I dont think people would be happy if I decided to make films where the one rule is that EVERY SINGLE PERSON in the film HAD to be white!
There are dozens of films that seem to follow The Wiz's rule, and I feel pretty offended by it all. Its almost like the makers seems to be saying black people can only enjoy films with a black cast. We are not a different species!
Name a black person in the original Wizard of Oz, you moron troll.
shareI didn't realize that Lena Horne was a black person?
share^ "I didn't realize that Lena Horne was a black person"
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Yes she is, and even though she had the choice to "pass" as a newcomer (which might have enhanced her fame at the time, and certainly would have boosted her income) she refused.
Read this: http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ho-Jo/Horne-Lena.html
An amazing life, indeed.
Emoticons are for people who haven't learned to express themselves with actual words.
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I don't think that the film makers were saying that black people can only enjoy films with a black cast. I am AfroAmerican and I came up in a neighborhood where there was only AfroAmerians. During the 60s and 70s player numbers were prevalent, grafiti on walls was prevalent, and yellow cabs didn't frequent our neighborhoods.
Although some scenes were a bit over the hill, the message, believe in yourself came through loud and clear to me.
The Wizard of Oz has all white people in it. I don't see no one saying that it's racist.
Are you from another planet ? You mean to tell me, that you are offended by the fact that African American people have the audacity to re do some of Hollywoods favorite, to fit their culture ?
Everyone in the world knows how white american have stolen much of the black culture, starting way before that thief Elvis (Your King)made it popular. White America tries to tell other cultures that we are not worthy of anything, but worshipping the blonde, blue eyed walking skeleton you call beautiful. Cultures around the globe have been poisened by you, and we are just getting to the place where can finally find pride in ourselves again. When White Hollyood/Film Industry finally dies away, the only ones who will miss it, are those who stole to get it in the first place.
You really need to stop taking drugs...or, at least up the dosage, so you can see what type of fool you really are...
"May You Live To See The Dawn"
Racism in music is a completely different subject. Let's stick with the original concept.
For example:
1 Elvis wasn't the only white performer to "borrow" music from black writers/performers to score hits. Personally, I believe the true "king" of that particular trend was Pat Boone - have you ever heard of what he did to Tutti Frutti?" The Rolling Stones wouldn't even have existed had Jagger and Richards not been paying homage to the delta blues singers of the past.
2. The performers of the time were seldom the actual decision makers. Song choice (as is still often the case) was made by the label and production staff.
3. The choices were indeed based on color. The color GREEN. There is a story often told by Chuck Berry of the day he went out to purchase a copy of his song, "Maybelline." Right there, under the title on the label, was the name of the songs authors. "Berry/Freed" is what it said. When I heard Mr. Berry relate the tale he said he didn't recall there being anyone else in the attic with him when he wrote the tune. The thing is, in order to garner airplay, the people in the label's (Chess Records, if I recall) front office had bribed influential NY disc jockey Allen Freed with a writing credit (and subsequent royalties) to ensure he would spin the platter on the air. It's one of the more famous payolla stories from that era.
4. It wasn't just a black/white thing either, although there was plenty of that going on. Blacks were easily exploited then and the prevailing attitude was that the big "white" labels were doing black artists a favor just by distributing "darkie" music in the first place. This is why Barry Gordy should be mentioned in the same breath as Malcom X and Dr. King jr. He (and several others) forever changed the landscape of the American music business. People that point to his shadier exploits forget that he was just playing the same game that the "white" run industry had been playing for decades. However, there are plenty of cases where race wasn't involved. Creedence Clearwater Revival released all their music on the Fantasy Records label. As was VERY often the case, Fantasy retained the rights to all their releases in perpetuity. After the band broke up, singer/songwriter John Fogerty began touring as a solo act and releasing new albums under his own name. One of the first bearing his name as the artist was his album, "Centerfield." He was immediately sued by Fantasy Records for plagiarism. The complaint stated that Mr. Fogerty "sounded" too much like Creedence and stole his style and sound from the old CCR albums - paticularly noting the similarity between his new song, "The Old Man is Down the Road" and the CCR hit, "Run Through the Jungle." Fogerty, who wrote and sang all but a very small handfull of CCR's songs, actually lost the case. The court ruled that he had literally plagiarized HIMSELF. Because Fantasy Records owned the rights to all of CCR's music, John Fogerty wound up coughing up millions in royalties and as far as I'm aware, he still has to pay royalties to Fantasy every time he sings a CCR song. As I said, greed and the green stuff are the true motivation, not just the color of the artist.
Finally, as to "The Wiz," I watch it for the music and I own the 30th Anniversary DVD because the movie is fun to watch. It was definitely NOT Ms Ross's best film, (Mahogany, anyone?) and I do not believe that after all the cable tv viewings, DVD rentals and sales, etc., that the film remotely qualifies as a "bomb." It's just the standard cooking of the books accounting that exploits the artists to death. "Alladin" may well have been an enduring smash hit of a film on all levels, but according to Disney (which was threatened with lawsuits by both Robin Williams and Gilbert Gottfried) the movie never made a penny in profits. Thats why in the direct-to-video sequel, Disney had to bring in a different actor to voice the genie character. There was finally an out of court settlement that mended fences with Williams, but the studios have a long legacy of shafting talent.
I personally would love to see a sequel or remake of the Wiz, but with modernizing of the symbolism to better reflect the current issues faced by the "black" community. I agree - NO Beyonce! But I can see Jennifer Hudson simply stealing the show in an expanded Wicked Witch of the West role with Wayne Brady completely owning the role of the scarecrow. My fear is though, that Hollywood would do what it is so prone to do - dumb it down and resort to far more subtle and bankable means to better guarantee big profits from the popcorn crowd worldwide. They say some things never change. Well, greed is definitely still the motivator in business, so I guess "they" are right.
Oh, and since many have felt it germaine to the discussion, ethnically and race-wise, I am a Cherokee Indian that spent his first years living just outside the Oklahoma Nation, went to school and grew up in Boston, and have been living in rural North Carolina for the past 27 years - for whatever that's worth.
I looked at this film as a celebration of all of Hollywood's great Black stars. There really wasn't that much great work for them and here was an opportunity for a lot of them to work together. I mean you got Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Lena Horne, Richard Pryor, Nipsey Russel, and Mabel king!
shareI agree, Jello Man. And the original poster is on a delirious trip. As much as many white Americans say they are tired of black people using the race card, I am equally sick of white people asserting the reverse racism card. Check you history books to find the source of this embattled relationship between blacks and whites. Yes, the argument is that no one today who is white owned slaves and so forth, but it is what it is. Let's be real about it: yes, the Wiz was all black (which was a bit of the point) just as the original film adaptation of "The Wizard of Oz" was all white.
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