Health, Movies, Other, Politics

Color Outside the Lines

Hello! Welcome to COTL, a discussion place for BIPOC. Posted the first 3 Wednesdays of the month

Thread Rules

  1. We ask that only those who identify as people of color participate in this discussion. White Avocados, while valued members of this community, should remain in ‘lurk’ mode.
  2. Shaming and hateful speech are unacceptable.
  3. Please keep potentially traumatic content safely behind spoiler tags.
  4. Nobody on this thread is more or less a person of color than anyone else. (We will not set clearly delineated boundaries on who qualifies as a ‘person of color.’ As a starting point, this thread uses the definition of ‘non-European heritage of sufficient prominence to affect one’s navigation of a society built on white normativity.’ However, we recognize that there are identities which skirt either side of the divide. If people feel that they meaningfully experience the identity of being a person of color, then they are welcome to participate.)

Hello everyone 👋🏽.

A new documentary recently came out on AppleTV called ‘Number One on the Call Sheet.’ Produced by Jamie Foxx1 & other stars featured (goddamn that exec producer list 🤯 I’d pay to watch them just do a roundtable or something).

This was a fascinating, uplifting & inspiring documentary about the successes & struggles of many of THE MOST POPULAR actors & actresses ON THE PLANET!

It could also be pretty sad. Especially when you realise the first African American to win an oscar Hattie McDaniel worked as a stereotype throughout the rest of her career. Playing just one sort of role for the next 15 years, because that’s all that Hollywood would allow her? Reading up on her, she had to suffer through Jim Crow & racist policies throughout her career.2

Of course the nature of the establishment & how Black creatives find themselves struggling against the system that isn’t built for them is explored in some detail. Though not enough fingers are pointed for my preference? 🤷🏾‍♀️

The documentary is split into 2 parts: One for the male actors & one for the female actresses.

How Angela Bassett doesn’t have an pscar is beyond me. Especially after having watched ‘What’s love got to do with it,’ or her almost single handedly carrying ‘Wakanda Forever,’ after the tragedy of losing Chadwick (R.I.P King indeed).

Speaking of the current cream of the crop of African American creatives, the movie Sinners is out & is doing well for an entirely original, r-rated horror movie, with Ryan Coogler at the helm & starring Michael B Jordan. As well as Delroy Lindo, Wunmi Mosaku (she’s been blowing up lately), Jack O’Connell & Hailee Steinfeld: who is apparently 1/8th African American on her Maternal grandfathers side! Go figure. Something she sounds very happy & grateful to explore & I can’t argue with that. I had similiar feelings returning to the motherland last month (something I’ve been exploring in the weekend nature thread of late).

Except… there’s been some furore over the media coverage of the film.

Which probably isn’t that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things as of late, but I find it interesting, considering media representation of facts & the corporate ownership & narratives we get fed. Which really kind of plays into a lot of things we face in other arenas.3

In what universe does a 60 million dollar opening for an original studio movie warrant this headline? https://t.co/rkFQxQNwMp— Ben Stiller (@BenStiller) April 21, 2025

“I wonder if @variety covered Once Upon A Time in Hollywood – which made 10% less at the domestic box office on 10% more theaters prepandemic and at the same budget with a similar deal structure – in the same way,” Franklin Leonard, a film producer and creator of The Black List said on X.

I find Dan Murrell’s breakdown a really useful understanding of what’s happened with facts & figures & that it may not possibly be racism (given the same writers articles on NOPE), but studio conspiracy narratives to prevent other filmmakers retaining their rights to their films?

Skip to 7:15 for Sinners breakdown. Or see the pics below.
Text on a dark background discussing the box office performance of the film 'Sinners', highlighting its earnings and production cost.
Text overlay from Variety discussing the box office performance of 'Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood,' highlighting its creative risk and production costs against its opening weekend success.
Text excerpt discussing the box office performance of the film 'Nope', summarizing audience reception and comparisons with other films.
Admittedly the same writer as the recent Sinners article, but as I mention below: there’s a culture to these environments? The people in charge. The people making the decisions.

I will say I think Dan is missing the fact that the studio conspiracy narrative doesn’t include the fact that the film Sinners is very much meant to be about a certain period of the African American experience, apparently4 & that it contains narratives that shouldn’t be owned by WB? So, a broader question of ownership is at play? 👀

Something discussed in a recent Transgender support group I attended, was that it isn’t just about the new lettering of the law,5 but that the interpretation of the ruling gives support to the very worst in our society. It allows the few bad people to dictate the new reality? I can’t help but feel something similar is happening with Trump’s win & media organisations/corporations following suit?

Although on the flipside: Target is getting royally screwed 😏.

Anyone seen Sinners? What did you think of it?

If you have seen the film, be sure to also checkout the spoiler discussion thread from @pachylad:

Spoil Sports – Sinners (2025)

Prompt: Whose on your Mount Rushmore of Actors/Actresses of colour? Given the calibre & quantity of incredible performers I’ll allow 2 Mountains 🖖🏽😎🖖🏽.

Feel free to talk about whatever else you’d like! 🙏🏽

Hope everyone’s doing okay 🙏🏽.