(no subject)
I knew Hollywood was racist, but I didn’t know it was this racist. (Basically- George Lucas had to fund his new film himself because none of the studios would back a film with an all-black cast.) Pretty disgusting, ain’t it.
Also: I’m a rariety among Star Wars fans in that I honestly like and admire Lucas. From what I’ve seen of him he seems to be a pretty neat guy (who commited the apparently unforgiveable sin of never being happy with his film creations). I hope this film is a success, and, like he says, it will open the door for more films like it.
January 18, 2012 @ 6:52 pm
I think George always planned to fund it. His recent films were all him and Lucasfilm with someone else to distribute it so they don’t have to deal with all the studio nonsense. The frustrating part is that he had problems getting a distributor or even advertising. I think he ended up paying for the advertising himself. I’ve had my problems at times with Lucas. Of course, I loved him as a kid and teenager especially the Bill Moyers interview, just fascinating. However, the prequels had so many directorial choices that I disagreed with and the script as well. I was glad when he finally admitted to Empire that the scripts were crap on purpose because he felt the dialogue didn’t matter. Actually, that admission both infuriated me all over again and made me forgive him a little bit for being so honest. A lot of directors would have never admitted to that. He’s a great craftsman of worlds and manager of those properties but I think it works best when he allows others to have a greater role in shaping it as well like with Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi or the awesome Dave Filoni. Dave Filoni is also very valuable because he knows how to speak with fans, take their ideas/wants and turn it into a reality that works with the franchise which in turn, makes the fans feel more valued. My mom and I were on the fence about Red Tails. The cast is awesome but it’s a war film and we don’t typically do those. I waited to see “Miracle at St. Anna” until it was shown on Starz. However, if we don’t, we now feel like George Lucas will somehow know and be silently judging us as racist… I’ve got my DVR set to record the Oprah show on Sunday although, despite all the interviews I’ve seen, none have measured up to that Bill Moyers interview.
January 18, 2012 @ 9:04 pm
I think it’s less Hollywood being racist than fiscally conservative to an extreme. If they thought they could make money on films with an all-black cast, they would make them. They’re just not willing to take that chance, because there’s still a good chunk of the culture in the States that says no one wants to see that. Whether people actually would or not is beside the point. Hollywood seems to be functioning on what would sell in the 60s. I think it’s one of those things that ‘everybody knows’ without bothering to actually consider if it’s true or not. That would definitely explain some of the stupid-ass shit Hollywood puts out (seriously, you really think people are going to watch stupid teen slasher flicks, but a well made movie with a black cast is going out on a limb?).