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Garry is a young black professional, Florida State and UNC Law grad, and attorney currently residing in Miami, FL.

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‘This Christmas’ I am mad!

November 25th, 2007 • Related • Filed Under

I must start by saying I have not seen the movie starring the incomparable, utterly divine Regina King. But, I don’t need to have seen it to address my concern.this-xmas.jpg

I don’t buy into a lot of things associated with the movies. I can probably count on two hands the number of films I’ve paid to see in a theatre in the last few years. I am not swayed by opening weekend hype or large, raucous crowds. Ten dollars is a lot of money to pay for mediocrity (or worse), so I frequent Metacritic.com for the “metascore” garnered from a concise compilation of reviews by top media outlets. And it is there my concern was born. There is subtle condescension and borderline pandering in some reviews of black movies. Oddly, I am afraid it may be necessary in the minds of reviewers who don’t want to bury the few and far between black movie entries in bad reviews.

Take for instance “This Christmas,” an obvious “Soul Food” retread with a stellar cast and high ambitions. Here are some of the words used to review the film:

from Entertainment Weekly: “Everyone in this … clan has got … problems as befits an aspirational, say-amen holiday movie. “

from Variety: “sure to please its intended recipients.”

from The Onion: “bound to make plenty of people happy with its slick, crowd-pleasing familiarity.”

I’m certain you will let me know if I am overthinking the matter or missing the mark, but for me those are loaded, potentially irresponsible words. With “aspirational, say-amen movie” I hear two warnings: one, the film doesn’t stack up and two, expect a lot of “oh no he didn’t” and “you go girl” shouts. “Sure to please its intended recipients” means mainstream audiences won’t find much, but the chitlin’ circuit will be pleased. To make “plenty of (apparently nondescript) people happy” and have “crowd-pleasing familiarity,” in any case, is to appeal to the most common and obvious sensibilities.

But, I’ve been forced to ask myself if it is the reviews, or the films themselves? To be sure, there is a dearth of black films due in large part to Hollywood execs whom I assume would attribute the lack to “market demands,” meaning all we’ll get is churned out black fare unless a black filmmaker can produce her own movies. Does that mean less resources and a smaller talent pool that results in poorer quality? Or, is the problem that what is being produced is designed to get as many of us out as possible? Movies like “Soul Plane” notwithstanding, black films are performing well. “This Christmas” made over 27 million this weekend and Tyler Perry’s success goes without saying. But, are any of these the statement movies we’ve been longing to make? Are they demonstrating the our depth of talent and diversity of experience? Does Hollywood’s lack of interest in our stories mean they don’t have to distribute more independent (read: “Brother” not “Trois”) movies in favor of those not-too-challenging for the mainstream or geared towards “intended recipients?”

I think the more likely reality can be found in this excerpt from the New York Post (2002) review of “Brown Sugar”:

Represents a kind of progress (emphasis added). Where once only a few ultra-talented, lucky black filmmakers got to make big studio movies, now we have standard-issue Hollywood schlock that happens to be made by, about and for African-Americans.

I have not seen it so I can’t speak to the representations in “This Christmas,” but I fear a lot of our films have become standard-issue Hollywood schlock, and that means just like Adam Sandler movies have intended recipients, unless we demand more, we can prepare ourselves for more undistinguished, unexceptional “entertainment” (because that’s one excuse I keep hearing; “it’s just entertainment.”). Problem is, the average Adam Sandler fan doesn’t have the unenviable task of defending the “whole of his people” the next day at the office watercooler.

(image via imdb.com)

Viewing 8 Comments

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    You're not overreacting ... but truth be told it was a "you go girl" movie. I think the problem is that we have allowed the mainstream to convince us that that is automatically bad. It is possible to be "flamboyantly ethnic" and "of quality." I enjoyed the film. It wasn't great, but it was worth my two hours.

    By the way, that is why I don't read reviews ... and I work in media!! LOL.
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    I saw This Christmas on Thursday night. It wasn't great and it wasn't horrible. I did have "Soul Food" flashbacks during a couple of the scenes. I think Hollywood is in a longstanding trend right now which is the anti-gangster movies that started appearing after Boyz in the Hood and Menace 2 Society came out. I'm always happy to see successful, educated, family-oriented Black films, but I think there is a lack of creativity on a lot these movies. It's like a pattern develops.

    It does bother me what these reviewers said. But I'm with ETS, and don't really pay much attention to reviews. I made my judgement by going to see the movie for myself and would give the cast an A+ and the plot a C-.
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    I'm not sure what's meant by flamboyantly ethnic, but I think one reason we don't have more diverse and quality black films is that not only has Hollywood boxed us in with mostly shallow or stereotypical portrayals; but African Americans are often reluctant to see more than one view of themselves. A lot of middle class blacks think "This Christmas" was great and accurate while I've heard a lot of poorer blacks say its "bougie"-- that most black families aren't like that, its "Hollywood Fantasy".
    The success of Tyler Perry is undeniable, but the quality of his work is debatable amongst a lot of people. Some black actors have been in some great films that few black people saw even though the focus was black people. Forrest Whitaker in "The Last King of Scotland" and that movie about Rwanda I forget the name of with Don Cheadle. When those movies came out it was like pulling teeth to get black people to go see it with me because it was too"serious" or they were unfamiliar with the subject matter.
    I certainly understand and appreciate the value of light entertainment, we all need that, but we cannot progress on a steady diet of it in cinema.
    I know many of us are tired of the slavery depictions ,but even more contemporary black literature, from which a lot of film plots are derived, deal with some serious social issues a lot black people (and whites) would rather not see. Colorism, incest, child sexual abuse, alcoholism, drug abuse, poverty, sexism , mental illness, homosexuality, rape, religious impropriety are dominant themes in a lot of black literature because it unfortunately is still a large degree of the black experience in America.
    A lot of people don't remember this but there were a lot of black people who objected to "The Color Purple" when it was first released and likewise with a lot Spike Lee films which "dared to go there" and portray the things we like to ignore ourselves and don't want white people to know too much about.
    I worry that signifigant contributions by African Americans will go the way of rock n' roll, jazz ,and the blues ((and eventually hip hop))--art forms created by blacks who are largely unsupportive of now and in many cases ignorant of the magnitude of that contribution to world culture--if we don't embrace a much larger view of ourselves, demand to see it portrayed, and then actually go see it even if there's no dancing, comedy, or street lingo in it.
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    : )

    When I said "flamboyantly ethnic," I meant boldly or perhaps unapologetically African-American centered/focused. The criticisms highlighted in the post suggest that there is something negative with the movie not having "mass appeal," but instead having a "target audience." My point was that there is nothing wrong with certain types of black people making certain types of movies for certain types of people. We must stop allowing our cultures to be defined by the mainstream culture.

    As far as blacks not embracing diverse views of themselves, is it because they don't see diversity or is it because they aren't exposed to diversity. There is a difference.
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    As a journalist and filmmaker I have to say that this type of assessment is why we as a people do not succeed. After seeing the trailer for the film, I will admit I stood on the side of the blog's author, thinking 'This Christmas' was a bad remake of 'Soul Food.' Then, I saw the film.

    This Christmas is a delightful movie. It reminded me of holidays with my own family, all the way down to the soul train line and video camera. Blacks live this way, everyone has a dysfunctional family member, and most BIG, HEALTHY FAMILIES sit at the dinner table together AND PRAY. Does that mean that whenever we see a film that shows this--it's automatically referred to as Soul Food?

    Perhaps--but maybe the trailer was set up that way for a few other reasons: 1. If our positive movies continue to sell, it will give us a more powerful voice as a people. 2. The myth that all blacks "DON'T READ and aren't educated, or live well will be dispelled. 3. Maybe we'll be able to get together and finally put all the money together WE MAKE from our OUT THE BOX WEEKENED SALES and finally open our own studios--to green light the films that show better images of ourselves.

    I think the film reviews above are extremely racist and whether it targets its "intended recipients" or others who beg to differ, is secondary.

    I believe in knowing what I talk about before speaking, in supporting our positive images and believe that as a journalist; one should have facts straight, and as a filmmaker defend those movies that show positive images of our communities.

    Maybe, before offering an opinion, you should see the film yourself and don't listen to critics who want to keep us in a stereotypical box.
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    I liked the movie.
    The movie also came in at #2, which is great.
    I am tired of us trying to impress and cater to "them". So what if they want to insult or movies. They are not the authority on what is right, proper and good. "They" tend to insult all groups so this is no surprise.
    I am also tired of us insulting our own movies as if there is something wrong with having an all black cast or some things in the movies that are familiar to many black Americans. We do not have to coon it up, but we can still have fun with being black and proud. We owe no apologies to anyone.
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    Toni, I must clarify. I did not offer an opinion on "This Christmas." In fact, I specifically disclaimed any knowledge of the actual representations. Like you, however, I did make a pre-judgment based on the trailer.

    I also made no specific mention of positive v. negative images in that film, though I alluded to what I perceive as negative ones in Soul Plane and Trois.

    We do not disagree that more positive images of black families, professionals, or what have you are good, appropriate and desirable. Maybe one point wasn't clear, though, which is I think there should be a constant push for more nuanced depictions of our community in movies (music, literature and any art). What I am concerned about is assembly line scripts and movies. We already have it in music and we can see what "good" that has done.

    I am also not as concerned about mass appeal as has been suggested. What I am concerned about is our movies being dismissed critically because NOT ONLY do they lack mass appeal, but they do little more than pander to undiscriminating tastes.
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    I saw This Christmas, and i liked the movie...it was lighthearted, fun, and entertaining, like others have said it reminded me of Christmas with my family...so if it's made for 'our' intended audience, so what. Critics (most often of the Caucasion persuasion) won't get it, nor will they attempt to. There is very little crossover when it comes to movies, or books written by and about African-Americans and yet we will rush out to see the next feature film, the next Godfather, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, etc...without failing. I think the time has come to not so much rely on Hollywood to produce the movies we want to see, but to do A Spike, and Tyler and make our own. We have a vast amount of talent at our disposal, writers, actresses, actors, film crews and people with a lot of money (ala Oprah, Jayzee and some others) who could get this done if they see fit and start thinking outside of the box. Instead of handing millions of dollars over to the studio, while making a small sum, we could make our own (Tyler Perry) and make billions. I like the feel-good movies, but i also like mysteries, action and adventure, horror, the whole gamet...we can do so much better than Soul Plane (what of waste of cash). Bottom line once they see we are making money in the film industry, they will be knocking down doors to get a piece of the action.
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