8/21/2023 0 Comments Eddie murphy boomerangIt was considered subversive for dropping audiences into the world of Marcus, an arrogant womanizer draped in Thierry Mugler, then inverting that world through the introduction of Jacqueline (Robin Givens), who eclipses him in both professional status and ruthlessness with the opposite sex. But for the people who work there, it’s just business as usual.īoomerang was somewhat anomalous when it was released 30 years ago today. It’s clear that he loves everything about the position he occupies in the world, including having a secretary who can facilitate the delivery of a single long-stem rose to several women along with a card reading: “ Thinking only of you.” The fact that everyone in the office is Black stands out only if you’re looking for it or troubled by it. He greets damn near every woman with that smile and bedroom eyes before sliding into his spacious, modernist office. Once those elevator doors part, it’s game on for ad exec Marcus Graham (Eddie Murphy), who flashes a self-assured smile and glides through an office building, brimming with confidence the whole way. All we want is to be accepted as equals.There’s no grand statement in the opening scene of Boomerang, but it still says plenty about the film’s world. I want African Americans to be able to win Oscars, to do films about our people when we want to, to get films made and to do what we want to as artists. Until everyone can realize this, the cancerous roots of racism will continue to spread, and the people of this country will continue to be torn apart and destroyed by the disease of misunderstanding. But I cannot be more passionate when I say that the situations found in this film are not from some fictional dream world. Oprah Winfrey and Debbie Allen have been turned away from stores Warrington Hudlin has had trouble getting a cab on the streets of New York my friends and co-workers have been mistreated in restaurants and on airlines. The scene in the clothing store in “Boomerang” is not at all far-fetched. And consider all those films that did feature small roles for African Americans-we thank you for having the world believe that all people of color are pimps, prostitutes, drug dealers and criminals.įor those who believe that black people-regardless of their status-are not confronted with racism on a daily basis, it’s time to realize what’s really happening. My new film, “Boomerang,” directed and produced by the aforementioned Hudlins, is the latest outlet for those critics who feel it necessary to demean and simplify the achievement of black people.įor those who feel that it’s racist for a film to have a predominately black cast, one has only to look at the countless movies that portray an all-white world. Yet for every step we inch forward, for each iota of progress, there always will be those trying to knock us back down, and there always will be some who cannot accept our success. On behalf of my movie-making brothers and sisters, and all actors of color, I must say that Hollywood is finally-although slowly-opening its eyes to the great, diverse pool of black talent. African-American filmmakers such as Spike Lee, Reginald and Warrington Hudlin, Robert Townsend, Keenen Ivory Wayans, John Singleton, Julie Dash and Matty Rich have been able to have their stories told and receive the recognition they so justly deserve. Since that interview was published, there have been some positive strides made in the movie industry. My hope at that time-and it is just as strong, if not stronger, today-was that black artists be appreciated in Hollywood as much as white artists. In an interview published almost three years ago, I mentioned I had a dream regarding black artists.
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