It's too bad the goal wasn't entertainment...

Movie criticism has a long and tortured history. Critics complain that depictions are unrealistic (okay, so no waitress in her right mind is going to wear 6" heels at work...but what red-blooded male would rather see Lucy Liu in "sensible shoes" and a comfortable, loose fitting dress than wearing a short, tight dress and stilettos while waitressing? Something had to save The Cleaner (2007) and realism would have only hurt it), that plots are formulaic....of course, movie making has its own language where certain mannerisms are part of the story and if you fail to use those you risk losing your audience as they are unable to pick up on the subtle codes that tell the story...and more.

Now we have the destined to not be a classic Stomp the Yard (2007), another in a growing line of "black dance" meets established dance and improves it...a short list would include Julia Stiles vehicle Save the Last Dance, Jessica Alba in Honey and one other "hip mop meets ballet and improves it" from a year or so ago that was so awesome I cannot even remember the title even though I saw it.

On the one hand, it has some good points. It is going to present black college students in a positive light. I am all for that. I am not so keen on focusing on a black only group...if a white only group were presented in a positive light there would be riots...whatever racism exists today is given a lot of credibility by things of this nature...but then again, I am smart enough to recognize the target audience and it does make sense for that focus.

Of course, the presentation is still not positive enough for some folks. At some point, you have to wonder...how much time do you really want to devote to watching people clean streets or work in a hospital or raise funds for the orphanage in a movie about dancing? Short answer...little to none. Long answer...when I am desirous of seeing stuff like that I go to a movie with that goal....maybe a John Q or Freedom Writers for example, then sure...pack that in. But when I go to a movie that is marketed as a story about stepping (which differs from dancing, apparently...) I want to be entertained by a story about stepping. In this specific instance I do not want key step-watching time to be replaced with the thrill of watching people take out the trash.

Now, in no way, shape or form should this be taken as a condemnation of volunteerism or even of depicting them in movies. In fact, it was somewhat central to the story of Honey in which the redemptive prescription for getting her life back on track was performing that volunteer community service work. The same is true for Ringers and a host of other movies. It can work very well...but if that redemptive codicil is not germane to the story or subtracts from the entertainment factor then complaining because it was not included in the movie is ludicrous at best...and counterproductive at worst as the negativity you produce by proferring such a critique has the inverse effect of causing people to not see the movie which, in turn, convinces the people who BANKROLL the movies that black-centered movies do not have a market so they stop making them.

Movies, first and foremost, must entertain. If they fail to do that then they have no future. Complaining because elements that may not entertain are not present in a movie is just sad.