After years of fighting for representation in the media field, African Americans have seized and the opportunity and dominated the screens. African American movies are a big part of our culture, allowing us to have story-lines that we can relate to, amplify our voices, and create our own representation and narrative without having to conform to how others view us. Celebrate Black History Month with these five unique black stories.
Friday
Written By: Ice Cube and DJ Pooh Year: 1995
Ice Cube's dramedy is an enduring classic. It is filled with so many events you almost forget that the movie takes place on only one day, Friday. There are many "before they were stars" performances, such as Nia Long, Chris Tucker, Regina King, and even the late Bernie Mac, Yvette Wilson, Tommy Lister, and John Witherspoon. The movie starts with Craig (Ice Cube) getting fired from his job. He gets caught up with his best friend Smokey (Tucker) who is working for a local drug dealer but can't help but get high on his own supply.
Wrapped up with Smokey's peer pressure and his newfound free time, he gets high with Smokey. Little does he know it comes with a hefty price tag—his life. While trying to figure out how to get money to Big Worm (Faizon Love), after a day full of failure, Craig succeeds when he beats down South Central’s local Bully, Deebo, and takes the $200 from him. This movie is a staple in the black community, especially because it is written by an NWA and hip-hop star.
Although he starred in other movies, such as Boyz N the Hood, this was the first movie that he created. The hood comedy is hilarious and highly relatable, no matter where you come from. Some lines even came back years later as a meme like "Bye, Felicia" and You ain't gotta lie, Craig!” If you haven't seen this movie please do, you will not regret it.
The Wiz
Written By: Joel Schumacher Year: 1978
The Wiz gave The Wizard of Oz a run for its money. It has the same well-known storyline with added spunk, soul, and extra laughter. The movie also starred some heavy hitters in the music and entertainment industry at the time, such as Diana Ross (Dorothy), Michael Jackson (Scarecrow), Nipsey Russell (Tin Man), Richard Pryor (The Wiz), Lena Horne (Good Witch of the South), and Mabel King (Wicked Witch of the West).
The Wiz gave the media glimpse into the Black experience expressed through the afros, songs, and Dorothy's Harlem, New York origins versus the original from Kansas. The movie was adventurous, suspenseful, magical, and even some would say it dabbled in science fiction. Overall this movie did wonders for our community and is still highly regarded.
Once you watch it once there are just certain scenes you won't forget, like the subway scenes where the trash cans had teeth, a puppeteer releases his rapidly-growing evil puppets.
King unquestionably played her part because she was petrifying and evil, truly the Wicked Witch of the West.
This was definitely a dark and eerie take on the original Wizard of Oz. With a few haunting moments, The Wiz is truly a cinematic masterpiece.
Poetic Justice
Written by: John Singleton Year: 1993
Poetic Justice was written by one of Los Angeles’ greatest storytellers, John Singleton. He captured a side of Tupac that had not been seen on the big screen yet. In his roles, he was known for being a hard body, a thug, and overall rough around the edges. In Poetic Justice, Tupac’s character Lucky was hardworking with a legitimate 9-5 job as a mailman. He wanted better for himself and his daughter. Along the way, he falls in love with Justice (Janet Jackson).
Poetic Justice has some shocking scenes such as when Lucky lets Justice out of the mail truck on the side of the road while on the way to Oakland. There is another standout scene where Lucky exclaims "Cousin" when he pretends to know a family at a BBQ, a humorous moment because there are always interlopers at giant family gatherings. Justice lends a calmness to the film with her spurs of poetry throughout, along with the voice of the one and only Maya Angelou.
Hidden Figures
Written By: Allison Schroeder, Theodore Melfi Year: 2016
Hidden Figures was another example of black women’s stories not being told in history. The movie is full of strong leads, such as Taraji P. Henson, Janelle Monáe, and Octavia Spencer.
This was a story that most had never heard before, to know that Black women had a huge impact on NASA in the early 1960s. The film takes you through a spiral of emotions as you watch their battles with segregation, being one of the only Black women in the office, and finally their triumph at the end of the movie. It was amazing to watch these women work through math problems like it was a piece of cake.
Representation like this matters because it shows other women and young girls that they can be like anyone they want to be. Regardless if people believe that media has an impact on real lives, it does. Little girls are still dressing up as these women for career day, Halloween, and Black History Month.
We also recommend Hidden Figures for programming celebrating women in science.
The Nutty Professor
Written By: David Sheffield, Barry W. Blaustein, Tom Shadyac, Steve Oedeker Year: 1996
The Nutty Professor is a spin-off of the original 1963 version through a Black lens starring the genius Eddie Murphy. Murphy's professor is spunky, quick-witted, and just a little mischievous. He even has a love interest, Jada Pinkett-Smith that he tries to win over but lacks the confidence to truly do so due to him being overweight.
The confidence he gains from his magical weight loss potion comes with a lot of changes, including his personality. He turns into Buddy Love, a cocky and arrogant ladies' man that loves attention. The two continue to battle to figure out which one is truly the better version of the professor.
The talented Murphy plays almost everyone from Sherman Klump, Buddy Love, Lance Perkins, Papa Klump, Mama Klump, Grandma Klump, and Ernie Klump.
No matter how many times you've seen this movie, you will still laugh like it is your first time seeing it.