There is a war on Black people in general, and the black family in particular. I was raised in a time when the black family, and black love was celebrated, and I've seen the cultural disintegration of our people. If we recognize the problem, maybe we can fix it.
Beyond the Lights is one of my favorite film stories. I'm soooo glad he spoke on the love story and dichotomy between the Black man and the Black woman.
Van Damn! I have been feeling this way for years. As of late, I have been seeing subtle hints of the agenda of separation between the black man and black woman. More so in commercials. Black man with a white woman, black women with white men, and black women with just a black child with no man around. It is like seeing black men with black women is becoming taboo.
I want more of this guy, these are straight facts. There is a psychology behind racism and I'm glad an older person like this can say it. he's lived and saw it all. thanks for the content
We need more men and women like him. What Mr. Woods, Mr. Gregory, and Mr. Mooney say is very enlightens. Too bad some people are still in the dark. Look at the state of how some black relationships are now depicted on tv etc. sad.
Professor Woods you and Reel Black are doing a brilliant job giving us a deeper understanding of film and how it informs our perspective and controls how we think and more importantly how we react and react to one another.
+Allegra Geller Thank you for your favorable comment. I appreciate your time to view and post your feelings. The film is a powerful aesthetic. Just imagine what this world could be if motion pictures were used to teach love and respect for all people. As someone once said:"Hurt people hurt people" When a people are taught to hate themselves they can not love others who look like they do. Cinema is purposely used to destabilize and destroy people of color. Stay strong. Be aware. Peace and Blessings!!!
Awesome Job !!! Nothing but a man left a deep impression on me when i first saw it and i understood the struggle of the black man in america. Beautiful interview
Absolutely! Lustful rather than loving ..... Hollywood has never portrayed us properly,,, in those days we were just happy to see Black folk on the screen as well as on Television,
I enjoyed his commentary, he is spot on. I don't mean to be shady but what I noticed all these movies particularly Beyond the Lights featured a black man and biracial woman...she is half African and even in the movie she has a white mother who is her manager. Btw, I am a fan of the actress and actor who led in the film but I wanted to just point out she is biracial. What role does colorism play in these black romance films?
+anointed2wait Yes colorism is alive and well. Just ask Ms Viola Davis and what happened to Ms Lupita? In the clip I remarked about the dark tone of the actors in Nothing But a Man and the uniqueness of that. Images in film reflect colorism as well as language. You used the term "shady". The word connotes a reference to darkness. Someone is described as "Fair-skinned" We know what it means. What is the logical opposite, "unfair-skinned"? A smart person is an "enlightened" one. What is the opposite, a "darkened" one? Yes, colorism is alive and well indeed. Thank you for your time and comment. Look for new Blaxploitation clip later today. I hope it is ed-utaining for you.
prof charles wood. Thank you for your insight into black representation in movies. I love film and I would very much like to see you further deconstruct the narrative for us. There is so much inexplicable stuff that goes on in movies that we all see but sometimes cannot quite put a finger on,so its nice to see it so eloquently broken down. i look forward to your next piece.
+Henry Zollner Thank you very much for your time and kind comments. We are preparing some more cinematic insights in the very near future. I hope you find them just as relevant and informative.
Yeah cause television give the message that their was no other good looking women in this world but white women.There are more beautiful brown skin women then white, just saying
The message today is only WW are the gold standard for BM. And BW are the BMs side chicks, too masculine and too dark to be loved. The manosphere says BM can only lust after BW, no love.
Great, as usual. I'm interested in your take on Love Jones (1997). It's one of the few films of which I'm aware that accurately depicts black relationships as normal. What do you think?
Truly The Professor, Charles Woods has given a Master Class in the analysis of the film industry. He has revealed the motivation to maintain the status quo -- The pureness of whiteness and the vileness of blackness. Our youth should hear this Master Class and realize how they are being socialized to seem themselves as gang bangers and disrespectful of women and self. The end product is the behavior: Black Lives Don't Matter. How many black youth killed in Chicago over the 4th July? We need more Master Classes from Professor Woods. Thank you for the enlightenment.
+Edwin Nichols Thank you soooo much for your time and very kind comments. As I have pointed out in the past: We see movies in the dark but there is no reason for us to remain in the dark about the hidden negative and pejorative anti-black messages many films contain. Each one--teach one. Peace and Blessings/One love.
Love Jones, Beyond the Lights,Nothing But A Man, If Beale Could Talk, For The Love of Ivy,A Warm December and to some degree Jason's Lyric as well as Brown Sugar and Love and Basketball are testaments that 'Black and Black L❤ve " is a Beautiful and and a Revolutionary Thing....you definitely have to understand ! Sho Nuff, Can You Dig It !!! To the Ancestor Dr. Frances Cress-Weisling. STAY☝️, 🤞to everyone. YEAH 😎
Jason's Lyric was one of the first iterations of Black love that I'd seen on film. More than a romantic love story, though - Jason's Lyric was a lesson in self-love, dreaming, and self-respect despite the circumstances. To this day, it's still one of my favorite movies.
There is so much to say, I don’t know where to start. This video is reaching me at a point in life (I’m 50) where I have started to watch the older shows I used to watch as a kid because I’m trying to get back to when I still believed Black love was possible. We’re so inundated with interracial relationships, movies where we tear each other down and divisive social media now that I wonder if I will find a Black man who truly loves me like I can love him. I only say I wish I had been exposed to this knowledge much sooner as it would have better prepared me in terms of knowing what I was really fighting against in my relationships instead of us fighting each other. I’m so overwhelmed with my thoughts on this so I’ll just say thank you sir for taking the time to share what you know so that we can do better as an audience in what we consume and as men and women who have our own selves bought into destructive images whether consciously doing so or unconsciously.
Several thoughts here: (1) Love this channel!(2) Love Professor Woods, he always gives great knowledge with an even greater perspective!(3) Melvin Van Peebles should have been incarcerated for forcing his underage son to perform sex on video, what a horrible man. How could people support that movie? Seeing this makes me know that what everyone says about Hollywood being Satanic is true.(4) I personally did not go see Beyond the Lights because I am personally tired of light skinned black women getting the love interests role; it reminded me of the casting call for NWA's movie in that dark skinned black women were not considered the "A" girls. Dark skinned black men get to be sexy e.g. Idris Elba, Taye Diggs, and Morris Chestnut, where is the sexy chocolate sister? Maybe boycotting it will change it. Even in the movie Creed his love interest was a light skinned black woman. Light skinned people are beautiful and black but so is dark skin. That's all!
WHAT IN THE LIVING HELL did I just witness in the Sweetback clip???🤯 How was the exploitation of a child so flagrantly allowed with no criminal prosecution??? I am sick to my stomach!!! 😡😡😡
It's true; in all my 33 years, I've only seen Love & Basketball and the Martin show where a Black relationship between two equals was depicted as normative. I have a question for Mr. Woods though. What is the connection between the Sidney Poitier slap and the development of the Blaxploitation industry? How come was that the result (as you briefly mentioned in the other clip?)
+Asjah M Once again thank you for your time to view and comment. Poitier was the box-office king for 1967--the number one film star. In Guess Who's Coming to America he proved that a black man could romance a white woman and the mainstream audience would accept it. In the Heat of the Night was a film that demonstrated he could be a defiant black man and it too would be accepted. Both films released in 1967 made lots of money and they reflected America's racial attitudes to two formerly tabooed images of black male defiance and sexuality were no longer considered incendiary which allayed the fears of many theater owners who may have been hesitant to book films with these two historically proscribed filmic elements. Blaxploitation, from 1969-1977 continued to popularize what Poitier's two iconic films introduced to pop culture. Blaxploitation was aimed more at a niche audience with 3 basic elements: Black Sexuality; Black Defiance; and Black Funk/Soul Music. Bless you--One Love.
+charles woods i would like to ask Mr. Woods, What about movies like Imitation of life about black people passing as white. And also The Tv. show Alex Hailey's Queen. Is it also The hollywood agenda to show how much Black people hate themselves ? Because I have noticed this a lot lately with young black girls developing anorexia and changing the hair to blond and bleaching the skin.
This is what happens when people who hate you makes films about you. This system and its propaganda machine will never get any better; it will only morph or rather modify any and all stereotypes about black people.
This is a very insightful presentation and it strikes the core of a world that perpetuates the stereotypes created for racial minorities, only to be made into sellable products that would be easier to sell in future. Unfortunately, film (feature length) was more accessible and thus popular then, but now in our 'minimum character' world we want it all in as little time as possible. Rise of the seasonal doseage, rise of the music video, rise of the 1min video clip. With the right amount of money backing any of these projects, it has become much easier to throw around more of this mis-messaging. These are the ones to watch out for now.
Good stuff professor! I can't begin to say how difficult it is to watch the level of ignorance we have about black history overall. Informed people like yourself know that this is a planned strategy by the big money people so how do we change this problem? Well I can tell you that it's never going to happen doing it the conventional way i.e. waiting around for them to recognize our humanity.
Professor there are a lot of people of color that have no problem supporting black films once we're aware of them. All we need is a whisper of their existence my wife and myself are constantly looking for movies that we can relate to in our day to day lives and we appreciate the nuggets that you share
He's right! My boyfriend and I are watching season 3 of TRUE DETECTIVE and we don't appreciate that the black married couple (The Hayeses) only have sex after they fight or their foreplay is very aggressive. A lot of pushing and pinning against walls and this animalistic lust. There was a time in the 80's where the scenarios would be a white couple argues, she slaps him, he slaps her back and they instantly embrace and the sex starts. THIS IS NOT BLACK CULTURE so don't start creating films and tv shows showing our black men being abusive and then the black women fall longingly into their arms and the "passionate" sex begins. Please...only abuse vics think that's desirable.
wow, haven't watched this show but I noticed Mahershala is in it. I watched him in the 4400 and the story arc of his character was just trash, so not surprised this character Hays that he portrays has some ... issues. Mahershala seems to play these token roles...? Maybe not Moonlight? I dunno
In Beyond the Lights, loved the film 🎥 Noni taking her weave out was to me, solitifying Acceptance of her natural self, and for who she was as a black woman
I patients waited for another video with Prof Charles Woods. How I feel is exactly how this brotha explained in this video. I love the fact that everything he analyzes there is a video clip to go along with it. I never even knew about that film featuring Lola Falana. That really disgust me seeing that it didn't even feel like acting or some scene just felt weird seeing that. Also, I understand the blaxploitation films more so now then before cause I've heard so many people either glamorizing it or not telling the truth. It really was exploitation of black women and that continued even with black directors.
+Benjamin De Cruz Thanks my Brotha for your time and complimentary comment. I try to show the evidence to support my perspective so that I don't come off as someone just complaining but explaining. I want my view to be based on an objective look at the facts and not the result of any biased emotions I may harbor. If I am wrong in my opinions then show me the error of my perspective---but let the argument be based on objectivity and nothing less. Peace and Love.
+Benjamin De Cruz You say you understand the situation of so-called blaxploitation films of the 70s. But, where does this understanding come from? How old are you?
Boy Doll It comes from watching those films and understanding the period those were released. I dont have to be 40 to 50 years old to understand stuff like that lol. I've seen documentaries or clips of such and I'm not fully getting what was said cause its mixed reactions to those films. I didn't say I lived that, I said I understood it. When you watch something you dont just wanna watch and not analyze what your watching.
i want to start off by saying that "i love my father",him being a proud black man through the injustices that he may have had to deal with growing up in the 60's disregarded anything that was put out there to endorse the 3-D effect so with my mother being Irish and polish as well as my father not being married or in a relationship with someone did not care for their hidden agenda regarding the 3-D effect and as a product of their love for one another was born three beautiful children thanks to God's help as well. and thanks to their love they have been together married 32 to 33 years and they're going for forever. so if it matters to any of you fight for who you love and not who they want you to.
Hello. Thank you for your viewing support. I too am biracial. My father was German. My analysis of interracial relationships is not an attempt to condemn so-called mixed relationships. People have a human right to love whomever they choose to love. I am just reporting on the cliched patterns that appear in motion pictures depicting miscegenation. My conclusion is that "mixed racial" love relationships are commercially exploited rather than honestly, sociologically explored. Peace and Blessings!!!
Glad to see a black man telling the truth of the TRICKNOLOGY in Hollywood and why we have too many black men in Prison without good Hollywood images and story lines. I am not saying movies are the fault but they sure as hell did not help!
Sorry, if I'm sleeping but does Charles Woods have a twitter or a website? I appreciate his critique on film and I would love to follow his perspective.
+Darius Allen Thank you for your time to view the clip and post a comment. I do not have a website or twitter. ReeLBlack has provided me a forum for my ideas and pretty much unretired me. I used to lecture, present black cinema and write for local NY newspapers many years ago. ReelBlack has dusted the old boy off and humbled me by allowing me the opportunity to express my perspective on this channel. We are so happy with the response and as a result, we are planning some more clips for the not too distant future. Peace and Blessings!!!
I hated that nobody supported the film Beyond the Lights. It was a good film about love. So what the female was biracial, she's still black. Black people love to point out that civilization started out with black people, and how other people around the world are black. Yet when it comes to a person who is mixed, then we like to point out differences. That's what I don't like about my own people. Every black person in America is mixed, slave masters slept with their slaves to create more children. We don't like people to outcast us and treat us unfairly but it's okay to do it to others. We have to stop being so bitter about people who are biracial or simply lightskinned. It's not helping us and will get us nowhere unless we all stick together.
+Lissette Gathers it has much more to do with the fact that biracial people are becoming the face of what being black looks like, when in essence they are just as much white as there are black, so its sort of baffling to me that people are soo readily considered black when there are just as equally white, i mean why are they not allowed to be considered white? Its delves into a much deeper sense when you bring it to light that one drop of black blood made you black no matter how you appeared in the old days, so it sort of undermines the whole idea(along with many things that i could get into) that this nations racial problem have progressed at all. I dont mean to sound cynical, but race is the only facet of life where this happens, you mix white and black and you get grey, no one considers it light black, ya know, you breed dogs german shepard and a black lab, you dont just chalk it up to whatever features are more dominant, you express that fact that its a mix, even other races have broaden terms to justify the possibility of different nationalities mixing while still within one race. Im just saying being biracial isnt the same as being black, much in the same way that grey is neither white nor black, but is beautiful all on its own
+Eugene Wakefield I understand what your saying about biracial people becoming the face of black people. However, everybody in the world is biracial. Science is saying that the first man and woman came from east Africa, around where Ethiopia is. Race was something we came up with, there is no such thing as race, only ethnicity and culture. All African Americans are biracial so it is silly for us to hate or look down on people because they are biracial. Slave masters slept with their slaves and it was a standard practice to create new slaves without having to buy one. Many slaves would run away and join up with Native American tribes and became slaves to their tribes, the only difference was they were kinder to us and they treated us like extended family. What about Latinos because most of the African Slaves went to Latin America (Mexico, Central America, South America)? I'm saying that when you look at the history of slavery, our skin color changed drastically and will continue to change. So is blackness only determined by our skin color? Are we so hateful of white people that we ignore anybody who has a drop of white blood in them? Last question, what will hating anybody get us?
Luvie1980 in America they are, perhaps where you’re from they’re not. In America black biracial people were still slaves, matter of fact we include and celebrate them in black American history. The issue is with these “woke” people who want to redefine everything to fit their needs.
Professor Charles, good stuff as always. About "Sweet Sweetback's Baadassss Song" - you said that nobody went to go see that film. That film did gross over $4 million at the box office it's initial opening in only two cities (Detroit and Atlanta) with a budget of $150,000. I will agree that it was a rather bad film but somehow it generated enough "buzz", so somebody went to go see it.
+alndfam 1 Thank you for your time to view and comment. You are correct. As I responded to another post, SSBAS was indeed a commercial success. It was once considered cinema's most commercially successful independent release. In the clip I say that the film was helped by the endorsement of The Black Panthers and also, the sexy content. But I should have been clearer. The response to these clips is very humbling, and I will make every effort to be more precise in the future. Thank you so much for sharing, and I hope our future clips will keep your interest and provide thought provoking information and insight. Peace and Blessings!!!
You are so on the money about all of your points. I enjoyed that film that because of exactly what you are saying is missing in films. Relationships showing love between two black people.
Beyond the lights was a Black man superhero to the Black woman...what? I love Denzel, but he is always playing a superhero to White woman/girl. I love what Nate Parker is doing.
Professor Woods...YOU ARE ON POINT !!! Think about in 2002 Halle Berry...she won the OSCAR for "Monster's Ball" for what...disrespecting herself with a white guy !!! WTF...SMDH !!! Would or anybody else praise that performance or want to see that movie again and again ??? Not in my opinion. Tired of the BS ! 🤬🤬🤬
Why would he betray himself like that why would those directors tell him to do that you know what mostly made my man an animal I don't get theory but I bet bet there's some directors so weirdo but they just couldn't stand the Black culture how strong it was but they want to betrayed in that fashion
Strong Black love = Black unity = Strong Black family. And that Eurocentric Hollywood can not handle.
💯💯 wow crazy how it’s still this way but worse 5 years later
There is a war on Black people in general, and the black family in particular. I was raised in a time when the black family, and black love was celebrated, and I've seen the cultural disintegration of our people. If we recognize the problem, maybe we can fix it.
Amen
Man I'm so glad I found this channel and this man.
Thanks for your support! Plenty more to come.
You're welcome.
+El Blaise My thanks also. Hope it was informative.
+El Blaise Me too
YES
I've seen Beyond the Lights at least 20 times on Netflix. I absolutely loved it for all the reasons Mr. Woods mentioned.
Charles Woods just opened my eyes, man! Wow! Well said ... he's genius!
Beyond the Lights is one of my favorite film stories. I'm soooo glad he spoke on the love story and dichotomy between the Black man and the Black woman.
Van Damn! I have been feeling this way for years. As of late, I have been seeing subtle hints of the agenda of separation between the black man and black woman. More so in commercials. Black man with a white woman, black women with white men, and black women with just a black child with no man around. It is like seeing black men with black women is becoming taboo.
It’s working.
Truth💯
I want more of this guy, these are straight facts. There is a psychology behind racism and I'm glad an older person like this can say it. he's lived and saw it all. thanks for the content
Yes indeed.
We need more men and women like him. What Mr. Woods, Mr. Gregory, and Mr. Mooney say is very enlightens. Too bad some people are still in the dark. Look at the state of how some black relationships are now depicted on tv etc. sad.
"Nothing But A Man" is my favorite film of all time. Its rarely I mean rarely shown on cable.
I was reading in a book thar NOTHING BUT A MAN was Malcolm X favorite movie...…. I am going to watch it asap
Thanks.
Where can I watch it ?
Just wanted to be the first one to comment and show some black love. Brother woods, you did it again. Brilliant.
+Welfare Dad Thanks my Brother. You know you are my main man!!!!
+Coily Cue Glad you enjoy. Feel free to share/embed. but please dont download and re-upload. That takes away revenue. Thanks.
Professor Woods you and Reel Black are doing a brilliant job giving us a deeper understanding of film and how it informs our perspective and controls how we think and more importantly how we react and react to one another.
+Allegra Geller Thank you for your favorable comment. I appreciate your time to view and post your feelings. The film is a powerful aesthetic. Just imagine what this world could be if motion pictures were used to teach love and respect for all people. As someone once said:"Hurt people hurt people" When a people are taught to hate themselves they can not love others who look like they do. Cinema is purposely used to destabilize and destroy people of color. Stay strong. Be aware. Peace and Blessings!!!
Awesome Job !!! Nothing but a man left a deep impression on me when i first saw it and i understood the struggle of the black man in america. Beautiful interview
Absolutely! Lustful rather than loving ..... Hollywood has never portrayed us properly,,, in those days we were just happy to see Black folk on the screen as well as on Television,
Wow man this was great! I am so impressed with your knowledge of black films I hope to see more of this from Reelblack!!! Thank you for sharing
I loved the movie Beyond The Lights it was a beautiful story -- great movie. I cried.
+Patricia Parker Thanks for sharing. I am so happy you enjoyed this film. I thought it was a wonderful story. Peace and Blessings!!!
Nothing But A Man --- one of my favorite movies of all time!!
I love Beyond the lights. He's spot on.
I enjoyed his commentary, he is spot on. I don't mean to be shady but what I noticed all these movies particularly Beyond the Lights featured a black man and biracial woman...she is half African and even in the movie she has a white mother who is her manager. Btw, I am a fan of the actress and actor who led in the film but I wanted to just point out she is biracial. What role does colorism play in these black romance films?
+anointed2wait Yes colorism is alive and well. Just ask Ms Viola Davis and what happened to Ms Lupita? In the clip I remarked about the dark tone of the actors in Nothing But a Man and the uniqueness of that. Images in film reflect colorism as well as language. You used the term "shady". The word connotes a reference to darkness. Someone is described as "Fair-skinned" We know what it means. What is the logical opposite, "unfair-skinned"? A smart person is an "enlightened" one. What is the opposite, a "darkened" one? Yes, colorism is alive and well indeed. Thank you for your time and comment. Look for new Blaxploitation clip later today. I hope it is ed-utaining for you.
prof charles wood. Thank you for your insight into black representation in movies.
I love film and I would very much like to see you further deconstruct the narrative for us.
There is so much inexplicable stuff that goes on in movies that we all see but sometimes cannot quite put a finger on,so its nice to see it so eloquently broken down.
i look forward to your next piece.
+Henry Zollner Thank you very much for your time and kind comments. We are preparing some more cinematic insights in the very near future. I hope you find them just as relevant and informative.
I am addicted to his videos!!!!
Me too. I should be in bed but I can't stop watching. I'll take watching these videos over reality tv shows.
I LOVE Nothing but a Man. One of my all time favorite films. I'm so glad he touched on that film.
Yeah cause television give the message that their was no other good looking women in this world but white women.There are more beautiful brown skin women then white, just saying
The message today is only WW are the gold standard for BM. And BW are the BMs side chicks, too masculine and too dark to be loved. The manosphere says BM can only lust after BW, no love.
Great, as usual. I'm interested in your take on Love Jones (1997). It's one of the few films of which I'm aware that accurately depicts black relationships as normal. What do you think?
Mr. Woods film commentary and knowledge are priceless.
Truly The Professor, Charles Woods has given a Master Class in the analysis of the film industry. He has revealed the motivation to maintain the status quo -- The pureness of whiteness and the vileness of blackness. Our youth should hear this Master Class and realize how they are being socialized to seem themselves as gang bangers and disrespectful of women and self. The end product is the behavior: Black Lives Don't Matter. How many black youth killed in Chicago over the 4th July? We need more Master Classes from Professor Woods. Thank you for the enlightenment.
+Edwin Nichols Thank you soooo much for your time and very kind comments. As I have pointed out in the past: We see movies in the dark but there is no reason for us to remain in the dark about the hidden negative and pejorative anti-black messages many films contain. Each one--teach one. Peace and Blessings/One love.
Love Jones, Beyond the Lights,Nothing But A Man, If Beale Could Talk, For The Love of Ivy,A Warm December and to some degree Jason's Lyric as well as Brown Sugar and Love and Basketball are testaments that 'Black and Black L❤ve " is a Beautiful and and a Revolutionary Thing....you definitely have to understand ! Sho Nuff, Can You Dig It !!! To the Ancestor Dr. Frances Cress-Weisling. STAY☝️, 🤞to everyone. YEAH 😎
Jason's Lyric was one of the first iterations of Black love that I'd seen on film. More than a romantic love story, though - Jason's Lyric was a lesson in self-love, dreaming, and self-respect despite the circumstances. To this day, it's still one of my favorite movies.
There is so much to say, I don’t know where to start. This video is reaching me at a point in life (I’m 50) where I have started to watch the older shows I used to watch as a kid because I’m trying to get back to when I still believed Black love was possible. We’re so inundated with interracial relationships, movies where we tear each other down and divisive social media now that I wonder if I will find a Black man who truly loves me like I can love him. I only say I wish I had been exposed to this knowledge much sooner as it would have better prepared me in terms of knowing what I was really fighting against in my relationships instead of us fighting each other. I’m so overwhelmed with my thoughts on this so I’ll just say thank you sir for taking the time to share what you know so that we can do better as an audience in what we consume and as men and women who have our own selves bought into destructive images whether consciously doing so or unconsciously.
Thank you. Truth.
Patrice O'Neal greatest comic of my time
Beyond the lights is awesome! I love that movie soo much♡ I am so happy you brought this up.
Several thoughts here: (1) Love this channel!(2) Love Professor Woods, he always gives great knowledge with an even greater perspective!(3) Melvin Van Peebles should have been incarcerated for forcing his underage son to perform sex on video, what a horrible man. How could people support that movie? Seeing this makes me know that what everyone says about Hollywood being Satanic is true.(4) I personally did not go see Beyond the Lights because I am personally tired of light skinned black women getting the love interests role; it reminded me of the casting call for NWA's movie in that dark skinned black women were not considered the "A" girls. Dark skinned black men get to be sexy e.g. Idris Elba, Taye Diggs, and Morris Chestnut, where is the sexy chocolate sister? Maybe boycotting it will change it. Even in the movie Creed his love interest was a light skinned black woman. Light skinned people are beautiful and black but so is dark skin. That's all!
Beyond The Lights......one of my favorite movies of ALL TIME!!!
I loved Beyond the lights. It's one of my favorites. I own the Blu ray and watch it every so often
WHAT IN THE LIVING HELL did I just witness in the Sweetback clip???🤯 How was the exploitation of a child so flagrantly allowed with no criminal prosecution??? I am sick to my stomach!!! 😡😡😡
Thank you very much for this message and lesson.
It's true; in all my 33 years, I've only seen Love & Basketball and the Martin show where a Black relationship between two equals was depicted as normative. I have a question for Mr. Woods though. What is the connection between the Sidney Poitier slap and the development of the Blaxploitation industry? How come was that the result (as you briefly mentioned in the other clip?)
+Asjah M Once again thank you for your time to view and comment. Poitier was the box-office king for 1967--the number one film star. In Guess Who's Coming to America he proved that a black man could romance a white woman and the mainstream audience would accept it. In the Heat of the Night was a film that demonstrated he could be a defiant black man and it too would be accepted. Both films released in 1967 made lots of money and they reflected America's racial attitudes to two formerly tabooed images of black male defiance and sexuality were no longer considered incendiary which allayed the fears of many theater owners who may have been hesitant to book films with these two historically proscribed filmic elements. Blaxploitation, from 1969-1977 continued to popularize what Poitier's two iconic films introduced to pop culture. Blaxploitation was aimed more at a niche audience with 3 basic elements: Black Sexuality; Black Defiance; and Black Funk/Soul Music. Bless you--One Love.
charles woods Aaaah, I see. Thank you for answering!
+Asjah M *
+charles woods i would like to ask Mr. Woods, What about movies like Imitation of life about black people passing as white. And also The Tv. show Alex Hailey's Queen. Is it also The hollywood agenda to show how much Black people hate themselves ? Because I have noticed this a lot lately with young black girls developing anorexia and changing the hair to blond and bleaching the skin.
Jason's Lyric, Love Jones, Boomerang, Coming to America, The Last Dragron, School Daze, Sprung
Nothing but a Man is so wonderful. Great movie and soundtrack! It's one of my fav movies of ALL TIME!
This is what happens when people who hate you makes films about you. This system and its propaganda machine will never get any better; it will only morph or rather modify any and all stereotypes about black people.
I am glad i found this channel as well,
p.s. I love his t shirt that Toussaint Louverture
I'm enjoying this channel. Glad I found it.
I really love your perspective on film. Thank you so much for your gift of insight.
+dan19beav74 Thank you for your time and kind remark. Peace and Blessings!!!
This is a very insightful presentation and it strikes the core of a world that perpetuates the stereotypes created for racial minorities, only to be made into sellable products that would be easier to sell in future.
Unfortunately, film (feature length) was more accessible and thus popular then, but now in our 'minimum character' world we want it all in as little time as possible. Rise of the seasonal doseage, rise of the music video, rise of the 1min video clip. With the right amount of money backing any of these projects, it has become much easier to throw around more of this mis-messaging.
These are the ones to watch out for now.
this comment aged well, so true. We are down to the less than 30s videos
Good stuff professor! I can't begin to say how difficult it is to watch the level of ignorance we have about black history overall. Informed people like yourself know that this is a planned strategy by the big money people so how do we change this problem? Well I can tell you that it's never going to happen doing it the conventional way i.e. waiting around for them to recognize our humanity.
really good video thanks for the upload!!
I'm surprised Love Jones wasn't mentioned.
Professor there are a lot of people of color that have no problem supporting black films once we're aware of them. All we need is a whisper of their existence my wife and myself are constantly looking for movies that we can relate to in our day to day lives and we appreciate the nuggets that you share
Ex-so-lent commentary Bruh! And Big Ups Gina and Reggie Rock!!!
Thanks you for your work Mr Woods
I loved "Beyond the Lights". Really on point!
He's right! My boyfriend and I are watching season 3 of TRUE DETECTIVE and we don't appreciate that the black married couple (The Hayeses) only have sex after they fight or their foreplay is very aggressive. A lot of pushing and pinning against walls and this animalistic lust. There was a time in the 80's where the scenarios would be a white couple argues, she slaps him, he slaps her back and they instantly embrace and the sex starts. THIS IS NOT BLACK CULTURE so don't start creating films and tv shows showing our black men being abusive and then the black women fall longingly into their arms and the "passionate" sex begins. Please...only abuse vics think that's desirable.
wow, haven't watched this show but I noticed Mahershala is in it. I watched him in the 4400 and the story arc of his character was just trash, so not surprised this character Hays that he portrays has some ... issues. Mahershala seems to play these token roles...? Maybe not Moonlight? I dunno
In Beyond the Lights, loved the film 🎥 Noni taking her weave out was to me, solitifying Acceptance of her natural self, and for who she was as a black woman
Charles Woods,good to see you keeping history alive.This is Rich from the 43rd Chamber.We need to reacquaint ourselves.
+Richard Pierre Not the Black Dragon? Rich Van Cleef? Wow! We sure do need to reconnect. Peace and Blessings!!!
Yes brother!Rich Van Clief,"why you creep!". Peace to you also.Any contact info?
+Richard Pierre email me at info-at-reelblack.com and I'll put you in touch with The Professor
Professor how can I contact you?
appreciate this knowledge -on point deep Professor ..right on in your film study.
+beautyqueen130 Thank you so much for your time and encouraging comment. Peace and Blessings!!!
Keep these lectures coming
Thank you for the knowledge.
I patients waited for another video with Prof Charles Woods. How I feel is exactly how this brotha explained in this video. I love the fact that everything he analyzes there is a video clip to go along with it. I never even knew about that film featuring Lola Falana. That really disgust me seeing that it didn't even feel like acting or some scene just felt weird seeing that. Also, I understand the blaxploitation films more so now then before cause I've heard so many people either glamorizing it or not telling the truth. It really was exploitation of black women and that continued even with black directors.
*I patiently waited
+Benjamin De Cruz Thanks my Brotha for your time and complimentary comment. I try to show the evidence to support my perspective so that I don't come off as someone just complaining but explaining. I want my view to be based on an objective look at the facts and not the result of any biased emotions I may harbor. If I am wrong in my opinions then show me the error of my perspective---but let the argument be based on objectivity and nothing less. Peace and Love.
+Benjamin De Cruz You say you understand the situation of so-called blaxploitation films of the 70s. But, where does this understanding come from? How old are you?
Boy Doll It comes from watching those films and understanding the period those were released. I dont have to be 40 to 50 years old to understand stuff like that lol. I've seen documentaries or clips of such and I'm not fully getting what was said cause its mixed reactions to those films. I didn't say I lived that, I said I understood it. When you watch something you dont just wanna watch and not analyze what your watching.
+Boy Doll Hav new clip on Blaxploitation. I hope you are informed and entertained by it if you care to watch. Thank you.
Thank you.
Great analogy!
Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Meet the Browns, Paris Blues, and Daddy's Little Girls all have a beautiful and positive black love story!
thank you this was very informative!
This is why I love “Eve’s Bayou” our love is complex and deep.
I hope Mr Woods breaks down the Netflix movie
“Malcolm & Marie”.
Duff is one of my favorite characters in cinema.
i want to start off by saying that "i love my father",him being a proud black man through the injustices that he may have had to deal with growing up in the 60's disregarded anything that was put out there to endorse the 3-D effect so with my mother being Irish and polish as well as my father not being married or in a relationship with someone did not care for their hidden agenda regarding the 3-D effect and as a product of their love for one another was born three beautiful children thanks to God's help as well. and thanks to their love they have been together married 32 to 33 years and they're going for forever. so if it matters to any of you fight for who you love and not who they want you to.
Hello. Thank you for your viewing support. I too am biracial. My father was German. My analysis of interracial relationships is not an attempt to condemn so-called mixed relationships. People have a human right to love whomever they choose to love. I am just reporting on the cliched patterns that appear in motion pictures depicting miscegenation. My conclusion is that "mixed racial" love relationships are commercially exploited rather than honestly, sociologically explored. Peace and Blessings!!!
Glad to see a black man telling the truth of the TRICKNOLOGY in Hollywood and why we have too many black men in Prison without good Hollywood images and story lines. I am not saying movies are the fault but they sure as hell did not help!
He's just Awesomeeee
The lady at the end singing played in Belle.
I love you man!!!
Sorry, if I'm sleeping but does Charles Woods have a twitter or a website? I appreciate his critique on film and I would love to follow his perspective.
+Darius Allen Thank you for your time to view the clip and post a comment. I do not have a website or twitter. ReeLBlack has provided me a forum for my ideas and pretty much unretired me. I used to lecture, present black cinema and write for local NY newspapers many years ago. ReelBlack has dusted the old boy off and humbled me by allowing me the opportunity to express my perspective on this channel. We are so happy with the response and as a result, we are planning some more clips for the not too distant future. Peace and Blessings!!!
I hated that nobody supported the film Beyond the Lights. It was a good film about love. So what the female was biracial, she's still black. Black people love to point out that civilization started out with black people, and how other people around the world are black. Yet when it comes to a person who is mixed, then we like to point out differences. That's what I don't like about my own people. Every black person in America is mixed, slave masters slept with their slaves to create more children. We don't like people to outcast us and treat us unfairly but it's okay to do it to others. We have to stop being so bitter about people who are biracial or simply lightskinned. It's not helping us and will get us nowhere unless we all stick together.
+Lissette Gathers it has much more to do with the fact that biracial people are becoming the face of what being black looks like, when in essence they are just as much white as there are black, so its sort of baffling to me that people are soo readily considered black when there are just as equally white, i mean why are they not allowed to be considered white? Its delves into a much deeper sense when you bring it to light that one drop of black blood made you black no matter how you appeared in the old days, so it sort of undermines the whole idea(along with many things that i could get into) that this nations racial problem have progressed at all. I dont mean to sound cynical, but race is the only facet of life where this happens, you mix white and black and you get grey, no one considers it light black, ya know, you breed dogs german shepard and a black lab, you dont just chalk it up to whatever features are more dominant, you express that fact that its a mix, even other races have broaden terms to justify the possibility of different nationalities mixing while still within one race. Im just saying being biracial isnt the same as being black, much in the same way that grey is neither white nor black, but is beautiful all on its own
+Eugene Wakefield I understand what your saying about biracial people becoming the face of black people. However, everybody in the world is biracial. Science is saying that the first man and woman came from east Africa, around where Ethiopia is. Race was something we came up with, there is no such thing as race, only ethnicity and culture. All African Americans are biracial so it is silly for us to hate or look down on people because they are biracial. Slave masters slept with their slaves and it was a standard practice to create new slaves without having to buy one. Many slaves would run away and join up with Native American tribes and became slaves to their tribes, the only difference was they were kinder to us and they treated us like extended family. What about Latinos because most of the African Slaves went to Latin America (Mexico, Central America, South America)? I'm saying that when you look at the history of slavery, our skin color changed drastically and will continue to change. So is blackness only determined by our skin color? Are we so hateful of white people that we ignore anybody who has a drop of white blood in them? Last question, what will hating anybody get us?
Black biracials are not black!
@@lissette15 stop talking bollocks!
Luvie1980 in America they are, perhaps where you’re from they’re not. In America black biracial people were still slaves, matter of fact we include and celebrate them in black American history. The issue is with these “woke” people who want to redefine everything to fit their needs.
This comment is EVERYTHING!!!!!!! From this point 9:00
Professor Charles, good stuff as always. About "Sweet Sweetback's Baadassss Song" - you said that nobody went to go see that film. That film did gross over $4 million at the box office it's initial opening in only two cities (Detroit and Atlanta) with a budget of $150,000. I will agree that it was a rather bad film but somehow it generated enough "buzz", so somebody went to go see it.
+alndfam 1 Thank you for your time to view and comment. You are correct. As I responded to another post, SSBAS was indeed a commercial success. It was once considered cinema's most commercially successful independent release. In the clip I say that the film was helped by the endorsement of The Black Panthers and also, the sexy content. But I should have been clearer. The response to these clips is very humbling, and I will make every effort to be more precise in the future. Thank you so much for sharing, and I hope our future clips will keep your interest and provide thought provoking information and insight. Peace and Blessings!!!
You are so on the money about all of your points. I enjoyed that film that because of exactly what you are saying is missing in films. Relationships showing love between two black people.
Renting or buying this movie just to support our people!!
Do u have any other content on the destruction of the black family ?
Countering The Conspiracy to Destroy Black Boys (1987) | Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu
ua-cam.com/video/_Qgw0r29GYw/v-deo.html
How is Charles?
The name of the movie?✊🏿🙌🏾
Warner's statement is still revelant today, as to partly the reason why you dont see blacks together, loving in films.
You are a genius !!!
I saw beyond the lights. It is a really good money
Where can I get my hands on these films?
+NycBeauty Check TCM, or if you local library loans DVD's.
+GypsyFairy85 Thank you
I love beyond the light
I knew it they only depict white in black love or white on white love
Love Jones & Boomerang
Amen!!!
Deep!
i love
Beyond the lights was a Black man superhero to the Black woman...what? I love Denzel, but he is always playing a superhero to White woman/girl. I love what Nate Parker is doing.
that scene with Lola was no different than Halle berry in Monsters Ball
Hello
Very constructive video!
+Master Squider Thank you for taking the time to view and post your kind comment. Peace and Blessings!
charles woods Likewise.
The WILMINGTON 1898
Jason's Lyric
4 ppl never experienced black love.
Professor Woods...YOU ARE ON POINT !!! Think about in 2002 Halle Berry...she won the OSCAR for "Monster's Ball" for what...disrespecting herself with a white guy !!! WTF...SMDH !!! Would or anybody else praise that performance or want to see that movie again and again ??? Not in my opinion. Tired of the BS ! 🤬🤬🤬
brother get in touch with me
Not just sexually those movies was for them to come directors producers writers Gordon parker
Take it back to Kemet when it was all about between a man and woman
Why would he betray himself like that why would those directors tell him to do that you know what mostly made my man an animal I don't get theory but I bet bet there's some directors so weirdo but they just couldn't stand the Black culture how strong it was but they want to betrayed in that fashion