Steven McGee

The year is 2022 and we have been given a plethora of movies with a black cast and we are loving it. I'm not trying to be too picky but I do want to stir the pot a little and ask this question. Is it enough? Are we satisfied? Let me be clear when I say I enjoy seeing our people on screen but, I feel in recent years we have been getting more stories surrounding black people that aren't centered around our traumas, being the funny characters or us being thugs and drug dealers. We have gotten just authentic stories and I for one have been eating it up. So in this article, I will highlight other stories that aren't particularly in that lane.

In 2017 Jordan Peele gave us black horror stories. Prior to Peele’s stories, we had a few movies notably “Candyman”, “Tales from the Hood”, “Bones”, “Vampire in Brooklyn” and even the “Scary Movie” franchise if you count those. But there hasn't been consistency. The horror genre has been around for a long time and we have been typically the first to die in them. Not giving us a chance to be in the story completely was always something joked about in the community. There have been a few exceptions but for the most part, our representation for the story was usually going to die. It was inevitable. With Peele making multiple black horror stories it doesn't feel as cliche that one will die because well the majority of the cast is black. The movies have been such a hit that there have been more black horror movies being adapted and showing a breakthrough. Horror as a genre has changed and I love it.

I love that we are starting to get our own just black stories. Whether it's a fantasy, an underdog story, a western or historical dramas. I feel we have them once again but in recent times we have been pumping them out more often.  I always wondered where is our “Star Wars”, or where is our “Back to the Future”? What about Rocky? Well, we have the “Creed” franchise. Yes, its a spinoff of Rocky but we are still getting it from a different perspective. Seeing a redemption story of our own as he climbs the rankings to become the best has been a treat. As far as fantasy stories, I would like to point out a really good Christmas fantasy story called “Jingle Jangle”. It centers around a toy maker whose inventions have been stolen from him and he since loses his joy in making toys. We recently got a black western called “The Harder They Fall”. Can’t talk enough about this cast and seeing how they all meshed so well together on screen. I feel I don't need to go into detail about this one because who didn't see this film? Recently we got “The Woman King” starring the one and only Viola Davis and you talk about historical dramas…whew! This movie was absolutely amazing.

One thing I feel we have gotten away from as of late is black love stories. Movies like “The Photograph” and even the animated movie “Entergalactic”. If you haven’t seen “Sylvie’s Love” on Amazon Prime I also recommend that as well as recent love stories. There was also Malcolm and Marie which was a wild time. Last but not least I must point out the masterpiece that is Moonlight. Though I named a few I remember there was a time where every year we would have two or three films a year. It was almost nonstop. I really would like to get back to that. 

All and all I love that we are getting more broad stories and I can't wait for more. What do you think? Are there any movies that you feel I overlooked? Let us know what you think…