It's Not Too Late for Red Tails

THIS is why everyone should stick to his or her own ‘new movie release schedule’.  You shouldn’t be going to watch the latest movie just because someone you know has done the least bit of work to convince you to; or you’re one of those types that’s easily persuaded by box office records.  No.  You should be following your own gut reaction for watching new movie releases. 

I have this theory because I chose not to see the movie Red Tails when it originally hit the big screen…and I should have because they could’ve used my extra $21-25 (because theater movies are more expensive than the co-pay at Kaiser these days).  I allowed the press, the hear-say comments and the bad judgment deter me from going and then eventually delaying my viewing pleasure.  And you might be thinking, why am I so animated about this topic, well that’s because I’m an avid “movier”…I watch movies, it’s what I do.

Anyhow, back to Red Tails.  There were a lot of claims that this was a greatly produced film because it came directly from George Lucas’ wallet and production company, therefore the graphics and the special effects were of course expertly outdone.   But most critics trashed this movie experience, consequently giving it an unfair chance to become a box office hit like it deserved.  They claimed that the script and the dialogue “poorly commemorated” the true events of the Tuskegee Airman of WWII.  That’s bullshit.  Because I watched (what I believe was the same version the critics saw) and I found nothing wrong with the dialogue.  NEWSFLASH: that’s how black men talked in the 40s!  That portrayal was the reality of the daily life situations that those men had to deal with and then be able to express themselves.  I mean, honestly, what was soooo demeaning or menial about the dialogue?  Where was it?  When the black fighter pilots showed their disappointment in the ongoing prejudice from the government?  When the black Colonel pleaded with the white Colonels at the Pentagon to let them go into combat because his fighter pilots were equally skilled and prepared, if not more than their white counterparts?  Or it had to be simply when the young black lieutenants faced adversity in a foreign country from their other fellow Americans…that dialogue was soooo unreal.

If the critics couldn’t get with the slang of the 40s that the average African American 20-something male used, then they’ll never understand the movies of today.  They thought that was bad, then what the hell do they think they’re hearing all day everyday of right now? Things have not changed, well not much in terms of vernacular and the ethos that black men use when conversing with one another.  If anything the men of yesterday had more swag then than they do now…honestly.      

Oh yeah! And another thing. I think that the critics gave this film a particularly hard time because (again I have to reiterate) that nobody was going to fund this movie so Lucas took it upon himself to do so.  And it wasn’t so he could make a profit and add another notch on his bedpost of box office hits, he did it out of pure satisfaction.  This film, if anything was a way for him to pay homage to some AMERICAN history and for the sake of doing his best his work of art.  Simply put: I liked Red Tails.

And besides...its full of real good looking black men.  That doesn't make it a hard movie to watch.