Civil Rights Stories and Hollywood

The original screenplay for PROUD was completed not long after the book was published in February 1995. Certainly an untold compelling story about real American heroes would be snapped up and made into a feature film.

Not the case at all. It took ten years for the film to be produced and it took a benefactor -- much like in the case of the making of Ray -- to bring the story to the screen. There was also a Hollywood attitude of, "there's already been a Black war movie," the classic Glory in 1989.

As this outstanding story by Ann Hornaday points out:

"Not surprisingly for the movie industry, the answer is portrayed as purely
economic; and equally unsurprisingly, economics in Hollywood are inextricably
interwoven with the still unresolved issue of race."

Read the full story in today's Washington Post.

Side note: How good does "Talk to Me" look? Don Cheadle does it again, bringing to the screen the story of DC radio and TV personality Ralph "Petey" Greene.