Movie Monday: George Lucas tells Jon Stewart Hollywood didn’t want to fund his latest movie because of its all-black cast

Watch the trailer for George Lucas’ latest film, Red Tails, and you will be captivated! Visually arresting, dramatically compelling, true to history– this action film will be a real treat for movie goers when it debuts this Friday, January 20th. George Lucas, who is famous for bringing the world one of Hollywood’s most epic and timeless offerings, the Star Wars saga, quips that with all of the action-packed, dog-fighting scenes in it, Red Tails will be the closest movie goers will ever get to viewing Episode 7 (of the Star Wars franchise)! That’s all this Star Wars fan needs to hear to purchase tickets.

In the description on the YouTube page for one of the film’s trailers, Red Tails‘ creators summarize it thusly:

“1944. As the war in Europe continues to take its toll on Allied forces, the Pentagon brass has no recourse but to consider unorthodox options — including the untried and untested African-American pilots of the experimental Tuskegee training program. Just as the young Tuskegee men are on the brink of being shut down and shipped back home, they are given the ultimate chance to show their courage. Against all the odds, with something to prove and everything to lose, these intrepid young airmen take to the skies to fight for their country — and the fate of the free world.”

But apparently Hollywood isn’t so sure that an awesome new historical action film by the creator of Star Wars himself will be a success. Their reason? The film features an essentially all-black cast. In an interview with The Daily Show‘s Jon Stewart, George Lucas told him that shockingly, he had trouble getting funding for the film “because it’s an all-black movie. There’s no major white roles in it at all… I showed it to all of them and they said no. We don’t know how to market a movie like this.” In 2012, are Hollywood producers seriously that racist? Or is their view of the rest of America so out-of-touch, so rooted in ugly stereotypes, that they actually believe all the rest of us are seriously that racist?

Hey, major Hollywood producers– let me tell you how to market a film like this: “The guy that made Star Wars is making another movie with graphically thrilling aerial dogfights that take place in the context of a major war for control of the entire known world by a powerful empire bent on absolute rule… that also has stormtroopers.” You don’t need any special marketing because the film stars an all-black cast.

George Lucas also worries that Red Tails, which is directed by Anthony Hemingway, one of the rare black directors of a big budget feature in Hollywood, might inadvertently entrench Hollywood’s attitude toward films with mostly black casts or black directors if it does poorly at the box office, according to The Huffington Post article at the link above:

‘Last week, Lucas told USA Today that he was worried that if Red Tails was a failure, it could have negative repercussions for black filmmakers. “I realize that by accident I’ve now put the black film community at risk [with Red Tails, whose $58 million budget far exceeds typical all-black productions],” he said. “I’m saying, if this doesn’t work, there’s a good chance you’ll stay where you are for quite a while. It’ll be harder for you guys to break out of that [lower-budget] mold.’

It is challenges like these that remind us that despite marked progress in many areas over the decades, we do not live in a post-racial America. Even in a place such as Hollywood, which is usually imagined as progressive, tolerant, and “leftist” (whatever that means), and even as late in history as 2012, racial minorities face unfair disadvantages that even extend to the kind of films that get made. Thank goodness for the tenacity of this film’s producers, director, and cast. In my opinion, the gatekeepers of culture and knowledge are often too quick to say that society isn’t ready to hear a message. I hope and believe that they were too quick in this instance as well.

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