If you needed any further proof that Hollywood wouldn't know an original idea if it slapped them in the face, here's Exhibit D.
Fox is developing a drama project inspired by the story of Cathy Lanier, the newly appointed chief of police of Washington, DC.Never mind the fact that this story has essentially already been told before (anyone remember CBS' ill-fated "The District"?). This "rich idea" will undoubtedly include lots of emasculating of Charles Ramsey, the black chief who proceeded Lanier and was unceremoniously dumped new DC Mayor Adrian Fenty earlier this year to pave the way for Lanier. It will probably be some variation of the ever-popular "all-knowing white guy/chick saves the savage Negroes from themselves" genre like Finding Forrester, Dangerous Minds, Freedom Writers, Take The Lead, Hardball, The Substitute, and any other flick that just makes black people look too dumb to solve their own problems without outside intervention. It will probably portray the black officers who sexually harassed Lanier (she won a court ruling) during her early days as a cop as crotch-grabbing primates. It will probably portray Lanier as magically turning around a violent city by simply "caring more and inspiring others". And it will inevitably end up as the
Lanier, a 39-year-old white single mother who dropped out of high school after getting pregnant at 14, became D.C.'s first female police chief and one of the youngest heads of the 3,800-member department dominated by black male officers. In addition to dealing with the city's high crime rate, Lanier also has to deal with about 100 other law enforcement agencies operating in D.C.
"Here's a white woman in a man's world and an African-American world, working with agency after agency in a complicated jurisdiction like Washington, D.C., and she's a single mom," said Bob Cooper, who will produce the untitled project. "This seemed like a rich area to look at.
Seriously, what other angle could such a movie take other than to discredit blacks who have tried for years and years to turn the city around while making Lanier seem like Mother Teresa? Never mind the fact that the real life Cathy Lanier has only been on the job 10 months, has alienated many residents by demoting several highly regarded black lieutenants, and has seen the city's murder rate escalate in recent weeks, capped by the bizarre police shooting of an unarmed 14 year old. Also, never mind the fact Fenty obviously hired Lanier (who to her credit was qualified, but wasn't considered a known candidate) to put a whiter face on an ailing department (he made a similar appointment for Superintendent of schools) in hopes of continuing to spur the influx of gentrifiers to what was once Chocolate City. Because we all feel much safer and secure when someone white is in charge.
This might surprise you, but I don't hold any of this against Lanier. I don't live in DC, but I spend enough time there to hope that she can genuinely turn things around. Still, by trumpeting her arrival as the consummate Great White Hope story before she's even given the opportunity to be deemed successful just shows why Hollywood stays losing. And to think, Negroes can't even get a quality black drama on network TV, but the freakin' GEICO Cavemen have a show.
Amazing, but hardly surprising.
Fox on tale of D.C. top cop [Reuters]
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I don't know enough about her to completely jump on the cynic wagon. BUT...even speaking from my "possible" bias as a white woman, I really do wonder how just being 10 MONTHS on the job (especially this job) would be reason enough to make a movie!!! Whatever happened to the idea of proving your mettle? Whether this woman will turn things around or someone else will, I need to have some distance (time-wise) before “The Story of…” is going to be of any interest or worth. And I don't care if they dish it out to chauvinist pigs or weed out dead-weights resting on some dusty laurels. DC local government (and agencies) always seem to be a joke, and not a very funny one.
P.S. I am not even sure how to digest “whitey saves the savage Negroes from themselves.” You’re in rare/raw form today. There’s more to chew on there than this little comment space will provide. While I (unfortunately) do see where you’re coming from with this, I hate to swing a sharp sickle so wide as to cut down the people who really are doing good for other people (regardless of the “backgrounds” of any and all involved). And while this probably doesn’t really matter, just thought I’d let you know that I’ve never seen any of these “whitey intervention” movies, none even sound familiar. Whatever reason, they didn’t make it onto my radar.
AvgBro,
Usually you bleep out the bad words....
vindy, you are correct. I made some family friendly modifications. AvBro loves the kids!
ga girl in nj, you'd really have to see one of the aforementioned movies to get my point. None of this post is a criticism of Lanier or any such person in a similar position of power, just the Hollyweird power structure and how they regurgitate the same ole' ideas year in and out.
Drop one of those movies in your Netflix queue, and holla back.
Trust me, I have seen some of those movies you mentioned (there are more, but their names escape me at the moment. Going way back - Missisippi Burning and Cry Freedom with Denzel Washington would be another two examples). Nothing is held against the lady in person, but the theme of these movies which is basically to take issues central to blacks and make white people the protagonists in them.
With respect to AB (and I do respect his opinions or else I wouldn't be reading this blog every day)I think the racial/racist angle in this particular case is overstated.
The reason is that there are plenty of (arguably better) Hollywood movies where the roles has been reversed, with the (usually mystic)negro saving the hapless, spiritually dry whitey from himself (or herself.)
Just a few examples would be "Field of Dreams," "It Could Happen To You," "The Legend of Bagger Vance," "The Hudsucker Proxy," and "Ghost," or the granddaddy of them all, "Lilies of the Field."
The Washington Post even did a Style feature on this genre a few years back.
These fish-out-of-water salvation themes may be neither fresh nor original, but they aren't necessarily racist either. And, if box office totals are any indication, they are effective.
Chris, with all respect to you (and I do respect your opinion), I have to disagree that the movies you listed carry the same weight as "whitey to the rescue" movies. The black people in those movies are, as you said, usually mystical. See, Bagger's not like all those *other* negroes; he's MAGIC!!
But in movies like Dangerous Minds, real, sincere, and somewhat naive people come to the rescue of blacks so indoctrinated in poverty and the ghetto (cuz that's where most of us live, right?) that only the Great White Hope can save them. Save them from their violence, their ignorance, etc., instead of their inner demons.
I get your point, but I can't agree that these movies are the same. Except, I'd argue they're all a bit racist.
To even mention a movie like Ghost as an example of an "arguably better" movie than the ones cited by AvgBro is laughable. The character played by Whoopi, was perhaps one of the most racist and ridiculous portrayals of a black woman on film ever. And as I.l.l correctly pointed out, the blacks in these movies were only able to save the whites because they were imbued with some kind of mystical power, whereas in the reverse, the whites are normal, multi-dimensional characters with flaws, life challenges and everything. Can we really point out an entire genre of movies where the main black character is portrayed as heroic AND multi-dimensional, flaws and all? There may be a few in between, but not an entire genre.
With all this movie genre talk, where do movies like "To Sir with Love", "Stand and Deliver" and "Lean on Me" fit in? And I like all three of these.
About the "fish-out of water" theme: it must work in getting people to the movies. It is certainly a simple way to add a complication or "twist" to the plot and in some ways to make it more suspenseful. Of course the problem can be sweeping generalizations and stereotypes. While some theme generalizations can have underlying sources (crappy dangerous depressing schools do exist), the cookie-cutter method is usually not the best method for getting at larger and more complex truths.
Regarding the "original aforementioned movies", I'll give one a try. With all this talk, I'm wondering how these movies made their money, because this certainly seems to be a successful story-line. What groups/demographics did the movie studios have in mind and advertise to? And ultimately what groups ended up being the movie goers? And DVD renters?
Forgot to add: A webpage that I came across.
FILMPROFIT: The Business of Successful Films
http://www.filmprofit.com/planning.html
Truth be told, GA girl in NJ, the formula seems to be dying. The last batch of these movies, like Hilary Swank's "Freedom Writers" and Keanu Reaves' "Hardball" tanked at the box office, so maybe this tired cliche is finally on a death march.
I appreciate your opinion and PoV, however. I'll peep that site you referred. Keep checking us out, and leave some more comments.
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