Is not this phenomenon a byproduct of Hollywood tokenism, whereby black actors were introduced into films as martyrs (like Dirty Harry's partner in Magnum Force), then later as bland sparring partners (like Danny Glover in the Lethal Weapon franchise)? In "raising" the black male, Hollywood abased him. Of more interest to me -- and certainly a much less subtle assault on black masculinity -- is what might be called the "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner but Not Getting Any Further" phenomenon which precluded intimacy between Denzel Washington and Julia Roberts in The Pelican Brief. ---- To signoff SCREEN-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF SCREEN-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]