• Live
    • Audio Only
  • google plus
  • facebook
  • twitter
News > World

Will Cher's Non-Black Flint Movie Really Help City in Crisis?

  • Cher performing in Memphis.

    Cher performing in Memphis. | Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Published 8 January 2017
Opinion

Many point out that the funds going toward producing the film could instead be used to solve the water crisis.

While the Flint water crisis continues unabated and unresolved, the Lifetime channel announced a new feature film about the crisis, starring not a Black family — the group most affected — but Hollywood actress and singer, Cher.

RELATED:
3,000 US Cities Have Lead Poisoning Rates Higher Than Flint’s

Titled simply “Flint,” it will star the actress battling the crisis with her family. Cher donated 180,000 bottles to the city since its water became contaminated with lead in 2014, due to the deliberate negligence of city and state officials, also meeting with the city’s mayor last October to visit water distribution sites.

Still, with a city that has a 57 percent Black population, the film has received a firestorm of criticism for yet again casting non-Black people to tell the narratives of people of color.

“Once again, Hollywood is taking a tragedy that is negatively impacting mostly people of color and centering it in whiteness. Why do you keep doing this, Hollywood?” writes The Root’s Monique Judge.

The movie itself is based on a Time magazine story written a year ago by journalist Josh Sanburn, the plot focusing on a 2-year old Black boy, Sincere Smith.

RELATED:
Flint Officials Criminally Charged in Water Crisis

The announcement comes in the wake of two former Flint emergency managers and two water plant officials being charged for false pretenses and conspiracy. Since the crisis broke out, at least 13 officials have faced charges.

While many point out that the funds that would go towards producing the movie could instead be used to solve the crisis, others are still hoping the film will at least bring awareness to the issue.

Comment
0
Comments
Post with no comments.