Melody CooperNov 28, 2022
I just found a letter I wrote when I was a kid to Mr. Steven Spielberg c/o Columbia Pictures: “I have been impressed and thrilled by your films beauty, craftsmanship and sensitivity, and by your ability to create worlds I can escape into. There is only one strong criticism I have… I’ve seen every major film you have made, and not once can I recall seeing a major character being played by a Black actor or actress. I thought I’d appeal to you to use ethnic actors.“
Oh, yes I did.
Show threadMattDec 2, 2022
@MelodyCooper Great letter. Did you get a reply?
Show threadMelody CooperDec 4, 2022
@matt I did not.
Show threadDoc Edward Morbius ⭕​Dec 4, 2022

@MelodyCooper Does Amistad count for anything, in the sense of a reply?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amistad_(film)

@matt

Amistad (film) - Wikipedia

Show threadDoc Edward Morbius ⭕​Dec 4, 2022

@MelodyCooper More relevant to your letter, he wrote Black roles into West Side Story, despite that not being focused on a Black topic specifically, or having Blacks in the original Jerome Robbins script.

(And FWIW, the original Broadway and West End casting was notably short on Latinx actors.)

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/19/entertainment/steven-spielberg-black-characters-west-side-story-curtiss-cook-intl-scli/index.html

You may have had an influence?

@matt

Show threadMelody Cooper
@dredmorbius @matt Probably not (but it was before The Color Purple!) Yes, that was good to see Afro Latinos in West Side Story. To note: Spielberg made 29 films before WSS. The films I was most surprised he continued to leave major black characters out of: Jurassic Park, AI, Minority Report, War of the Worlds. We’re in the Jim Crow and slavery films. Or in small roles otherwise.
Dec 4, 2022 at 4:27amWeb
Show threadDoc Edward Morbius ⭕​Dec 4, 2022

@MelodyCooper Oh, I hear you.

I'm just noting that he did seem to change his ways, at some point.

I suspect due to having that matter brought to his attention.

@matt