The tricky part about a docuseries like “Hollywood Black,” particularly if you have a deep knowledge of your chosen topic, is realizing that it will probably never be as comprehensive as you’d like. After all, the four-part series directed by Justin Simien (“Dear White People”), adapted from the book of the same name by film historian Donald Bogle, is set to premiere on MGM+, which isn’t really a historically-minded network or streaming platform like TCM or the Criterion Channel. Recalibrating one’s expectations, in that sense, is crucial.
And yet, a docuseries can’t be judged on intent alone. Simien assembles an impressive roster of talking heads — scholars, stars, directors and producers — to talk about Hollywood history from a Black perspective. His thesis is solid — Black people are imperative to Hollywood’s existence — and the joy he injects into the subject is pure. But there never seems to be enough substance to match his enthusiasm.
The short length of “Hollywood Black” often betrays its noble desires. Take, for example, the first hour, which attempts to encompass more than sixty years of black film history in less than an hour. The chronology of early black film productions is thus streamlined into a more orderly timeline. A pioneer like Nina Mae McKinney is not mentioned, while Josephine Baker receives only a passing nod (the docuseries instead focuses on Fredi Washington, an equally imperative figure). At one point, Issa Rae claims that no other black director was producing and directing films except Oscar Micheaux. The broad statement ignores creators like Richard D. Maurice and the Noble brothers and George Johnson.
There is an initial tension in the first episode. While scholars like Racquel Gates, Jacqueline Stewart and Bogle provide deep context, the celebrity speakers, armed with a basic historical foundation, reduce the past to broad, generic observations. That tension is emblematic of Simien trying to balance the investigative component of the docuseries and accessibility, with the latter part purposeful in spotlighting the famous participants.
While the docuseries includes plenty of Black female directors as talking heads — Ava DuVernay, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Cheryl Dunye, Melina Matsoukas, Lena Waithe and more — the actual screen time devoted to films by Black women is barely sufficient. How do you make a documentary about Black female filmmakers and not include Kathleen Collins? Outside of “The Watermelon Woman” and “Daughters of the Dust,” when the series does discuss Black female directors, it’s those operating primarily in Hollywood. While that decision is understandable, to a degree — the series is called “Hollywood Black,” after all — it erases pivotal pieces of Black film history. Barely any contemporary Black female directors are included, the same goes for creatives like Ayoka Chenzira, Cauleen Smith, Zeinabu irene Davis and more.
Again, Simien only had a limited time, and aiming for comprehensiveness is almost a futile task. And yet, what is cut to save time is equally revealing. Ultimately, “Hollywood Black” is a history lesson told from a male perspective with only a few diversions into the contributions of black women.
There are enough elements missing from “Hollywood Black” that it almost blinds the historical richness that is present. Very few mainstream documentaries, for example, have tried to provide context to blackface and the practice of minstrelsy. The genius of Bert Williams shows. The unreleased and little-known silent feature “Lime Kiln Field Day” (1913), starring Williams, is placed in its proper context as the oldest surviving feature film with a black cast (currently streaming on the Criterion Channel).
Charles Lane, the director of “Sidewalk Stories,” is also a standout. And while it’s heartening to see Bill Greaves’ boundary-pushing mockumentary “Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One” discussed, the conversation between Simien and DuVernay, where the former gives his own bizarre interpretation of Greaves’ film, can be painful to watch, if only because the critique offered doesn’t seem well-considered.
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