The State of the Black Male Action Hero...

This day and age when we think of 'action movies' with black leads, it's usually something with either Denzel, Jamie or Will. Now I'm not trying to knock anyone down. However, as a black man who wants to make action films, I think that the current state of action films, let alone black action films are somewhat pathetic.

Remember cats like Richard Roundtree, Jim Kelly, Jim Brown, Fred Williamson, Carl Weathers, Steve James, Ron O'Neal, etc... Those guys were the epitome of Black masculinity on the screen (not to mention that most of the guys listed had at least one IR love scene in their films).

However, the Black social critics back in the days (NAACP, Jesse Jackson)said that these films are too violent, etc... Now what do we have to show for black male action heroes? It seems like black men in the movies have been extremely emasculated.

Well like the saying goes, if you want something done, you have to do it yourself. Plus, many of the films that I want to make will have an IR interest, yes BM/WW.

 

You're on to something, Smooth Daddy. Now I am not old enough to remember Richard Roundtree's movies - i wasn't even born - but i remember thinking that he and Billy Dee Williams were the epitome of (black) masculinity (fuck John Wayne). Granted, in the 70s, blaxploitation movies were deemed as stereotypical, unusually violent and playing into already prevalent notions of black hypersexuality and preoccupation with violence. Now some of that was debatable (God, watching the movie "Boss Nigger" would make one think that all black men are masochistic thugs) but i think the NAACP and other black groups were missing the entire point and motive of blaxploitation movies - we can establish self-empowerment by turning the trend of longstanding underrepresentation of black men into a valuable result -.

As a kid growing up in the late 80s and 90s (i was born in 1983), i thought that Billy Dee Williams, Richard Roundtree, Jim Brown and Ron O'Neal were just too cool to be ignored. I won't lie to you, i used to love those movies. Into the 90s, i still loved those basass roles. One of my favorite movies of all time is Menace II Society. The gritty, unforgivably violent yet undeniably accurate portrayal of black masculinity interwined with occasionally sadistics posturity was one that struck me as what "being a man" was all about. In fact, i loved that movie so much that for a long time, my friends used to call me O-Dog too because i was just like him. It felt really strange (to my parents) for a skinny, little African kid born in NYC to wanna be like some LA gangbanger but there you have it.

Incidentally, the rise of movies portraying the hardships of urban life coincided with the rise of west coast gangsta rap (honestly, rap music in general). When i wasn't being O-Dog, i was Eazy E. I used to wear the saloon blue shirts and black sunglasses like E did. If only i had dripping Jheri curls :lol: :lol: :lol:........

Now it is arguable whether all these men were ideal role models for kids as young as i was. But now that i am of age, the one thing that strikes me is this - it was the desire of these people to be considered somewhat ground-breaking and become the outside hero who is hated by everyone that made them appealing to me. Think of it, a lot of people despised blaxploitation movies and gangsta rap has always been blamed for everything from schoolyard shoot-em-ups to global warming (ok, maybe not but you get my point).

But let's fast forward to 2007. Let's name the ideal black heroes ....... oh, that's what i thought. None. And please don't even bother to mention any black athletes because, in the words of William Rhoden, they are $40 million slaves. Name one prominent black action hero and i'd pay off your mortgage. Will Smith is out of the question too.

The simple reason why none exist is because most black men in Hollywood are trying to play it safe. No one wants to be the outside hero no more and defy conventions.

Why they do that is obvious to anyone who can claim to possess an IQ above 8.

 

For about ten years there have been numerous articles about the dying state of the action movie star. It was a dying breed according to the consensus regardless of the race of the action star. The only action stars now are well-respected thespians who beef themselves up to play superhero roles or gladiators. But stars who are were born to be action movie heroes such as Willis, Stallone and Arnold just aren't around anymore. For awhile it looked as if Hollywood was trying to import them such as with guys like Russell Crowe but in their hearts of hearts those foreign actors want to be taken "seriously" and don't want to be pegged as action stars. And the upcoming American actors don't want to be action stars either unless they are able to do all their work in front of a green screen. The only actor working for a big studio who seems to embrace the action-star label (who in fact is inspired by the 1980s action heroes) is that British bald dude Jason Stratham.

The only legitimate action stars these days outside the superhero/sword and sorcery-gladiator genres are martial arts stars from Asia. But they too lack mainstream American appeal (perhaps for obvious reasons).

Its not just an issue with black actors. Across the racial spectrum action stars are lacking. Besides black actors, as leads, are not well represented in many fields : romantic comedies, period dramas, small independent movies, horror movies, ancient epic action flicks, etc. Black actors, like black people, are simply pigeonholed. Even in genres that black actors used to be very well represented in you now see a lack of color. Such as comedies. Growing up in an era where Eddie Murphy was the biggest comedy star and perhaps Richard Pryor was the biggest before him, I'm kinda unnerved to see almost exclusively white stars exclusively dominate the field of the biggest comedy moneymakers (Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Will Ferrel, etc). It didn't help that Chris Tucker essentially took himself out of the equation by only appearing in "Rush Hour" sequels every five years.

My problem with the history of African American action stars is that Hollywood for the most part wasn't interested in creating new stars by using actors who looked like action heroes. Instead at first in the 60s and 70s they used black athletes. They relied on black comedians like Eddie Murphy. And in the 90s and in the 2000s it got worse by using rappers like Ice Cube and DMX to be the lead heroes in a handful of action flicks. Meanwhile a black guy born to be an action star named Michael Jai White could barely get work. Governor Arnold is a lone exception for white stars because he started off as a body builder which essentially means he was an athlete to.

By the way Wesley Snipes was for a moment THE black action star. Frankly I thought he kind of hurt his career by trying to be more of a action hero because he was not getting the same quality of scripts and directors as the top white actions stars got

 

Cris, I was born in 1982, so I'm not old enough to remember these films either. However, my love for kung fu movies (from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan) made me appreciate the blaxploitation films. Plus my exposure to them via cable tv and VHS. Both of you are on point. I think Michael Jai Whit SHOULD have gone further than he did. If you need any proof, check out UNDISPUTED 2. Though I haven't seen it yet, everybody tells me its a good movie.

Jamal, you're right about how the black actors were atheletes and so forth with the comedians. Hell, it took Jackie Chan 20 years to make a name for himself here in the US. Though he's slowing down, I love Fred Williamson because he made HIS own films. He had formed his own company Po' Boy because those in Hollywood kept wanting him to play sidekicks, go to jail, be a bad guy or grt killed. He has 3 rules: I win the fights, I never get killed, I get the girl.

As far as the 80s, there was Fred (at the time he had made movies in Italy), Carl Weathers and the Late Steve James.

Weathers should have gone further as well. I thought Action Jackson and Hurricaine Smith were good vehicles for him. I actually cried when Apollo got killed because the shit pissed me off LOL!.

Steve James, despite being a better performer and martial artist, was usually stuck playing sidekicks to the white hero. Sadly as it seemes as he was getting better quality roles, he passed away due to Pancreatic Cancer (which also took the life of Ron O'Neal).


As for Michal Jai White, he'll be in the upcoming Bruce Lee TV series produced by CCTV (Chinese Television).

Ron Van Clief also deserves honorable mention as well as Max Julien.

But Cris, like you said, everyone wants to play it safe/

 

so true, wesley snipes for one was the man for a while. We need more black leading men and less rappers taking roles for black actors, that is the only way we will ever see a next generation denzel or morgan freeman.
The other thing with black comedians today is that the stuff they do is geared towards a white audience, in the past watching richard pryor or eddie murphys raw its a different mindset, too many black comedians are coons and instead promote negative stereotypes about black men through their humour, in the past eddie murphys stuff was just jokes, it was geared more towards the double standards and racism that black people faced but presented in humour, todays black comedians are more anti black male than alot of racists (i mean the shit they promote particularly about black men who date interracially, however you ever notice that there are never any negative jokes about black women dating interracially? thats not an accident) to the point where instead of embracing all comedians I am sceptical of giving my support to any run of the mill black comedian.

With regard to black action heroes, the threat of black masculinity laced with black male sexuality has always been threatening to white men so its very unlikely things will change unless people like us continue to raise this issue and discuss and enlighten others of the behind the scenes hollywood politics.

 

Well put Tony. Though I'm only laying the foundation for my company, The stories and ideas that I have will surely piss certain people off. But hey, I'm just trying to fight the double standard. Again, if you read my previous posts, that's why I look up to Fred Williamson.

I mean, I would dream of the day when there's a Black Stallone and a Black VanDamme--oh yeah, they get hot and heavy with the while ladies. :lol:

 

I agree action movies stars of any race have been emasculated. The last Die Hard movie was pathetic. And what is with the annoying comic relief sidekicks?

 

Yeah Ben Affleck is a 'man's man' :lol:

 

Dude you don't have Undisputed 2 in your library? Man you gotta get on that it is that great a movie to watch for just pure action.

But yes it is a damm shame what's come of the action hero in today's cinema. We get guys like Matt Damon or Ben Affleck when guys that could make a huge impact on the action genre are getting ignored. I think things will turn around eventually as things do seem to go in cycles.