Black leading men and love scenes?

[James]

This just struck me the other day. There are high power black leading men in the film industry. Denzel Washington and Will Smith come to mind because they both just made a few big movies.

What I have noticed is that when a black leading man is opposite a white leading lady, there often isn't a love scene.

Sexual tension between the two will be created, but no love scene.

And yet, if a Black female lead plays opposite a white male lead I would expect to see a sex scene.

Is something anyone else has noticed? Or am I extrapolating a larger phenomona from small isolated movies?

[CrimsonTide4]

There is a thread similar to this: http://www.greeksource.com/gcforums/...ht=black+films

[AKA2D '91]

Plus, I think that Denzel has said he isn't doing any "scenes" per se. The scenes he has done something has been with AA ladies.

[Taykimson]

I haven't seen I, Robot - but supposedly there is a love scene with Will and the leading lady...

[Eclipse]

James,
IMO this is because historically black women were seen as oversexed and promiscious. Through out slavery there are many known and unknown instances of slavemasters raping their slaves (most of us did not come to this country from African looking like Vanessa Williams). On the other hand, Black men and White women are much more taboo in society and would not be as readily accepted on the big screen. You may remember a what's his face (sorry I can't remember his name) who played Peter Benton on ER protesting his character's story line after he had numerous dysfunctional relationships with black women, but a tender loving relationship with a white woman (the one that eventially married the doctor played by Anthony Edwards). They later added Michael Michelle as his (black) love interest.

Many male black stars know the historically implications and refuse to go there. Plus, they know many in their fan base of AA women would have a hissy!

[Steeltrap]

Originally posted by Eclipse
James,
IMO this is because historically black women were seen as oversexed and promiscious. Through out slavery there are many known and unknown instances of slavemasters raping their slaves (most of us did not come to this country from African looking like Vanessa Williams). On the other hand, Black men and White women are much more taboo in society and would not be as readily accepted on the big screen. You may remember a what's his face (sorry I can't remember his name) who played Peter Benton on ER protesting his character's story line after he had numerous dysfunctional relationships with black women, but a tender loving relationship with a white woman (the one that eventially married the doctor played by Anthony Edwards). They later added Michael Michelle as his (black) love interest.

Many male black stars know the historically implications and refuse to go there. Plus, they know many in their fan base of AA women would have a hissy!

Precisely. Denzel Washington knows a lot of his fan base, and he has a lot of credibility because he's been married to Pauletta Pearson forever. You could say the same about Samuel L. Jackson and LaTanya Richardson, although Samuel isn't strictly in leading man roles.

[Little32]

Originally posted by AKA2D '91
Plus, I think that Denzel has said he isn't doing any "scenes" per se. The scenes he has done something has been with AA ladies.

But didn't he do that love scene with that white women in "He Got Game" ? I seem to remember there being a bit of an uproar over that, because in the past he had said that he would not do love scenes with white women.
To piggy back off what Eclipse said, I don't think it is an accident that the love scene Denzel did was in a Spike Lee joint. I agree that that sort of romantic pairing is still taboo is a lot of ways.

[AKA_Monet]

Originally posted by James
This just struck me the other day. There are high power black leading men in the film industry. Denzel Washington and Will Smith come to mind because they both just made a few big movies.

What I have noticed is that when a black leading man is opposite a white leading lady, there often isn't a love scene.

Sexual tension between the two will be created, but no love scene.

And yet, if a Black female lead plays opposite a white male lead I would expect to see a sex scene.

Is something anyone else has noticed? Or am I extrapolating a larger phenomona from small isolated movies?

There have been a few leading Black men to have sex scenes with non-Black women...

Samuel L. had one with Geena Davis...

Denzel did have one with this very old movie and the woman had a child from his character...

Wesley Snipes had one in one of his movies out side of a Spike Lee Joint... The woman was of Asian descent.

As far as Black leading ladies, as of late, Halle Berry is the only one that been doing the do...

I've never seen Vivica, Gabrielle Union and may be Beyonce (yet) do full on frontals on the screen and not get an NC-17 or X rating...

Which is another issue... When sex is out of its "norm", then the ratings get strict and the folks that watch for this stuff before the movie gets out and give the ratings, will strait jack the movie...

That's what happened to Lisa Bonet's movie in the mid-80's...

But there is only so far a female actress is allowed to go without "tits and ass" showing... And since America is such a sexualized society, and Black women are hypersexualized, then blowing another color woman off the stage without silicone implants is not appropriate in this society... Think Tyra Banks on her first cover of "Sports Illustrated"--she had to share with "little blonde girl"...

But that's another story...

[AKA2D '91]

Originally posted by Little32
But didn't he do that love scene with that white women in "He Got Game" ? I seem to remember there being a bit of an uproar over that, because in the past he had said that he would not do love scenes with white women.
To piggy back off what Eclipse said, I don't think it is an accident that the love scene Denzel did was in a Spike Lee joint. I agree that that sort of romantic pairing is still taboo is a lot of ways.

I did forget about that...
Wasn't she a hooker? LOL I don't think that was L-U-V! lmao