Zendaya and John David Washington star in "Malcolm & Marie," a rare representation of Black love from Hollywood.
This is what it means to them..
This is what it means to them..
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Short filmTranscript
00:00A real thing that I think a lot of black creatives and filmmakers have the issue with is us kind of having to be, this idea of being boxed in, or having to create a certain kind of thing.
00:14At the end of the day, it's going to be turned into something else because of the fact that we're black.
00:30Some of the conversations we had with all the producers and even the still photographer, people of different races and colors and from walks of life can relate to feeling being boxed in as an artist.
00:48And that's a universal, that's a universal frustration.
00:52And that's what I think ultimately is what I connected to, that it's not just about this African American, these African Americans discussing what they do.
01:03There's always going to be that factor and that part of our identity that will shift how people view our art, which can be frustrating.
01:15And I, like I said, I've had these conversations also with my peers about that.
01:20And so, you know, I don't know how people will view it with this film because I think it is a much smaller part of, I think, the overall message of this film.
01:32I think the messaging of this film, at least for me, what I hope people take from it is gratitude.
01:38You know what I'm saying?
01:46There are moments of romance and moments where you root for this couple, but there's a lot of, I think, darkness and obviously, you know, issues within their relationship.
02:10And I think it all forces us as an audience to kind of hold up a mirror a little bit and check in with ourselves and see ourselves maybe in the characters, the parts of the characters we don't want to.
02:20I tried to make this character thing, I had all my background set and like my background research and it wasn't working.
02:27The honesty was not working. What I actually had, Spike Lee told me, you're enough one time.
02:31He told me that, don't worry about it, don't overthink it, you are enough.
02:35And I had to really tap into that.
02:37I've learned so much from this film about how a film is made.
02:40And I think with that knowledge and with that ability, hopefully I will be part of making those films or making those opportunities to see more Black women in sci-fi, in just relationship pieces, in all things.
02:55I feel like I haven't been able to see that level of representation.
02:59So hopefully I will be a part of that. And hopefully I can be one of those people that can be a part of, I guess, the change I want to see.
03:08It sounds corny, but it is a true thing.