Red Tails

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  • Red Tails

    http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mo...2/george-lucas
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1197227.html
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpA6TC0T_Lw

    why is it, really that white people will not support all black casts? black people watch movies and tv shows with only white people all the time.

    spielburg (the color purple which lost to out of africa in the oscar race... a movie about 2 white people in africa 25 yrs ago) and lucas have industry clout and still have a hard time with it. if you build (support and distribute) it, they will come.

    btw -- this is NOT guilt-ridden lucas apologizing for jar jar binks

  • #2
    Re: Red Tails

    Originally posted by NikeeGoddess View Post
    http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mo...2/george-lucas
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1197227.html
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpA6TC0T_Lw

    why is it, really that white people will not support all black casts? black people watch movies and tv shows with only white people all the time.

    spielburg (the color purple which lost to out of africa in the oscar race... a movie about 2 white people in africa 25 yrs ago) and lucas have industry clout and still have a hard time with it. if you build (support and distribute) it, they will come.

    btw -- this is NOT guilt-ridden lucas apologizing for jar jar binks
    I have no answer for your actual question. Maybe it's latent racism? A disconnect between separate "cultures" within the same nation? I have no idea.

    But I wanna ask: why is that you never capitalize anything in your posts?

    I ask this with genuine curiosity. Also, because it makes it just a little bit harder to read.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Red Tails

      Originally posted by NikeeGoddess View Post
      http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mo...2/george-lucas
      http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1197227.html
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpA6TC0T_Lw

      why is it, really that white people will not support all black casts? black people watch movies and tv shows with only white people all the time.

      spielburg (the color purple which lost to out of africa in the oscar race... a movie about 2 white people in africa 25 yrs ago) and lucas have industry clout and still have a hard time with it. if you build (support and distribute) it, they will come.

      btw -- this is NOT guilt-ridden lucas apologizing for jar jar binks

      What a silly, sweeping generalization. Maybe because "Red Tails" looks like a trite, boring movie? First of all, any movie is less likely to have an "all black cast", because blacks are a minority in this country...there's just less of them. However, a number of films with black leads, or black-led casts have done well (even if they sucked...as do plenty of predominantly "white movies".)

      Big Momma's House - 171 million
      Blazing Saddles - 120 million
      Nutty Professor II - 162 million
      Nutty Professor I - 130 million
      Coming to America - 128 million

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Red Tails

        Originally posted by CthulhuRises View Post
        What a silly, sweeping generalization. Maybe because "Red Tails" looks like a trite, boring movie?
        Good point. Wasn't there a predominantly white cast in a similar movie a few years ago? It was called Fly Boys or something.

        I didn't see Fly Boys and I won't see Red Tails. Maybe it's just Air Force films that the viewing public isn't interested in?

        Again, I just don't know.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Red Tails

          Yeah, I don't think Lucas is being particularly honest when he implies that the movie wasn't greenlighted because it was an all black cast. (I saw The Daily Show segment online yesterday, but haven't read the "liberal" outcry about this.)

          As Cthulhu says, it looks trite and boring. Hell, the clip on The Daily Show didn't do anything for me, and Lucas himself says it's "old-fashioned [and] corny". He may have been joking, but considering his work in the past, I don't think he's really joking. And he's definitely misinformed or lying when he says it's one of the first "all-black action movies ever made".

          It's a pet-project for him, one the studios didn't want to do 'cause they've been burned by these types of projects in the past, even with all-white casts.

          HH

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Red Tails

            I don't think Lucas is being particularly honest when he implies that the movie wasn't greenlighted because it was an all black cast.
            Put Will Smith or Denzel Washington in the cast and it's a GO. Cuba Gooding Jr? I'd be worried about making my money back as well.

            Honestly, if I ran a studio I wouldn't want to talk to Lucas unless it involved Start Wars or Indiana Jones. Those at least make money. Remove those two franchises and his track record sucks.

            'ol George is trying to drum up some publicity me thinks. The 90's called and they want the race card back.

            CthulhuRises, you forgot Glory, Boomerang and Posse.
            Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Red Tails

              Originally posted by CthulhuRises View Post
              Big Momma's House - 171 million
              Blazing Saddles - 120 million
              Nutty Professor II - 162 million
              Nutty Professor I - 130 million
              Coming to America - 128 million
              all comedies. i was talking about big budget action/adventure.

              i didn't see fly boys, but never knew james franco and jean reno were black. or it a diff movie?

              it is a sweeping generalization, and i figured people would use that as a way to just sweep the whole thing under the rug and declare the issue a crap topic.

              wonder if we'll have another all-white academy awards again like last year.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Red Tails

                Originally posted by NikeeGoddess View Post
                it is a sweeping generalization, and i figured people would use that as a way to just sweep the whole thing under the rug and declare the issue a crap topic.
                Well, it is a crap issue. It's not even a crap-issue; it's a non-issue. Lucas tells himself that his movie didn't get the backing he wanted because of race. Fine. That's how he sleeps at night. But we don't need to buy into that fantasy just 'cause he does.

                HH

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Red Tails

                  fantasy? seriously? wow, you just busted this wide open.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Red Tails

                    Is NikeeGoddess trolling?
                    Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Red Tails

                      It is substantially more difficult to get a movie made if the cast is all black. Denzel does not push you over the top. Race plays a huge factor. But the conversation on how race affects B.O. is so wild and all over the place it's pointless to get into it with execs.

                      So there is truth to what Lucas is saying: the all black cast makes it near impossible to get a movie greenlit. Fly Boys probably had an easier time getting made than Red Tail...in fact, I think Lucas had to pay out of pocket, no?

                      However, the "reasons" many of my collegues list as to why it's not racism are bullsh!t...but smarter men than me have failed at counter arguing.

                      The problem is, Hollywood points to "black" movies (like Tyler Perry or Boyz In the Hood) as proof that skin color doesn't play overseas. However, Paul Thomas Anderson movies don't play overseas either, even with stars like Tom Cruise in them. The B.O. problem is content, not color.

                      The idea that the world embracing Will Smith, Michael Jackson, Michael Jordan as "exceptions" flies in the face of what racism is. If audiences overseas don't like black people, they don't like black people.

                      It's daunting. You always hear Will Smith is the 'exception' (now I guess his son is an exception by default). Jackie Chan's only global smashes star Chris Tucker "But...blahblahblahblahblah." I often hear that Denzel doesn't matter overseas unless he has a white co-star of equal stature (though they won't say the same about the co-stars -- ie., Travolta or Foster). And if you bring up Deja Vous the argument shifts, "well that's a Bruckheimer movie".

                      And so on. Again, very daunting.

                      Red Tails will bomb because it looks bad. The same reason Fly Boys bombed.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Red Tails

                        Originally posted by haroldhecuba View Post
                        Well, it is a crap issue. It's not even a crap-issue; it's a non-issue. Lucas tells himself that his movie didn't get the backing he wanted because of race. Fine. That's how he sleeps at night. But we don't need to buy into that fantasy just 'cause he does.

                        HH
                        You think race doesn't play into it?

                        I've walked into meetings that started with, "we don't make black movies."

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Red Tails

                          I got news for y'all -- George Lucas is a billionaire. He doesn't need Hollywood money to make a film. He did, in fact, totally finance Red Tails. He also paid for the marketing costs (P&A). 20th Century Fox is only the distributor for which it takes a fee (%). George Lucas has about $93-million of his own money at risk on the movie.

                          Don't be hatin' on Mr. Lucas cause the brotha puts his money where his mouth is. Unlike most of Hollywood.

                          BTW, Red Tails is based on the Tuskegee Airmen. It's their story up on the screen. They gave beaucoup input to the writers & director during the creative process. I might add that the director, as well as writers, are African American.

                          http://www.tuskegeeairmen.org/

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Red Tails

                            The Tuskegee Airmen is a compelling historic story and I always wondered why it was ignored when considering all the other WW2 films over the decades.

                            And I guess Battle Dolphin's post explains why.

                            I've walked into meetings that started with, "we don't make black movies."
                            But blaming it on international audiences is really cute. "It's not us. It's all those racist foreign people."
                            Advice from writer, Kelly Sue DeConnick. "Try this: if you can replace your female character with a sexy lamp and the story still basically works, maybe you need another draft.-

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Red Tails

                              The Tuskegee Airmen is a great story (my dad was a World War II ball turrett gunner and said they saved his life several times). There was a wonderful HBO movie with Lawrence Fishburne about them back in the mid-90's. That one did the job for me. With that said, I saw the interview with Lucas on The Daily Show. He was down on the studios for not coming on board this effort. Normally, I like anti-studio sentiment but in this case I would have to agree with the studios that there's probably not a huge audience for this. Definitely not to cover the big budget route Lucas is taking.

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