Think Like A Man…Just Not In France
Courtesy: film_poster
By Guest Contributor Fabienne Flessel, cross-posted from Global Voices
Just weeks after the debate surrounding the election of Miss Black France 2012, another question is being discussed by French people of African descent: the cancellation of the release of the American movie Think Like A Man in movie theaters.
How does an American movie find a place in the French social debate?
Surprising as it may be, the answer lies in the fact that the film has an all-black cast. French cinema is often pointed at for not fairly displaying all components of the country’s multiethnic population. Although the recent success of the movie Les Intouchables, which earned French African actor Omar Sy the Cesar award for Best Actor in 2012, caused great pride and hope among French nationals from Africa and the Caribbean, it was not to be the turning point for a deep and lasting change.
Martinican blogger Bondamanjak is very cynical after this tainted victory, as he explains that Omar Sy’s award nomination did not come all naturally but was rather due to the great number of viewers in theaters.
Et la France comme un seul homme oublie que Omar Sy ne figurait pas sur la liste des nominés aux Césars […] Il a fallu que ‘Intouchables’ touche la barre des 19 000 000 d’entrées que ça râle un peu beaucoup pour que ce flagrant délit de mauvais scénario soit reconnu par l’immonde monde du cinéma français. Mais qu’on se rassure, cette récompense n’est qu’une opportuniste goutte d’eau dans un désert qui avance.
And all French people as one man forget that Omar Sy was not initially shortlisted as a nominee for the Cesars […] It was only when the ‘Intouchables’ reached 19 000 000 viewers in theaters, that people started calling out to the French movie industry about its indignant attitude, and that they acknowledged the wrong. However be sure that this award is only an opportunistic drop of water in a desert which keeps moving forward.
How can racial profiling in cinema be explained?
Martinican blog People Bo Kay reposts a note published on the Facebook page of Negro News, entitled “France does not want all-black couples in movies”. This analysis, which has now gone viral, develops ideas about communalism and politics in France, which are supposed to explain the rejection of the movie.
Il faut rappeler qu’il y a dans l’État français, une stratégie socio-politique qui tend à prôner le métissage plutôt que la valorisation des communautés. Dans la comédie ‘Think like a Man’, les couples noirs sont mis en avant.
The French state has had a sociopolitical strategy which favors interracial relationships rather than valuing communities. In the comedy Think like a Man, the focus is on black couples.
According to this note, the other explanation to the blocking of African-American films in France (despite their profitability) is that:
À noter, les films de l’acteur et producteur noir Tyler Perry ne sont jamais programmés dans les salles françaises ou alors ils sortent directement en DVD. Pourtant ce producteur a pour habitude de dominer le box-office américain avec des films comme ‘Why did I get Married’ et “For Colored Girls”. La société française dans toute son hypocrisie ne veut surtout pas diffuser des films de producteurs noirs qui gagnent des millions de dollars en faisant passer un message positif pour la diaspora africaine grâce à leurs films.
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