I mentioned to an acquaintance that I heard that the movie "12 Years a Slave" was a very intense movie to watch. He responded that he had been at an educational event, where the movie had come up in a discussion. The educator he was talking to had replied that she was tired of movies about African Americans as slaves.
My comment to him was that if wealthy blacks, or anyone for that matter, would finance scripts written by African Americans we would see movies with a variety of topics. African American writers have many experiences to write about. You can bet that more than likely the topics are not about slavery. Today's African American does not have personal experiences to relate regarding what really transpired during slavery. So, why should we only write about the past?
The plots of today's stories, if given a chance to be produced and made into a movie, would be about family life, love stories, perseverance against the odds, success, failures, challenges, and victories! The educator meant well to say that she was tired of movies about slavery. But, not all the stories from slavery have been told. It isn't a bad thing for some stories to come out that have not been told before. I also do not like to see the same theme in African American films. It makes it seem as there is only one lifestyle or subject matter that is important to African Americans. Diversity in stories and characters is what the movie industry needs. That relates to any ethnic group.
I am tired of horror films and do not understand why Hollywood continues to produce them. I am not tired of stories with interesting characters and plots.
On a personal note, I have written several screenplays that feature African American characters. The scripts are not about slavery. They cover science fiction, comedic, and drama based stories. If that educator tired of slave movies runs across this blog, you're free to send my name to producers, etc. who are looking for a non slave African American written script!
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