'Red Tails': If George Lucas war film flops, are black audiences to blame?

'Red Tails': If George Lucas war film flops, are black audiences to blame?

_Red Tails_, a biopic about the heroic Tuskegee Airmen fighter pilots, and arguably the most expensive film ever made with a predominately African-American cast, opens this weekend. The film has arrived with enormous hype and has renewed debates about whether 'black films' can succeed at the box office. Rightly or wrongly, the financial success, or lack thereof, of _Red Tails_ may be seen as a barometer of black audiences' buying power. Which begs the question: if _Red Tails_ fails to meet expectations will African-American filmgoers be to blame? theGrio: Beyond 'Red Tails'-- black war heroes on the big screen The film, which was largely financed by legendary _Star Wars_ director and producer George Lucas, boasts a cast of attractive young actors, top-notch production values and an undeniably compelling true story to draw upon as subject matter -- the bravery of the first African-American fighter pilots to serve in combat during WWII. Yet if Hollywood history is any indication, the deck is stacked against it. Black historical films have traditionally been box office poison. Movies based on true stories about the black experience, such as _Amistad_, _Glory_ and _Rosewood_ have all failed to sell tickets despite good reviews and awards recognition. The usual drumbeat about these films when they under-perform is that black history is a downer; it makes white audiences feel guilty and black audiences depressed, and so no one wants to see it on the big screen. The one modern film that bucked this trend with flying colors was Spike Lee's iconic 1992 film _Malcolm X_. That film made $48 million domestically ($92 million today when adjusted for inflation) and remains one of Lee's most respected and beloved films. However, _Malcolm X_ benefited from a brilliant marketing campaign (those 'X' hats were ubiquitous in '92) and a career-best performance by Denzel Washington, a bonafide movie star, in the title role. With its January release date, its lack of stars that can 'open' a film, and a premise with which most youthful moviegoers are unlikely to be acquainted, _Red Tails_ is a much tougher sell. George Lucas has been going on the offense to promote the film, telling how difficult it was getting this film financed and made -- despite his track record as a blockbuster filmmaker. theGrio slideshow: 20 films that uplifted black America "[The studios] said [Red Tails is] not _green_ enough," said Lucas in an interview on _The Daily Show_. "It's because it's an all-black movie. There are no major white roles in it at all. It's one of the first all-black action pictures ever made." Much of the coverage of _Red Tails_ has followed that very line of thinking. Meanwhile, the cast and crew of the film has been working overtime seemingly to create sympathy for a film that has been reportedly two decades in the making. "These are the type of films I try to do," actor Nate Parker said. "Things that... you can take into our community and effect change in a way that the airmen did." The film's publicity blitz culminated last week with a special White House screening attended by the president, the first lady and several surviving Tuskegee veterans. Still, amidst all the chatter about this unique production, the buzz about the quality of the film has been subdued and the reviews have been tepid at best. While the film's aerial sequences, spiced up with state-of-the-art special effects have been praised, most critics have dismissed _Red Tails_ as cheesy and predictable. "The movie is so desperate to be palatable, to appeal to everybody that it doesn't taste like anything," said Wesley Morris, an African-American film critic for _The Boston Globe_. The _Chicago Tribune_'s Michael Phillips was even less charitable, writing, "Red Tails squanders a great subject, reducing the real-life struggles and fierce heroics of the Tuskegee Airmen to rickety cliché."