Post by kerouac2 on Feb 5, 2019 20:27:40 GMT
The appearance of the Oakland genre is perhaps the most interesting new genre in American cinema in a long time. After all, we've had westerns, crime capers, road movies and all sorts of other things, so it is getting sort of difficult to come up with a new genre.
In just the past few years, there have been Black Panther (by far the most successful Oakland movie), Fruitvale Station, Moneyball, Blindspotting and several others. This week, I was able to see a different kind of Oakland movie, Sorry to Bother You. It took a while to be released in France, but it is far from the least interesting. For one thing, it is a fantasy based in a city not really known for fantasy (Black Panther put aside). The premise is obviously totally outlandish -- the idea that a black telemarketer could be much more successful using a white voice instead of a black voice. Who could possibly believe that? Frankly, this movie is pretty evil.
It will be interesting to see how long the Oakland genre will continue -- for one thing, Oakland is not the only 'black' city in the United States. Why not Atlanta, New Orleans or Detroit? But for the moment, Oakland is the heart of new black cinema challenging white dominance.
