He says the movie distractingly "applies a heavy whitewashing to World War 2 that is distinguished by a deep commitment and dedication to an insincere multiculturalism and a childish flattening of historical events."
He writes:
"In a Jim Crow military there are black soldiers fully integrated as equals in fictional white Army units without a mention of tension or conflict. There are African Americans as equal partners in the most secret Allied spy programs of World War 2. Black and white folks sit side by side in integrated recruitment centers in New York City. Black and white kids play together in the streets of Brooklyn, a Nathan Glazer ethnic melting pot dream, all the same, united in childhood and rooting for Captain America and the good guys to win The Big One."DeVega qualifies his critique by noting that he didn't expect (nor wanted) the movie to be a "treatise on the Double V campaign" for African American freedom at home, and victory Nazism abroad. "Rather, my hope is for a film that works with these realities in order to enhance storytelling by adding richness and depth to a project--moves that make a movie more entertaining and not less," he wrote. Playing script doctor, DeVega then supplies a list of smart ideas.
I wholeheartedly agree with DeVega's premise and his ideas. But I'm also not holding my breath. This is navel-gazing, two-dimensional, money-obsessed Hollywood we're talking about. You know, the folks who put the L, C, and D in the phrase "lowest common denominator." One can always hope. Some filmmaker may yet find a way to get the history right, be entertaining and make money. But I wouldn't bet much on an industry that produced Police Academy and then made six - count 'em, six - sequels to it. And yes, the seventh is due out later this year.
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