Positive Images Draw African American Audiences

Stacey Snider, head of production at TriStar Pictures, has spent six months working on “M’Lady,” a black version of the Pygmalion tale in which a schoolgirl is taken under the wing of a Berkeley professor. The project is about to get a green light.

The move comes amid the box-office success of “Waiting to Exhale,” another movie feeding blacks’ hunger for upscale - or at least positive - imagery. But it’s not a clear case of cause and effect.

Part entertainment, part social phenomenon, 20th Century Fox’s “Waiting to Exhale” has taken in a whopping $45 million in 17 days, landing on top during the ultra-competitive Christmas weekend. The $15-million movie - a tale of four black women wrestling with life and love - slipped to fifth place this week. But industry observers point out that the picture continues to build in suburban theaters catering predominantly to whites. And black women are still turning out in droves.

“Traditionally, we’ve considered the African American audience young and male,” said a leading independent film executive. “This movie tells us that the demographics are more diverse and interesting than that. Since Hollywood is always on the lookout for new markets, ‘Exhale’ may be the bellwether for a broader mix.”

After this “blood bath” of a holiday season, says Fox studio chief Peter Chernin, the industry is eager to jump on any “glimmer of hope.”

“The response to ‘Exhale’ shows that Hollywood has done an abysmal job of depicting African Americans, serving up primarily crime-related portrayals and all but ignoring the middle class,” he says. “But it’s a mistake to target a niche and start turning out movies in a cynical, manufactured way. It all starts with the material. The movie shows that when it’s fresh and original, African Americans will turn out.”