The great debate about whether films that depict Black stories placed against the backdrop of American history’s dark side are a form of healing or, conversely, a reopening of long-expressed wounds, is nuanced and unneat. Consistently, the most celebrated prestige films that center the Black experience or feature predominantly Black casts — like this year’s Devotion, Emancipation and Till, plus previous Oscar winners Judas and the Black Messiah, Selma and 12 Years a Slave — have been historical narratives repackaged and reanimated for modern audiences. And, most often, they operate in the register of adversity and trauma, which is, at best, a lopsided representation of the vast dynamism of Black American life and, at worst, retrigger new generations of viewers who deserve fresh stories and lighter fare.
To this end,…
