Let's all go to the movies...and talk culture

Princess and the Frog
The new Disney movie "The Princess and the Frog" topped the box offices this past weekend earning about $25 million. Not bad but not fantastic either, especially for a Disney production. The movie goes back to a Disney tradition and breaks another -- the film is hand-drawn like classic Disney features, but this is also the first time an African American is depicted as the "princess."

I could pick apart the legitimacy of this African American princess but I think I am more happy that Disney finally took this move. I complained about the lack of an African American leading lady in Disney animated features years ago. People who love Disney criticized my critique and pointed to "The Lion King" as an example of "black-themed" story telling. Uh...first, that movie was about lions and other animals, not people. Second, the story is based on African culture, not African American culture. People who don't like Disney said my critique was unimportant...I still wonder if they would have said such things if all Disney films presented people of color and totally ignored white people.

I haven't seen this movie yet but I will see it eventually...movie-going is somewhat difficult as a single parent to a child who would rather play outside than sit in a dark theater watching cartoons. I have heard the lead character is actually creole, not African American. However, I am willing to just go with that...for now.

Another movie that caught my attention is the true story "The Blind Side." This film has been very successful, raking in about $230 million. I have issues with this movie.

The movie tells the story of a "homeless" African American teen who is "adopted" by a white family and becomes very successful with that family's guidance. I have a lot of issues with this story, despite it being true.

My first question to Hollywood is, where are all the uplifting and true stories about African American single moms who raised boys into successful African American men? The assumption with this story is, there are none because to make an African American child a success, you need a white person. As much as I dislike Terrell Owen's showboating attitude on the football field, no one can deny that his is successful...and he was raised by African American women.

When I first saw the trailer for The Blind Side my first thought was, "Were are all the movies about African American success stories where the person was raised by African American families?" There are more stories like that than there are stories about white people stepping in and magically creating a success.

Unfortunately, when these stories are told, whites "fixing" black children, some white people think that is really true and needed. Some white people get this over-blown feeling of superiority and truly believe if they "adopted" a poor black child, that child has a better chance for success in life. The attitude and the implications are all insulting to the African American families out there working for success. These families, who are the majority, not the minority within the race, are not recognized because many whites just do not want to see that black people can create successes without a white person's guidance. Believing a white person's presence in a black person's life automatically creates success is just as racist as believing predominately black neighborhoods are always crime-ridden.

I have no ill-will towards any of the real people depicted in The Blind Side. A true story is a true story. My problem lies with the choices Hollywood regularly makes to ignore the millions of African American families who raise successful children (ESPECIALLY the single moms who do so), in favor of one white family who chose to help one black kid and it turned out well. You will never see the reverse shown where a white family tries to help a black child, fails, and that child learns to be successful with a black family. That happens too but you wouldn't see it on the screen. I may eventually watch The Blind Side but I won't be paying $9 at the theater to do so.