to money. And Hollywood said NO to George Lucas….and he said, no matter, I’ll do it myself.
1. I’m sitting here in my living room, husband glued to “We Wew Soldiers,” a Vietnam war story not told in history classes BUT GREEN AND WHITE ENOUGH to get funded.
GO SEE “REDTAILS!!”
2. My husband graduated from Aviation High School in NYC & I worked at Grumman for almost 20 years. HE told me the backstory of the reason they even bothered to train ‘colored men’ to fly.
GO SEE “REDTAILS!!!”
3. We live on L.I., and had 2 or 3 of the 4 surviving Tuskegee Airmen living here. The Cradle of Aviation Museum here (yeah, every knows, from where Lindbergh embarked!!) had them there, and I made my sons & 2 of their friends go wit us, and take pictures with them, because these men ARE LIVING HISTORY, WHETHER THE LEARNED IT IN SCHOOL OR NOT!!

This

A Big slap in the face to Michelle Obama too, the first ever Black First Lady. One of her main campaigns has been supporting military families and soldiers  in every way.

ANd Aaron McGruder and the other two BLACK MALE directors on this movie chose to leave out Black women, which could have taught young kids and teens just how much support Black women have given to  gave Black men in the military, and others Americans in general.

Michelle Obama should tell them all to shove it, and kiss her beautiful Black a*ss. F*ck these people, seriously. You can do nothing right for them – Black men like McGruder and co, or white racists women and men.

I don’t believe that Hollyweird tries to make other races of women more accessible to black men. Why would they when they try to export the belief that most black men are all gang members, rappers,  drug dealers, killers, rapists and anything negative and stereotypical that you can think of. “Why would these women want such men?” is what many of them think.

However, I agree with the stance that many white Americans do not want to see a “black movie” based on superficial beliefs about black people.

While assigned to Panama I went to and rented a number of movies, and they loved the action movies whether they had white or non-white leads. Good movies will sell anywhere, but they have to be marketed properly.

I notice Hollywood doesn’t put the same grade on movies that don’t do well with a non-POC cast. How many romantic comedies with all/mostly non-POC casts have been flops, and yet they keep right on making them?