Last week I caused a bit of an uproar by telling my truth. I said(with my chest) that the movie “The Wiz” is boring. My reasoning was simple. I find the pacing of the film laborious and the acting to be not great.
Folks were mad-mad at me. Some got in my mentions and disagreed but had thoughtful things to say.
Some said I did not know anything about cinema. (Even though I am a top critic for Rotten Tomatoes who has written for the New York Times, Slate Magazine, The Root and The Grio about film. I know a little bit about cinema.)
There were many who just went straight to the lowest common denominator.
Jacque Reid commented on Facebook by posting a picture of the article and asking, “How dare you?” The headline captures the essence of my argument, but I’m a bit more nuanced in what I have to say. I give mad respect to the singing and dancing. I acknowledge the cultural significance of the actors. I just say the moving is boring…but more on that later.
(The over 2,000 likes and many comments show me that most did not actually read the article. They merely reacted to the headline.)
I’ve gotten many emails about this piece. The reactions are all over the place. Some say, “Thank you for saying what I always felt but was too scared to say.” Others are blunt and simply state, “Your Black card is revoked.”
Let’s have an uncomfortable discussion. The movie is boring because of the direction, the editing and the screenplay. The film was directed by Sidney Lumet, a white man. It was written by Joel Schumacher, another white man. And edited by Dede Allen, a white woman.
It was even produced by Rob Cohen, yet another white man. My critique is that these white filmmakers failed the film. The acting is not great, but the reason for that could easily be that the director failed the actors. There have many films featuring good to great actors where the director did not get the best out of the performers. (Ever heard of Tyler Perry’s The Family That Preys?) We must come to terms with the reality that this beloved Black film had white people making many of the decisions about how it would turn out.
Look, I have had people try to take away my Black card because I don’t think sugar belongs in grits; because I don’t like Tyler Perry’s films or because I think that Louisiana’s is the only hot sauce worth a damn. Blackness is no one thing. We are a complex, beautiful people. We are allowed to disagree. Especially about The Wiz…because that movie is boring.