And the Award Goes To . . . .
Octavia's victory (by the way, she rocked a gorgeous Tadashi Shoji lavender chiffon draped V-neck gown with jewel details) because according to Nielsen, the Golden Globes does not rank in the top 10 of Awards Programs viewed by African-Americans.
The top three Cheryl Pearson-McNeil
Awards Show season is here! The whirlwind season honoring the best of what and who we watch onscreen (both large and small) officially kicked off with the Golden Globes. Even if Awards Shows aren't your thing, you can't deny that you didn't feel pride when you heard or read (if you didn't watch) that the fabulous Octavia Spencer won a golden stat- uette for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for The Help, and gave the most moving acceptance speech of the evening, paraphrasing the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Chances are you didn't watch
2011 shows were the Grammy Awards, BETAwards and Academy Awards, which attracted 4.1 million, 3.9 million and 2.5 million Black viewers respectively. The research validates the very common sense fact that we are more inclined to watch TV shows and movies that most heavily include people who look like us.
Case-in-point: African-American viewership for the 2010 Academy Awards was up a whopping 43 per- cent over the previous year. We rep- resented 11 percent of the 26.8 mil- lion Americans who tuned in. That's because we had major representa- tion in 2010 and therefore a vested interest in participating in Hollywood's biggest night vicari- ously from our living rooms. 2010, of course, was the year of Precious, giving Mo'Nique a Best Supporting Actress Oscar.
Newcomer
Gabourey Sidibe was nominated for Best Actress.
Morgan Freeman
(who was honored at this year's Golden Globes with the prestigious Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award from none other than Sidney Poitier) walked away with a golden statue for Best Actor in Invictus.
This year's season could be compa- rable to the 2010 season. If Oscar buzz is on point, both Viola Davis and Spencer will receive Oscar nominations for their roles in The Help as best Actress and Best Supporting Actress at this year's Academy Awards. I'm going to be glued to the screen to see how well our girls do and which designers they'll be wearing (wouldn't it be great if they each rocked a Black designer's gown)? Given our view- ing trends, I suspect more of us would be even more inclined to watch this year if Eddie Murphy hadn't dropped out as the host. But we'll see come February 26. The movie industry generates approximately $12 billion in annual revenue in theaters.
African
Americans account for 11 percent of moviegoers. The most frequent
Chatham Walmart donates to several organizations
moviegoers in our community are 12-17 year-olds and 45-54 year- olds. Blacks are more likely to pre- fer action adventure flicks, followed by comedies. Red Tails, the powerful George Lucas film about the courageous Tuskegee Airmen recently opened. Did you exercise your consumer power and rush to see it? Opening weekend it claimed the #2 spot at the Box Office bringing in more than $19 million according to the Hollywood Reporter. Kudos to George Lucas for telling one of our stories!
Dealing with Hollywood isn't rock- et science people. We whine and complain about not having enough movies that reflect us. But we know that whining and complaining amongst ourselves doesn't cut it. If we want to prove our clout we have to show up and put our money where our complaining mouths are, because Hollywood speaks fluent “Green”- as in mulah, cash or money. Both advertising and mar- keting dollars, as well as film distri- bution, are based on the early per- formance of each release, which explains why some films are here
today, gone tomorrow. Ticket sales data is released based on the Friday (starting at 12:01 a.m.) through Saturday sales and Sunday esti- mates. We hear/read about the “top five” rated movies on Monday. A notable exception to that rule was The Help, which opened in the #2 spot last August; then shot to #1 - thanks to word of mouth and the controversy surrounding the film - then stayed there for three weeks, grossing $169,585,995. POWER! Lastly, I have the honor once again, of being a member of the Selection Committee for the 42nd NAACP Image Awards (the 41st Image Awards ranked #8 on the top 10 of Awards Programs for African- Americans in 2011), which airs on a new network this year on February 17. Hmmm.
What to
wear and how to style my hair? Decisions, decisions. For all of us.
Cheryl Pearson-McNeil is senior vice president of Public Affairs and Government Relations for Nielsen. For more information and studies go to
www.nielsenwire.com
Urban Parntership opens in bank-starved Bronzeville
Days before the Jan. 25 grand opening of the city's second Walmart store, 83rd St. and Stewart Ave. in the 21st Ward led by Ald. Howard Brookins, Walmart donated $19,000 to seven community-based organizations and a high school. Simeon Career Academy and St. James Food Pantry each received $5,000; Shoeheals Inc. $4,000; Project Simeon $2,000; and Daughters of Destiny, Totally Positive Production and The Rise Foundation each received $1,000. Photo: Special to the Defender
8 Chicago Defender •
ChicagoDefender.com • January 25-31, 2012
Elected officials, community and religious leaders, along with William Farrow, President and CEO of Urban Partnership Bank, celebrate the arrival of low-cost banking services and the new resource for catalyzing economic development for the Bronzeville community. The bank sits on the southeast corner of 35th Street and South Michgian Avenue.
Defender/Worsom Robinson
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