I keep hearing about how it's some kind of conspiracy because everyone attached to the movie was white: White producer, director/writer, etc and that's somehow got something to do with why Zoe was cast over... whomever else.

Let me be honest here:

There's enough Black money in Hollywood that a movie about her could have been made without a single White person involved... So why didn't it happen this way???

We're getting mad at how these white folks tainted the legacy of Nina Simone by using Portreekan/Dominican actress to portray her and all of these other colorism issues and shit, but why did it take white folks to make the goddamned movie in the first place?

Why couldn't this movie have been made by Spike Lee, John Singleton, The Hughes Bros, or any of the other Black movie makers? Oprah put herself behind the poverty porn flick "Precious" but couldn't loosen her purse strings for a Nina Biopic??? Was Tyler Perry too busy making the next "Evil White collar dark skinned Black man vs Godly Blue Collar light skinned Black man" movie? Was Spike Lee too busy doing... whatever Spike Lee does between movies? Couldn't Denzel, Will Smith, or any other A-list multi-millionaire Black actors/actresses been approached for some financial backing for a project as worthy as this??? Maybe one of those millionaire rappers could have thrown a few bucks towards it instead of the champagne, cars, and women they're known for wasting money on (plus, the PR for such a move would be invaluable).

I thing that we're missing the bigger picture here with regards to this movie. Black Hollywood could have thrown it's weight behind a Nina biopic and gotten it done without all the controversy...

... So why didn't it?

---------------------------

"Where was the peace when we were getting shot? Where's the peace when we were getting laid out?
Where is the peace when we are in the back of ambulances? Where is the peace then?
They don't want to call for peace then.

Because if we're being real, making a movie is way easier than making a movie work.

------
“There is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn.” -Albert Camus

"Madea's on Mars" could make it into theaters across the country, I'm sure a Black run/funded Nina biopic could as well.


---------------------------

"Where was the peace when we were getting shot? Where's the peace when we were getting laid out?
Where is the peace when we are in the back of ambulances? Where is the peace then?
They don't want to call for peace then.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boo!_A_Madea_Halloween

Distributed by Lionsgate.

Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation (Lionsgate) was formed in 1997 by Frank Giustra and Avi Federgreen with a $16 million investment including another $40 million from other investors which included Keyur Patel and Yorkton Securities' executives such as G. Scott Paterson.Giustra had recently retired as CEO from Yorkton, an investment bank, and Paterson was then President. Giustra then merged Lionsgate with Toronto Stock Exchange listed Beringer Gold Corp. (founded in 1986) to take the company public. Beringer's mining assets were soon sold off.

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

^^ doesn't sound like Black Hollywood right there.

fuck you.

Built a solid church following, and sticks to a low quality and formulaic mode of story telling that's targeted to a narrow audience.

If Tyler Perry throws money behind/gets involved in the next Transformers, James Bond, Adam Sandler movie ... it tanks.

So your premise relies on one of the biggest names in black Hollywood, putting his weight behind something that he's shown neither the capacity to pull off nor the desire to do?

So, since we're being "real", how easy would this have been to pull off only in black Hollywood?

------
“There is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn.” -Albert Camus

>Built a solid church following, and sticks to a low quality
>and formulaic mode of story telling that's targeted to a
>narrow audience.

And yet he produced, wrote, and directed "For Colored Girls".

>
>If Tyler Perry throws money behind/gets involved in the next
>Transformers, James Bond, Adam Sandler movie ... it tanks.
>
>So your premise relies on one of the biggest names in black
>Hollywood, putting his weight behind something that he's shown
>neither the capacity to pull off nor the desire to do?

Spike Lee pulled off Inside Man and the Hughes Bros gave us From Hell and The Book of Eli, can we really believe TP couldn't step outside his comfort zone

>So, since we're being "real", how easy would this have been to
>pull off only in black Hollywood?

The money is there, it has to be packaged as a good investment like any other flick.

I guess the same can be asked of Black music: With so many supposed multi-millionaires in music why is it that there has been only one label in the last 25 years that was completely self sufficient down to the manufacturing (Scarface Records)?

---------------------------

"Where was the peace when we were getting shot? Where's the peace when we were getting laid out?
Where is the peace when we are in the back of ambulances? Where is the peace then?
They don't want to call for peace then.

That gave me a legitimate chuckle.

>There's enough Black money in Hollywood that a movie about her
>could have been made without a single White person involved...

fuck you.

Oprah put herself behind the poverty porn flick
>"Precious"

Precious had, in total, thirteen producers: Daniels, Oprah Winfrey, Tom Heller, Tyler Perry, Lisa Cortes, Gary Magness, Valerie Hoffman, Asger Hussain, Mark G. Mathis, Andrew Sforzini, Bergen Swason, Simone Sheffield and Sarah Siegel-Magness.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precious_%28film%29#Production

fuck you.

Precious was heavily billed as having Oprah and TP involved, not any of the other producers.

http://calitreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Precious.jpg

Up top, before Lee Daniels is "Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry Pesents"

no one else outside of Lee Daniels.


---------------------------

"Where was the peace when we were getting shot? Where's the peace when we were getting laid out?
Where is the peace when we are in the back of ambulances? Where is the peace then?
They don't want to call for peace then.

above the credits?

but anyway, your OP seemed to indicate you think Oprah herself bankrolled the production of Precious all by herself. she didn't.

so even if Oprah had thrown some money on the Nina movie (i dunno that she didn't - i haven't checked b/c i don't care) i'm not sure that she could've bankrolled the entire production.

fuck you.

>so even if Oprah had thrown some money on the Nina movie (i
>dunno that she didn't - i haven't checked b/c i don't care)
>i'm not sure that she could've bankrolled the entire
>production.

Next up would probably be Bob Johnson.


---------------------------

"Where was the peace when we were getting shot? Where's the peace when we were getting laid out?
Where is the peace when we are in the back of ambulances? Where is the peace then?
They don't want to call for peace then.

fuck you.

because they feel like casting Zoe was contradictory to what Nina stood for.


Now I'm not sure if Zoe is Colombian or not and I'm sure the internet could tell me but I don't feel like looking but maybe she identifies with being shitted on for having dark skin...

"Holier than thou never sits well with me."(c)janey

"OKP spends way too much time looking for ways to be offended." ~legsdiamond


http://twitter.com/jeleighbean

casting Zoe kinda takes some of the air out of Nina's politics - as standing up for dark-skinned ppl (sisters, in particular) seemed pretty crucial to her. so casting fairly light-skinned Zoe to play Nina just feels wrong (if ppl are mad b/c Zoe ain't American or b/c she's Latinx then they don't get it - it's the color thing not the race/ethnicity thing that's the 'problem' here). especially considering there are dark-skinned actors who ostensibly could've played the role. i dunno if any of them were available for this movie though - they could've been busy w/other parts or maybe they just weren't interested for other reasons.

fuck you.

Liz Garbus didnt get any flack for “What Happened, Miss Simone?”
Why?
Because it was good
the optics of Zoe are off putting
but thats because that budget was terrible and most of the early people associated with it dropped out
i have more a problem with the quality of what it looks like standing next to the doc that got released last year....directed by a better white woman

______________________________________

Navem nu, cuando sol
Tutu nu, vondo nos nu
Vita em, no continous non
Nos nu ekta nos sepe ta, amen

When the sun shades the ship
We sweat and life is not safe
To swim or to touch not
When we unite we hedge amen

>Liz Garbus didnt get any flack for “What Happened, Miss
>Simone?”
>Why?
>Because it was good
>the optics of Zoe are off putting
>but thats because that budget was terrible and most of the
>early people associated with it dropped out
>i have more a problem with the quality of what it looks like
>standing next to the doc that got released last
>year....directed by a better white woman

Since there's all this anger towards the flick coming from the Black community, the Black community needs to lean on Black money in Hollywood to get it done right.


... and it better BE right when/if we do it otherwise we lose the right to complain about shit.

---------------------------

"Where was the peace when we were getting shot? Where's the peace when we were getting laid out?
Where is the peace when we are in the back of ambulances? Where is the peace then?
They don't want to call for peace then.

no matter who does it
and hiding behind who directed it or who didnt does a disservice to holding people accountable on a shitty film
especially when the source material is so complicated and beautiful

______________________________________

Navem nu, cuando sol
Tutu nu, vondo nos nu
Vita em, no continous non
Nos nu ekta nos sepe ta, amen

When the sun shades the ship
We sweat and life is not safe
To swim or to touch not
When we unite we hedge amen

>no matter who does it
>and hiding behind who directed it or who didnt does a
>disservice to holding people accountable on a shitty film
>especially when the source material is so complicated and
>beautiful



Correct answer.....^^^^

GOAT of his era......long live Prince.....God is alive....

yea that bob johnson

and released a statement defending it after the trailer backlash started bubbling over



there is a lot of other stuff in your post to unpack (Ex- will's company has been shown to be made up of ~90%+ white folks) but... yea start with that.

)))--####---###--(((

bunda
<-.-> ^_^ \^0^/
get busy living, or get busy dying.

fuck you.

Guess we have no one but ourselves to blame for this... Well... we can always just blame Bob Johnson for this debacle.


---------------------------

"Where was the peace when we were getting shot? Where's the peace when we were getting laid out?
Where is the peace when we are in the back of ambulances? Where is the peace then?
They don't want to call for peace then.

so im not sure if 1 day bob picked it up and decided- the world needs to see this {mess}!

or if he had been sinking money into it long before, and 1 day felt he needed to recoup something




anyway, your post just reminded me that the hughes brothers havent made but maybe one movie in 10 years. wow. kinda like how black folks can move into all levels and seats of government, but fortune 500 ceos aint cracking more than 4% black

)))--####---###--(((

bunda
<-.-> ^_^ \^0^/
get busy living, or get busy dying.

this moment are worth telling, and we have always been open to other people telling these stories, just got to tell it right.


Anybody mad Norm Jewison made Solider Story? I could go on but that's the first one that came to mind.



**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

TP, Magic, Will Smith, Oprah, Bob Johnson, Jordan, etc...

We have enough people to tell our stories if we wanted to.

****************
TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*