Franz Jones
In Praise of Black Women...
Where Have All My Sisters Gone?
Hollywood, Broadway, and the Disappearance of the Black DIVA!!! 

I can remember seeing such stars as Pearl Bailey, Dorothy Dandridge, Eartha Kitt, Diahann Carroll, Lena Horne, Mahalia Jackson, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Katherine Dunham, and to a lesser extent, Ruby Dee, Maidie Norman, Gail Fisher, Cicely Tyson, and Diana Sands.... In the 1970s the “blaxploitation” period arose when Hollywood studios, many of them facing bankruptcy and losing more ground to television, came upon the unique idea of repackaging old scripts and devices and selling them to the Black audience.... Black actresses often have to make a meal out of leftovers and crackers and cheese while Caucasian actresses are (some say arguably) feasting on meaty roles in ALL media!

Franz Jones
Denzel Washington: Actor and Matinee Idol...
The Fulfillment of Every Black Woman’s Dream
Or Lover Man Oh Where Can You Be?

For many, but not all, African American women of almost every age, socioeconomic level, stripe, form and fashion, he is the ultimate “Love God,” the man upon whom they hang their most romantic, domestic, sexual, and economic fantasies.... Wait a minute!   Let’s stop this cinematic vision for a moment.   Does this really happen in the films of Denzel Washington?   EXACTLY what has Brother Washington done in the movies to be lionized as the romantic hero of most Black women’s dreams?  

Franz Jones
Why Did I Get Married Too?/Just Wright

I saw the previously released Why Did I Get Married?, and while I found it a lightly entertaining comedy-drama, I didn’t think it would move the cause of African American moviemaking further in any significant way.  Therefore I was very surprised when he chose to produce a sequel.... Just Wright is a charming little comedy in which Queen Latifah plays a rabid sports fan who also happens to be a physical therapist, and in a serendipitous moment gets to meet and connect with her all time favorite basketball player.