Someone Always Goes Unheard: “Red Tails” and a Struggle of American Storytelling
By RODNEY “J PROPHET” REYNOLDS
January 23, 2012
Warning: may contain movie spoilers
I may sound like a party-pooper for this, but I feel compelled to get it off of my chest. First, I’ll say that everyone should go see the new movie, Red Tails. In a lot of ways it’s a really good movie. With almost unparalleled graphic effects it aims to tell a story that follows Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African-American World War II fighter pilot heroes who defied odds to make substantial contributions in significant victories of that war. This movie is particularly unique because it is the first to feature an all-black cast in a major action film. Yet, I must say I was incredibly disappointed and misled by it.
This movie is touted as a litmus test for major Hollywood movies with an all-black cast. It’s supposed to be the one to show how black casts can be widely appealing and overcome the narrow scope of foreign market value, but there were NO black women in this film! Upon realizing the absence of black women during the movie (and the inclusion of only two women) I was deeply troubled. Does this mean black women have no worth when it comes to markets? Is the representation of women, particularly black women, so insignificantly worthless that they have little to no role in this “catalytic” enterprise?
I’ve heard the argument that including black women would have disrupted the storyline. I’ve heard the argument that the script had been revised so many times and a storyline with a mother, wife, or any other black female loved one could have gotten thrown out in the many edits. I’ve heard the argument that the movie takes place almost solely in Italy so black women wouldn’t have been around. I’ve heard the argument that this was in the 1940’s during war-time and women just weren’t on the front lines. I hear these arguments, yet they honestly don’t make much sense to me. Perhaps I am too blinded by my disappointment to be “logical.” My sensibilities regarding this movie are not necessarily rooted in reason. To suggest that black women were not a part of this story by saying they would have disrupted the storyline is offensive. To posit that black women weren’t around is appalling. Women were certainly around in spirit, in heart, in memory, and in reality. In most war movies we hear about the family at home, or see representations of nurses, or women are depicted in pictures or flashbacks. In this film there was no sufficient presence of black women!
The one mention of Ray Gun’s wife and child at home, to me, was inadequate. If the filmmakers used time in the film to flesh out a love affair between one of the pilots and a native of Italy, then wouldn’t there have been time to provide a “flashback” to a pilot’s family? There wasn’t time to show a picture of a pilot’s mother and include an explanation of her importance in life?
I must admit I am personally invested. My fiancée is a strong black female actor and I am saddened to know that in what seems to be credited as the first all-black casted movie by a major movie distributor she wouldn’t even have been considered for a role. To think that I’ll have to tell my daughter that the first all-black action movie to be produced by “Hollywood” didn’t feature someone who looked like her is devastating.
Don’t get me wrong. We’ve come a long way. I appreciate the struggle this movie underwent in order to get out. It is, indeed, a stepping stone for black film and black actors. I, in no way, want to diminish the significance of a story this film does tell. I applaud the work of the people who produced it. I sincerely thank George Lucas for his candor regarding the battle to make this movie happen in spite of the obstacles of racism. And I certainly applaud the powerful performances of Cuba Gooding, Jr., Terrence Howard, and Nate Parker among others. But it is incredibly difficult to overcome my feelings of being misled and disappointed by the absence and silencing, yet again, of black women in this African-American story and in the American story.
Rodney J Prophet Reynolds is DC ’10, MDiv. ‘13. He is an IGR Recording Artist from Mt. Vernon, NY. You can also follow him at facebook.com/jprophetghostwriter, jpghostwriter.tumblr.com, and twitter.com/jprophetpap.
Comments (3)
I haven’t seen anything in the promotion of this film that convinces me that your criticism is valid– that is, that it couldn’t be leveled at almost any aspiring blockbuster movie that doesn’t feature women. Red Tails has been presented in its trailers and promotional materials as a movie about a particular group of black male pilots; it doesn’t purport to represent African-American women’s experiences of that war, in combat or otherwise. Your third and fifth paragraphs spare me the trouble of explaining why and how your response to this movie was highly subjective– and of course there’s no problem with that. My concern is that you chose to go ahead and publish an article almost purely based around your subjectivity, and without betraying much knowledge or awareness of the larger political or cultural tradition to which this movie does or does not belong.
posted by Presca Ahn January 23rd, 2012 at 12:57 pm
First, let me say that I was invited to write an article based on a couple of Facebook statuses I had posted after seeing the movie. I say that to site the original context of my thoughts. And of course they are subjective. I wrote this as an opinion piece. Second, when I talk about promotion I’m largely referring to George Lucas’s interview with Jon Stewart on The Daily Show when he opens up about the struggle he endured to make this film actually come to fruition. During the interview Lucas alludes to the fact that this first movie doesn’t capture the “whole” story, and that if he gets a big enough push for this first movie then Hollywood would green-light the “rest” of the story, so to speak. Many folks, including myself, read this as Lucas’s way of saying that this film has catalytic potential, suggesting that its success could change the way Hollywood sees films that feature all-black casts. After Lucas made these comments about how difficult it was to get the Hollywood studios to distribute an entirely African-American action movie, I saw a wave of social media “campaigns” to support the movie because folks believed a good push for this movie could somehow prove the worth of all-black casts to be “green enough,” as Lucas put it in the interview. Third, my emotional subjectivity is rooted in the fact that the erasure of black women from “the” African-American story is an unfortunate running trend. All too often, black women are left out. This film is yet another example. Of course I celebrate the contributions of these heroes. I would hope that goes without saying. My very existence, as an Ivy League educated black man with family sprinkled throughout the South, is firmly steeped in the cultural tradition to which this movie belongs. But my existence is inextricably linked to the women who have raised, edified, and sustained me. I thought that this link would have, in some way, been reflected in the movie as the battle is never just on the battlefield.
posted by Rodney 'J Prophet' Reynolds January 23rd, 2012 at 7:29 pm
great post i agree 100%
http://blacknotwhitedippedinchocolate.wordpress.com/2012/01/17/george-lucass-red-tails-should-i-be-excited/
posted by grapes January 27th, 2012 at 7:01 am