M&V: So, what is the marketing lesson from Obama '08?

Mr. Pichirallo: The lesson is, Don't assume past performance dictates future results. Obama has not run as a "black" candidate. The world is changing. Our culture is changing. You have to change with it.

-Film producer Joe Pichirallo, in an interesting interview about how movies with predominately black casts are beginning to outperform expectations at the box office

Surprise, minorities: Hollywood doesn't like casting us as leads in films, even if that means completely shifting around facts to accommodate white actors.

Although director Spike Lee just dressed down the wizened Clint Eastwood for not including black extras in his WWII dramas, a new ABC News article takes issue with the way Hollywood consistently uses whites to fill major roles written for blacks, Hispanics and Asians. To wit:

In the new movie "Stuck," which opened last week, actress Mena Suvari plays a young woman named Brandi, who, after a night of partying, strikes a homeless man with her car, sending him through her windshield, and leaves him to die.

The plot is based on the real-life story of Texas woman Chante Mallard…

Mallard is African-American. Suvari, the blonde, blue-eyed beauty from "American Beauty" and the "American Pie" movies, is not. But she does wear cornrows to play the role of Brandi.

Also recently manipulated to remove minorities was 21, the story of an MIT "whiz kid" who went to Vegas and made a killing counting cards. In reality, the student is Asian American, but a white Englishman was cast to play him.

To get an explanation about why minority actors and actresses are being neglected in favor of whites, do what you do every time you have a question about this really demented world: follow the money:

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Our Diddy got himself a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Friday, accompanied by his brood of children and the mother of most of them, Kim Porter. He spoke to People about how this star is only the beginning. Diddy wants to do big things in Hollywood.

"I think that it's important for me to mature and evolve as an artist," Combs he said. “I'm trying to get my Black Bruce Willis on.”

The black Bruce Willis? That's it? Are we still in the 90s? All due respect to Bruce Willis and his past career highlights, but this is the first time I've known Diddy to be so unambitious. But I suppose there's already a black Will Smith.

Wherein you, the readers, talk amongst yourselves.

We know the few black stars that get respect, but who do you think are the most underrated black actors and actresses in Hollywood and why?

According to box office figures, Will Smith is the last reliable rainmaker in Hollywood.

Of the 25 top grossing films of 2007, just four highlighted major movie stars—the lowest number in recorded history. George Clooney and Will Ferrell, both of whom have been veritable goldmines in the past, each recently released films that tanked, Leatherheads and Semi-Pro, respectively. Brad Pitt's The Assassination of Jesse James made just $4 million domestically and was in very few theaters. Indeed, supercelebrities are losing their luster. But, somehow, Smith — whose hit I Am Legend was the sixth biggest movie last year — remains a guaranteed draw.

In an industry not known for its willingness to put a lot of faith — and money — into black talent, why is Smith an exception to the rule? Are his projects that superior to those of others? (His acting sure isn't.) Why is this man unstoppable? And why has nobody yet put him on Broadway?

If the unstoppable, international appeal of Will Smith: Superstar wasn't already glaringly obvious, it is now. The state-run China Film Group, which not been letting Hollywood films show in the country, has lifted the ban for Will Smith's Pursuit of Happyness, renamed Happiness Knocks on the Door.

The unofficial ban of imported films, earlier denied by China Film Group executives, was thought to have come down from high in the Communist government, which long has moved to prevent what it calls "pollution" of local culture and to protect the struggling Chinese film industry, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Will and Jaden apparently present no threats in the arena of local culture pollution. The film will be in Chinese theaters next month.

Combining one of the cheesiest men in Hollywood (Will Smith) with one of the cheesiest things celebs do in Hollywood (the foot & handprint ceremony at Grauman's Chinese Theatre), makes for a photo op of epic, corny proportions. This one includes funny faces, cute kids, puppy dogs, sexually-suggestive-yet-goofy poses, and, last but not least, Tom Cruise.

[WI]

Alicia Keys plays Scarlett Johansson's confidante in The Nanny Diaries, and, although the movie is new, the role is not. She's the BBF — the black best friend — and she appears alongside (or rather, slightly behind) the white female lead in countless movies and television shows.

The BBF syndrome isn't something that Hollywood likes to talk about, even as it continues to be a winking in-joke among blacks in the industry. One African American actress said that she and her actress friends tease one another about forming a support group for characters who had to help out their "woefully helpless white girls."

But on a more serious note, the trend of BBFs underscores the limitations that African American actresses still face more than five years after Halle Berry's Oscar-winning performance as best actress in a leading role for "Monster's Ball." Despite impressive résumés, solid credentials and successful achievements, many of the black actresses who have played BBFs are rarely offered the heroine role in mainstream projects. Not one black actress will star in a prime-time series on the four major networks this fall season.

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In the race to be the coolest candidate, Barack Obama has stayed ahead of Hillary Clinton by a nose — special YouTube music videos, record-breaking numbers of MySpace friends, and an Obama reggaeton song have helped. She is ahead of him in the polls, so this is a small victory, of course, but Obama's celebrity followers further cement his hip status. According to the NY Daily News, they're younger and cooler than Clinton's.

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I'm shocked this hasn't happened before, but the first lawsuit brought on by the federal government against a Hollywood studio for racial discrimination began today. Oddly enough, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is accusing Universal Pictures of discrimination in the firing of a black first assistant director on the set of 2 Fast 2 Furious, a movie starring Tyrese and directed by John Singleton.

John Singleton testified in a deposition that he was too busy and under too much pressure to finish his film, so he didn't get a chance to complain about the firing until later. He did say that he felt as if the man had been fired because of his race. I would think that John Singleton would not be one to let some racial injustice go down on his watch, but I suppose an artist at work is blind to everything else. And thank goodness he kept his mind on the job. Look at what a masterpiece 2 Fast 2 Furious turned out to be!

[LAT]

Dear Hollywood,

If you haven't noticed, I'm really into you. I write about you all the time and have pretty much been exposed to your product — movies and television — since I left the womb. The daughter of a black and white film buff, I grew up watching black characters in movies from your past, like Sam (of "play it again" fame) in Casablanca and Mammy in Gone With The Wind. The sad thing is, Hollywood, after all of these decades we still haven't really risen that far above beloved, musically-inclined sidekicks or maternal caregivers that are quick with one-liners, have we? Of course we have our big ticket stars, Denzel and Will, who, despite appearing in a disproportionately large number of cop movies, can pretty much do what they want. But the women? Halle Berry is supposed to be our biggest star, our Oscar winner, but the quality roles aren't exactly rolling in for her –unless she produces them herself.

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According to the U.S. Census, fewer people identify themselves as multiracial than they used to. If they would just make Cablinasian an option on the survey, we wouldn't have this problem. [USAT]

Blacks can run for office, but no one wants us running their campaigns. [Politico]

Marlyand may lighten its penalties for drug crimes. Does this mean the Barksdale crew will get released from prison? [WP]

The money put behind this study, a great feat of science that discovered white men dominate Hollywood (that can't be right!) could have gone toward recruiting more blacks in entertainment, or better yet, AIDS research and helping Darfur. [IHT]

Fifty years after Central High School was integrated, race wars continue behind the scenes of Little Rock schools. [NYT]