Bay Area movie theaters refuse to show a film that goes far beyond the common Hollywood stereotypes and accurately portrays the lives of two young African American men living with developmental disabilities.
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by Leroy Moore The entertainment industry has come a long way from Black paint on white faces, and a male dominated hip-hop industry. Today disabled hip-hop artists are making a name for themselves and more and more movies are actually breaking stereotypes instead of propagating them. One such film, My Brother , which has just been released by a new African American based film company in New York, Liberty Artists, tells the story of two young African American men living with developmental disabilities. The two men are portrayed by , Christopher Scott and Donovan Jennings, who are both new to the screen. The movie also stars and stars Vanessa Williams (Ugly Betty), Nashawn Kearse (Desperate Housewives), Tatum O’Neal (Dancing With The Stars, Rescue Me), Rodney Henry (The Lion King) and Fredro Starr (Save the Last Dance). Vanessa Williams comes to “My Brother” with life experiences as a mother and board member of the Special Olympics. “My Brother,” is an inner city story of two impoverished boys, Isaiah and James. James is developmentally disabled and played by Donovan who is an eighth-grader at Berkeley Middle School in Williamsburg, Virginia. Their mother, L'Tisha, finds herself in a tragic situation. Dying of tuberculosis, she desperately tries to get her two boys, eight and eleven at the time, adopted together. Finding that only Isaiah can be adopted L'Tisha makes the only choice she feels she can make; creating an unbreakable bond of love between the boys, and hoping that bond will get them through life. Her prayers are answered as the boys overcome impossible odds on their way to adulthood, staying as close as ever as young men dealing with life's obstacles. (www.mybrotherthemovie.com) As all writers, producers and artists know creating a final product from a new, creative vision often takes years. For Mr. Lover this film was no exception. Mr. Lover worked on the concept of the film, “My Brother” , for well over four years and then spent another year of marketing and promoting. Finally the film premiered last June at the American Black Film Festival, where it won Best Picture, said Mr. Lover. Throughout the whole concept Mr. Lover always planned to work with actual actors who had Down Syndrome even though he was pressured to cast professional actors. We, people with disabilities, have seen big time stars play disabled roles like Cuba Gooding in Radio and Samuel Jackson in Unbreakable but we also have seen film directors who understand and make an effort in having people with disabilities in lead roles like the Farrell Brothers with The Ringer, The Wayan Brothers with Little Man and now Anthony Lover with My Brother. Mr. Lover went far beyond the common Hollywood stereotype of Black disabled young men, such as a gangster, like Snoop Dog in Training Days, or simply as someone that you crack jokes about. Unfortunately Mr. Lover really had to push this concept because the movie industry just didn’t understand his vision. Lover’s revolutionary thinking is so true and basic that he told me that audiences are tired of seeing the same thing over again, in a way that doesn’t speak to them about their lives, and which contains only stereotypes. After hearing his words, I realized that Lover is apart of a new crop of film directors that gets everything about the image of disability in the media, especially the image of Black males. I’m so tired of seeing the negative roles of Black disabled men as drug dealers, killers or bums or someone just to laugh at! Both parents of Christopher Scott and Donovan Jennings wrote that there are no role models for African Americans with disabilities on television and in the movies. Brenda Scott goes on to say, that very few TV programs or movies give a “real life” portrayal of today’s society. When they do show people with disabilities they are usual actors playing the part, or if it is a real person with disabilities it is a “token cameo” appearance. Very seldom are real people with disabilities given the opportunity to have a major role on TV or in the movies. Their TV and movie “role models” are not people that “look or act like them”. Although this interview was through the internet I could still sense the chemistry between the film maker, Lover and the family of the two lead actors through their answers to my questions. Like the 1971 hit song Family Affairr by Sly & the Family Stone, Lover told me that My Brother is about family, more than anything, how family is important, how women are the glue of family, and how family needs to stick together. He went on to say that the major themes are love and education, L'Tisha is teaching Young Isaiah constantly about his family, the bond with his brother, and about his need for education. I thought this film had just captured a rare and precious opportunity to make a movie with a theme of an empowered Black family with strong ties until I read the mission of the Liberty Artists. Liberty Artists, of which Lover is a part, is a film company on the verge of releasing a new and needed concept to the film industry: Heart-felt, family oriented films that use the African American experience as its central subject matter. Lover states that the films that Liberty Artists produce have two primary qualities in common. First, they will have storylines that document the complexity of the African American audience, rather than providing one-dimensional characters that can demean our audience. Second, our pictures will have ratings that range from G to PG-13. These rating might prohibit many of the freedoms taken with producing films geared toward the African American market such as extremely harsh language, violent behavior, and an overall destructive tone of a film, yet it compels the production to fill those voids with real substance, including multi-dimensional characters and variously layered storylines. In my opinion as a new film company it is impressive that the first film they produced deals with issues that is usually hush hush in the industry. Liberty Artists is a breath of fresh air for African Americans who are moviegoers. Lover’s next movie, The Promise, is about different themes, focusing on forgiveness and redemption, and about stopping the cycle of violence in African American families. Lover says, it’s about the a black father deserting his family, but surprisingly is told from the father's point of view. It’s very powerful, according to people who have read early drafts of the screenplay Education is not only one of the goals of Liberty Artists, but is also the career of Christopher Scott, who works in as a teacher’s assistant at the Rise School of Houston, a school for children with and without disabilities 9 months to 5 years old. According to Christopher’s parents, one of the teacher’s assistants is always a person with a disability and because of this it gives the children a role model in the classroom and gives the parents hope for the future of their children. They see what their children can do when the reach adulthood. Education also played a major role in Lover’s creation of My Brother. Although this was Lover’s first time working with actors with disabilities he did a lot of research before searching to find Donovan and Christopher and hopes to continue working with people with disabilities and that other film makers do the same. My Brother has build on Lover’s belief that people deserve the opportunity to share their abilities. Now that Chris has won the Founder’s Award at the HBO American Black Film Festival (the film won Best Picture honors there as well) and Donovan won the Youth Spirit Award at the International Family Film Festival. I asked their parents will their sons continue in the acting field. Christopher mother thinks Christopher is in a “niche” market. She knows that her son would like to continue with acting and wants to do commercials but will keep his day job. Lynette Jennings told me that her son is a “normal” teenager who likes gospel, R&B, pizza, sports and hanging out with friends. When Donovan saw himself on screen for the first time he jumped up and said, 'mommy mommy that’s me!' Donovan wants to be a fire fighter when he grows up. As a Black disabled advocate and historian of Black disabled arts, culture and media representation, My Brother is apart of a new image of Black disabled people as we continue to display our stories, lives and amplify our voices . My Brother shows the beautiful and harsh reality of Black families and people with developmental disabilities. It sheds light on issues of poverty, the view of youth with developmental disabilities in adopting industry and the strength of family and love. Although My Brother has won many awards, takes on race disability, poverty and unity of the Black family and is truly a one-of-a-kind film; it could be pulled from theaters nationwide if the people don’t come out in big numbers to see it! As of today March 20/2007 AMC Bay Street 16 theater in Emeryville has pulled My Brother! The film producer, Gregory Segal, and I have been going back and forth through email trying to come up with a solution so My Brother will be shown in the Bay Area. If My Brother is not shown here in the Bay Area, the Disability Mecca, the whole community will suffer a huge loss. What Mr. Segal is looking for now is an independent theater with a built in audience for a week or a couple days run. At this point I’m in the process of asking local independent theaters in the Bay Area. Please if you have connection to the Roxie, Parkway or any other independent theaters, please let me know ASAP! Bottom line our movie date of Thursday at 7pm March 23rd at the AMC Bay Street 16 theater in Emeryville, CA is postponed for now. For more information on My Brother go to their website at www.mybrotherthemovie.com, and to contact Leroy Moore call him at (510) 649-8438. My Brother was written and directed by Academy Award nominee Anthony Lover and produced by award-winning producer Gregory Segal. It was produced by Liberty Artists in association with Angel Baby Entertainment. The cinematographer was John Sawyer and it was edited by Christian Baker. The score was composed by John Califra. Production design by Evelyn Sakash. Art direction by Tavia Trepte. Re-recording mixer Lee Dichter By Leroy Moore Jr. |