If you log onto Netflix today, you won’t be greeted with the usual home page. Instead, the streaming service is promoting its curated selection of “films, series, and documentaries” about “racial injustice and the Black experience in America.” The Black Lives Matter collection features over 45 titles from Black storytellers, including 13th and When They See Us, both from Ava DuVernay; Best Picture winner Moonlight; and series Orange Is the New Black and Dear White People, as well as Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods, which is out Friday.
“When we say ‘Black Lives Matter,’ we also mean ‘Black storytelling matters.’ With an understanding that our commitment to true, systemic change will take time – we’re starting by highlighting powerful and complex narratives about the Black experience,” Netflix wrote in a statement. “When you log onto Netflix today, you will see a carefully curated list of titles that only begin to tell the complex and layered stories about racial injustice and Blackness in America.” Other titles include Malcolm X, Mudbound (be sure to check out Pariah, too), and Best Documentary Feature nominee Strong Island.
Last week, Netflix tweeted, “To be silent is to be complicit. Black lives matter. We have a platform, and we have a duty to our Black members, employees, creators, and talent to speak up,” although to this date, as NBC News points out, they “have not indicated any changes they will make internally, nor any specific donations. The “Black Lives Matter” collection is a good step, as was pulling four of Chris Lilley’s shows due to “questionable depictions of characters” — but let’s hold a bigger wave of applause for when we see real change.
When we say “Black Lives Matter,” we also mean “Black storytelling matters.”
With an understanding that our commitment to true, systemic change will take time – we’re starting by highlighting powerful and complex narratives about the Black experience.
— Netflix (@netflix) June 10, 2020
(Via Variety)