Portland observer., April 16, 1981, Page 4, Image 4

Page 4 Portland Observer April 16.1981
Pa
Carrots to bait the trap
By Gregory L. Gudger
A classically sim plistic rabbit
trap operates thusly: a carrot is
tied to a string on one end and to a
stick on the other. The stick gingerly
props up a cage under which the
carrot sits. Once an unsuspecting
victim picks up the carrot, the string
is pulled, the prop disengages and
the cage falls, (rapping the rabbit
who, incidently, gets to eat the
carrot.
Veteran Black actor Yaphet Kotto
has feasted well on the “ carrots”
which entice his peers and, con­
sequently, he is very fam iliar with
the trap that H ollyw ood compels
Black actors to fa ll victim to:
playing in roles in which they “ just
happen to be there” like part of the
set; the only roles offered to
m in o rity , non-comic actors. This
sterotyped entrapm ent, however
financially rewarding, robs Kotto o f
the creative freedom and public
recognition needed to become a
“ star.”
Speaking at a regional conference
o f the N ational Association o f
Black Journalists in Seattle, March
6, Kotto made it quite clear that he
is grateful for the financial wealth
he's garnered in motion pictures and
television, but he laments, “ In this
lifetim e, I ’ ll never be able to play
the kinds o f roles I ’ ve always liked
to p la y ." He believes that neither
he, nor many other non-com ic
minority actors, will be offered the
lead role in a major motion picture
or I V show and, subsequently,
receive the support and publicity ac­
corded to white stars. As a result,
“ I ’ m very sad about my film
career,” a frustrated K o tto said,
adding, “ In four or five years, I
hope to get out o f it.”
In his view, the vast m ajority o f
Black actors and other minority ac­
tors will never reach star status a la
Newman, Redford, Streep or even
Derek; not because they don’ t have
either the talent or the assests, so to
speak, but because m inorities are
considered by movie producers as
“ not bankable in Europe’ ’ and
abroad - a m ajor source o f
Hollywood's profits.
Kotto has spent many profitable
years on the tube and the silver
screen since m igrating from his
native New York more than two
decades ago, and has coveted the
distinction o f “ The first Black” as,
lo r instance, a James Bond arch
enemy ( “ Live and Let Die” ), as a
recognized Black character to kill a
white American in a movie and get
away with it. (“ The Liberation o f
I B. Jones” ) and as a major charac­
ter in a science fic tio n movie
(“ A lie n "). He was also one o f the
first Blacks to appear on hit TV
shows like “ Gunsmoke.”
In most of his many roles, he was
“ the guy who just happened to be
there” : a one dimensional charac­
ter, going nowhere from nowhere,
while providing a backdrop fo r
white stars. "Those roles have been
beaten to death and it has not
changed a th in g ,” said K otto,
reflecting the frustration o f Black
actors who have hung in, but have
failed to reap the full and deserved
benefits o f their profession. “ I want
to play a character w ith real
problems, human problems; where
Dustin (H offm an) doesn’ t want to
Io a script, I want them (producers,
lirectors) to say “ Let’ s go out and
iet Yaphet Kotto, but I know that’ s
not going to happen.”
, , Throughout his career, Kotto has
paid fo r his roles w ith a lot o f
Hustling, wining and dining, and a
lot o f “ d y in g " on screen and o ff.
“ Lor many years, they would not
allow me to have a woman
because I am typ ica lly A fro -
American looking,” recounted the
second generation A fric a n im ­
m igrant in explaining how his
p o te n tia l as a rom antic lead has
been all but killed. “ One director
told me, ‘ You are not going to kiss
in this film .’ ”
On screen, he's been blown up,
baked, shot and victim o f other
forms o f demise. In many cases, he
was the first to go, or was supposed
•o have been until he sought to have
it changed. Black actors, in many
nstances, have to challenge scripts
o that roles w ill have more time,
more depth, more dignity and sub-
cquently try to escape uni-
dim ensionalism. But he said, “ I
didn’ t come in to my craft to be a
w riter or I would have gone in to
« rilin g . W ithout that interven-
’ n, however, K o tto ’ s role in
Brubaker” would have remained
ist three pages long.
Simply to increase the number o f
Black and other m in o rity screen-
YAPHET KOTTO
writers may not bring the depth to
Black and other minority characters
either. They have their traps as well,
according to Black screenwriter
Cecil Brown. In an article in the
January I98I issue o f “ M other
Jones Magazine,” Brown criticized
producers for de-humanizing Black
characters in his screen play fo r
"W hich Way is Up.” Regarding the
editing of the script, Brown noted,
“ I found it interesting that the kinds
o f changes made in my script all had
to do with making Black characters
into caricatures.”
In his article, “ Blues for Blacks in
H ollyw ood,” Brown points an ac­
cusing finger at the racism in the
business, while Kotto only alludes to
it. C iting the “ plantatio n men­
ta lity ” that pervades H ollyw ood,
Brown lashes out at film dom fo r
depicting and casting Blacks as
m arginal and undim ensional, as
does Kotto, but he further villifies
Hollywood for making “ Black pic­
tures” with white heroes, as eviden­
ced by “ The Blues B rothers,”
“ Brubaker,” and "The Jerk.”
Using what Brown calls the “ Un­
cle Tom ’ s Cabin Forum la,” white
producers, writers and actors take
up the “ issue” o f B lack’ s plight
only to make white consumers feel
superior over Blacks by arousing
their pity. He adds, “ white writers
create Black characters while Black
writers cannot get jobs w riting for
either Black or white shows.” To
illustrate his p o in t, Brown notes
that only 65 members o f the 5569-
strong Writers Guild is Black, and
o f the 1540 o f those w riting fo r a
weekly TV series, only fo u r are
Black. Even the television classic
“ Roots” had all white writers but
one because, according to producer
Stan M a rg u lie s,...“ Black writers
would have been too close to the
m a te ria l.” Such was not the case
w ith . Jewish
w riters
and
“ H olocaust,” Brown concludes,
because “ H ollyw ood...is afraid to
see Blacks for what they are.”
Along the same racial lines,
Donald Bogle, whose interpretive
history of Blacks in films -- "Toms,
Coons, M ulattoes, Mamies and
Bucks” — stood as only the second
such detailed chronology written as
recently as 1973, implies throughout
his work that Blacks are merely cast
as reflections o f white America’ s in­
terpretation o f the socio-political
status o f Blacks. For example, only
in the 60s and early 70s during Black
A m erica’ s ostensible presence in
white consciousness, did Blacks at
least appear to escape the traps of
marginality in any significant num­
bers. Even then, however, “ When
we compare the actors o f the past
with those o f the present (I973) or
when we contrast the movies o f
yesteryear w ith those o f today, I
th in k all o f us ask ourselves
dispairingly just how far American
movies have progressed in the past
half-century in recording the Black
experience accurately or sen­
sitively.” He adds sadly, “ In some
ways, it does not look as i f we have
progressed at all.”
Cecil Brow n’ s update reinforces
Bogle’ s point; K otto’ s lament con­
firms it: “ Blacks in the motion pic­
ture industry are back where they
were 20 years ago.”
Kotto, however, emphasizes the
economic rather than the racial fac­
tors in defining Black film d o m ’ s
p lig h t, although the relationship
between the two is inextricable.
Somewhere along the line, he ex­
plained, someone decided that
Blacks and other minorities are not
“ bankable” abroad, unable to gar­
ner sizable box o ffice receipts.
Given the history o f Black artists
escaping the lim ita tio n s
of
A m erica’ s racism by fleeing to
Europe and creative freedom, Kot­
to’s perception seems misleading.
However, few film s w ith Black
leads have grossed hugh sums out­
side o f the United States according
to,Kotto, who estimates that “ in the
last 15 years, Black film s have
grossed about $8 m illio n ” - an ex­
tremely modest sum compared to
single film grosses o f $300-400
m illion that producers now look at
as respectable. During the period of
the “ Black issue” film s o f the 60s
and early 70s, however, those
m inim al
grosses
“ helped
Hollywood when it was in a slump”
said K o tto , by a ttra ctin g larger
Black audiences to box offices; a
trend o f support that continues
today.
Despite that support by Black
consumers, “ Diana Ross and Gloria
Foster are not getting the awards...
not appearing on the talk shows...
not appearing in the magazines.
That ought to tell you something is
w ro n g ,” said K o tto . In his
estimation. Blacks are caught in a
vicious cycle in which only a few
“ super-niggers” are afforded the
crumbs o f opportunity from tables
where the least talented whites feast.
“ M e diocrity and talent makes
achievem ent," he philosophizes
“ and we (Blacks) are not allowed to
be m ediocre.” K o tto noted that
Canada Lee brought d ig n ity and
depth to roles and was near ap­
p ropriately recognized fo r his
abilities. Bogle's book is replete
w ith sim ila rly eschewed Black
genius.
Such works by Black w riters —
Black
reporters
in
K o tto ’ s
estimation - hold one o f the keys to
Black actors receiving their due.
K otto challenged Black reporters
“ to make your colunis ring and
make them specific” to help Black
actors out o f the rabbit trap, get
more good Black film s produced,
and get those “ in the can” onto the
screens o f movie houses. Publicized
queries for the talents o f Pam Grier,
G lo ria Foster, C alvin Lockhart,
Kyle Johnson among other Black
stars, Kotto feels, can help Blacks
reach the stardom (and bankability)
previous few have experienced.
A t the same tim e, unreleased
film s like K o tto ’ s own “ Cruncle”
and shows like “ The Sophisticated
Gents” can help Blacks achieve
their potential in filmdoms.
The type o f “ n e tw o rkin g ”
bewteen Black H ollywood and the
Black press Kotto sees as essential
should be more productive than the
relationship between the two has
been in the past. According to Kot­
to; the demise o f the Black issue
film s o f the 60s and 70s was
prem aturely caused by cries o f
“ B la cksp lo ita tio n ”
by Black
newspeople who failed to see these
Asset or liability?
(Continued from Page I Col 3)
Adams High School, where they
spent two weeks in “ PEP" training.
"T h e purpose o f this program was
to teach you how to get a jo b ,” one
young woman said. “ It was interest­
ing, but fo r me it was a waste o f
time because I already knew I want­
ed to work at Wacker. When I heard
about the Wacker project, I decided
that was where I wanted to work. I
thought it would be interesting.”
From Adams, trainees went to
POIC. There they studied math and
English, as well as proper work at­
titudes. “ The math was good - it is
useful to some extent on the job. I
see no reason for learning all that
English - we d o n ’ t need it on the
lob. But I like to learn, so I enjoyed
the school.”
The Observer was not able to ob-
tain records on those who were ac­
cepted by the C ity and sent to the
City, but POIC provided inform a­
tion on those trainees who success­
fully completed their course. Those
who finished between July 1979 and
March 1980 included 503 men and
299 women. O f these, 20 percent
were under 22 years, 72 percent
between 22 and 44 years, and 8 per­
cent 45 and over.
Sixty percent were white, 30 per­
cent Black, 4 percent O rie n ta l, 2
percent American Indian, 2 percent
Hispanics, and I percent “ other.”
O f special interest is the
educational status o f these trainees:
31 percent had college training; 42
percent had high school or
equivalent; 24 percent had 9th to
I Ith grade; and only 3 percent had
8th grade or below.
(Continued next week)
film s as the vanguard o f a new
genre. The image o f Black por­
trayed in film s was the issue, but
when he produced a Black GP-rated
film to meet the “ image” expcc-
tations voiced by the Black press,
his product was “ booed” into
oblivion, along with $500,000 o f his
own money.
"W e (Black actors) have done our
share,” Kotto told the JABJ, “ You
have got to support us,” and not
continue to victim ize actors like
Pam G rier who was criticized for
displaying her physical attributes on
screen, then “ burned” a fte r ad­
vocating fo r better roles fo r
m inorities, and fin a lly , criticized
again for her controversial role in
“ Fort Apache: The Bronx.”
Given the nature o f the trap,
“ you gotta e a t,” K otta said, i f
Blacks should continue to ply their
craft.
“ But that does not mean we
should continue accepting such
stereotypes,” Bogle said in 1973,
and, according to Brow n, Blacks
and other m inorities are becoming
more organized and more vocal. In
1980, which Brown calls the “ year
o f slave rebellion,” Black and other
m inority actors breathed prophetic
life into Bogle’s words by protesting
minority misrepresentation in “ Fort
Apache,” and “ Charlie Chan and
the Curse o f the Dragon Queen,” as
well as TV o ffe rin g s like “ Hanta
Yo”
and,
most
notably,
“ Beulahland.” In 1981, Black ac­
tor Roger Mosely added his voice to
K o tlo ’ s in lamenting the plight o f
Black Hollywood.
Whether or not these rebellious
activities take root and spawn a
golden age o f m inority stardom, or
even bring equity to the ranks,
depends on the “ ringing” columns
o f the Black press (and presspeople)
and, in K o tto ’ s estimation, on the
power o f the Black m ovie-going
public to deny filmdom the national
dollars it needs to survive. “ The
only thing they pay attention to ,”
he said, “ are the economics.”
Until then, the trap awaits; as the
cage falls, one appetite is satisfied,
while yet another consumes.
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From the Front Door
Bv Tom Boothe
From the Front Door, I have been asked by several of my readers over a long period of
time, where do I get my inspiration to write the types of subjects, I have written about.
Inspiration No. 1: I have always been interested in a clean, honest, wholesome, respectful
environment. I have always, as far back as I can remember, been interested in positive
relationships with people. (Constructively productive; as opposed to disruptively destruc­
tive).
Inspiration No. 2: I am a Professional Philosoper, who started writing back in the late 50s
and by the mid 60s, I had completed a Thesis on Human Relations Communications and
published the essence of it in 1972 and again in 1978 under the title of “ Final W isdom." All of
my publications and positions are now simply projections and reflections from my Thesis.
This motivates me to compare real life situations, circumstances and attitudes of our com­
munity, to a result orientated practical guide to potentially improve relationships and a t­
titudes between citizens and our community, toward building a more positive climate under
which to live.
In sp ira tio n No. 3: I see, hear and read a lot of reactions to situations and circumstances
between citizens and groups of citizens related to opinions on issues. These are com ­
municated and transmitted as complaints and criticism. Most of this reaction and interaction
between citizens and groups of citizens never go beyond personalities and the "Blame Fac­
tor Syndrome." Because of this fact, I became motivated to share some of my opinions with
the public in general. My position is to always take positive “ Result Based" practical Action
toward building a better com m unity, as opposed to adopting or continuating w ith the
negative "Blame Factor Syndrome" and "Reacting" to not having a better community in
which to live and present to our children.
In s p ira tio n No. 4: I live here in this community of Portland, Oregon and I welcome the
responsibility to do my part to help keep it clean, honest, wholesome and respectful.
Philosophically, when all or just the majority of our community citizens accept the personal
responsibility to work at cleanliness, honesty, wholesomeness and total respect, I would
have obtained my task in life, and will probably begin to philosophize about the effects of the
rings around Saturn, or the Moons around Jupiter have on the sex life of Mars. Ask yourself
"Whey can't I live in an environment that is clean, honest, wholesome and respectful?"
Your answer is within you and your children and maybe together we can share the same in­
spiration to build a clean, honest, wholesome respectful community...
Brought to you as a public aervice by Houae of Exodua
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