Do we need another movie like Will Smiths “Emancipation”?
I have no issue with historical dramas, regardless of what story they tell.
If it happened, we should shine a light on it.
Really, I’m just using this latest woke release to finally write an article I’ve been wanting to write for over a decade:
WE NEED MORE BLACK WIZARDS
Or perhaps I should say we need “A” black wizard.
We’ve heard enough about the victimization of black people or people of colour.
Many other cultures or races that were oppressed in the past, have simply moved on and got to work.
Take Asians for example. They didn’t wait around for their oppressors or detractors to make movies about them, or offer them reparations or even for affirmative action.
To put it most eloquently, they just “did their thang”. And they kicked all kinds of ass.
So much so, they’ve now surpassed everyone to the point they now have to deal with reverse affirmative action when applying to post secondary schools.
So why are they winning, and many black people are still struggling?
It’s because success in school and business and life is built into their culture.
I need to stop now and call out the vast amount of black people that are driven to succeed and are succeeding. I think many of them get it.
And those are the same ones that comment on the Emancipation movie trailer and say things like:
“We have other stories to share”
“Do we really need this?”
Of course Will Smith also did The Pursuit of Happiness. Great!
But I’m still not seeing enough black wizards.
Now let’s talk about what wizards represent. Wizards represent a wise, learn-ED, peaceful, resourceful, magical mentor that uses his power to fight evil.
Almost every culture has their own version of this – including female versions.
Now we need more of that to inspire black youth.
Not only wizards, but (good) witches, captains of industry, super-heroes etc.
And not just being the diversity hire in a movie produced by white people, or an all black cast to over correct.
And maybe slightly less movies about coming up from the ghetto (though I feel like those are fading out? Maybe someone can correct me on that one).
More movies where we normalize black success. So I don’t mean casting a black character to showcase their struggles with racism. Just a normal black person that has succeeded because of hard work.
Maybe that includes more black nerds. They’re out there. There must be thousands of stories.
I’m not going to guess what all these stories are. I just want to hear them.
I’ll sign off with an example of a story that almost got it right: Star Wars. The latest batch.
I liked Finn’s character. A bad guy – or rather good guy in a bad situation – turned good.
But then he goes and chases a magical white girl who’s chasing down a white wizard – Luke Skywalker.
Why couldn’t Finn have had “the force”. So only white people have magical powers?
I bet so many black boys were praying that Finn had ended up having Jedi powers. Not only did he not have powers, he was a bit goofy.
It’s fine. We don’t need to reshoot it. It’s a great start.
We just need more god damn black wizards. And wizardesses (cuz it’s not the same as a witch. But that’s a whole other discussion).
I’d love to hear feedback from the black community on this. Alas, this article will get buried. If I’m not towing the line of the POC victimhood narrative, it’s down to the bottom of the pile.
Lastly, go watch Will’s movie. It’s fine. But let’s start demanding other stories. Hollywood makes these because it thinks it’s what we want. Read the room Hollywood! A handful of white social justice warriors online does not a consensus make. I keep hearing “listen to black people”. Are they? Are they actually listening?
It’s also not always about giving people what they think they want. I didn’t know I wanted Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away. But when I saw it blew my mind. It’s beautiful and wise and I will raise my daughter on that movie (and his others). What do black parents have in the same realm as Spirited Away? Little Mermaid recast with a black girl? Weak. Do better please.
