Barbershops are great institutions in nearly every community, but in the black community, they are places where black people, mostly men, can gather and be assured of three things: 

1) They can speak their mind on just about any subject they choose;

2) They can expound on that subject for as long as they choose, or for as long as those in the shop will allow; and

3) They can be assured of a response, which might include a redirect to a more appealing topic.    

Last year, I was thrilled to learn that that there would soon be a cinematic salute to black barbershops.  If you are a regular visitor to this website, you know that I enjoy promoting local Chicago talent, especially local filmmakers.  Two of the producers of Barbershop, George Tillman, Jr. and Robert Teitel, learned their craft at Columbia College in Chicago.  They went on to form a successful production company, Menagerie Films; and gained considerable notoriety with the cinematic success of Soul Food (1996).  

I became a fan of Tillman and Tieitel with Men of Honor (2000), a film that saluted the courage and tenacity of Carl Brashear, the first black deep-sea master diver in the U.S. Navy.
Photo:  Cuba Gooding, Jr. (right) poses with Carl Brashear.

I choose to cover films on this website, primarily because of film's ability to spark talent and economic development within diverse communities.  The incredible journey that George Tillman, Jr., and his production company have taken - a journey that has established them as a creative, economic, cultural and educational force in America -  demonstrates the transforming potential of film, and is a reason why I cover films and filmmakers on this website.

My interest in Barbershop grew as crews began shooting last winter on Chicago’s South Side.  A few weeks ago, Tillman and Tieitel began appearing on the local shows promoting Barbershop, which opened on September 13^th in Chicago and across the nation.  I was unable to see the film its opening weekend, but when I stopped by my office that Sunday night, a colleague asked if I had seen the film.  He looked at me with great sadness and said, “there are some seriously disturbing scenes in the film.”  I grew concerned because I respect my colleague's opinion and value his commitment to the black community. 

I had seen the promos for the film on television and found them somewhat disturbing.  In a year when Hollywood has insulted moviegoers and the black community with Undercover Brother, I was disturbed to see promos for Barbershop that showed heads bopping to rap music and people dancing around the shop.  In all my years of going to the barbershop, no one ever erupted into synchronized head bopping or spontaneous dancing.  Barbershop was starting to look like yet another Hollywood urban-plantation movie.

The next night, Monday night, WMAQ-TV (an NBC-owned station) in Chicago aired a report that featured Jackie Jackson, the wife of Jesse Jackson.  She was calling for the removal of a controversial scene in Barbershop.  I knew then that I had to see the film.

Regrettably, my fears of another Hollywood slam on black America were confirmed.  Besides the not-too-subtle jiggaboo references, the unnecessary but occasional use of the N-word, the old and tired finger-licking, fried-chicken eating scene, I was stunned by Barbershop’s virulent attack on Civil Rights leaders.

The attacks come in three waves.  First, there is an outrageous attack on Rosa Parks.  All three verbal attacks are made by Eddie, a crusty old character played by Cedric the Entertainer.  His comments about Rosa Parks cause the barbershop to erupt in a fiery debate over the merits of her contribution to the Civil Rights Movement.

Then, there is a vicious attack on Jesse Jackson that comes right out of the blue.  The third attack comes at the end of the film, when the character played by Cedric the Entertainer sullies the character of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Eddie (Cedric the Entertainer) steals the show, although the film revolves around the internal and financial struggles of a young man, Calvin Palmer (Ice Cube), who wants to be successful, but finds himself stuck running his father’s barbershop.  Unfortunately, the good things that Eddie has to say are overshadowed by his attacks on Civil Rights Leaders.  One of the good things Eddie says is “black people need to get serious about some things,” and I couldn’t agree more. 

We have to realize that there are those both within the community and outside of the community who are working to destroy us.  Who are these people you ask.  They are the people who sell drugs to our children.  They are the people who create images and recordings that tell our children that they are happiest when they are jamming to the beat, wearing designer rags – and in some cases literally rags, doing the wild thing, being gangsters, and getting high.  They are people who control media outlets, and take that which is base and profane in our community and smear it in our faces and tell us that that is our culture.  They are people who want our children to remain ignorant about their history, and hopeless about the future.  Whether intentional or not, the producers and distributors of Barbershop allied themselves with these destructive forces by devising senseless attacks on people who have given humanity so much hope.

When asked to comment on Jackie Jackson’s request to cut out the objectionable scenes from the film, the distributors of Barbershop reportedly told WMAQ-TV that they wanted to be true to what is discussed in black barbershops.  Well, there are many topics discussed in black barbershops, some are outrageously funny, some are timely and poignant, some are profane, and some are woefully ignorant and painfully sad.  Not every conversation held in black barbershops is worthy of repeating, certainly not in a mainstream, high-profiled, and widely distributed film like Barbershop.

As a community of moviegoers, we must be discerning.  Filmmaking is a very deliberate act.  Every scene, in every film is the result of a conscious decision.  Given the deliberate nature of filmmaking, we have to ask ourselves What were the filmmakers trying to accomplish by attacking three stalwarts of the Civil Rights Movement?

The filmmakers might have thought the attacks on Rosa Parks, Jesse Jackson and Martin Luther King Jr. were funny.  Perhaps, but as I sat in the theater, I heard only faint laughter and snickering in response to the offensive scenes.  I didn’t hear anything that suggested comedic brilliance. 

Personally, I like slapstick comedy, but the makers of Barbershop might have wanted comedy with an edge.  If the filmmakers wanted to venture into edgy material, topics involving capital punishment, serial murders, gang violence and domestic abuse were wide open for consideration.  But, instead, the makers of Barbershop decided to attack three individuals who have been instrumental in fostering social, political and economic advancements for blacks and other disenfranchised people in America and around the world.  

I wonder why they didn’t have Eddie attack politicians.  Black folk always have strong opinions about politicians.  They could have talked about the senior Bush’s failure to unseat Saddam Hussein when Allied troops were at the outskirts of Baghdad.  They could have talked about how the younger Bush “stole” the election from Gore, and how all those black folk in Florida were “turned away” from the poles.  Black folks will be talking about that for years to come. 

Speaking of politics, the makers of Barbershop could have gone after Illinois’ beleaguered governor, George Ryan, who has garnered national attention for issuing a moratorium on capital punishment after reports showed that Illinois has a dismal record of convicting innocent men. 

Finally, there's the master politician, the Honorable Mayor of the City of Chicago, Richard M. Daley.  If you have ever spent time in Chicago, you know that politics and the mayor are favorite topics of conversation in establishments throughout the city, not just in the black community.  If the makers of Barbershop wanted to be true to what is discussed in black barbershops, they could have had a scene with black people discussing the mayor.  Of course, the filmmakers wouldn’t dare shoot a scene with Eddie, the character played by Cedric the Entertainer, making derogatory comments about the mayor, or his father, the late Richard J. Daley, not while they were in his town making the film. 

So, let’s review the facts.  We have two Chicago filmmakers who made a film in Chicago, in and about the black community in Chicago.  They chose to attack Rosa Parks, Jesse Jackson, and they chose to close their film with an attack on the character of Martin Luther King, Jr.  Now, let’s remember that Dr. King came to Chicago in 1966, and was viciously attacked by an angry mob while marching to end segregation in the city.  He was fighting for the rights of a black and white team like Tillman and Tieitel to be able to go to school together; live together, if they so desire; and to work together on a film project in Chicago of all places.  Barbershop is how Tillman and Tieitel chose to pay homage to Dr. King, homage to that march and homage to the Civil Rights Movement.  Talk about biting the hand that feeds.

I’m not saying filmmakers can’t poke fun at historical figures, even prominent black figures.  I am saying the attacks on Parks, Jackson and King in Barbershop serve no purpose other than to show black people slamming other black people, and to diminish the significance of the Civil Rights Movement and key figures of the Movement. 

As a child, I grew up hearing a lot of Helen Keller jokes.  Today, I find those jokes tasteless, vicious, and unacceptable.  I find it equally unacceptable when filmmakers use comedic and artistic license to destroy people.

It really is unfortunate that Barbershop was released in its current form.  Without the attacks and the “we all dance to the music” scene, it has the potential to be a reasonably entertaining film.  I hope the filmmakers will make another cut.

If you really want to know what Rosa Parks did for the Movement and for America, if you want to know the courage she demonstrated while sitting on the bus, then I encourage you to see a wonderful film called The Rosa Parks Story.  It is a Hallmark Film that aired on CBS last February. I was pleased to feature it on this website.  Click the image below to see my review.

I also urge you to see the exceptional documentary Eye on the Prize.  It will renew your appreciation for the Movement and for Dr. King’s landmark contributions.  King and Parks struggled so that future generations of blacks, including black filmmakers, could continue to advance the race, not tear it down.  For the life of me, I can’t understand why Tillman and Tieitel, who made Men of Honor, chose to ignore that important fact. 

The End