Aloe Blacc doesn’t think directors should make films about slavery.
The 35-year-old singer-songwriter knows films which focus on the plight of black men and women in the slave trade may make good stories, but he thinks more attention needs to be paid to the present rather than the past.
He explained: "I haven’t seen ’12 Years a Slave’ yet but I heard that it’s a great film. It’s just, it would be nice if there was a culture of films that depicted contemporary black stories rather than the same ‘Django (Unchained)’, ’12 Years A Slave’, ‘The Butler’ and ‘The Help’ – subjugated roles.
"There are definite other ways to portray ethnicity and specifically blackness today."
Aloe – whose real name is Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins III – is set to appear in the upcoming James Brown biopic ‘Get on Up’, but he’s admitted that although he’d like to pursue more acting roles he thinks he’ll have to write them himself.
He told BANG Showbiz: "I definitely will [do more acting], but I want all of my film roles to communicate something about me as a person so I’m not just going to choose any role.
"Unfortunately roles for black males are scarce and the ones that exist are definitely not the ones that I think represent black males in a positive light.
"So it could take some time to find the right script, maybe I’ll have to write it myself."
Aloe Blacc: Don’t make slave films
