Hypocritical Hollyweird: Rihanna's Upcoming Movie Projects

I'm not sure I wrote anything that suggested I was hopeful for the near future concerning this issue. Still I don't agree with the attitude that things won't ever change either.

 

Another eloquent post(s) Jamal. Look, I'll say this. Beyonce is just another case of the power of white males and black females in Hollywood. If I recall, didn't you Jamal make the case awhile back for that philosophy??? But anyways, yeah, it's not surprising that this musical would occur and Jackman and Beyonce were in the lead. Nor should it surprise anyone that most black males probably wouldn't complain. This is Hollywood nowadays. Again, it's wayyyy easier to place a black fem with a white dude than the reverse. I think the audience in general accepts it better. Plus, Hollywood probably feels that there isn't this fear that black women will somehow go out and grab the most available hot white boy just cause they saw one on the new movie, thus promoting IR dating.

But you're correct. When was the last time a producer, ANY producer, in Hollywood was DESPERATE to team a black male lead actor with ANY white female counterpart??? Not any time I could remember. Forget Will Smith. What about Derek Luke, Larenz Tate, Hill Harper,... etc, etc. Sure, they're not the greatest for bringing in the big bucks, but they're good actors who could do a great job with a project give them. But Hollywood has them go it alone most of the time or place them with a sistah at all cost. Just another example of white males confining black men to a "box" in order make them less threatening.

Now that story on Halle Berry meeting her white beau is interesting. Let's not pretend there are never circumstances where black men are working behind-the-scenes at photo shoots and model shows and so on. And curiously enough, you rarely hear of any encounters they may have, even white a lowly female makeup artist. To me, another example of a double-standard. No doubt, some one in the casting probably felt Ms. Berry would find the white boy cute, much less have something in common with him. I no, I have nothing against her relationship either. I never allowed myself to forget that she's mixed/half white anyways. It just makes it seem like under regular circumstances, a hot black chick is easier approachable by a non-black male in that setting. When I think in fact that it is cultural teachings that a black male shouldn't presume he has that kind of "pull" with non-black women in the same setting.



Oh, and you're dead-on about the female country stars. I think Leann Rimes is starring in a lifetime movie coming up opposite, of couse, a "hunk" of a white male. Don't get me wrong. I understand that, in regular circumstances, a white female should be paired with a white male. But because she's southern, that's the ONLY male she'll be paired with. Even the least talented white southern country star/actress would never be paired with a black male. Wouldn't happpen. Even if they found a light-skinned brotha.


I want to end this on a couple of quick points.

What stings at me about this is did it ever occur to anyone in Hollywood (white male producers) that black men in America wish to seem Rhianna in positive situations as our gorgeous love interest??? Quite often the perception as a girlfriend for either male is slightly different. Notice for the brothas, the sistah is usually louder, more confrontational, maybe even ghetto depending upon the type of movie. Not too often do I see a gorgeous sistah like say Sanaa Lathan playing a role as the hot wife of a black male in a positive situation.(Yeah, I know there was her role in the Tyler Perry movie) But in general, it's been when the sistah is with the white boy that she's more subdued, more articulate, even presented as hotter to the audience. I.E., more American and less ethnic.

It already seems that way. They are all hot sistahs to me. The question still remains why the audience is apprehensive about seeing them with a black male as their pair. And if remembered, I stated this awhile back when a watched a special on pbs a few years ago. This was when Alicia Keys was first exploring Hollywood. She and the black dude narrating the show wanted to understand the roles blacks played onscreen and found only ONE white director I think who went on record saying that America simply didn't like seeing blacks together in relationships. Apparently it didn't bring in the ratings.(Damn. I wish I recorded it to post) So don't be surprised with the continued segregation. And as for the white females, they don't seem to be used much anymore except with white males or latin males at all. Notice, the new female intermediates (I like to call them) between black and white males is the latin female now. Or even a mixed girl who looks ethnic and not too anglo. My guess is the producers are saying if the white males watching are bothered by the apparent IR dating, at least Hollywood can absolve itself of responsibility by not using real white females.

In the end, this is Hollywood though. It just amazes me that the Jay-z's and Laurence Fishburne's of the world don't complain about the use of their ethnic women in film.

 

Interesting topik.

People here writing about the IR presented by Hollywood, have a point.
But I like to add in the years Hollywood has changed a lot, and mixed couples even if at the moment limited mostly to a wm and bw or another race, are getting more and more common.
And this reflect a change in the stereotypes commonly used in Hollywood who have roots in the society (and this means the society has changed alot since the '80s). This change came in the late '80 and early '90's where the bad guy could also be somebody else the the common black/latino/asian guy.

I remember the 90's movie Zorro, with A.Bandera, were the bad guy was actually a blonde American cavalry officer, and this was the first time I saw a white American as the evil guy, while a hispanic as the hero....or we all know Westley Snipes Blade, where he as a black dude was actually the good guy (daywalker) fighting against evil white dude, even if "only" vampyres (mr Frost and he's happy company of friends). That was quite unthinkable during the early 80's and before, remember the stereotypes? all chineses where buddhist/confucian/taoist superfreak all expert in Kungfu and they eat rice, all italians are ugly, mafiosi, mostly X-sicilian farmers and they eat spaghetti and pizza (on a side note what I consider "funny" is the A. movies show a weird Italy, a mix of the post wwII society and somekind of "dreamland" where everything is beautyfull...somekind on the line with "la dolce vita", but what disturb me most is american figurants speaking italian with american accent or worst faking the italian accent. It's like getting a knife in my hearth).
All black guys where pimp, drug dealers and freaks on the dance floor and most white guys are strong heroes and surely always the good guy.


This has changed even if the "old" stereotypes time to time comes up. Like we say in italy sh*t always float, the gold is at the bottom.
Anyway, sorry for my little OT sidestep, so let us go in topik again.

Personally I think the reason behind why the society or some part of the society are disturbed by the view of a BM with a Ww is a remainder of the old patriarchal culture who still is widely present in the world. And this is confirmed by a Wm with a Bw is more accepted and tollerated, because it is somehow the trophy of conquest by the dominant race/people. While the opposite is interpreted as somehow a humiliating defat and this reflect's in hollywood.
I despite this explanation (cuz I belive if two people like each other it has nothing to do neither with the society nor with some ideological interpretation) but this is perhaps a possible reason on why some people find IRD as confusing or even shocking.
So IMO Hollywood is bringing the topik with small baby steps, starting with interaccial couples of other races, going to WM with BW and they will end to a BM with a WW. We see hints in W.Smith's "Hancock" where the blond woman is (was) actually his wife, we see a similar thing in W.Snipes "nine lifes" ect ect. The reality are slowly coming. Traditionally on thise matters Hollywood always lags a bit behind (like gay lesbian relationships, how many heroes are gays?) so it will come. Im sure about it, but I am kinda of a optimist...so we will see.

cheers.


ps

again sorry for my ugly english, try to understand it's not my native language.

 

All great points.

Kudos.

 

that's what i'm saying.

 

I think brothers are dwelling on this too much. When did we become a bunch of women crying because we're not represented on the big screen? Boo hoo, how come there are no dark-skinned sistas? Boo hoo how come no plus-size women. Sound familiar? I don't know about you but I'm too busy trying to get this paper in this global recession to be worrying about Hollywood and I don't need to be validated by the media.

 

Its sad that the hours you spend working to pay your bills takes away too much time and energy for you to ponder about other issues. But to be honest the type of reaction you just gave is one that is unfortunately all too expected from black men: apathy.

Way too many black guys going to jail? Can’t worry about it.

Way too many black boys being brought up in fatherless homes without male role models? Can’t worry about it. Ain’t my concern.

Black men are outnumbered by black women in college by a ratio of worse than two to one, far worse than any other racial group of men compared to females of their race? Hey, what does that have to do with me?

Black men no longer have any magazines geared towards them unless its rap or booty magazines? They don’t have any magazines directed at them concerning news, advice, grooming, empowerment, cultural, health, etc? Who needs that shit. We niggas don’t read anyway.

Black males are being gunned downed by other black men at alarming rates? Ain’t interested. Wake me up when a white police officer kills a black guy. Then maybe I’ll protest.

Total apathy. I recall a few months back on a message board a topic that had been lost in this whole Obama storyline. The topic was about how so many black males, especially young ones, did not even care about voting and as a result never went to booths this past November. The people having this discussion were black political activists, male and especially female, who went out into the black communities to get folks prepared to make their vote count only to come across a surprisingly large percentage of black men who didn’t care, even with a black candidate for President. They didn’t think their lives would change and therefore seemed to have given up on the belief that they could make a difference. It was a sad and depressing thing to see according to those activists who witnessed it.

I feel for those dudes who lost their will to make a difference. I really do. They have been targeted as the scourge of society to some extent (and not just by white folks) and it has had an effect, perhaps subconsciously. But I’m also pissed off at those dudes too. I’m mad that they couldn’t think about anyone other than themselves and decided to not use their right to vote. I don’t care who they would have voted for, they should have tried to formulate an opinion of which candidate 9even independents) would have been better for their communities, their families and this nation. I am ticked off at them because they piss on their forbearers who struggled to get that right for them decades ago. I am disappointed in them because they were clueless enough to believe in the first place that a candidate should change THEIR lives for the better. No, that responsibility must fall on them themselves. Sitting around and feeling pity for one’s self doesn’t accomplish anything.

So if black men could be so apathetic about these big and important issues it should come as no surprise that they can be just as unmoved by smaller but nonetheless still important issues. I am not apathetic. I am also not a whiner as you suggest. I simply care and want to “spread the word” as best as I can. And when I see black males as a group be put into a box I won’t apologize for making that an issue in my life even if there are other things going on in my professional and personal lives. None of us here live o this board 24/7. But I think its not hard for us to multitask all the other issues we deal wit away from the board enough to come here and at times discuss some topics of interest.

White males and white women. Black females. Hispanics. Asians. Democrats. Republicans. Conservatives and liberals. Heterosexuals and gays. Warmongers and peacelovers. Believers and atheists. All these groups “whine” to some extent about issues that are affecting their lives. This includes the entertainment industry. People are worried about if their religion gets treated fairly by Hollywood. If Hollywood represents folks who are involved in less traditional relationships. If Hollywood has an anti-America agenda or if Hollywood embraces multiculturalism. If music promote violence against women. If people are provided role models who look like them by the entertainment industry. If one standard of beauty exists by those running the entertainment industry If the entertainment industry inspires the consumers its targeting and make them believe that all things are possible for them. These topics are discussed by the groups I mentioned all the time. Some can be very constructive. Some can and has led to change. Because when enough people talk about something the more it moves to one’s consciousness which leads to more awareness which leads to progress in changing attitudes or beliefs. Are we black men the only group that should not be discussing such things? Is it not cool enough for us?


Sure some talks can get negative or venomous or counterproductive. But when many of us here mention the hypocrisy in IR presentation on the big screen is that the same as a white guy who whines that white males are the victims of PC attitudes in Hollywood when we know for a fact that white men dominate the film industry at every level? If black women complain about seeing black guys with white girls on the screen al the time despite the fact that most black male characters are not paired with white women and that black females are just as likely if not more to be paired with white men on the screen, how is that the equivalent of us mentioning that there is double standard?

I won’t apologize for being tired of seeing black male singers disappear with only rapping being a viable option for stardom for black guys entering the music industry. Nor will I just ignore the fact that a black male can’t be the lead of a child-oriented fairy tale ala Harry Potter. And yes I will not accept the notion that just as long as I’m happy with my life and my relationship that I should not care about anyone else outside my inner circle. I reject that type of selfishness and narcissism. Instead I will continue to give a damn about the opportunities afforded black men on the screen as well as the image that has been formed of them via the entertainment industry. Images matter and often shape who we are, what we think we can achieve and other people’s view of us. This is documented by countless studies.

Damn, I have to admit I now envy black women as a group. While many of them whine and exaggerate the numbers on certain topics, at least as a group they seem to understand the importance of controlling the image of themselves as best as they can. And whether its celebs in the forefront such as Oprah, Michelle Obama or Mary Blige at least they realize the importance of specifically and intentionally empowering black girls/women with a sense of self worth and respect for themselves. Meanwhile the “brothas” are more interested talking about their dicks and booty conquests and what the score of the god damn game was. Hell, we have a bunch of threads here devoted to such topics. But when we try to discuss more meatier subjects some folks get defensive and scared it appears. Maybe I’m generalizing too much but god damn. What does it take for some of you to care about some deeper and more substantial issues as the number of black men continue to fall or stay small in important fields of achievement other than NBA rosters? Seriously how can any intelligent black male like karmacova has such a dismissive attitude when black males, in comparison to their women, are worst off than any group of men in this nation in terms of leading households, education and having prestigious jobs in the workforce? I mean I could buy the apathy if we were actually on top or getting stronger. But we aren’t. And even in the entertainment industry we are being marginalized and placed inside a smaller box.

 

:smt023

 

super post. You hit the nail on the head:smt038

 

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[YOUTUBE]bx7cF8T4F44[/YOUTUBE]

 

either you are just another white dude who hangs around black websites making sure black people dont get enlightened and only have discussions about booty and sports. Or you are just another dumb ass black dude who hates seeing black people enlightened. Seriously if you going to try and derail a good thread with this shit you should seriously get the fuck outta here.

 

I wouldn't sweat him. I checked out the video for a minute and it's not really prime time anyways. Truth is, Justin T. is the movie of the week wigga that is acceptable to America. Ya'll notice, they generally never use another white boy in these black girl videos, right? It's because they are quitely turning the preverbial heat up so that the audience wouldn't be so shocked seeing this type of IR. But the video is another example of this thread in that it is the only mainstream IR form that will be put out on tv. Remember, this is the same country that had Justin performing with our girl Janet at the Super Bowl just a few years ago...and committed the now infamous "wardrobe malfunction" at that! Thinking back on it, they could have found a clean cut brother in R&B or Hip Hop, but they just decided to take her away from us.

Besides all that, I've never had a huge thing for Ciara. She's a cutie, but she sure as hell doesn't appear to mainstream anymore, if she ever really was.

 

Actually rihanna did the same thing with Adam levine from Maroon 5, could you ever imagine a video with usher cavorting around with Britney spears? There is an immense level of Hypocrisy in hollywood and its actually staggering.

 

I recall that in the days immediately after this incident during the Super Bowl I would come across other black guys having conversations in stores about it. Almost all of them were cool about it and felt envious of JT. They were giving him props in fact. I thought to myself, man, if they had a black guy on stage in a similiar situation with Faith Hill, even if it was some clean cut bro who was non-threatening like Lionel Richie, I could not imagine a bunch of white males, particularly I should say white males from rural areas and red states, being very laid back about that at all. On the one hand I admired that all the black dudes I ran into didn't trip over the racial part of a white guy being able to perform like that with a black woman on stage (ala Mick Jagger and Tina Turner). They weren't freaking out as some insecure white men would have. And you know how the black ladies would have responded if a black man and white woman were on the stage doing that ("his sorry ass on the stage ripping the clothes off some white girl"). So it was impressive how cool these particular random guys were about it. At the same time I also thought one reason why IR could be so one-sided in these circumstances was because black men and white women weren't going to cry about it or send threats via the phone and mail to the singers involved and the network who agreed to air it. As sad as this may be sometimes it feels that's the only way to be heard: get vocal and nasty about what you dislike.

Interesting enough the only time black guys seem to get mad about it was when JT seem to wash his hands of the whole incident and let Janet bear the majority of the brunt of the criticism. Then I recall black men everywhere trying to defend Janet's honor and make a big deal of JT being a white guy. They didn't notice he was white before then? Seriously I understood why they would not like the fact that he kinda left her in a tough spot but the whole defending-the-black-woman's-honor thing seemed a tad mispalced, especially if you are going to do so because of JT's race. If that's how some felt maybe their anger should have been directed at Janet in the first place since she was a black female singer who ALLOWED herself to have a white male do a simulation of ripping off her top.

Well, Rhianna wasn't exactly mainstream either until 'Umbrella.' The key is to get the material, then get the airplay and the publicity. Even with Ciara being only slightly successful at best the record companies are still sending good quality material her way and giving her second and third chances to make it big. And once she makes it big she can get movie roles opposite Tatum Channing too.


The record companies do not tire of black female singers. They simply don't have interest in any black male singers. It makes me wonder who wrote the song and who was responsible for the music. It could have been JT. But it also could have been another talented black male writer/producer like Timbaland or The Dream who seem to write and produce for every type of singer out there except for those that are black men. The times they work with black male artists is when those artists are rappers. That's just my unscientific observation. Try finding any point of time in music history of America in the past 100 years in which the cream of the crop white male producers and writers wrote material mostly for black males or for white women. No, their best material tended to be handed off mainly to fellow white men who were singers and performers (of course I'm not including recording artists who write their own material). And I don't balme them. I wish some of the ebst black male producers had that same sense of self preservation. That's a conversation for another day I suppose.

 

BM/WW (WM/BW to a lesser extent) is the only IR paring that generates a negative response from people that are neither black or white.

Sistahs have more clout in films because movie execs know what they like to watch....the money black women spend at the theatre is easily traceable...and the fortune they have created for Tyler Perry makes it easy for them to cater to BW.

BM seem to be harder to pin down...think about all the brothas you know...is there any common trait with the movies they like to watch? We have not thrown our financial weight around and it shows because no one feels a need to cater to us.

It has to be a TWO-SIDED effort however...BM screaming for more movies with BM/WW relationships as part of the background will not happen if WW do not show interest. It's easy for BW/WM because white men are already in charge so all they need is BW to protest (and how often are you going to see a BW/WM relationship that portrays the WM in a negative light?)

When more WW willingly admit they would enjoy seeing Will Smith paired with Kate Winslet in a romantic film...then you will see some change. Besides that...most BM..even those that love WW's...are not bold enough to admit they want to see WW/BM interaction outside of porn...we are still a bit bashful about our preferences...and that weakens our argument from the start.

 

ChosenOne, those are some very good points. The one thing I'll disagree with however is box office clout of black men and black women. Or at least Hollywood's perception of it. Hollywood does not respect the black female audience over the black male audience. Hollywood caters more to men because what we consider to be male movies are by far the biggest money makers out there. Since black men are known to support films at a percentage higher than their actual makeup of the population, that means they play a big part in the success of men-oriented flicks. I would go into it further but right now I'm despressed over Louisville's loss. I no longer have a shot at winning my office pool. :smt022

 

Not to get too far off tangent, the negative response generally comes from insecure white males who probably are disgusted with seeing a ww with a brotha and angry black women who have daddy abandonment issues or a stupid black dude who cheated on her in her past (probably W/ a ww) and she refuses to let go of it. But bw do make T.P.'s movies successful 'cause they are told ironically from a black woman's perspective. I've never seen any of them, but they all seem like that "angry sistah who will reclaim her pride and 'fix' the black man's problem" type of flick. Hell, I think I could corner the market on that type of anger.

But I disagree that bm are harder to pin down. We brothas are like other men. We like action flicks, some dramas, and generally anything with an alpha-male type who exerts his personality for respect and pride.(At least that's me anyways) There are always movies out like that which will appeal to most bm I think. But I do agree we probably don't throw our financial weight around in a smart way and that should be addressed.

Good luck getting ww to express that interest. They have been socially conditioned, IMO, to never show any overt affection for non-white men much less EVER demand that a black male should be the object of her affection in any mainstream movie. And remember that word - MAINSTREAM. Let us not forget that when any movie comes out, it will be seen in most theaters in much of this country. So that type of acknowledgement from a ww carries more weight than white people in America want to confirm. And I know it's just an example, but Will and Kate Winslet just AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN in my movie-watching lifetime. It would crush the dreams of alot of white males interest in her and make them extremely paranoid.

To end, ya noticed that wm is in bold letters. They are in charge. They make the rules. And they are just not going to give away their women like that. They just won't. Which really tells you all what goes on in the minds of a white male. Regardless of what color the woman is that he's with, she will be gorgeous, she will resemble in some way his white female (hair, clothing, body type) and he will watch her like a hawk and keep her in his camp because other men represent a threat to his manhood. They are generally paranoid and insecure about that which is why the social pairings in movies are they way they are. To go to Jamal's point of the black guys commenting on Janet Jackson after the Super Bowl, those brothas weren't threatened because they were secure with their manhood. Just like a black man, we know we got it like that.

 

You are right about bm being harder to pin down, we are not Unified at all. Black women are. Secondly you are also right about ww not saying anything. Even on this website I recall a time when when if you went to the womens locker room there were more pictures of wm than bm think about it fam...even on this website! This I feel is a microcosm of the situation in society with not enough ww openly making there feelings known that there is a gap in the market. Any change in Hollywoods production mandate must have both bm and ww voices and I think right now the only voice is that of Bm and that by itself is not enough to create change.

 

Wow.

Quick to jump the gun, aren't you?

I could reply with a :smt013 response like yours but there's no need to resort to that.

Furthermore..

That video is Ciara's new single and I posted it in response to the comments made about WM and BW couplings and how they're often seen as non-controversial.

Just wondered what your thoughts were on Ciara's choice to do so considering her following of fans.

Sheesh.