Cinco Ranch Aggie said:
The only argument you are making that I find compelling is in your first statement. That is a bottom line, economics-based argument. That alone should not prevent someone from making the attempt. If a good story is developed, if a good cast is put into place, and competent skillsets are allowed to flourish in crafting the overall product, there is no good reason why such a production could not ultimately find its audience and maybe even create something long lasting.
I'll simply point to the uphill battle that "Christian" movies face, yet they continue to be made. And while I have not watched it, The Sound of Freedom is an example of a movie that was made despite not being considered a mainstream type of release, and in fact, became a blockbuster in its own right. Heck, I believe it even blew away a blockbuster in terms of box office, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
There are good black filmmakers out there. Find the funding and make your movie. Black Panther might not be a good example since it was an existing property, but of course the titular character is black, and that movie made a bucket load of cash and wasn't it even nominated for Best Picture?
I'm sorry, but your arguments aren't even remotely comparable. We're not talking about low or even mid-budget, faith-based movies. We're talking about action movies and blockbusters.
The Sound of Freedom was made for $14M. The last Bond movie had a budget of over $250M.
Can big/competent action movies be made for cheaper than that? Of course. But even on the low end, we're still talking a difference of tens of millions of dollars.
And that difference is the entire argument.
Outside of simply
sounding racists in and of itself, telling black people to go make their own, original action movies and start their own, original franchises simply isn't tenable. Is it theoretically possible? Sure. But given the highest grossing movies every year, let's say, roughly, I don't know, 85% of all studio money that funds action movies and blockbusters goes to already established franchises, sequels, prequels, video game adaptations, book adaptations, etc (aka IP, pre-existing "intellectual property").
Which, again, the vast majority of are inarguably led by a white characters.
That leaves roughly 15% of all studio action/blockbuster funding for new/original ideas, aka where some of y'all seem to be telling the black community to go play. That, in and of itself, is ****ed up, and I don't understand how y'all can't see the insane, incredibly unfair disparity there. Y'all are telling them they can't race swap with the white, already established action/blockbuster characters, and that they instead all have to go fight for scraps out of the tiny, 15% pool over there.
And yes, the Ryan Cooglers and the Jordan Peeles have made the most out of the opportunities they've been given to play in that 15% pool (via
Sinners,
Nope, etc). I'm not saying it's not doable. And yes, there's
Black Panther and
Blade and what not, but those black, already established franchise characters/titles are so few and far between that we're back to having the same numbers/disparity argument again.
My bigger question is... why do y'all care so much?
White people have already had SIX white James Bonds. Why do you need/feel entitled to a SEVENTH one? Why can't a black actor have just ONE shot?
It's so weird to me that this is even a thing.
And again, I'm not even advocating for a black Bond. Rather, I simply don't understand what makes a grown ass white man care so much to begin with, to the point of publicly complaining about it on the internet (which I'm not saying you're doing - I'm talking more in general and what the poster earlier was doing).
