Page 4 - Florida Sentinel 2-22-19

Editorial/Column
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No Love For Will Packer
T wenty years ago, I re- member sitting at my computer and being told by my editor that I had to inter- view two young directors, one of whom was from the Tampa Bay Area, about a movie they were preparing to release. Since part of my job was covering all aspects of the entertainment industry, I was more than happy to give a couple of aspiring brothers the exposure they needed to become successful in their
field.
Due to the fact that they
were just getting their com- pany, Rainforest Produc- tions, off the ground they didn't have a lot of money to pay for an elaborate market- ing campaign. So, along with driving around Tampa and St. Petersburg in a wrapped promotional van, passing out fliers and putting up posters, having someone like myself write a story on them, in the largest Black circulated newspaper in the State, fit right into their limited budget.
When it was all said and done their first film, Tois, preformed well enough in theaters to warrant them making several sequels and the two directors, Rob Hardy and Will Packer, went on to produce and di- rect a series of blockbusters including, Takers, Think Like A Man, and Ride Along.
Now Packer, a native of South St. Pete and graduate of Florida A&M University, is back in the news cycle with yet another potential hit to add to his resume with the movie What Men Want, starring Taraji P. Henson, currently in circulation worldwide.
While it's definitely great to see a local product reach such incredible heights on an international scale, it disap- points me that much of that success hasn't had a trickle- down effect on Packer's hometown. To my knowl- edge, in his two decades of filmmaking, Packer has never shot a single scene of
any of his projects anywhere in the Bay Area.
You would think, with the plethora of screenplays that probably cross his desk dur- ing a typical week, that at least one of those ideas could be set somewhere in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Lakeland or Sarasota. But, for some reason though, Packer has refused to put the city and area that raised him in the spotlight.
If avoiding hometowns, as places to work, was the norm for Hollywood direc- tors I wouldn't have much of a problem with Packer fol- lowing a set standard. But, when you consider that such iconic movie makers as Spike Lee, Martin Scors- ese, John Singleton, and even Tyler Perry make a habit of using the places that reared them as centerpieces for their films, it makes the stench of Packer’s snubbing
even more foul.
When I think about all of
the actors, musicians, set de- signers, choreographers and businesses in the Bay Area that could benefit from being a part of a Packer produc- tion, it's heartbreaking to know that many of these peo- ple may never have an op- portunity to shine because one of their own, who has the power to change their lives, doesn't feel the need to reach back to assist them as he was assisted early in his career.
As much as I still admire Packer for everything he's accomplished since his hum- ble beginnings when we first met, it's impossible for me to respect someone who could so easily forget where he came from. Of course, I don't wish him any ill will. But, at the same time, I also don't believe in continuing to show love and support for some- one who's proven time and time again that he has no de- sire to give that same level of affection back in return.
Reality On Ice is © by the Florida Sentinel Bul- letin Publishing Com- pany. You can contact Mr. Barr at: cbar- ronice@gmail.com.
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C. Blythe Andrews 1901-1977 (1945)
C. Blythe Andrews, Jr. 1930-2010 (1977)
Doomsday 2035
uring the 2020 elections, the single most impor-
tant question that we should ask candidates is, “Do you believe in global warming?” If they hem and haw or say “No,” you should be the first person in line to vote against that candidate and any other candidate seeking public office with that answer.
Why? Because if you, your children or grandchil- dren will be alive in 2035, you will want to kick yourself for ignorance. Indeed, 2035 is the projected “point of no return” for our planet and climate change if we don’t immediately begin actions and change behaviors, today.
Coming from 2018 as the hottest year on record for the planet and surveying the past five years of planet successively hot temperatures, we don’t need to debate the question. All we need to know is that the City of Miami Beach, Florida, and the town of Isle de Jean Charles, in Louisiana, are clear cut barometers of what America and other coastal cities will be like.
Having already lost five Pacific islands to rising seas as a warning, America is planning to spend 48 million dollars to relocate the citizens of Isle de Jean Charles, Louisiana, forty miles north of their present location.
Since 1950, the Gulf of Mexico has been encroaching on the community to the point that 98 percent of the land is now underwater. Climatologists predict that Isle de Charles is “likely to disappear underwater dur- ing the lifetime of its child residents.”
Today, America is planning to relocate a small com- munity. Tomorrow, it will be cities like Key West, Miami, and New York.
If we, who are living today, don’t take steps to im- prove earth’s climate now, our children and grandchil- dren will be trying to survive food shortages, submerged highways and train tracks, underwater air- ports, droughts, mega-hurricanes, increasing diseases caused or transported by insects, heat-related deaths, and increased incidents of allergies, asthma and the negative impact of lost plant landscape.
If we fail to act, our children will curse us, and the future we leave for our children will be bankrupt. We urge you to take action now!
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