You may have noticed there’s a new Tyler Perry movie coming out. Oh, is it Tuesday already?
But “Alex Cross” is different from Perry’s usual work — the endless stream of Madea adventures and films with entire sentences for titles. For one thing, he didn’t plaster his name all over the title and poster.
For another, “Cross” is not marketed entirely at black audiences.
Tyler Perry is such a unique phenomenon that it’s almost impossible to talk about general Hollywood trends in terms of him. He writes, directs, produces and even finances most of his own movies and television shows, and he’s so financially successful that studios will basically let him do whatever he wants.
He’s done this all by targeting a market he knows well and he now has a huge reputation with – black audiences.
It was only logical that after building an enormous and loyal following, Perry would start appearing in more mainstream films. But that’s not to say it isn’t an important step for an industry where diversity is almost always sacrificed for the bottom line.
When was the last time you saw a Hollywood blockbuster with a star who wasn’t white?
Let me rephrase that – when was the last time you saw a Hollywood blockbuster with a star who wasn’t white, Will Smith or Denzel Washington?
Of the 50 highest-grossing movies of the 2000s, exactly one has a black lead actor: “I Am Legend.”
In the movie industry, money is everything. That’s why the theaters are constantly full of sequels and reboots – the studios make what they know will sell. It’s why they’re on the fourth “Paranormal Activity,” for God’s sake.
The problem is, Hollywood doesn’t think mainstream (read: white) audiences will react well to black stars, so roles go to white actors or a few established black actors who are known to sell.
And when black actors do get work, much of the time it’s in roles that specifically require them to be black, like Smith’s “Ali” or Washington’s “American Gangster.”
I’d personally like to see a realistic depiction of race realities in mass media, with everything that entails. “The Wire” was one of the best television shows of all time, in large part because it was truthful about race and class relations while maintaining the humanity of its characters.
I’ll admit, it does seem like television and movie studios have made some efforts in recent years to address diversity, but I have some issues with the way they go about it. Shows like “Glee” and “Modern Family” seem to make a point to stuff as many minorities as possible into each episode and shove them in your face, but this weird, post-modern tokenism isn’t helping anything.
It’s reminiscent of elementary school public service announcements, where every group of friends had one kid in a wheelchair. It simply wasn’t truthful, and being open and honest is the best way to handle issues of diversity.
That’s why I went to see “Alex Cross.” Not because Tyler Perry needs more money, but because we have made a lot of progress as a society and there are plenty of black cops out there.
They may not be fighting serial killers who act suspiciously similar to Heath Ledger’s Joker, but they deserve to be represented in pop culture.
