Kevin Grevioux Has A Theory On The Lack Of Black Sci-Fi Filmmakers

So O.K. his I Frankenstein film, which opened this weekend, won't break any box office records. They all can’t be winners. But considering the film is now out and that we have previously written about actor/ screenwriter/producer Kevin Grevioux several times on this site, including just a few days ago in a recent interview with him by Michael Dennis (HERE), I thought maybe it's time to take a second look at a piece I wrote about him back last fall.

There’s no need to tell you that there are many African Americans involved in the comic book field as writers, illustrators and just avid readers, but not enough in his point of view. Especially when it comes to black filmmakers of sci-fi films; and Grevioux said that believed he knew the reason why.

According to an interview he did with The Grio, Grevioux said that the lack of black people creating sci-fi projects, comes from “a pragmatism facing the dreams of black youth… and depends on what fits within a frame of reference."

As he went on to elaborate: "When you’re white, your dreams go far and a lot of times that is because there are no encumbrances. The world is wide open to them in a way that isn’t open for us. So when their reality is taken care of, it’s like, ‘Okay well we can dream about this. We can do this. We can do that.’ For us, it’s a little different."

He went on to say: "It’s like how can you think about traveling to another solar system or alien life if you have a problem getting a job or eating on Earth. African-American dreams are more reality-based, and that’s why I think our films have to do with our daily environment more so than alien or science fiction environments."

He also added that: "A lot of science fiction is based upon your experience in terms of looking at the world differently. Thinking about it in more abstract ways, a lot of times that takes education."

O.K. I can see what he’s saying and definitely agree with him, but I think there’s a lot more to it than that, which goes back to that "box" I referred to which black filmmakers are put in.

I think peer pressure is also a huge burden to overcome. I don't need to tell you that, way too often, we allow our so-called friends, colleagues and even family members to tell us what we should or should not be doing, for fear of being shunned, ridiculed or, the greatest fear of all, accused of “not being black enough." Hell, I’ve been assured of that by commenters on this site.

The fact is that you can’t let people with closed-off minds dictate your life. They want you to live in their own closed-off, hermetically-sealed little world, and be strangled creatively and spiritually. Why should you limit what you want to do, for them, and be miserable the rest of your life? Follow your own path. If you love sci-fi or want to become a classical musician, or whatever, just do it and be happy.

Do you agree, or is what Grevioux said ridiculous in your opinion? Do you have anything to add?

http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowan....likes"]&action_ref_map=[".UuXRj2WWY7Q.like"]

 

There is scifi written by black people (I hate the term black scifi becuz its so confining) Grevioux himself is a testament to that the real question is why isn't there any scifi MOVIES with a majority or all black cast? And thats a question he has to answer working in the industry and having written a few scifi flicks (all white cast). So far the only person to make a black cast sci fi film is Will Smith. He also broke new ground with his son Jaden who is the FIRST black kid to star in a major hollywood scifi film. But look at what it took to make that happen...no less than the biggest most popular Black actor in the industry today.

Meanwhile Neill Blomkamp (District 9, Elysium) was some unknown dude living in Canada shooting commercials and shorts, hooked up with Peter Jackson and now he's working on his 3rd big budget scifi flick. So the question is WHAT ARE THE ISSUES WITH PRODUCING A BLACK CAST SCIFI FILM? Why hasn't Hollywood produced any before Will Smith? Why the reluctance? There are many black scifi writers and books begging for big screen treatment but none on the slate at any of the studios. Theres no news of any of Octavia Butlers, Samuel R. Delany and many others whose works haven't been optioned. Why is that? I think Mr. Grevioux needs to speak on that.

 

First off I Frankenstein sucked big time. Visual effects were cool but the story was rushed way too fast. I could care less about the characters.

I think why you don't see a mostly black cast sci fi (outside of certain scenes from The Matrix Reloaded) is because the majority of the country won't support it

 

I agree and I think black filmmakers need to bring attention to that and stop talking around it.

 

Movies are a business its not about art or genuine entertainment. I miss the years when we would have eight to ten hot movies a year, basically one a month now we're lucky to get two hot ones a year

 

I have a simpler theory.

Science fiction does not constitute a large part of our literary heritage. Octavia Butler and Samuel Delaney are the only black sci-fi writers that pop into my head at the moment. Are there more? Sure, but black people tend to embrace narratives that highlight our past or present. The voices that paint an imaginative vision of our future through cinema will emerge in due time.

 

your right it is a business and there are real economic affects to racism. People of color in the industry work LESS and have LESS opportunity than whites because the demand isn't there not because the majority doesn't want to see sci fi films or fantasy films or action thrillers but because they don't want to see majority non white cast sci fi, fantasy or action thrillers. The ONLY genres that get any consistent support is are historical dramas where blacks are downtrodden, romcoms, and comedies. Anything outside of that and the chances of it getting greenlit drops dramatically.

 

there are waaay more scifi writers that are black than butler and delaney (and maybe they popped in your head because I mentioned them in my post) But the look at the thread title..A Theory On The Lack Of Black Sci-Fi Filmmakers

thats a production issue not a creative issue. there are nuts and bolts aspects of getting a film made and every film thats greenlit and produced has to confidently be seen as able to make a profit. For some reason scifi by black people isn't deemed profitable.

 

I wonder if the mainstream will accept a thoughtful well played image of a black person in power who isn't corrupt. Seems like the mainstream audiences (including blacks) can't/won't accept it. I don't see signs of that changing especially with the epic fail of After Earth, which was a decent movie but incredibly sub par for Smith and Son (who I think did a great job in The Karate Kid reboot)

 

Then maybe its time to seek a new medium to get these things put out there or create a superior product. It reminds me of the music in the 50s when black groups were trying to break in and they literally had to create a new sound that was superior to was out or something so different that made other people take notice in order to get a foot hold in music. We weren't going to make it as rock artists so that's why needed funk as well as r&b

 

we did make it as rock artists its just that white people copying the same sound will ALWAYS appeal more to majority white audiences..ask elvis, ask both justins.

 

Then it is a creative issue because any hired gun can shoot or direct a film.

 

what meant by that was primarily casting. A majority or wholly black cast scifi film.

 

Other than the Matrix films,I have not seen a lot of Blacks in Sci-Fi flicks.

 

I definitely want to see more black actors in science fiction films (Children of Men was one that comes to mind with a very multicultural cast), but I don't want to see an all-black sci-fi film. My first question would be "Where did everyone else go? Was there some sort of disease that wiped them all out?" I like dystopian flicks that show where we're likely headed: a future heavily influenced by China and Asia in general, due to population numbers, with blacks, whites and everyone else on the planet in some futuristic melange.

 

When we're talking dystopian there is no real likely scenario just a bunch of best guessing that doesn't take into account the independent variables or multitude of variables. I think a war over water or some other resource is likely but then again for all I know aliens might present themselves to us in the near future and completely change the game. Or what about a virus that only affects those prone to skin cancer there goes a reason for a mostly black planet.

 

If that happens we might all wind up on the menu.

 

see thats the thing that question doesn't stop all white scifi films from being made..why can't there be an all black cast scifi film made? maybe the setting is a country in africa..maybe its an inner city in america..its not implausible.

 

I don't like all white ones either. Note my preference: Children of Men, Blade Runner, etc. Far more realistic than a world where only white people have survived beyond 2015.

And you're right, if it's in a racially isolated area, it makes perfect sense. I was just talking about those set in the US or industrialized world, where almost every setting is racially integrated, at least partially.

 

I think its more likely that if they presented themselves to us it wouldn't be violent. If they have the technology to get here then they have the technology to remove complex organisms from the planet without much effort and take our dna to grow their "food"