Why else would all the advertisement include Queen Latifah and the other Black cast members, 'cause the original movie and the Broadway musical sure as hell didn't!What am I talking about? I'm saying producers of the HAIRSPRAY franchise have finally made a conscious decision to go after a Black audience and our big black dollars. Something they didn't do in the past.
Now let me first state for the record, I am not making a review or comment about the quality of HAIRSPRAY the new movie. In fact I hope it is as good as the Broadway and national "union" tours. That said, I'm talking about the business aspect of this and other theatrical shows that could easily be marketed to a Black audience, but are not. 'Cause Blackness will scare away other "White" Patrons who presumably have deeper pockets.Case in point, THE LION KING the Broadway musical. When it first came out(be honest now), how many of you knew the cast was 3/4 Black folks. Yes, a lot of them are from Africa and other islands, but they're black folks. So how many of you knew there were so many quality Black folks performing in the show. 'Cause Disney in its "Original" marketing, neglected to mention that fact.
Years ago I went to The Lion King, two days before it's first national tour was to leave Los Angeles. I knew the animated story because that is what Disney pushed. I went because I love musical theatre and animation was my thing back in the day. My first thought sitting there was, "Hey no one told me all these Black Folks were in the show." Then I looked at the audience; very few Black folks. My next thought: I go to a large local church population aprox. 15,000. In the past, I have put together theatre parties for shows that speak to our people and "Damn I could have got 6 bus loads to this show!" But me and my Black face weren't equated into the marketing.Producers will sacrifice our green dollars in fear that the production will be labeled a "Black thing" and scare White patrons away.
Second case in point: the Hairspray franchise. Before you saw Queen Latifah pumping the movie on talk shows and the Black kids in the poster and TV ads, I ask, how many of you Black folks were interested? Now, when I tell you half the movie cast is Black and the plot of the story centers around the competition between a White TV dance shows ala' American Bandstand and a Black dance show, similarly looking a lot like Soul Train, and how they both become integrated; I bet I got your attention now!
It charged me! And once again, because it wasn't marketed to Black folks I waited and saw the Hairspray national Broadway tour, two days before it left Los Angeles. And again, I said wow, I could have got a truck load of people to this show.
What has changed is that they found a "Safe Negro" in Queen Latifah to front the campaign.
I'm not saying she's not talented. I'm saying with her work in that good Steve Martin movie, that bad taxi cab movie, TV's LIVING SINGLE and the movie CHICAGO, she is a "Safe Negro", not an angry rapper or "SET IT OFF" gangsta; she will not scare White folks away. And they think the Queen will attract an acceptable "type" of Negro, therefore these Hairspray producers finally want your Black dollars ... for now.