>
> Dear All,
> I thought you might be interested to read below.

>
> > Dear Friends:
> >
> > My name is Erik Todd Dellums.  I am a Black man, a professional actor
and  a semiotician and film lover.  I am therefore underemployed,
under-appreciated  and an afterthought in Hollywood.
> >
> > I am also a man who rarely sees an accurate depiction of Black people
and  American History in film and on television.  It's something I've grown
used to,  but now I'M MAD AS HELL AND NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!
> >
> > I am calling all people that truly care about honest representations of
American History   in Hollywood to standup and boycott the heavily promoted
film, "Cold Mountain."  At a cost of $80+ million dollars and sporting a
stellar cast and crew, this adaptation  of Charles Fraizier's acclaimed
bestseller opens Christmas Day everywhere and is being touted as the film to
beat at the Academy Awards.  It has generated glowing  reviews for Disney,
Miramax and all involved.  It is also a sham; a slap in the face of African
Americans everywhere, whose ancestors gave their lives in the Civil War,
fighting for true freedom (Sorry, President Bush!) from the most heinous
slavery system known to modern man: the American Slavery System.
>
> > How could a 3-hour film depicting life in the heart of Virginia and
North  Carolina  during the Civil War use 30 seconds of Black people picking
cotton as its total reality  of slavery during this period?  In an article
in the Washington Post, the film makers have said that slavery and racism
were simply "too raw" an emotional issue to present in their film.  In other
words,who would want to see a love story with the beautiful Jude Law and
Nicole Kidman set in the reality of the Southern monstrosity of slavery.
The film depicts one of the more important battle decisions  in the Civil
War; a battle in which the Union trained Black soldiers to tunnel under
Confederate lines; a battle in which Blacks suffered their highest rate of
casualties of any Union division in the fight!  This is the great battle
that opens "Cold Mountain."

> > You tell me if you spot ANY Black actors in the film fighting.  It plays
like "Saving Private Ryan",  another film in which Black contributions to
history -- namely the Battle at Normandy -- are completely excised from a
major film.  Shame on you, Hollywood.  Shame on you!
> >
> > The Weinstein Brothers (owners of Miramax, the distributors of "Cold
Mountain") are smart, astute business men with keen cinematic sensibilities.
They should know better.  I ask, could you imagine "The Pianist" or
"Schlinder's List" ever being made with but 30 seconds of the reality of The
Holocaust?  Of course not.  A film with such  a gross misrepresentation
would never make it past page one of a screenplay!  And in reality, isn't
The Holocaust, which occurred a mere two generations or so ago, "rawer"
emotionally than slavery?
> >
> > Every year, the Academy Awards give a documentary about "The Holocaust"
its  award and every year Hollywood releases sumptuous, hauntingly beautiful
films about "The Holocaust."  And every year I go.  Why?  Because I love
film. And I love the truth.  But there must be some reciprocity somewhere.
I have attempted to sell stories to Hollywood -- true stories -- from our
history as  Black people during the years of slavery.  The response from
Hollywood, "I saw something like that already in "Roots".  What an insult!
> >
> > Why are we as a people always an afterthought?  We must let Hollywood
know that we deserve respect.  How do we?  By not giving them the pleasure
of our dollars.  Let a boycott of "Cold Mountain" begin our response to
Hollywood:  tell our stories; tell the truth and we will come.  And if
Hollywood has a problem with that,  simply say, "I'm not going, because I
saw a film like that already!"
> >
> > Sincerely yours,
> >
> > Erik Todd Dellums
> >