As a screenwriter, I’ve come along several agencies looking for a script that has “The Black Experience”. Now, what exactly is “The Black Experience”? From my knowledge, it’s the trials and tribulations that African Americans deal with throughout their lives. The senseless killings of Trayvon Martin, Brianna Taylor, and George Floyd could be described as “The Black Experience”. Not the murders per se, but the racial connotations surrounding the crimes. Drugs, gangs, and growing up poor is another “Black Experience”.
Hollywood has been banking off the trauma of blacks suffering for decades. Granted, stories like these are important because people need to understand the hardships that we’ve had to deal with to understand our struggles as black men or women in the United States of America. However, I do find it troublesome that most of the stories being told are about the suffering of blacks. Lately, we’ve been getting more movies featuring African Americans, which is great! However, putting black actors in roles that were previously led by white actors isn’t OUR story. It doesn’t have the original roots of any African American character thus it never feels authentic or real. To be clear, I’m not saying that every black film is about trauma or a cash grab remake, but a good majority is.
Being a black kid from Washington D.C, I’ve dealt with racism throughout my life. Hell, I’ve just had a white guy nervously close his car door as I was passing by in Los Angeles (Trust me, this happens a lot). However, I wish “The Black Experience” wasn’t just focused on our trauma. What about more movies concentrating on black love? Or family? Or a focus on historic figures that are rarely highlighted such as Big Mama Thornton or Arthur Ashe? Hell, if you want to make a quirky dark comedy about a bunch of psychopaths who happen to be black then great. I’m tired of watching reality unfold in front of my eyes. I want to escape our world when watching a movie. I know, I could just NOT watch to make my life simpler, but it’s necessary to highlight that black trauma just isn’t fun to look at.
I would love more movies like Hidden Figures or Dolemite Is My Name, as these are authentic black stories that showcase a different side of the African American culture that isn’t explored all too much. Labeling something that’s scarred many black men and women as “The Black Experience” feels offensive. I’ve never seen any advertisements that highlight “The White Experience”, the same thing goes for Asians, Hispanics, or any other race in the world. If you have, feel free to correct me in the comments section. Look, films that focus on a specific tragedy are always going to exist. I’m not asking for them to go away as it’s important that these themes be addressed, no matter how hard it is to watch. However, it would be nice to diversify authentic stories involving African Americans. We can be spies, firefighters, superheroes, bank robbers, or wizards, and many other things. Let’s make “The Black Experience” more than just the hardships we have to live with.
