Hollywood Shuffle (1987)

Cast
Bobby Taylor - Robert Townsend
Stevie Taylor - Craigus R. Johnson
Uncle Ray - David McKnight
Donald - Keenen Ivory Wayans
Lydia - Anne-Marie Johnson

Synopsis
Bobby Taylor is an actor who aspires to get various different types of roles, but it seems that the only ones he's able to get are stereotypical. This film follows him as goes through the audition process for a movie. We often get a peek into his thoughts by seeing some of his daydreams. In the end, Bobby has a serious decision to make; whether he can play these roles or not.

This film is a satire and as funny and ridiculous as satires can be, there's always truth in them. This is true for Hollywood Shuffle. With this film we are getting a peek into life as a Black actor in Hollywood. We see the struggles that they face, specifically in this film, with the lack of diverse roles that they're offered.
There were two things that I really loved about this movie. One is the moral to the story. The first part of the massage is to the actors and lets them know that they don't have to play these roles. The second part is to the writers and lets them know that they are responsible for writing diverse roles for Black actors to play. These stereotypical roles shouldn't be written and actors shouldn't feel like they have to portray these roles just to have a job and be successful.
The other thing that I loved is how it all came full circle at the end. Bobby's grandmother said many times that Bobby didn't have to take this movie job playing this stereotypical role and that there are always jobs at the post office. Now when he quits you can think that he's going to apply for a job at the post office. But he ends up finding a job acting in a commercial for the post office. Bobby was able to make his grandmother happy without giving up on his dream. That's another great message of this movie; never give up.

Pic credit