Black ensemble comedy films are some of my favourite comfort films and lately, there haven’t been much of them. At one point, those movies used to be churned out. What a time to be alive. I’m talking about ‘Think Like A Man’, ‘Almost Christmas’, ’35 and Ticking’, ‘Death At A Funeral’ and so on, when different iterations of them have played friends, enemies and lovers. They are still made now, but they are very few and far between. Actors need get together and start laughing again. In the blog we’re going to go back and see how the black ensemble comedy film has evolved. Please know that this is one of the MANY blogs I’ll be doing on black TV shows and film. There is so much to say so trust me, more will come later, but let’s put a magnifying glass on black comedy movie ensembles for now, because I want them to be made more.
The movie industry, clearly, has not always been kind to black people. In the late 19th – early 20th century, majority black casts in comedy movies had to be in race films – films made specifically for black audiences; nearly 500 were made and catered to the black experience. For mainstream movies, all black cast comedies had limited circulation and the characters were seen as laughing stocks to the wider world. They were portrayed as bumbling fools, even though it is far from who they were. Do you know that black actors also wore blackface? Early black stars would wear blackface to fit a caricature, to make themselves more ‘palatable’ and ‘pleasant’ to their non-black audience. Blackface wasn’t threatening, it was subservient and clown-like, but a real black person on screen was ‘violent’. Most of the time, when not in blackface, the actors were side characters of maids/servants or musicians or dancers.
As it reached the mid 1950s, race films ended due to more race integration and black actors gained more opportunity and started playing more central characters. There were emerging genres like blaxploitation, and drama films with darker portrayal of the black experience that helped black representation. In terms of comedy ensembles, there were some in the 1970s like ‘Claudine’, ‘Let’s Do It Again’ and ‘Hollywood Shuffle’. The 80s showed a domination of black comedians, especially Eddie Murphy, taking centre stage in films, but they did not have an ensemble black cast. Other films centred around black characters in the hood and in crime. It wasn’t until the 90s and early 2000s – my favourite era for black film – where you can see a mainly black cast in many different comedic roles. This was due to many rising black stars and directors taking the control. So why are those types of movies lulling now?
All that stuff about a black ensemble cast being unmarketable is a lie, so I am not even going to consider it. Instead, actors may want to branch out and just try new roles and genres. Beyond this, they require every actor to have a substantial role. All-star black actors would want an almost equal amount of screen time, and it’s hard to do when there are so many actors in play. Those actors would not do a role if it was not something to sink their teeth into, and sometimes, the ensemble doesn’t allow for the characters to be fleshed out. For example, Vulture has an interesting article talking about this and how the movie, ‘Think Like A Man’, puts the characters into stereotypical boxes of ‘The Player’, ‘The Single Mom’, ‘The Dreamer’ so there is no time for the significant character development, they are already put into boxes that are ‘typical’.
Considering that black people have been trying to evade stereotypical portrayals on screen, I completely understand the hesitation to making more. But you know what? After some thought, I don’t think I care that much. So sorry!! Even if they do lean to stereotypes, I just love watching black actors on screen together. And ‘Think Like A Man’ was based on a book so blame Steve Harvey. There are other films with more complex storylines, of course, but there is joy in the simple too. It is good to see groups of black friends just being, laughing, crying and falling in love together. Black movies with darker themes are not bad at all, and it is good to reflect diverse black experiences – but we can laugh too, I promise you.
The black ensemble cast is moving towards less light-hearted territory. There are films like ‘The Harder They Fall’, ‘Candyman’ and ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’ that are beautiful. Other genres are definitely necessary and enjoyable, but for me, nothing beats a low stakes, black ensemble cast where we can all just laugh. After all the years that black laughter was stifled, I think we deserve it.