Hollywood Shuffle (1987)

Hollywood Shuffle: Directed by Robert Townsend. With Robert Townsend, Craigus R. Johnson, Helen Martin, Starletta DuPois. An actor limited to stereotypical roles because of his ethnicity, dreams of making it big as a highly respected performer. As he makes his rounds, the film takes a satiric look at African American actors in Hollywood.

“Robert Townsendu0026#39;s independent debut is a light-hearted farce that explores the struggles of black actors of Hollywood. But the issues that the film could be applied to talented folks in any field who are prevented from reaching their full potential because of stereotypes.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMany of the cast were unknowns at the time but they did an excellent job in the various skits. My favorite is the parody of Siskel and Ebertu0026#39;s TV show, where two street hoods sneak into the movies to give their own rather unique reviews. Amadeus is slammed by the amateur critics because u0026quot;the movieu0026#39;s title is too hard to pronounceu0026quot; while a movie about Zombie Street Pimps is given the thumbs up, because of the attention to detail. This is typical of the kind of humor employed throughout the movie – Townsend takes a racial stereotype and turns it outside out, making us think and laugh out loud at the same time.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI wish more directors, black or not, would follow Townsendu0026#39;s personal, self-effacing approach to movie-making but I guess itu0026#39;s easier to produce yet another violent shoot-em up or special effects showcase. Oh well.”