This week I was able to attend a screening of the movie “The Express” [http://www.theexpressmovie.com/] which is scheduled to be released in October 2008. I had seen the preview of the movie before being invited to the screening, so I knew the movie was about Ernie Davis, the first African-American college football player to win the Heisman Trophy. Based on the preview, I was lukewarm about seeing the movie and wrestled with my decision to attend the screening. After all, I’d seen this type of Hollywood movie before:
Superior/exceptional/special African-American living in a time of intense racisim (slavery/Jim Crow) overcomes great odds with the help of his/her white benefactor.
Glory Road**Remember the Titans**The Long Walk Home**Glory**Imitation of Life**Driving Ms. Daisy**The Hurricane**Men of Honor**Radio…
If I had to create a name for these types of films, whether or not based on real people or fictional characters, I might call them “The Quintessential Negro Story.” You can probably substitute the word “Negro” with any other ethnic or marginalized group. Even when these movies are good and based on real and courageous human beings, I am still wary of these films because, in Hollywood, it is almost as if there is no compelling black experience to dramatize outside of slavery and the Civil Rights era. Movies that tend to show other facets of the experiences of black people tend to be comedic or clownish or thuggish [which are two whole other topics of discussion.] The other problem I have with these quintessential negro films is the benevolent white-character counterpart who is in the film to have a revelation that racism is wrong and without whom the black character might not overcome the obstacles before him. Such characterizations are paternalistic and condescending as if black people cannot achieve goals without help from white people.
Even with some of my disdain for these class of films, one of my favorite films in this “genre” is “A Dry White Season” which is set in South Africa during apartheid. [****If you hate spoilers, don't read any further.****] In that movie, Donald Sutherland is the benevolent white character who, through a personal friendship with a black man, finally sees the evil of apartheid, although he has been complacent and complicit in the system for most of his life. What I like most about the film is that not only does Sutherland realize and acknowledge the horrible impact of apartheid on blacks in South Africa, but he makes real personal sacrifices to rectify his past complacency–he loses his wife, his daughter, and ultimately his life. The movie was directed by Euhzan Palcy, a black woman from Martinique, and so you have to wonder if the story would have been as compelling in the hands of a Hollywood director.
So as a lover of film, I ache for more dramatic films featuring a wide-range of black experiences— Love Jones , Talk to Me, She’s Gotta Have It, The Color Purple, Eve’s Bayou —and about people of color in the world—Rabbit Proof Fence, City of God, Bend It Like Beckham, Last King of Scotland. [A big shout out here to personal friends of mine making thoughtful independent black films Drayton Jamison (Big Ain't Bad) and Christine and Michael Swanson (All About Us).]
Now that I got all of that off my chest, back to “The Express.” I went to the screening because I thought If I didn’t I might not have an opportunity to go to a screening of something I really wanted to see. So I was prepared not to like the film. But, unexpectedly, I did like it and was blubbering like a baby at the end. Perhaps it was the compelling story of Ernie Davis as portrayed by actor Rob Brown (Finding Forester). In Brown’s riveting performance, Mr. Davis comes across as a man who takes destiny into his own hands on and off the playing field. To the filmakers’ credit, the benevolent white character–real life Syracuse football coach Ben Shwartzwalder as played by Dennis Quaid did not come off particularly paternalistic or patronizing during most of the film. He was mostly portrayed as a man who cared about having the best football team made up of the best players. I’m not going to go into any more detail or review the movie further because it will be several more months before it is released.
Just consider this an open letter to Hollywood that there is an audience for dramatic films about compelling black characters and experiences that need not be so patronizing or formulaic.
Quintessential Negro.
Great title. Interesting reflection. I too would like to see blacks in non-formulaic roles.
A big shout out to Donnie Webb at Syracuse.com who quoted me today regarding “The Express.” Check out the link at : http://blog.syracuse.com/orangefootball/2008/08/the_orange_has_a_date_for_the.html
To further expound on my impression of The Express, I would say the movie has something for everyone. It has a historical context, focusing on how Mr. Davis’ success, as well as that of Jim Brown, encouraged other African-Americans in their struggle for Civil Rights. It’s about championship football with many football sequences, especially highlighting the 1960 Cotton Bowl in which the Orangemen beat Texas 23 to 14 and Davis was named the MVP. It has drama, particularly regarding the racism the team experienced while playing games in the South. And finally it had tragedy as Davis was sadly unable to realize a promising NFL career with the Cleveland Browns–hence the source of my blubbering. It’s an all round good movie and I encourage people to see it. If you liked “Glory Road,” this film is better.
I have some photos from the Ernie Davis statue unveiling which was attended by members of Ernie Davis’ family and cast from the move, The Express.
http://stphoto.wordpress.com/2008/09/15/view-38-the-express/
I know, there’s some controversey surrounding the statue at the moment but SU says they’ll have it fixed soon.
I’m looking forward to seeing this movie as the premiere was well recieved here in Syracuse.
As a West Virginian, I believe it’s important to note that the scenes depicting racism experienced by Mr. Davis at West Virginia University are pure fiction. Both WVU and Syracuse representatives say the events portrayed never happened. In Fact, Mr. Davis only visited WVU once in his career and that occurred after his Heisman year…in 1959 WVU played Syracuse in New York, not Morgantown. Why on earth it is necessary to fabricate a sequence of injustice in an ostensibly non-fiction film is beyond me…particularly when the film is attempting to show the injustices of negative stereotypes.
http://www.dailymail.com/Sports/WVUSports/200810080283
Back in the days of “At the Movies” with Siskel and Ebert, I remember them reviewing a film, a foreign film and Siskel raving about how it had shown him people and places he had never seen before. I in turn compared that to good movies I’d seen about the Black experience, and why the good movies seemed to be overlooked by the country in general and blacks in particular, but I believe that Siskel’s comment had something to do with it. There is an old axiom that goes, “familiarity breeds contempt” I believe that whites for a good part believe that there is nothing new to the black experience that they don’t already know, and what they do know, they have no interest in paying to see in the same way that I don’t believe “Shindler’s List” did boffo box office in Germany. The only way you can get them to go is by showing it from a white viewpoint character, like “Glory” and “Amistad” and countless other films you can name. Now we all know this is a fallacy, but the problem goes deeper. People feel that for some reason a story told from a black perspective can’t possible resonant with anyone who doesn’t happen to be black themselves. Why this logic doesn’t seem to work in reverse is never questioned.
I think a part of it is Hollywood’s focus on the bottom line, but I think society bares responsibility as well. The fact is that if it isn’t a comedy, or exploitation flick, people don’t really spend money to see quality films with Black themes. Whites tend to stay away in droves. I honestly believe the that one exception “The Color Purple” only broke that rule was because people felt they could trust Spielburg to entertain them, even if it happened to have a basically entire black cast, and the white characters were not sympathetic. If we want to see more dramatic portrayals of the black experience, or even a “universal experience” as seen through the eyes of a black protagonist, someone is going to have to write a good story, and its going to have to make money — and I mean a lot of money! Period. Hasn’t happened yet. I don’t see it happening anytime soon. I’m not holding my breathe, but I am keeping my fingers crossed