So for Black History Month, I wanna routinely talk about Black films, filmmakers and the progress we've seen or haven't seen yet as it regards the Black community and cinema. I was thinking today about films that are basically classics in the Black community but almost unheard of elsewhere.
The one film I kept coming back to was Set It Off. I contend that if this film had started Sandra Bullock, Cameron Diaz, Nicole Kidman and Drew Barrymore in 1996 it would have made AT LEAST a 100 mil. There's like three actually good heist/criminal caper films that star primarily women. 9 to 5, Thelma and Louise and this film. At the time, there wasn't really a film like it. Men were treated more like window dressing or background characters. Although race wasn't ignored, it wasn't the focal point of the film. When it was brought up the movie didn't get melodramatic but was very cynical and straightforward about it. The realities of their identities just was and the characters didn't stop the film to explain why the cards have been stacked against them repeatedly. One of the lead characters was a heavy set masculine Black lesbian who was actually portrayed sympathetically.
The reviews at the time were decent and it made some money but damn it I think it would've been an Oscar contender if more people actually saw it. It had the feel of a Blockbuster. I don't feel like we were ready for this kind of film in 1996. I kinda wonder if we're even ready for it now.
What's a Black film to you that you think more general audiences should know about?
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/l97jhi/whats_a_black_film_that_you_think_more_general/
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