MovieChat Forums > Belle (2014) Discussion > I am sick of these Movies

I am sick of these Movies

posted 11 years ago by marbleann
104 replies | jump to latest

Belle was a very important person in history. She influenced her Uncle is a very important and well known decision about slavery. But all I heard looking at the Fox previews is about the romance. Little is said about her importance in history. Here we have another movie where a black woman is romancing some white man. I am sick of these movie executives playing out their fantasies at black women expense.

Have we ever seen a movie , with the exception of that movie with Beyonce where a white women is chasing after some black man. NO. We have movies the the Last King of Scotland, which a movie about Idi Amin turned into a movie about some white doctor and Amin's wife, Columbiana, Monster Ball where Halle Berry had to take her clothes off to get a Oscar.

How many movies have we seen where a black man is having a big romance with a white character? And do not mention Grey Anatomy it is a tv show and he is not on it anymore. Not only that this guy is considered beneath her in Belle. They change books so a white women will not be involved with a black man. In Along Came Spider, the two main characters were in love. That was a very import plot in the book. Not in the movie we have a father and daughter type relationship. With a much older Morgan Freeman playing the part. We have the Pelican Brief where the reporter and the woman who is in trouble have a affair. Not in the movie. In the Bone Collector, she falls in love with main character who is black in the book, not in movie, she is like his best friend.

But no one minds having white men chasing around black women. Ask for Zoe Saldana, Kerry Washington or Rosario Dawson if they need a black actress to take her clothes off for a white man in a movie. What white actress's do they call to take their clothes off for a black man in a movie? None. Because it rarely happens.

So call me what you will. But I am sick of white movie executives playing out their ingrown sexual fantasies about black women or women of color. Because it is not just black women but all women of color. Just look at that fool in the Mindy Project.

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] JCrewgirl 10 years ago

The only one I can think of is Save The Last Dance to be honest...

Save the date: December 31, 2014 is Cassie's big day!!!

[–] marbleann 10 years ago

The only one I can think of is Save The Last Dance to be honest...

Yes she was the go to girl. Any movie that the white actress had to get close to the black actor they used up and comer Julia Styles. Look how great her career has become. Looks like it got up and went. The last time I saw Julia Stiles she had a little more then a 5 liner in some movie called Closed Circuit. And some TV movies and shows. Oh and again paired up with a black man in some movie named Between us.

[–] JCrewgirl 10 years ago

She stars in a Web tv series called Blue. I think it's on Youtube, but still it's not much compared to what she was back when she did Save The Last Dance.

Save the date: December 31, 2014 is Cassie's big day!!!

[–] marbleann 10 years ago

See what happened to her career. She was on her way. She made a mistep by taking on some roles with black leads. I feel bad for her. But that is because of the subtle racism in Hollywood.

[–] President_Bosch 10 years ago

See what happened to her career. She was on her way. She made a mistep by taking on some roles with black leads. I feel bad for her. But that is because of the subtle racism in Hollywood.

I wouldn't say that her dead career is the result of racism. Hollywood has had plenty of flavor-of-the-month actresses who've come and gone. Alicia Silverstone is one, and Brittany Murphy was also on her way to obscurity before she died. I don't think Julia Stiles had real staying power.

[–] marbleann 10 years ago

of course no one will admit it. But i have seen more then one example.

[–] alirioaguero2 10 years ago

What white actress's do they call to take their clothes off for a black man in a movie?

You are obviously not acquainted with coupling of Alyssa Milano and Jason George in Tv show Mistresses.

[–] marbleann 10 years ago

I am talking about big stars in movies. And I did not say there were none I said rarely. when has a star like Julia Roberts ever took her clothes off for a black actor?

[–] nikkiten1979 10 years ago

Has Julia taken her clothes off for anyone?

I think you're getting worked up over a whole lot of nothing.

I AM DEE BEE -- 10 years !

[–] marbleann 10 years ago

You make my point. No she doesn't all she did was get close to some black guys in a movie. What have I been saying?

[–] cahammill 10 years ago

not sure what planet you are living in but I see lots of white women and black men. If anything it much more isolate to see white guy and black female. That why your comments are so bizarre I had to respond.

[–] magiciangirl2 10 years ago

Exactly. This is one of the silliest if not racist arguments I've ever seen on this damn site. As if a white man can't fall in love with a woman of color without it having to be some kind of perverse thing. And yes, the movie actually addresses that issue, but the OP would have to bother seeing it to realize that.

I loved this movie. I myself am mixed race (white father, black mother) and it was refreshing to finally see someone like me being represented on film in a positive light. Yes, the historical accuracy was a bit dodgy, but honestly, that's not what drew me to watching the movie. It was so refreshing to see a movie that handles the relationship of a mixed race person dealing with their loving but emotionally ignorant family. The relationship betweeen Dida and her uncle reminds me much of that of me and my father. I was raised by a white man. Most of my culture is his culture. I don't identify as being 'black', and I don't discount either side of my heritage. It's great to see that kind of family relationship on film.

Further more, I've noticed far more from my own experience, that black men seek out light colored wives so they can prove their "status" in society among others. I've had more experienes of being sexualized by black men than I have with white, and I hardly ever see positive black woman/white man relationships in the media, but I see black men with white women all the damn time.

Why would women of color be denied other races but black men, in your opinion, should not? That's not equal.

I'm going to enjoy the fact that I saw a film with a woman who I can actually identify with. To see a romance between white man and colored woman that isn't rape, but actually shown in a positive light.

[–] fidgette 10 years ago

I don't understand why people claim this and that about something they haven't even watched/read/experienced. They like to make broad statements and sound like a jacka$$.

The movie is based off a real woman, yes like ANY film that is "based on true events" the stories are always given creative licensing on film because it sells better to an audience. Sorry pal, they just don't just do that to films with black women in them. Pretty much every film based on true events are historically inaccurate.

As for the Mindy Project, the show is pretty much Mindy Kaling and she dates white guys in real life. Should she pretend to only date Indian men on TV to appease people like you? She wasn't told my those rich white fetish execs you think run "Hollywood".

And just because a film is distributed by Fox, doesn't mean they have a say in how the movie is created or edited. So stop trying to skew facts to fit your narrow racist views.

Morgan Freeman played Alex Cross in 2 films. In Kiss the Girls there was certainly a "sexual tension" perhaps you missed it. Also you forget The Bone Collector where Angelina Jolie has a relationship with Denzel Washington. Here are some others to add to your repertoire: Cruel Intentions, House of Wax, Wuthering Heights (2011), Royal Tenenbaums, Love Actually, Jackie Brown,Hancock etc.

So please take your racist rant elsewhere. Especially on a message board about a film you admittedly haven't even watched.

[–] RomanceNovelist 10 years ago

Actually, it's rare for BW/WM pairings in Hollywood. BM/WW are more common. I remember Save the Last Dance, "O", Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Hitch, Mississippi Masala, Jungle Fever to name a few just off the top of my head. plus, I don't see you complaining about the entire NBA, MLB, NFL and their love of white women yet complain about a short list of movies showing someone else dating black women in movies.

There have been movies with BW/WM of late, and they always feature BW who are culturally neutral. You wouldn't have someone too "urban" as the love interest, for example.

I think in a country where white women are upheld as the standard of beauty and black women are cast aside, I think it's refreshing to show people in romantic relationships with black women, rather than this constant treating black women as if they are unacceptable in some way, like in rap music where black women have been called every horrible name but a child of God by our own black men. So do you really expect me to get offended because a white male would like to romance us, rather than parade us around like black men do in their rap videos? Halle Berry taking her clothes off in ONE movie doesn't even compare to 20 years of disrespect. So how many movies are there?

Something New, Guess Who?, Belle, Columbiana, 22 Jump Street, that other movie with Jonah Hill where he's babysitting some kids, 25th Hour, Trance, Last King of Scotland, most British movies I see that have black women, Mission Impossible II and MI IV.

YEs, lots of those movies, but who's counting? Better than all of that disrespectful hate music, video, comedy stand up we've had imposed on us for the past twenty years. And I do write and publish romance novels and most of my romances are interracial. Just because with all of the disrespect I've seen from brothers in the media, I have a hard time writing them as a romantic hero when they write us as B words and W words.

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[–] marbleann 10 years ago

I don't see you complaining about the entire NBA, MLB, NFL and their love of white women yet complain about a short list of movies showing someone else dating black women in movies.

Well you haven't heard me. I am all over the place talking about issues like that. Go over to You tube and see my posts against this idiot who hates black women and he is a black guy. I talk about how Jordan dumped his wife for some white woman. I say these black guys no matter how rich and famous they are , they still have low self esteem. So low that they believe having a white women will make them feel better about themselves, but it doesn't and sooner or later we hear about them getting beat up or even killed in OJ's case. Look at Tiger Wood. I am surprised Magic Johnson has not taken the plunge yet. And yes I am mad about how black women self esteem has gotten so bad we allow ourselves to be called terrible names. And people do not think it is contemptuous calling a woman a female. We do not go around calling men male. It is a word that they use for animals. But I still am sticking by my guns about how entertainment media uses black women.

[–] RomanceNovelist 10 years ago

And yes I am mad about how black women self esteem has gotten so bad we allow ourselves to be called terrible names.

We don't allow ourselves to be called terrible names---we don't have a say so in any of that. Black men are writing those lyrics in THEIR OWN WORDS. We never hold them accountable for anything do we? And corporate America is producing it.
The problem is that so many black women buy this music, dance to it at the clubs, and even emulate the images we see in the videos.

And yes, those black men who hate black women have been around for a while. I used to respond to those YEARS ago, I think going back five or six years until I finally became so disgruntled and disgusted I just refused to view them at al because it was so hurtful. I am not bothered by the media for once, depicting black women as an object of beauty, because we have been beaten up for so long in the media, it's NICE to be an object of LOVE and affection for once. So our viewpoints are on opposite ends of the spectrum. I don't care if it's a black suitor or a white suitor, as long as black women are being treated like women, and not some stereotypical loud mouth, welfare, nuisance. We are always vilified on TV, reality TV shows (how many black women have been HATED for no reason, Star jones, omarosa, etc).

It's just ironic that we complain about white men fetishizing us (understandable--actually all women are fetishized on television, movies, and commercials), but to complain about being an object of romance, or Guiliana's stupid comment about Pachuouli oil... when we have rap music that has been outright, dragging us through piles of dung for 20 years, and pimping our image out globally, this complaint just seems trivial to me.

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