#RedTailsAStoryofRacisimForChildren

This weekend I had the privilege of watching Red Tails.  George Lucas stirred a lot of controversy when he mentioned in interviews that Hollywood would not fund this movie because executives believed that a movie with an all black cast would not make any money (this made me raise an eyebrow.  Remember Dreamgirls).  Black people (and possibly other races also) determined to prove Hollywood wrong came out and made this movie number 2 at the box office for its opening weekend.  Side note: one of the original Tuskegee Airmen was at the Red Tail showing right before mine. 

Even though the movie critics have bashed this movie for its “full of clichés” script, bland cast, and one-dimensional characters, I still loved it.  Matter of fact, I loved the movie for all the reasons the movie critics hated the movie.  Beside the corny one-liners and horrible southern accents, I enjoyed the script from a family stand point.  Honestly, it is so hard to take children to the movies these days.  Even the movies that are made for children have adult content in it and full of sexual innuendos.  This was a way for the kids to get a history lesson without all the bad language and the over usage of the n-word.  I love the fact this movie did not smack you in the face with racism.  When I left The Help I was mad at all white women everywhere. 

This movie left a door open for parents to discuss the issue of racism with their children on their terms.  It also showed the realities of war without being so gruesome which was something else I loved about the movie.  Even though we did see soldiers being killed, we did not have to see guts spilling out all over the screen.  Another reason I wanted to support the movie because Lucas said that if this movie did well, he would make two more movies about the Red Tails.  Now I am not a fan of prequels and sequels but the idea of doing a movie of the Tuskegee Airmen when they were in training and another of their lives when they came back home after the war seems interesting to me.

As much as I loved this movie, I know there are no Golden Globe or Oscar nominations in its future.  I have to admit that this was not Cuba Gooding, Jr’s or Terrance Howard’s best performances.  And every time Neyo open his mouth with that ratchet southern accent I wanted to scream.  But I did like this film and look forward to the other two installments.