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.
 
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