Podcast / Black Men Can't Jump (In Hollywood)

Black Men Can't Jump (In Hollywood) is a humorous a weekly comedy film podcast hosted by Jonathan Braylock, Jerah Milligan, and James III.

Per their own description, the show was:

"Forged from a Facebook wall argument over Martin Lawrence's performance in Blue Streak, Black Men Can't Jump is a podcast that reviews the films of leading black actors and discusses them in the context of Hollywood's race problem."

Following this lead, the show focuses on "The Cause", i.e. more leading roles for non-white, and especially black, creators in modern day Hollywood.

Originally launching on July 26th, 2015, and with over 300 episodes to date.

Black Men Can't Jump provides examples of:

• Ambiguously Brown: Early on, the hosts indulge in the occasional running gag where they try to figure out the ethnicity of Dwayne Johnson. They eventually conclude he counts as a black man (he's actually a biracial mix of African American and Samoan). They also have to remind themselves that Keanu Reeves is not white (also biracial: half white/half Chinese-Hawaian).
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Jerah complains for several episodes that there is not a modern day biopic for Harriet Tubman or Frederick Douglass. Come the review of Harriet, all three hosts are immensely disappointed, feeling that the film did not demonstrate the truly amazing accomplishments of Tubman, and instead was both boring and possessing too much historical revisionism.
• Berserk Button: Understandable, given that the show often touches on the racist practices that STILL pop up in the production of Hollywood films.
  • Artistic License – History: Either Hollywood's tendency to refuse to give depth to black historical figures, or their refusal to show just how awesome many of them truly were.
  • But Not Too Black: Because it follows the trend of Colorism, which denies roles to black actors who are deemed to be too dark in complexion by Hollywood executives.
  • Executive Meddling: Especially when the meddling furthers racist practices both in-front-of and behind the camera.
  • Sidelong Glance Biopics: Specifically the variety that are marketed as having a historically famous black protagonist, but in actuality are about Token White characters meeting these historical figures. This comes at the expense of depth and character development given the the nominal black leads. The three hosts can barely get through reviews of 42 and The Last King of Scotland without rage quitting the episodes.
  • The film Green Book from start to finish.
• Crossover: They crossed over with fellow film podcast Blank Check to analyze the film Detroit.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: The Cause originally was solely for black men getting more leading roles in Hollywood films. The hosts later upgrade this to also include black women, and later all other leading, non-white actors.
• Fix Fic: Of the erotic variety. Jerah loves "The Swirl".
• Gosh Dang It to Heck!: Braylock almost never swears, while Jerah and James are both Sir Swears-a-Lot. This emphasizes the O.O.C. Is Serious Business when Braylock breaks down and curses out Green Book.
  Braylock: What the FLIP?!?
• Once an Episode:
  • Jonathan will try to subtly slip the title of the episode's subject into the conversation, with mixed results.
  • James will try to determine whether certain Will Smith films, such asHancock, Gemini Man, or Collateral Beauty are actually good. He later takes to trying to write a Fix Fic scenario, where Shaq's character from Steel makes an appearance in whatever movie they are discussing.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Braylock, who never swears, actually breaks down and curses out Green Book at one point.
• Running Gag: Jerah hates it if a leading black actor is not given a love interest, especially if their co-lead is a white female character that seems set up this way. To correct this, he will often present what he calls "The Swirl", where he pitches a piece of erotic Fan Fiction as a means of correcting the problem. He even does so with imagined characters if no white women appear in the film. He recites it while stereotypically "sexy" music plays in the background.
• Spiritual Licensee: All three hosts spend a good chunk of their review of Black Box discussing how it pretty much feels like an extended episode of Black Mirror.
• Squee: The hosts are unabashed in their love of Wesley Snipes' portrayal of Blade.
• Where da White Women At?: Jerah especially likes seeing black men hookup with white women in movies.
• The Whitest Black Guy: The hosts love Will Smith, but sometimes view him as being this, as he is one of the very few non-white actors who: Hollywood allows to take on roles originally written for white actors, and have films that do very well across audience demographics without being labelled as "Black Films".