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I came. I saw. I
was bamboozled.
First of all, this must be admitted. A
black sister, with some clout is making
films? Well kudos, to her! And music
artists who want to expand their
entertainment careers into acting? That
even deserves a thumbs up. But when will
the heavenly gates open up and give more
than five films a year for black folk, a
chance to make an appearance?
The Cookout. Typical. Typical. And more
Typical.
Who would have seen it coming? Everyone!
Since the days of The Cosby Show,
everyone has jumped on the band wagon to
make their version of “The Black
American dream” a reality. Now granted,
those are good ideas. And even though we
have seen that story a 1000 times where
we could tell it in our sleep, it’s
always good to see a brother, even it’s
a fictional one, get his “just
desserts”.
The question is…can he get it without
being in a black version of “The
Beverley Hill Billie’s”, type of story?
The Cookout was filled with humor and a
loving family, but no acting craft. This
is always found in low-budget movies,
which are always a go, since the film
companies need not spend to much cash to
make a quality film for blacks to star
in.
And the most unforgivable move was to
have Lance “Un” Rivera, who just
recently admitted the Jay-Z stabbing was
a “marketing ploy”; a fake, direct your
movie. Poor Latifah.
Ok. Every race has its share of bad
films vs. good films. There are bad
white films with actors who become
successful years later from playing
those parts and the same for Black,
Asian and Latino actors as well. But,
blacks get classified in the worst way.
It’s bad enough that as professionals
African Americans have to prove
themselves 500% to the White 100%
counterpart every single time.
It's like complaining about the big
bootie girls in a video, but dancing
yourself because you need the quick
money to pay the rent. Justifying
stupidity doesn’t help you get away with
it, nor ease the publics mind into a
positive acceptance.
The constant saturation of talentless
rap artists who want to
“crossover”…please. Just because you
have a big name in music doesn’t mean it
will be big in film. And not EVERY
rapper can do it as well as Will Smith.
Why? The difference is, because of their
name they can easily get the part.
Studios are into making money. So, what
better way than to do so by putting a
major name like Ja Rule or Eve to
“carry” the movie. Or even better, when
someone like Queen Latifah, who is only
trying to give a chance to some to break
into films because she was given the
same opportunity, fails, only by falling
into the same trap. It caused her
filmmaking debut to sink royally.
Will Smith became a great actor because
he sat back and learned the craft. He
took it seriously. An acting coach and
bottled water make you a professional
not! And even more disturbing in this
film that made it so more detrimental to
the craft of acting was human rights
activist Danny Glover. Who played a
“crossover” himself, living in a “good”
neighborhood with the perfect White
wife, Farrah Fawcett. Be careful not
think that your skills are too crafty.
You may not get any parts and have to
succumb to films like these. Boy, talk
about beginning again in the industry.
Cookouts are great. And they are a fun
story to tell. But, what gave this movie
my strongest most powerful thumbs down
ever was the fact that there were good
quality actors in this bad film. There
were funny parts and Latifah gave a nice
performance, especially for someone who
was suppose to only “Guest Star”.
Remember…If you stand for nothing you’ll
fall for anything.
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