Everything Old Is New Again...And Still Kinda Old

I watched The Expendables about 2 weeks ago on a Sunday afternoon (I should note I started scribbling this blog right after I watched it) and marveled at how old Dolph Lundgren looked every time he was on the screen. 


Arnold Schwarzenegger's (or the Governator's as my friend called him) cameo didn't help the situation. These men are growing old right before my eyes. On the following Monday, I saw the commercial for Red and that's when it clicked and I tweeted: The Expendables and now Red -- I see where Hollywood is going.


Everything old is new again. I don't mean the endless remakes but the actors and the eras. Aside from Sylvester Stallone's eyebrows, it was refreshing to see people who actually looked 50 or 60 years old on screen. Side note: I enjoyed the return to a good old-fashioned shoot-em-up movie. I recently finished reading Beauty Junkies by Alex Kuczynski and the extent of plastic surgery in Hollywood and because of Hollywood is disheartening. (not taking anything away from her talent, but the over-saturation of Betty White is a sign that there just aren't that many older actress in Hollywood. And Cloris Leachman is doing her thing on Raising Hope! Who else could they have cast?

Token Flamboyance

In those high school dramas there was always the Token Black Guy. He didn't have much dialogue, but his presence broke up the monotony of white on the eyes. The concept of the Token Black Guy is spoofed in comedies. In horror flicks, he's usually the first one to die, or he's the smart one who doesn't go towards the noise or out into the woods to investigate... but dies anyway.

So apparently Hollywood has done the Token Black Guy thing to death and maybe now they've moved on to the Token Black Gay Guy. Token characters portray stereotypes or are caricatures of the group they represent. What made me want to attempt to put this unstructured observation into words was The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency, namely BK. He's described as "flamboyant" - a euphemism for "gay". He's a hairdresser as well. The only other Black gay character that sticks out in my mind is Carter on Spin City. Please let me know of others.

 

The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency is based in Africa. Homophobia exists heavily in Black American culture. Same goes for African culture (re: continental Africa) and derivatives, to the extent that gang rapes are committed against lesbians to "correct" them and gay men are jailed and killed. I want to look at the positive of this situation. A token character is an admission of existence. They are willing to show that gays are born, raised, live, exist in Africa. Yeah, it is a stereotypical character (hopefully one day we'll move past the neck-rolling, hand-on-the-hip gay characters who are hairdressers, waiters or fashion designers) and it's only one show but it's a start - No? 

The African Silver Screen

Back in 2006, I did a Masala Bhangra workout taught by Sarina Jain. It was great! Loved the dance moves and I got to shake my head and roll my neck as much as I wanted. I was so ready to go to an Indian wedding. Sometimes I still break out some of the moves when I’m watching the Punjabi Playboy make his way to the ring. Now after the great showing Slumdog Millionaire had at the Oscars, folks are decreeing “Hollywood goes Bollywood!”
Next stop, Nollywood?

For those that aren’t aware, Nollywood is the term coined to describe the Nigerian movie industry (one of my homelands). They’re known for producing movies on very limited budgets in record time. Quality  can suffer in some of the films, but the stories are always full of drama, twists and turns and comedy. And it’s a $250 million dollar industry. In the US, we have “Black Cinema” so to speak, Tyler Perry being the most recent addition. And in most movies we have the same cast of characters played by the same actors. Let’s list them together, shall we (past & present): Sanaa Latham, Taye Diggs, Boris Kudjoe, Angela Bassett, Morris Chestnut, Gabrielle Union, Omar Epps, Blair Underwood, Kimberly Elise, Larenz Tate, Nia Long etc. plus the musician/singer/rapper turned actor.

What made  Slumdog Millionaire a household name? Hollywood was willing to take a chance and spend money on it. Distributors had to pay to get it on screens across the US. Would Hollywood invest in Africa the same way? Does Nollywood want Hollywood’s help?