>It may be true that the issues are dealt with in only a
>superficial way, but my perspective was that the fact that
>they were dealt with at all in a mainstream movie was a big
>step.

That's a dangerous way of thinking. If it's not sinewy and muscular and scored deep with conviction and love and hate, a film about something so pervasive and involving should not have been made in the first place.

As mentioned earlier in the thread, I think a prime example of mainstream media successfully tackling the issue of race was the Pryor/Chase SNL skit, or, alternately, something like All in the Family. Until the mainstream sees fit to finance a picture as biting and resounding as Killer of Sheep or Putney Swope, I think comedy is the only useful vessel for an exploration of such.