Black People "Stop being sell-outs for money"

[res]

Eddie Murphy played on the "I'm Black...laugh at me whitey" (doing the whole buddy movie/fish out of water movie based on his skin color) card in the movies that made him a superstar, like 48 HRS, Trading Places and Beverly Hills Cop. Will Smith didn't get his white fans all off "Fresh Prince". That took "Bad Boys" (as they enter the house... 'don't be alarmed we're negro'), and being the guy spouting the 'brova' lines in 'Independence Day'...you don't sell $300 million in movie tickets to only African-Americans.

Eddie Murphy set the stage for a proud self confident (or cocky) Black persona in his comedy and it was his comedy persona that he embodied in his early movies (Even carrying over his trademark laugh). You can't imagine films with the white jokes and alot of the other stuff he did in his early movies prior to the ground that Richard Pryor and he himself broke through comedy. He therefore in part help set the terms for his characters. However it was a different time and there was no way he could star in the kinds of movies that are made today with Blacks in them. He had no choice but to be a convict or a con-man at first, yet he was the socially rebellious comedian within both of the roles, and when his name finally got huge enough, he began starring in unquestionably respectable roles like Beverly hills Cop. To me, especially in a social environment where your options are limited, it is more about the soul of the characters you play then their occupation or position within society. By the way, the "fish out of water" dynamic in Beverly Hills Cop was the contrast between gritty Detroit and ritzy Beverly Hills, not really a Black/ White one. When he called back to the Detroit station there were certainly white cops, including the character played by Judge Reinhold .

If your saying you think that characters with any racial consciousness are compromises I would have to disagree. As a comedian Murphy chose topics that were on his mind, one of which was race. It was only natural that this be incorporated into his movies. This isn't a compromise unless you were never given to touching the issue of race, like a Bill Cosby or Will Smith.