Dear Thursday: I’m Just Not That Into HJNTIY

Feb 05, 2009 28 Comments by Ernessa T. Carter

hejustnotthatintoyou So you would think a movie like the upcoming He’s Just Not That Into You would be just right for me.

Book I’ve read: Check

Romantic Comedy: Check

Stars I love: Drew Barrymore – Check, Jennifer Connelly – Check, Ginnifer Goodwin – Check, Scarlett Johannsson – Check, The Mac Guy – Check

Ensemble Film: Check — who watches Love Actually every Christmas? I do!

But then I actually saw the trailer. And the only minorities that showed up were two sassy gay guys that attend to work with Drew Barrymore’s character.

Really, Hollywood? 9 leads and you couldn’t find room for even one minority? Really?

Sigh. I actually really wanted to see this, but money talks, so I can’t in good conscious give mine to a movie that for whatever reason decided to completely white-wash their cast in this day and age. Way to disappoint (yet again), Hollywood.

About the author

In addition to running Fierce and Nerdy, Ernessa T. Carter is the author of 32 CANDLES, a romantic comedy that is totally worth buying.

http://intensedebate.com/people/AmyQOTWF AmyQOTWF

I'm soooo not going to this movie cause it looks wretched, but I did see Frangela in one trailor. So they got that minority covered…a little bit.
http://frangela.com/
http://intensedebate.com/people/AmyQOTWF AmyQOTWF

I'm soooo not going to this movie cause it looks wretched, but I did see Frangela in one trailor. So they got that minority covered…a little bit.
http://frangela.com/
http://intensedebate.com/people/ernessa ernessa

Not really. Though I love Frangela, casting minorities in comic cameos or purely back-up roles is a classic way for Hollywood to get away with not having any main minority characters in their ensemble pieces, which I seriously don't understand. Think of how many more people would have come to see this, if they had cast just one of the names on the poster with a minority. Even Sex and the City managed to give Jennifer Hudson a supporting role with an arc and through line. It's also insulting, considering how many non-white people bought that book. C'mon…
http://intensedebate.com/people/ernessa ernessa

Not really. Though I love Frangela, casting minorities in comic cameos or purely back-up roles is a classic way for Hollywood to get away with not having any main minority characters in their ensemble pieces, which I seriously don't understand. Think of how many more people would have come to see this, if they had cast just one of the names on the poster with a minority. Even Sex and the City managed to give Jennifer Hudson a supporting role with an arc and through line. It's also insulting, considering how many non-white people bought that book. C'mon…
http://intensedebate.com/people/Howard_L Howard_L

I loved the book. Though as a man….i thought a lot of it was rather self-evident.
http://intensedebate.com/people/Howard_L Howard_L

I loved the book. Though as a man….i thought a lot of it was rather self-evident.
http://intensedebate.com/people/Howard_L Howard_L

Salon has a gaggle of their writers comment on the movie & the whole HJNTIY phenom:

http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/feature/2009/…
http://intensedebate.com/people/Howard_L Howard_L

Salon has a gaggle of their writers comment on the movie & the whole HJNTIY phenom:

http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/feature/2009/…
Kim

Yeah, it kinda reminds me of the cast of Friends not having any friends of color — and they live in NYC.
Kim

Yeah, it kinda reminds me of the cast of Friends not having any friends of color — and they live in NYC.
http://intensedebate.com/people/ernessa ernessa

I'm now racking my brain to try and remember if Jennifer Anniston has ever done anything that I've seen with any poc characters in it. So far I've got nothing but the surprise GF of the guy that she slept w/ when he blackmailed her in "The Good Girl" but she had less than 5 minutes of screen time. I haven't seen "Marley & Me" though…
http://intensedebate.com/people/ernessa ernessa

I'm now racking my brain to try and remember if Jennifer Anniston has ever done anything that I've seen with any poc characters in it. So far I've got nothing but the surprise GF of the guy that she slept w/ when he blackmailed her in "The Good Girl" but she had less than 5 minutes of screen time. I haven't seen "Marley & Me" though…
http://www.intensedebate.com/people/Howard_L Howard_L

In some versions of the commercials, there are actually two black women featured.

But they essentially just do some variation of the "Ooooh, girl [read: white girl] — He done dumped your ass. You better go eat some ice cream." Minstrel show much?

I kinda want to see it because a) i LOVE bradley cooper b) i love Bradley Cooper with his shirt off & c) Leonardo Nam is in it…he plays one of the aforementioned gay/ethnic team (the other one is Wilson Cruz, non?)

The commercials crack me up though. "My little sister says MySpace is the new boooo-ty call." MySpace? Really? What is your sister 52?

http://intensedebate.com/people/ernessa ernessa

That is Wilson Cruz, who I love, love, love from both My So-Called Life and Noah's Arc. That is funny about the MySpace comment. The poor screenwriter. They probably thought MySpace was going to be around forever, when they wrote it back in 2002.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Howard_L Howard_L

http://www.queerty.com/the-gay-steppin-fetchits-o…

http://intensedebate.com/people/ernessa ernessa

That article was AWESOME — totally gives me more reasons NOT to see this movie. Though, I'm concerned that Hollywood execs will say, "See no one wants to see a romantic movie with gays as back-up characters. No more rom-coms. Obviously the market doesn't want them."

Zacki

sadly, I have a friend who was in the art dept. on it, and I am one of Drew Barrymore's character's friends on myspace for that stupid film… lol

http://intensedebate.com/people/natebarlow Nate Barlow

When I heard the Myspace line, I felt sure the film had to have been made by Fox, since Fox owns Myspace and you could understand the studio cross-marketing to promote their lagging product. I was shocked to discover otherwise.

http://www.intensedebate.com/people/Howard_L Howard_L

In some versions of the commercials, there are actually two black women featured.

But they essentially just do some variation of the "Ooooh, girl [read: white girl] — He done dumped your ass. You better go eat some ice cream." Minstrel show much?

I kinda want to see it because a) i LOVE bradley cooper b) i love Bradley Cooper with his shirt off & c) Leonardo Nam is in it…he plays one of the aforementioned gay/ethnic team (the other one is Wilson Cruz, non?)

The commercials crack me up though. "My little sister says MySpace is the new boooo-ty call." MySpace? Really? What is your sister 52?

http://intensedebate.com/people/ernessa ernessa

That is Wilson Cruz, who I love, love, love from both My So-Called Life and Noah's Arc. That is funny about the MySpace comment. The poor screenwriter. They probably thought MySpace was going to be around forever, when they wrote it back in 2002.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Howard_L Howard_L

http://www.queerty.com/the-gay-steppin-fetchits-o…

http://intensedebate.com/people/ernessa ernessa

That article was AWESOME — totally gives me more reasons NOT to see this movie. Though, I'm concerned that Hollywood execs will say, "See no one wants to see a romantic movie with gays as back-up characters. No more rom-coms. Obviously the market doesn't want them."

Zacki

sadly, I have a friend who was in the art dept. on it, and I am one of Drew Barrymore's character's friends on myspace for that stupid film… lol

http://intensedebate.com/people/natebarlow Nate Barlow

When I heard the Myspace line, I felt sure the film had to have been made by Fox, since Fox owns Myspace and you could understand the studio cross-marketing to promote their lagging product. I was shocked to discover otherwise.

http://intensedebate.com/people/keldoo keldoo

the thing that mostly annoys me about this film is that it's taking a book (that's granted, based on a phrase) that has been really helpful for some of us & making it into another SATC tie-in. studios are finally realizing the power of the female audience to their bottom line, so why not cash in with some crap?

i love frangela too, and what a waste of an opportunity to not use them as regular characters! seems like everyone in this film is thin, attractive and white…and if they aren't white, they are gay. gay stereotypes.

and ya know, i will probably see this movie just so i can be annoyed with it.
http://intensedebate.com/people/keldoo keldoo

the thing that mostly annoys me about this film is that it's taking a book (that's granted, based on a phrase) that has been really helpful for some of us & making it into another SATC tie-in. studios are finally realizing the power of the female audience to their bottom line, so why not cash in with some crap?

i love frangela too, and what a waste of an opportunity to not use them as regular characters! seems like everyone in this film is thin, attractive and white…and if they aren't white, they are gay. gay stereotypes.

and ya know, i will probably see this movie just so i can be annoyed with it.
Jackie

huh. i totally read that myspace comment the wrong way — i thought the joke worked only because myspace IS outdated. like, facebook is for connecting/socializing, but the only people who contact you on myspace are sleazes looking for a bootie call…
Jackie

huh. i totally read that myspace comment the wrong way — i thought the joke worked only because myspace IS outdated. like, facebook is for connecting/socializing, but the only people who contact you on myspace are sleazes looking for a bootie call…

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Dear Thursday: I’m Just Not That Into HJNTIY

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