The Readers Respond to ‘Moviemakers, Movie Critics and You’ : Scarcity of Minorities in Movie Reviewing

Something not mentioned in the Mitchell article is the lack of people of color on the reviewing staffs of many major and even minor newspapers. Black people go to the movies, yellow people go to the movies, brown people go to the movies--yet for all the money that minorities spend on movies, few of us are allowed to review them.

Of all the reviews I read on Spike Lee’s “Mo’ Better Blues,” only Vincent Canby tried to understand the non-white point of view.

There is such an incredible wealth of Asian, black and Latino heritage trying to blossom in movies, yet it is being reviewed by white middle/upper class sensibilities. I’m not saying white people should review only “white” films, but rather that America since its inception has consisted of a myriad of people who should be represented and have a voice in cultural events such as movies.

ILENE OBA, San Francisco