“Unlike most of people reading this post, I can’t get the same satisfaction from TV, movies and reading comics because the minority characters are almost always portrayed within the narrows confines of the stereotypes or misinformation in the minds of lazy writers.”-I have so say i once again agree with you. Blacks in media are downplayed tremendously and are always given the “angry, loud, cursing” role. What is going to be done about it? Nothing, until more actors like Will Smith, Denzel Washington, Mos Def etc speak up about it and try to fix the problem themselves.

and once again your first post really didnt say what your extremely well written counter-arguement said at all. i still love you like a major spoilers brother tho.

While you have some good points, Brent, I think the problem lay in the phrasing. What you meant as a condemnation of the characterization and what you percieve as lazy writing really did seem to be a shot at the actor and (by extension) his ethnicity. B.A. Baracus is nearly a thirty-year-old character, which does undermine some of your points about today’s marketing, at least for me.

Also, it has taken me a long time to realize this, but sarcasm is damn near impossible to translate in a purely text medium. Your mileage may vary…

Secondly, why is it that B.A. Baracus or any muscle-bound, peripheral bad-ass HAVE to be the only black guy? Heck, why are these roles being written over and over again? Not only are black actors and rappers competing for too few roles, but those roles are a only variations on the same old ‘the one black character’ themes, i.e. the Magic Negro (look it up), the Thug with a heart of gold, the henchman, the asexual Mammy, the rude, neck rolling Sapphire.

Unlike most of people reading this post, I can’t get the same satisfaction from TV, movies and reading comics because the minority characters are almost always portrayed within the narrows confines of the stereotypes or misinformation in the minds of lazy writers. I grew up on the Mike Grell era Legion of Superheroes. Though I was happy to see Tyroc’s rare appearances, I had to make a conscious effort to push past the cheesy blaxploitation treatment. Ditto trying to watch the A-Team. I loved the JLU cartoon, but couldn’t stand how John Stewart was intellectually demoted from being an architect in comics to “the gruff military guy” in the cartoon. Why couldn’t he have been an architect in the cartoon? And did Luke Cage really need a babymomma? Was it so necessary that he marry his girlfriend only after they had a kid? See the pattern? These are not depictions black people are asking for…these are not depictions that the more famous rappers would protest…this is what we all are accepting as consumer.

I wouldn’t mind it B.A. Baracus or The Game so much if there were sufficient COUNTERBALANCES in the same show/movie/book. There is room for just one minority on a team, so when that slot is consistently filled by snarling “badasses” like Mr. T or The Game, that’s the only image of black men, aside from athletes, preachers and entertainers, that Americans are accustomed to seeing in mass media, minorities included.

For example, for this new A-Team movie, did anyone think that “the leader”, or “the smart guy” or “the suave handsome guy” could be a black actor? Why not cast a white boy as the “badass” yet woefully inarticulate B.A. Baracus? Nope, that’s “Brother” territory, right? Someone call Tiny Lister or Michael Clarke Duncan, we need a big Negro, stat!

We all subconsciously accept that the “hero” with the romantic past, a fully fleshed out back story and clear motivations, well, that guy has to be white. And the shady/angry/no family/no back story/tear-stuff-up-just-for-the-heck-of-it guy may or may not be a minority, but certainly that’s the most likely way writers will put a minority in the mix. Don’t believe me? Then explain Skids and Mudflap in the new Transformer movie. Seriously, there was no need for that minstrelsy, other than to express the assumptions of the movie’s writers.

@Mos Def: I was being snarky about how producers of mass media underestimate what THEY call the “urban” market. That is the marketing industry phrase for black people, so yes; I was talking about black people, duh. But you missed the point by a mile. The Suits think all black people are a monolith. They assume that they only need to cast the “hot rapper of the moment”, and automatically the urban market edgier kids from suburbia will support their product. Heaven help you if you are black AND you care about character development of black characters. Look at TV commercials, TV shows, even comics. They take the ensemble formula from “Friends” (the hot guy, the hot girl, the smart guy, the smart girl), add JUST one arbitrary Black or Latino…an Asian if you are feeling exotic…maybe a gay to really spice things up. Simmer, stir and .presto! There’s your new super team. And by making the lone black character the most “street”, The Game and others will do splendidly at the movie audition.

Thank goodness I can rely on Tyler Perry, Eddie Murphy, Martin Lawrence and others to wear drag and show us all an alternative image of black men.

Uh, that was sarcasm again for those who missed it.

And on that note, let’s keep it friendly and fun everyone.

I always try my best to be as polite as possible here, and if I offended MosDef or Brother129… I am sorry. I assure you, it was not my intention.

I think that one of the best things about this site is the comment threads and people sharing their opinions and I respect yours. Let’s just not get off track… we’re supposed to be talking about Mr T and the (most likely terrible) A-Team movie here.

I’m sorry, but Common has done nothing to prove any acting ability. I am a very big fan of his music though. Ludicrous did surprise me in Crash, and Ice Cube has made a movie career for himself, but even a broken clock is right twice a day. Actually, I think the best rapper turned actor is MosDef… appropriately enough.

I don’t bash rappers just because they are rappers. I just think that there are gazillions of wannabe actors out there that might do a better job, and famous people will get stunt-casted ahead of them. I listen to a lot of HipHop and have respect for the craft… I just don’t think that entitles them to acting jobs. It reminds me of a Mitch Hedberg quote:

“As a comedian, they want you to do other things besides comedy. They say “alright you’re a comedian, can you write? Write us a script. Act in this sitcom.” They want me to do shit that’s related to comedy, but it’s not comedy, man. It’s not fair, you know? It’s as though if I was a cook, and I worked my ass off to become a really good cook, and they said “alright you’re a cook… can you farm?”

I never get involved in comment “skirmishes”, but it seems like you are being a little hypocritical here. You are condemning us for being negative (not wanting “The Game” as our “B.A. Baracus”)… Meanwhile, you are getting very defensive and making accusations.

The funny thing about this is… Mr. T can’t act OR rap. He’s just a BADASS.