The man known for creating the nationally syndicated comic strip The Boondocks in the late 1990s also has his hands in a film being released this weekend. Aaron McGruder, the controversial man with wide-ranging opinions on a vast variety of subjects, co-wrote Red Tails.
The project, financed by filmmaker George Lucas, opened on Friday in theaters nationwide and chronicles the lives of Tuskegee Airmen, a group of black pilots placed in an experimental training program during World War II.
"About two years ago, I got a call from my agent asking if I wanted to meet with Lucas to talk about the script," McGruder told the Daily Beast. "I was like, 'Yes, I would!' I'm a Stars Wars guy and also the son of a military pilot, so it was the best of both worlds for me to do a project like this."
McGruder was said to be brought on by Lucas to add a fresher, more youthful take on the film.
"That was my biggest contribution to the project, making it more of an action-hero type film," McGruder told the Daily Beast. "I used my comic strip experience to make the script have a faster pace. There have been other movies on the Tuskegee Airmen, so I wanted to make sure the audience had a different view of these men … this film has something for older people who know the story, and younger people who aren't so familiar with the story and like action."
We urge everyone to go and support this film that George Lucas felt was an important enough story to tell, whether Hollywood backed it or not.
Read more at the Daily Beast.