I enjoyed About Last Night, because it met my desire for a light, romantic comedy with an all-Black cast. While I love movies that explore being Black in America, historically and in the present, all of our movies don't have to be race films that deal with race issues.
Like the Best Man, About Last Night was not originally written for an all-Black cast. In fact, About Last Night was first put on the silver screen in 1986 with an all-White cast. About Last Night may not be the greatest movie out, but I will always support films that allow Black actors to play universal roles.
Like the Best Man, About Last Night was not originally written for an all-Black cast. In fact, About Last Night was first put on the silver screen in 1986 with an all-White cast. About Last Night may not be the greatest movie out, but I will always support films that allow Black actors to play universal roles.
Universal roles allow every audience to relate to the characters played by the Black actor in these films. This opens up opportunities for Black actors to be cast in roles not specifically written for Black actors, and more importantly, it in turn provides more opportunities for audiences to see Black characters in more universal roles. If those casting for films believe that 1) Black actors can play characters written for White actors and 2) audiences will pay to see Black actors in those roles, then we will begin to see higher representation of Black people in film. Furthermore, we will begin to see more Black characters that are not typecast into "Black" roles.
I am reminded of what Shonda Rhimes wrote in her e-mail acceptance speech, read by Kerry Washington at the NAACP Image Awards, "When you honor a show with a lead actor of color, you open the door for the next." Let's support films like About Last Night and open the doors in Hollywood!
-E