There have been amazing Black films created that have been classics still watched in today’s households, but Larenz Tate recently spoke out about the film business changing and Hollywood’s struggle to effectively promote Black films.
Tate has starred in several timeless movies, including Menace II Society, Love Jones, Dead Presidents, and many more. The “Rush” actor said he feels Hollywood has changed since he started his career, and that the movie industry is stuck in one lane when it comes to Black films.
“With African Americans starring in a movie or an African-America story being told, you get one group of directors, producers and it just stays in that lane. We are very diverse; our stories are very different and we shouldn’t have to all go through one channel when it’s hot,” he told The Huffington Post.
Even the much-loved film Love Jones didn’t do very well in the box office. Larenz explained that in the ’90s, Hollywood exes didn’t know how to promote a Black movie that was different from the rest.
“When Love Jones came out it didn’t make an impact in the boxes because they didn’t know how to sale it because it didn’t have people with guns, or the man’s foot on their neck. Only thing that got hurt in Love Jones was somebody’s heart. How do you promote that to an audience that you don’t know much about?” he said.
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