Current Events > weird how white people are BIG consumers of black music but not black movies

(+) Yeah! (+)

Why no like?

Music is universal. Language is not. It's why you can listen to a song in another language and enjoy it, but it's tough to watch a foreign film without subtitles.

In this instance, you don't need to relate to the subject to enjoy the beat, but comedy is subjective and usually only hits if you relate to it in some way.

---

Black Panther sold exceptionally well.

---

White people loved 12 Years a Slave, The Color Purple, The Help... wait a second, I'm starting to see a pattern here.

bknight posted...

White people loved 12 Years a Slave, The Color Purple, The Help... wait a second, I'm starting to see a pattern here.

MAGA

Those Tyler Perry movies look like shit. Friday was good though.

---

I've seen quite a few older white fols enjoy those Madea movies.

---

s0nicfan posted...

Music is universal. Language is not. It's why you can listen to a song in another language and enjoy it, but it's tough to watch a foreign film without subtitles.

In this instance, you don't need to relate to the subject to enjoy the beat, but comedy is subjective and usually only hits if you relate to it in some way.

This is a good point. I would reckon a lot of white people who listen to black music like the sound more than the meaning - likely because they dont fully understand or relate to the meaning.

---

Whites have the priveledge of being able to cherry pick what they like and leave what they don't like from other cultures. That's why plantation houses still exist.

---

Its almost like music and movies belong to different mediums of expression and presentation.

---

Chicken posted...

Black Panther sold exceptionally well.

it was also, you know, a mass-marketed disney movie

---

Wii_Shaker posted...

Whites have the priveledge of being able to cherry pick what they like and leave what they don't like from other cultures. That's why plantation houses still exist.

---

bad boys 3 was a success.

also, this topic makes me wonder if 8 mile is a "white" or "black" movie? any takers? xd

---

AsucaHayashi posted...

also, this topic makes me wonder if 8 mile is a "white" or "black" movie? any takers? xd

Well... there was at least one black person in it
So I totally get black culture!
/s

---

Hairistotle posted...

8 mile was directed, starring, and written by white guys, why would it be a black movie?

Because of Hip Hop being rooted in black culture.

Marshall Mathers is really an exception to the rule when it comes to many Hip Hop arguments.

We don't discuss religion, politics or Hip Hop at my dinner table.

---

You mean like...Tyler Perry movies? Because those are trash.

---

What are you talking about? I love Blaxploitation movies.

Shaft (and its sequels), Superfly, Slaughter, Black Gunn, Black Caesar, Hell Up in Harlem, Three the Hard Way, One Down -- Two to Go, Bucktown, Cleopatra Jones, Jive Turkey, The Guy from Harlem, a couple of films with titles I can't say, so on and so forth, etc. and etc. I'm missing some famous titles -- Coffey and The Mack immediately come to mind -- but I'll get to them eventually.

(And, yes, I know "blaxploitation" is a bit of a misnomer. Ron O'Neal in particular had some strong words to say about it. But since it's never been renamed as a genre, I'll stick with that title for want of a better one.)

In terms of modern movies with black directors and predominantly black casts, I'm still open to it. I haven't seen Black Panther, but I did enjoy BlackkKlansman and Jordan Peele's Us.

---

ok I've mulled this over some.

on the one hand: I get the premise of the topic and it seems feasible and intuitive but I really need to see some numbers before fully accepting it. I also don't really know what constitutes a "black" film.

on the other hand, the dominant culture in american music for the past hundred years has overwhelmingly been appropriated from black americans. jazz, blues, rock, funk, hip-hop, etc. are all fundamentally "black music"

so my best guess would be that "black music" is ubiquitous in popular music in a way that "black cinema" isn't?

I don't know nearly as much about film as I do about music though, so I don't really have any hard answers here

---

I thought Dolomite is My Name got a glowing reception and a lot of views on Netflix. I know I loved it. Third favorite movie of last year.

---

Come to think of it, when you count older movies, I've enjoyed movies with stars such as Sidney Poitier, Dorothy Dandridge, and Canada Lee. The oldest film in black cinema I've seen is Within Our Gates; a silent film produced in response to Birth of a Nation.

There's one older film I'd like to see, but it's sadly lost. It's regarded as one of the first films (some sources claim the first) made by black filmmakers. It was made by the following company; established by Noble Johnson who would spend most of his acting career playing chiefs, princes, and henchmen of various ethnic groups.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Motion_Picture_Company

It's a significant piece of history lost to the ages. Forgive the language in the link, it was not inflammatory when it was written.

---

Skye Reynolds posted...

What are you talking about? I love Blaxploitation movies.

Shaft (and its sequels), Superfly, Slaughter, Black Gunn, Black Caesar, Hell Up in Harlem, Three the Hard Way, One Down -- Two to Go, Bucktown, Cleopatra Jones, Jive Turkey, The Guy from Harlem, a couple of films with titles I can't say, so on and so forth, etc. and etc. I'm missing some famous titles -- Coffey and The Mack immediately come to mind -- but I'll get to them eventually.

(And, yes, I know "blaxploitation" is a bit of a misnomer. Ron O'Neal in particular had some strong words to say about it. But since it's never been renamed as a genre, I'll stick with that title for want of a better one.)

In terms of modern movies with black directors and predominantly black casts, I'm still open to it. I haven't seen Black Panther, but I did enjoy BlackkKlansman and Jordan Peele's Us.

the fuck?

8 mile is 100% a white movie ask any "mumble rap killed REAL hip hop!" folk like tom mcdonald
---

Jim Brown movies are cool.

---

Fam_Fam posted...

the fuck?

google is your friend

---

I like Spike Lee

---

Do the right thing is one of the best movies to come out of the USA in the last 50 years.

---

Ilishe posted...

Do the right thing is one of the best movies to come out of the USA in the last 50 years.

overrated af movie tbqh
---

I'm white and over the past week I've watched 3 Rudy Ray Moore movies and loved them. (Dolemite, The Human Tornado, Petey Wheatstraw)

---

https://youtu.be/iGKffRRIMko

---

Im east asian and Samuel L Jackson is my favourite actor.

---

I have a black friend

---

Fam_Fam posted...

the fuck?

Action movies made from the late 60s to mid-70s. They had predominantly black casts and mostly urban settings. They were given the pejorative name blaxploitation in response to some of the content being deemed exploitative. Some of the people who actually starred in the movies had some words to say about the allegations of exploitation.

---

Lot of sheltered people here that need to experience the real world.

---

Fam_Fam posted...

the fuck?

That's the genre name lol

---

Was The Matrix a black movie? All the bad guys were white and even the agents took on the look of the corporate elite white guy. Zion seemed to be primarily black too with a few white people sprinkled in.
---

KStateKing17 posted...

I've seen quite a few older white fols enjoy those Madea movies.

Because the movies feed into stereotypes.

---

Movies require tons of money, so its a lot harder for black filmmakers to...well, for black filmmakers to even happen.

---

I guess Im not sure what constitutes a black movie. Idk if these movies were made/directed by black people but they were majority black casts.

Boyz N The Hood
Menace II Society
Juice
Dead Presidents
Im Gonna Git You Sucka
New Jack City
Above the Rim


---

Shablagoo posted...

Dead Presidents

This one's a classic

---

Tony_Biggie_Pun posted...

This one's a classic

Hell yeah. Oh another good one is Fresh (1994).

---

Fun and slightly relevant facts time, ya'll.

Melvin van Peebles's Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, the film which launched the blaxploitation genre of the 70s, was a highly political, low budget independent art film that caught on fire at the box office, making $15.2 million (about $100 million in today's money), which was 101x its budget. He would also play Richard Halloran in the 1997 TV adaptation of The Shining, and his son, Mario van Peebles, is the director of New Jack City.

---

'Us' is probably one of my all time favorite thrillers.

---

Makeveli_lives posted...

Because the movies feed into stereotypes.

That is true

---

IShall_Run_Amok posted...

Fun and slightly relevant facts time, ya'll.

Melvin van Peebles's Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, the film which launched the blaxploitation genre of the 70s, was a highly political, low budget independent art film that caught on fire at the box office, making $15.2 million (about $100 million in today's money), which was 101x its budget. He would also play Richard Halloran in the 1997 TV adaptation of The Shining, and his son, Mario van Peebles, is the director of New Jack City.

Mario Van Peebles also starred in a movie about Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song's production, Gettin' the Man's Foot Outta Your Baadasssss!. (Also known as Baadasssss.) That one's interesting not only for the historical context, but also as a commentary on trying to make a movie off of an ultra low budget.

---

As an Asian, I like a lot of black actors, but I dont like black movies or black shows. I.e., I have no interest in watching shit like Dear White People, Empire, Atlanta, Black-ish, etc. But I love shows like Community, The Wire, Breaking Bad, Lost, etc.
---

m4uPgLMVI posted...

As an Asian, I like a lot of black actors, but I dont like black movies or black shows. I.e., I have no interest in watching shit like Dear White People, Empire, Atlanta, Black-ish, etc. But I love shows like Community, The Wire, Breaking Bad, Lost, etc.

Those are pretty good though. I've never watched Atlanta.

---