- March 4, 2001 - Cinequest 11 - Black Maverick Filmmaker Showcase - San Jose, CA
- In the real world, at least in the United States, there is one constant that never seems to go away. That is blame. Blame is something that gets placed anywhere except where it usually should be. In one strong instance, racism and bigotry are blames that are all too easily tossed around much like kindling on a fire. When one fails at their goal, it is easy to blame somebody else for one's downfall. Such was the case study of the Black Maverick Filmmaker Showcase that was hosted by Cinequest.
Cinequest has been known to hold classy films and panels that showcase the brightest stars and the most hopeful futures. During this particular panel, the focus tended to be on what is wrong with the industry. Worse yet, it was all too narrowly focused on how Blacks can keep their films Black. It rarely strayed into the market of "How can we appeal to a larger audience as well as make some income." The discussion was too closed off into personal affairs which makes seeing the big picture all that much harder. There was the problem of stereotype casting, of Black writers and directors not getting to pitch their products due to shutdown, and of no real money coming back into Black pockets. One might have gotten the impression that this was organized by the Black Panthers for all the positive information that was doled out - not much.
Speaking of the Panthers, scheduled guest Angela Davis was not able to attend due to an illness and Spike Lee, who was in town, just didn't make it. This left a panel that included former San Francisco 49er (and current CEO of YMotion) Dr. Jamie Williams, filmmaker/rapper Doug E. Doug, and two others. The audience was a challenge with some very opinionated characters voicing their thoughts.
Moderator Jamie Williams held court in a fine fashion but never once got into the true meat and cutting edge of what is going on in the industry, as well as in Black society. He never brought issues up of how to better integrate audiences into acceptance. These are things that are truly important, not the Pablum fare that was talked about.
The most amazing aspect of the evening was the following: All throughout the panel and audience participation, there were subtle, and some pointed, accusations of bigotry playing a big part in Black filmmakers not being able to get noticed by the public. "Whitey keeping us down" seemed to be the topic over and over. Thus, racism and bigotry seemed to be the answer. This would have been fine, and expected, until one audience member brought to our attention who really runs Hollywood - The Jews. Of course, The Jews have their henchmen in Tinseltown - the Italian and the German, as pointedly brought to our attention by someone in the crowd who, very matter-of-factly explained how the whole system works. The groans of dismay could be heard from a few people hiding low in their chairs. Down in the front, another man excitedly explained the logic of "fags" overshadowing the industry both on and off-screen. Another person said that she had no problem with anyone else, "including queers." Suddenly it all became so apparently clear. Racism only applies when it is another society hindering you.
The air of self-importance was getting thick and choking out my air of sarcasm. I could not believe what I was hearing. Never were subjects truly brought up such as the following:
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- • Why are Blacks in public entertainment always freely referring to themselves as niggers? If it is insulting, then why remind others that one can indeed sling the epithet at a Black person. The right answer would be to stop using it all together, or to understand that there are niggers in every society, not just based on skin color but rather on attitude. (Added note: "Niggaz" only means niggers who speak illiterately.) If the term is offensive, then it's offensive no matter who says it.
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- • If the two most popular Black entertainment formats are the goofy, aloof Martin style ("Yo, yo... Know what I'm sayin'?") or the nigger gangbanger, and that is what makes the most money - even with Black audiences, then how can Blacks complain about the perpetuation when their own filmmakers continue to shove that crap onto spending audiences. If you want class, offer class and take away that which wrongs you.
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- • Most important of all is cutting out most of the "keeping it real" gangster life images. This cannot do any good by emphasizing it. Yes, many people do come from bad childhoods and neighborhoods. The issue at hand is that one wants a future and a hope to look forward to to move out of there, not remind everyone about it. All of the world's societies have been persecuted and lived in ghettos at one point in history or another.
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- • Stop trying to corral Black filmmaking as strictly a Black experience. We live in America where cultures are diverse, yet meld to make one unity. Make good films that more people can enjoy.
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- • Finally, when will certain Black filmmakers (usually the unknowns) stop complaining that they are being "held down" when, in fact, their writing just sucks. Take responsibility for your own shortcomings and failures. There are some truly great Black writers, directors and actors and they are all doing very well.
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- • Final point number two - When a Black man succeeds at something, the rest of Black America should quit feeling jealous by calling him a "sell-out" or an "Uncle Tom."
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- The more people want equality, the more they want to be separate. It is a sad state of affairs when they keep preaching for success, only to shoot it down when it happens. Some people love to live in misery.
As the panel really went nowhere - the most exciting part was our interview with Dr. Jamie Williams - we spoke with a few audience members and filmmakers afterwards in the lobby. The resulting conversations were even more amazing. There were two writers whom we chatted with, along with a couple of others who popped in to offer some input. One kept reminding me that he couldn't care less about the White man and wanted to make sure that people knew him as "that big Black man." This was astounding as I asked his buddy if he would like me to introduce him as "that Black man" to any passer-bys. I was assured that that would indeed be insulting, as I had figured it would be. This very same person, however, argued about how Blacks are treated in public. His very notable, if unreasonable, concept was that - if a crime should be committed by a Black man, "only Black officers should be allowed to respond." Furthering that theory, there should "only be Black jails for Black prisoners." I of course asked if he realized that that entitles him to being the Aryan Nation's biggest supporter? He didn't seem to mind that. Great. Neo-Nazis and hopeful Black separatists will live together in harmony, while the rest of us who DO get along will have to suffer the indignities of guilt for having been the wrong color, or something.
When discussing equality vs stereotypes, one lady heavily emphasized how the main stereotyping of Blacks is that the man never takes care of his lady, mostly after knocking her up, and is always in trouble with the law. Her point was that most films emphasize this. I countered saying that I agreed that most Black people, whom I have come to know, indeed were not like that but were in fact normal folks. This same lady became truly annoyed with me after she asked me why I had used the term "normal" in opposition to stereotyping. I told her that normal was someone who works, takes care of themselves, their own lives and their loved ones and is part of society as a whole. I let her know that I felt on equal par with everyone there and that no one was the better. This was the final straw and she stormed off, insulted either by my mentioning that she was "normal," perhaps against her wanna-be militant mindset, or by the fact that I had compared her to myself as an equal. Either way, this wasn't going entirely well.
Back to one of the first people we chatted with. This person kept pointing out how Blacks were constantly put in the back seat in all films. His prime example was the overly-flamboyant media character played by Chris Tucker in the film "The 5th Element." His argument was that White (and/or Jewish, he wasn't decided yet) Hollywood could not see past the evolution of the Black person into the 30th century and that Chris Tucker was a flaming, ebonics-spewing "faggot." And that was bigoted for a fact! When I asked him if the term "faggot" was bigoted in his view, I was informed and "corrected" that I was misunderstanding him and did not "get" what he was saying. Yes, and I suppose it was my imagination as well that the rest of any Black cast in "The 5th Element" were very straight forward Blacks who spoke well. As a matter of fact, the President of the Federated Territories was played by Tiny Lister, a very fine Black actor. But, our friend in the lobby didn't get that either.
I was also told from several people, writers all apparently, that their scripts are always passed over. When I mentioned that many White scriptwriters get passed over as well, exponentially more, I was told that I could not understand the difference. It just "wasn't the same."
So, what did I learn at the Black Maverick Filmmaker Showcase?
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- 1) Whites don't like Blacks
- 2) If Whites DO like Blacks, this is a problem as it gives Blacks nothing to complain about.
- 3) Jews own Hollywood, along with Italians and Germans. This prevents the Black man from making any valid contribution himself.
- 4) The Owners of Hollywood strive to continue the Black stereotype and forcibly keep out any possible enlightening story topic.
- 5) Bigotry is alive and well, and perpetrated upon Blacks by Whites, Jews, Fags and others.
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- It is always a pleasure to live in a society so rich with diversity where one can go to another society's panel in order to share in views and show support, only to be told that he could never understand the plight. Of course, I say that dripping with sarcasm.
Mind you that the above statements of racial and stereotypical ideals are not my own creation, but rather the views of the panel and the audience participants who chose to outwardly share their very intent opinions. Ironically enough, the panel discussed here was entitled "Have Things Changed: Black Portrayals In The Media." The answer to that question would be a resounding "No." Blacks are still being portrayed in large part as roughnecks, or in buffoonery aspects - only this time they are playing it up for themselves. Padding wallets at the expense of integrity. And worse, they are still called "nigger," only by each other. Nothing much seems to have changed at all. Only true self-respect - not born of "cash money" or power grabs - can get the ball rolling. In the end, bigotry is alive and well, and being shared by Blacks as well.
In the Black community, there are some truly great people out there, fantastic people - in the roles of actors, writers, directors, producers, etc - who should be looked up to, not talked down about for their successes. These are the people that young Black filmmakers should be emulating, not street urchins. Maybe there is hope. Maybe the rest of Black America will take some of these upstarts by the collar and shake some sense into them. In the meantime, it's back to business as usual.
Written by Philip Anderson
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