OMG! Red Tails!!

I've seen "Red Tails" now and the Boxer and I give it an enthusiastic four thumbs up. We all watched "Roots" in 1977 and were suitably impressed by the fact that someone would be allowed to portray the nightmare of Black oppression during slavery. Then, in 1985, we all watched "The Color Purple" and were suitably impressed that a movie about Black people surviving their pain could make it to the big time. Now, in "Red Tails," we finally have the opportunity to watch Black people outshine -- and even save -- White people just because they were better at flying and fighting than anybody else doing it at the time. It's a matter of public record, y'all, but who expected to see it done like this?

Laurence Fishburne starred in a previous film about the Tuskegee Airmen, but it was almost entirely about the struggle of the group to leave the states for Europe. And in fact, that might never have happened had Eleanor Roosevelt (who was the First Lady at the time) not created a huge photo op when she demanded to go for a plane ride with one of the Airmen.

Don't let the bi-racial relationship throw you either. From what I've heard, many American soldiers (let alone flyboys, the cream of the crop) fell for (and were welcomed in that) by beautiful young European women in World War II. And race, if you'll recall, was not the issue for the Europeans that it was in the U.S. at that time. Not to mention the fact that these young Black officers were liberating heroes to the families they came into contact with.

In any case, I loved the film. It was refreshing to watch history portrayed as it probably was, for a change, even if the writers of "Red Tails" made up some stuff for the sake of the story line. I mean, when was the last time you saw a high budget action thriller where the White faces went past so fast you hardly noticed 'em and twenty minutes at a whack would go by without any White faces at all? This is a well presented story of the commitment of a group of young warriors who could have been any extraordinary young men, but were, in fact, Black.

You'll want to see this on the big screen. So do it. Sooner than later. You'll be glad you did.

The Real Tuskegee Airmen, 1945

The Tuskegee Airmen in the movie

Come on.  You KNOW you wanna see it. ;^)