In an entry at his Very Smart Brothas blog, Damon Young lists several reasons that he has not seen Red Tails, including being turned off by its guilt-based marketing and calling into question the perception that we need to see black faces on the big screen in order to bolster our self-esteem.
(Today’s post is a response to each of the dozen or so people who’ve already asked me if I’ve seen Red Tails yet, and the dozens who’ll probably continue to ask me after today.)
1. The guilt-based marketing has completely turned me off.
I’m going to expand on this a bit more later this week at Ebony.com, but nothing makes me not want to do something I was already kind of “eh, maybe.” about than being told I need to do it. And, being beaten over the head for a month with the completely disingenuous and manipulative idea that I must support Red Tails if I ever want to see a black face on a movie screen again has made me go from “eh, maybe” to “f*ck you.”
2. I don’t need to see black faces on screen.
Do I like to? Yes. Do I think it’s important for young people to see “positive” (more on this in a minute) stories concerning black people to help counterbalance the negative imagery they’re constantly inundated with? Sure.
But, while I do recognize the importance of representation, it’s not something I personally need as a moviegoer …
Read Damon Young’s entire blog entry at Very Smart Brothas.
Damon Young is the editor-in-chief of VerySmartBrothas.com. He is also a contributing editor at Ebony.com. He lives in Pittsburgh and he really likes pancakes. You can reach him at damon@verysmartbrothas.com.