BLACK FILM HISTORY SPOTLIGHT

"I just saw a black woman on television and she ain't no maid." - Whoppi Goldberg

In celebration of the new Star Trek movie (look out for the review) I decided to highlight one of the first black  TV roles, Uhura from Star Trek: The Original Series. 

Uhura is one of the first major black characters to appear on an American television series. Originally played by Nichelle Nichols, she serves as the communications officer to the U.S.S. Enterprise.  

Nichols was casted as Uhura because of the Star Trek creator's desire to have a racially diverse cast. The original series ended up running from September 1966 to September 1969. After the first season, Nichols attempted to quit but was persuaded to stay by Martin Luther King Jr. who shed light on her position as a role model for the black community. 

Due to Nichols intelligent and competent portrayal of Uhura, many look at the original character as a role model. Whoppi Goldberg used Uhura as a guideline for how to portray Guinan on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Nasa later employed Nichols to help enlist African-Americans and the first black woman to fly aboard the Space Shuttle, Dr. Mae Jemison, cited Uhura as influencing her decision to become an astronaut. 

EXTRAS:

• The character was originally named Sulu but was changed due to the belief that it's similarity with Zulu would play against the plan for racial diversity. 
• Uhura is swahili for freedom. Creators chose the name after Nichols brought a copy of the book "Black Uhura" to her audition and explained  what the term meant. 
• Uhura's taboo kiss with Captain Kirk is cited as being the first interracial kiss portrayed on American television. Many refute this claim stating that Sammy Davis Jr. kissed Nancy Sinatra on the variety program Movin With Nancy in December of 1967. 
• Uhura is portrayed by Zoe Saldana in 2009's Star Trek. This is the first time Uhuru's first name is revealed to be Nyota. Throughout the franchise multiples first names have been teased such as Nyota, Upenda, and Samara. 

BLACK FILM HISTORY SPOTLIGHT

"In a world divided by black and white, Easy Rawlins is about to cross the line."

How come we don't have any "Hollywood" black movie franchises? Yeah, we had Shaft, Friday, House Party, and Barbershop, but those followed the tired-old tradition of blacks playing comedic roles. Why can't we have a serious, black franchise, one starring a black actor/actress and highlighting the black community in a non-satirical way?

A pretty note-worthy attempt was made in 1995 ,when Tri-Star pictures green-lit Devil In A Blue Dress, a crime-detective neo-noir adapted from a Walter Mosley (a prominent black author) series starring Denzel Washington. Carl Franklin both directed and adapted the screenplay with Mosley. The mission was to turn the crime series lead character, Easy Rawlins, into a franchise for Denzel. 

In the film, Rawlins, a World War 2 veteran, is recently laid off from his job and becomes a private eye to help pay his mortgage.  

What's unique about the Rawlins character is, even though a detective, he is an everyday man attempting to make ends meat. He recruits his gun-happy friend Mouse (Don Cheadle) and is hired to find a missing white women, Daphne (Jennifer Beales), whom is hiding in the black community. The film goes through a long accord of twist and turns until Daphne is found. But as far as kidnapping goes, whodunit is less important that whydunit. The final reveal involves race and shows that even though attitudes have changed, society's perceptions of racial interaction is still a complicated subject. 

The clip above is the last 10 minutes of the film. It shows how down-to-earth the Rawlins character was portrayed as well as why many considered this movie as Don Cheadle's break-out role. "You said don't shoot him, right? Well I didn't. I choked him. If you didn't want him killed then why did you leave him with me?"

The film grossed only 16 million dollars and sadly the franchise was discontinued. With blacks power in Hollywood increasing slowly, hopefully this won't be the last attempt. 

EXTRAS:

• Walter Mosley is a prominent African-American novelist who's published over 29 novels.
• President Bill Clinton stated Mosley was his favorite author. 
• Mosley's Easy Rawlins crime fiction series is his most popular work. 

BLACK FILM HISTORY SPOTLIGHT

African-Americans and Oscars did not exactly go hand in hand. Before the turn of the century, out of sixteen overall nominations, only one African-American had ever been awarded the Academy’s highest acting award. Sidney Poiter took it home in 1963 for Lillies Of The Field. However, when the 74th Academy Awards rolled around in 2001, blacks remained hopeful. For the first time ever, between Best Actor and Best Actress, three blacks were nominated and everyone was sure either Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, or Will Smith would be leaving with a statuette. Not only did we get one, but we got two. Denzel Washington won Best Actor for his role in Training Day and Halle Berry became the first black Best Actress winner for her role in Monster’s Ball. The wins grouped with the Sidney Poiter’s Lifetime Achievement Award had people dubbing the show The Bloscars. In an odd turn of events, after Halle’s win, Lee Daneils also became the first black to solely produce an Academy Award winning film. Also, Washington became the first black actor to win two Oscars, having won Best Supporting previously for his role in Glory.

Watch Medley of Bloscar Wins

CONTROVERSY:
With so many firsts, many felt Hollywood was sending a clear signal about racial equality in America, however the night was not without controversy.

Halle’s and Denzel’s wins were dubbed bittersweet for African-Americans. It was great they broke the glass ceiling, but their respective roles did little to break old racial stereotypes. Washington, known for playing acceptable, heroic roles, was also nominated for playing Malcolm X in Spike Lee’s epic, and Rubin Carter in The Hurricane. However, he finally won  for playing a dangerous, crooked cop.



Berry’s win was an even worse firestorm. Berry's role was the wife of a criminal, used sex to solace herself after her husband’s execution, and was a mother of questionable competence (her mordibly obese son ends up dying too). Berry also had an intense, graphic, and nude sex scene with a white racist in Billy Bob Thorton. With Berry being mulatto, the scene brought up past racial stereotypes as mulattos being oversexualized. Black women had been snubbed for decades, and the big win finally came for portraying a black woman with animalistic qualities.

Even Angela Bassett had harsh words about the role (in which she was previously offered): 

"I wasn't going to be a prostitute on film. I couldn't do that because it's such a stereotype about black women and sexuality. Film is forever. It's about putting something out there you can be proud of 10 years later. I mean, Meryl Streep won Oscars without all that."

Halle Berry Sex Scene - For more funny videos, click here

Many remembered Hattie McDaniel winning Best Supporting Actress for playing the stereotype of Mammy and felt the Academy still had a long way to go in honoring Black Actresses. Since 2001, Jamie Foxx and Forrest Whitaker have gone on to win the prestigious Best Actor award. To this day, Berry still remains the only black female to win Best Actress, and the last to be nominated. Dorothy Dandridge, Diana Ross, Cicely Tyson, Diahann Carroll, Whoopi Goldberg, Angela Bassett have also competed for the Best Actress Award.