Is Roppongi Heights a Bad Representation of Black Women?

I remember when I first came up with the idea for Roppongi Heights. It wasn’t a profound moment or anything. Although it did start off as a one-off project, I remember thinking in my head how nervous I was to create a story that would depict Black people in such a negative light. While at its core RH is supposed to be a comedy, these women would be drugging a man here and trying to steal his money. In the real world, it’s not exactly a situation to be taken lightly.

When I was first pitching the idea around a thought kept bouncing in my head, “Is it okay to make this type of movie? Does this depict Black women in a negative light?” And unsurprisingly it came up in conversation several times as well. When I was casting for the role of the “man” although many people were interested they were questioning me as to why I would think to make a film that showed Black women breaking the law in Japan. At least for my first film, I should be more cautious than that right? There was also this little gem that was posted within the first-week movie being available online.

They deleted it but I still got their ass!

Fuck Respectability Politics

Prior to filming, I did think about scrapping the idea because I was scared of feedback like this. But that thought quickly left my head after watching Ocean’s 8 featuring Sandra Bullock pulling off a heist during the Met Gala. That series is full of white people breaking not only national but federal laws and nobody assumes that’s what all white people do.

One of my favorite movies

Ted Bundy and Jeffery Dahmer are two of the most notorious serial killers in the world, and yet every year there’s a new movie released detailing their crimes, and nobody bats an eye. In fact, they’re exposed to a new audience and even gain fans (shudder). There’s never a rally of white people pleading for Hollywood to stop airing their dirty laundry. However, when it comes to Black and Brown people we have to be conscious of the fact that some people can’t tell the difference between reality and fiction.

While I do think Black people should strive to create more positive imagery for our community, I also realize that we’re multifaceted people and we don’t have to perform for anyone. We should be able to shake ass at a function one day then put on a suit and lead a meeting without missing a beat. I can create stories that are just simply fun without having to think about the greater implications of responsible representation.

Taking Ownership

I wrote this article some time ago on the “white gaze” and its effect on storytelling from POC, and every once in a while I have to go back and refer to it to remind myself that the source of my doubts is worrying about how palatable my work is to white audiences. But I need to remember that I don’t make art for white consumption. I create art to speak to and represent a portion of society that has largely been forgotten. Sometimes they’ll be feel-good stories, other times they’ll be a reflection of society's dark side. But one thing is for certain my stories will always have a bit of truth sprinkled in.