Pam Grier thinks many Black actors in Hollywood can’t get opportunities partly thanks to marginalized audiences – especially those within the black community.

Grier made the comments in an interview with The Canadian Press. She said film investors are looking to create big profit margins and build upon “brands” (actors, franchises” that can “keep the industry going.” To her, when investing in a “marginalized brand,” the budget is smaller and the target audience might not even go support it.

She explained, “We have conservative African-Americans who will not see certain films, will only see Tyler Perry but will not see Spike Lee.” She added, “I know a lot of African-American women that didn’t want to see ‘The Help‘ because they had lived it as little girls and it was a circumstance that shouldn’t have been and it was so problematic for them. It brought back horrible memories and they couldn’t see it, nor will they read the book.”

It’s interesting she brings up Tyler Perry because he pretty much built an empire off the backs of a marginalized audience that was underserved and went all out to support him once he had the opportunity to spread his product. Not to mention 20 years ago there were several Black filmmakers who worked with small budgets but made ample amounts of money – like say John Singleton with Boyz n The Hood.

Perhaps Hollywood’s overemphasis on sequels and remakes and the like has spurred a lack of interest in creating Black movies, but that blame ought to fall with them more so than us. They’re the ones being shortsighted, right? Haven’t actors like Eddie Murphy already proven how well works with all Black casts can perform?

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