WATCH: ZERO (...Interest In Black Love)

Discussion in 'Movies and Shorts' started by Nick Delmacy, Apr 22, 2021.

  1. Nick Delmacy

    Nick Delmacy is a Verified MemberNick Delmacy Da Architect
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    [​IMG]

    I’m noticing a trend.

    Before I continue, check out this trailer for an upcoming Netflix film called, “Zero.”



    I preface this by reminding readers that I have nothing against Interracial Dating (as I have written countless essays on the site reiterating this). Ocky and myself have already been accused of being Hoteps so that may fall on deaf ears.

    Having said all that, I’m noticing a trend that in the very few Black Science Fiction/Fantasy movies that we get, the love interest is almost always non-Black.



    Admittedly, movies like “Black Panther” count as black science fiction, but I’m mostly thinking about the independent films. The films created either by or for “us.”

    Speaking of “Us,” I guess Jordan Peele’s films count too. He’s definitely the rare exception that I’ve seen… ”Us” featured a beautiful Black couple and cast as a family dynamic.

    Oh wait, but wasn’t the love interest in “Get Out”…a white woman?!



    To be fair, the love interest being non-Black in “Get Out” was integral to the plot, but I gotta say there is a pattern here.





    Another exception may be “Sorry To Bother You.”



    While undoubtedly a science fiction film, I wouldn't necessarily call this one “accessible” to the public. I doubt many people finished the movie once the men with horse dicks appeared on the screen. But it still counts, nonetheless.

    One could argue that I’m cherry picking, and you would be right. I’ve purposely left out big budget Hollywood blockbusters. But for every “Black Panther” you could name, I can counter with one myself:



    I think my overall point is two-fold:

    1. We don’t get many Black science-fiction films
    2. When we do, they rarely feature a Black lead with a Black love interest.
    This is an observation that I’ve made when it comes to LGBT films as well.

    Barry Jenkin’s “Moonlight” is an obvious exception, but even then I’ve gone on record to say that whatever that film was about, it wasn’t about love [I'm sorry, getting a handjob on a beach the night before getting a public ass whooping by the same person and then not seeing that person again FOR 10 FUCKING YEARS is not what I consider a "love story"].

    Maybe I’m overthinking it. Black creatives in general are not interested in science fiction. The argument that I’ve heard from filmmakers is there are too many real world issues to address to create fantasy worlds and realities.

    I understand that thinking, but I always counter that science fiction has historically been the perfect platform to use metaphor for social issues. Some of the greatest sci-fi films ever made are actually morality lessons or related to concerns of the times they were created.
     
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    I am sick and tired of the narrative that somehow someone WHITE has to be included in a movie for cross over ‘sales’ This movie is conveniently promoting inter-racial relationships and using it as an excuse to include white cast members. I guess its their money so they have a right to cast who they want but on the flip side it can also be seen as using black people to integrate in their otherwise All So White movie to reap the coins from the black community. This is Cultural Appropriation 101 and sadly our people are so hungry for work and don’t want to be seen as ‘uncooperative”, they fall right into the White Supremacist trap.

    I am not surprised. As I said before, its their money. What would have been a No Deal for me is to know that the movie had black producers and still cast a white lead…That would have been the ultimate betrayal of our people, our culture, our ancestors and our sovereignty as a race.
     
  3. jpo

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    Rarely read or watch science fiction but in the few instances I've done either, what has held me has been the mirror science fiction holds up to contemporary or historical issues.
     
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  4. Winston Smith

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    True. My favorite sci-fi movie, ever since I was a kid, was "Time After Time" with Malcolm McDowell and Mary Steenburgen. TLDR: Jack the Ripper steals a 19th Century time machine and finds out he fits in quite well in modern America. There are are almost no special effects in it, but the dialog on American violence and culture always was intelligent and riveting.
     
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  5. Winston Smith

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    Lol, I'm not going down the "Moonlight" trail with you, as I still think you missed the point on that film (as I said years ago here at CA).

    HOWEVER

    I'm not sure what creatives you're around, Nick. There seems to be, at least among 20 and 30 something types, quite a love for Sci Fi, especially in comics and YA graphic novels. I know you're specifically talking filmmakers. It might be the problem is with producers and studios, as that's where the money cones from. I'm hoping that with things like Lovecraft Country, etc. things might be changing.

    Those filmmakers who discouraged you, however, remind me of that brother who told Neil DeGrasse Tyson he shouldn't become an astrophysicist because "our people don't need them". It's a pretty stupid and patronizing worldview on the part of those who think they know what's best for black audiences.

    As for the interracial thing, remember the casting reflects the worldview of producers and studios. I bet they think that many white audiences won't accept the film or show unless there's some white in it. Once again, stupid and patronizing. Black critics are not racist to point out the lack of same color couples. We live under a system of white supremacy so even something that should be non controversial as interracial couples can be weaponized by elites for an agenda. We've seen after four years of Trump and a right-wing insurrection on Jan 6 that "white replacement theory" is a worldview embraced by many white folk in real life. To those racist minds, Black couple = black families = non-white proliferation. Then there's the hotep NON replacement mentality among many black folk. Gay black couple = less black people. Sci fi is just a reflection of the creators' worldview. And if that worldview is limited, the Sci fi produced is limited too. Look at at the total waste of John Boyega's character's story arc in Star Wars. No wonder he's like fuck all you racist fan boys lol.

    Your frustration cuts across many creative spheres not just sci fi. For example, I've started working on my own black children's books. It's amazing to me how many black authors write AT black kids not FOR them; that is, every goddamned book has to be aspirational and have a (Keenan Ivory Wayans voice) MESSAGE!!!!!!!!, like Ibram Kendi's "Antiracist Baby". Jesus, can black kids have books that show black boys and girls just having FUN like in JK Rowling or Dav Pilkey's stuff? So, it's not just in Sci fi that the Woke Brigade want to dictate content.
     
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  6. jpo

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    "Time After Time" is a great example of my point, as was "Clockwork Orange" that also had a great McDowell performance.
     
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  7. Nick Delmacy

    Nick Delmacy is a Verified MemberNick Delmacy Da Architect
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    Yeah Lovecraft Country, although very flawed, is excellent Black Science Fiction/Fantasy. I guess Black Lightning counts too. Probably a few more examples, but not many. I would love it if a popular show like Queen Sugar or Atlanta came across as traditional Black drama or comedy at first, then slowly introduced scifi/fantasy elements as the series progressed.

    This is a good point about the filmmakers. We often immediately blame the studios or financiers for these casting decisions, but the reality is a lot of the filmmakers date interracially. Jordan Peele's wife is White, and he's biracial...so should have not portray his own identity and family on screen?

    A lot of young artsy hetero Black male filmmaker types are very progressive and they don't view interracial dating as something to shy away from in cinema. I agree with this actually. I guess it just sucks that there are few of these films featuring Black couples as well.
     
  8. Veracucci

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    Tessa Thompson is the love interest in Sorry to Bother You. Are you using that as an example because she is biracial?
     
  9. Fanon

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    I'll preface the following response with I have NO issue with interracial relationships and such relationships being portrayed in the media--certainly shouldn't when my boyfriend is the result of a white Brazilian woman and a black Angolan man's union. But, I'ma call Hollywood out on their shyte...


    Let's cut to the chase, they push interracial relationships with white partners/love interests to give the veneer of "diversity" and "progress" (buzzwords that I feel have lost all meaning nowadays since being woke became a trend) while still centering whiteness. "Sure, will give you the diversity you non-white/POC are asking for, BUT with one stipulation..."

    The trend you've noticed isn't exclusive to American cinema (as you'll find it in all Western cinema), nor just with black main characters. I've notice this with series that feature asian female characters like "Never Have I Ever" and "To All The Boys I've Loved Before":



    So, you mean to tell me they couldn't find ONE asian male actor to play a love interest...!? Ki Hong-Lee (the Korean actor in "The Maze Runner" series) would have been perfect for Noah Centineo's role.

    But, no other series takes the cake for this trend like Amazon Prime's "Modern Love":



    Literally, in both Season 1 and 2, ALL the non-white/POC characters are in interracial relationships with white people. The ONLY couples of the same race are white people...and that doesn't at least raise an eyebrow from folks? But, let's keep it a buck, shows like these cater to white liberals and non-white/POC who crave their validation.

    Again, nothing wrong with interracial relationships, but how they've been portrayed in much of the media is incredibly one-sided. Like, show us interracial couples with two POCs. As well as relationships with black people, asian people, etc.
     
    #9 Fanon, Jul 21, 2021
    Last edited: Jul 21, 2021
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