Milroy, I strongly disagree with your assessment of Red Tails. In this article not one redeeming aspect of the film is highlighted. How unfortunate! Red Tails certainly has its strengths and weakness, but what movie doesn’t?The movie depicted the Tuskegee airmen as strong African American males who succeeded in the midst of extreme duress. This movie has absolutely no reference to hip-hop and is by no means happy-go-lucky. Yes, one pilot plays the banjo but does any association to music inevitably lead to hip-hop? I think not. Music is cathartic and a worthy medium to express oneself. Beyond that, while jokes were intermittently dispersed throughout the movie, many of those jokes referenced important underlying themes. Take, for example, the joke quoted in this article: ““If somebody asks me something about the war,” a black airman says, “I’m going to make something up.” The pilot was referencing the blatant discrimination that prevented their infantry from receiving missions. Using jokes to attack institutional racism is most certainly not fool hardy. I think it’s quite clever actually.

The soldiers I saw were just as distinctive as those in Saving Private Ryan if not more. One pilot flew head on into enemy fire to save a friend’s life. That is truly courage in action. Another pilot risked his life by drawing attention to himself just to save a fellow soldier’s life. That is distinction personified. Just because the movie may not fit into stereotypes of what a typical war movie should be, does that make it any less well made? Again, I think not. It’s time we stop letting preconceived notions keep us from seeing strengths of a good movie. Even if we disagree on how the movie was presented, shouldn’t we agree that it highlighted a momentous achievement in American history? No, it may not be like other war movies and no it is not perfect. It’s novel and I think we should accept it as such. No more but certainly not less.