When black films come out, Stacia L. Brown explains at The Prospect, the response of black audiences can be categorized in seven ways: "doubt, guilt, self-preservation, annoyance, anger, vulnerability and acceptance." Brown discusses these reactions in the context of recent releases including 12 Years a Slave, Fruitvale Station, Lee Daniels' The Butler and Django Unchained.
You may have never heard these stages named, but you've likely experienced most of them. And if you're one of the fortunate few who've escaped the cycle, it's safe to presume you've seen someone else struggle through it on social media. For some, the cycle starts as soon as a new black film, chronicling an important issue or public figure, is announced. It persists through marketing, early reviews, and opening weekend, as we wonder what effects the film will have on us. We may predict, with doubt, annoyance and anger, "This writer or director is not going to do this story justice." We might declare, with some vulnerability, "I'll have to mentally prepare myself to watch this." Or we may opt out of a viewing altogether, with the self-preservation explanation, "My heart just can't take seeing this." Box-office numbers tell part of the story; the better attended an Important Black Film, the more of us have reached the acceptance stage.
For the black filmgoer, movies set during slavery or the civil-rights movement, as well as biopics which take place in contemporary, racially-charged America, are not mere entertainment or popcorn fare. Films like 12 Years A Slave, Fruitvale Station, Django Unchained, and The Butler hold particular emotional resonance. They re-enact (or subvert) sorrow with which we have some experience, sorrow that has worked its way through our lineage in the form of oral history.
This is why we deliberate before attending Important Black Films. It's also why so many are marketed to us as moral obligations. We're told we must support these films because they advance the narrative of our people in this country, each ostensibly offering one more chance of fleshing out details that have been willfully overlooked in history books or minimized in favor advancing a post-racial objective.
Read Stacia L. Brown's entire piece at The Prospect.
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