When Hollywood Gets it Right
Miki Turner
Abstract
The plight of the Black journalist in movies has been spot on in some cases, particularly in the two films discussed in this paper – "Livin’ Large!" (1991) and "Heat Wave "(1990). "Livin’ Large!", a satirical comedy directed by Michael Schultz, explores the unlikely career trajectory of Dexter Jackson (T.C. Carson), a delivery truck driver who gets his big break when a TV station’s sole Black anchor is murdered on live TV. Dexter has no journalism experience but grabs the dead man’s mic and offers his take on what happened. Although his delivery is rough and filled with stereotypical anecdotes, the station’s executives hire him to cover the Black community in Atlanta. Dexter thinks that his reporting will help uplift his community, but that is not the case. It in fact reinforces some of the stereotypes perpetuated by mainstream media at the time.
While today’s experienced Black journalists might not get their big break in the same way that Dexter did, some still fall into the same trap. What used to be the “Black beat’ is now the “culture beat.” There’s less buffoonary, but opportunities to cover substantive issues can still be a hard sell depending on the newsroom climate.
"Heat Wave," written by Michael Lazarou and directed by Kevin Hooks, is loosely based on actual events, seen through the eyes of Bob Richardson, another inexperienced wannabe reporter. Richardson, who worked in the LA Times mailroom, got his break by convincing editors that as a Black man he could get exclusive stories from his Watts neighbors during the 1965 riots that their white reporters would not get.
He was right.
Sadly, however, Bob was simply used to provide on-the-spot information for the white reporters who were too frightened to head down the 110 South to an environment that was way out of their comfort zone.
To gather more insight into the films and what it was like for real Black reporters during the 1960s, 1980s, 1990s and the turn of the century, I interviewed several of my former journalism colleagues, the director of Livin’ Large!, the writer of Heat Wave, and some TV writers, producers and show runners. Their collective perspectives and reflections were critical in helping me separate fact from fiction, particularly when it came to exploring the psyche of who Bob Richardson really was and why some Black reporters, like the fictional Dexter Jackson, are still unable to sometimes tap into their own authentic voices in the stories they want to tell.
To access the complete article, please go to the following:
https://assets.uscannenberg.org/journals/ijpc/MIKI-TURNER_final.pdf
While today’s experienced Black journalists might not get their big break in the same way that Dexter did, some still fall into the same trap. What used to be the “Black beat’ is now the “culture beat.” There’s less buffoonary, but opportunities to cover substantive issues can still be a hard sell depending on the newsroom climate.
"Heat Wave," written by Michael Lazarou and directed by Kevin Hooks, is loosely based on actual events, seen through the eyes of Bob Richardson, another inexperienced wannabe reporter. Richardson, who worked in the LA Times mailroom, got his break by convincing editors that as a Black man he could get exclusive stories from his Watts neighbors during the 1965 riots that their white reporters would not get.
He was right.
Sadly, however, Bob was simply used to provide on-the-spot information for the white reporters who were too frightened to head down the 110 South to an environment that was way out of their comfort zone.
To gather more insight into the films and what it was like for real Black reporters during the 1960s, 1980s, 1990s and the turn of the century, I interviewed several of my former journalism colleagues, the director of Livin’ Large!, the writer of Heat Wave, and some TV writers, producers and show runners. Their collective perspectives and reflections were critical in helping me separate fact from fiction, particularly when it came to exploring the psyche of who Bob Richardson really was and why some Black reporters, like the fictional Dexter Jackson, are still unable to sometimes tap into their own authentic voices in the stories they want to tell.
To access the complete article, please go to the following:
https://assets.uscannenberg.org/journals/ijpc/MIKI-TURNER_final.pdf
