I just finished reading the Wanted graphic novel (becoming very interested after seeing the trailer for the movie) and imagine my surprise when I noticed that The Fox (Wanted’s version of Catwoman) was a black woman who claimed to have grown up in the projects.
I am not going to go off about how Hollywood doesn’t believe fanboys (white males between the ages of 18-49) are going to want to see a black actress in the role, or how much they (the fan boys) love Angelina Jolie, or how this is payback for Michael Clark Duncan being cast as the Kingpin of Crime in the Daredevil movie, or maybe they (fanboys) don’t want to see an interracial couple on-screen. I found this interesting blog post here
from a website called Racialicious (the blogger references willow_dot_com) that asks the same question I had. Who would play this role, if not Angelina Jolie? Gabrielle Union? She has no action movies to her credit. What about Jada Pinkett-Smith? What about Thandie Newton, Sanaa Lathan, Kerry Washington (she definitely gets my vote), Elise Neal, or Vivica Fox (well maybe not her)? Or did Halle Berry kill any opportunity for black actresses in comic book movie lead roles? (see Catwoman)
There isn’t a lack of talent, just a lack of inspired imagination. I don’t think Angelina Jolie will make a difference in the box office for this movie. Comic book/Action movies don’t really need big stars to draw crowds, see how successful the first two Transporter movies were. Just throw up a kick ass trailer, and make the fanboys happy.
6 responses so far ↓
1 Anthony // Nov 1, 2007 at 4:55 pm
Studios only care about the bottom line. If they think Angelina is going to make them money, then they’ll put her in the movie.
Anyway, I hope people realize that this is loosely based on the graphic novel, not like 300, or Road to Perdition, or From Hell, which were all exactly like the graphic novels. There’s no Professor, Fuckwit, or Mr. Ricktus. So no need to pull the race card.
2 Sweet Christmas // Nov 1, 2007 at 9:42 pm
I have mixed feelings about this because i wonder if the film would have gotten made if Angelinas name was attached to it. It not like Daredevil where Ben Affleck was the star attraction. Sometimes you need a star to get a film made. I think the real problem is the lack of black women who can carry an action film.
3 Anthony // Nov 1, 2007 at 10:19 pm
From what I read, the decision to make the movie was before Jolie was attached.
4 Obsidian // Nov 2, 2007 at 2:20 pm
I think we have two things different things happening. A lack of women actions star and a lack of black action stars.
5 Jarrell // Nov 4, 2007 at 6:07 pm
Mainstream America loves a good shoot’em up action movie, especially if it stars Angelina Jolie.
6 The Fox and Halle Berry // Jun 25, 2008 at 4:48 pm
[...] Berry. Well, I am not going to belabor the point here, and I’m not going to rant about how black characters are replaced with white actors/actresses, and I am not going to rant about the lack of black females in the media, especially genre [...]
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