Thread by @SylviaKAlston

Here’s my two cents-

You can truly tell people who do not know business or understand budgets.

Some of the criticisms around #Coming2America have been extreme overreach.

Firstly, I’m tired of seeing the comparisons to Black Panther.

1

Black Panther was a Marvel super hero sci-fi film with a $200 million budget.

Coming to America is a black comedy fantasy on Amazon w/ a $60 million budget.

🤦🏾‍♀️ I guess I can see the correlation w/ 2 fictional countries in Africa & movies starring an all black cast.

2

But we are comparing pears to peaches.

I celebrate what Ryan Coogler was able to do with Black Panther but BP does not exist without Coming 2 America.

Getting a film studio to green light BP w/ the largest budget ever for a black director- took groundwork.

3

It took people like Murphy laying a foundation of cult classic hits like Coming 2 America and Harlem Nights.

Eddie Murphy put together AGAIN a cadre of black legends and often overlooked comedians and actors employing them in an industry that frequently undervalues them.

4

Murphy even challenged & parodied the gender bias which existed in the first film.

This was a feel good family movie that actually asked us to think a little deeper and more critically about our social norms, family issues and cultural traditions than the first installment.

5

We just want to laugh. That’s it. And that’s the problem. There was a charge and a baton passing in that film and many of y’all’s friends and family missed it- too busy focusing on simple aesthetics and criticisms.

I wish we spent half the time fixing our own shit as we do

6

telling everyone else what’s wrong with their art.

Bravo to Eddie Murphy for employing black people, recognizing & honoring our greats and making sure the next nation of leaders are ready to catch the baton pass.

I celebrate Murphy’s legacy.

See the film.

#Coming2America

And PLEASE ignore some of these half ass critics who never went to film school, and can’t run their own personal or professional business with any efficacy or professionalism.