Black Entertainment : John Amos' Comments About Esther Rolle

[BlackSunlight]

Has there ever been a situation involving Black people and sterns that ended positive for us!?!

True, but the real focus is on what John Amos did. We already know where Stern is coming from (at least most of us anyway).

he's just an actor. you don't even know the dude.. folks have got to learn to separate their feelings for the characters that actors play from the actors themselves. He's not James Evans.. He's John Amos.. a dude you don't even know.. and trust and believe he's not the only one that thought Esther Rolle was ugly.. Who goes on Howard Stern to share profound respectful insight?.. Amos is just getting his money.. gotta make them ends meet from the craddle to the grave.

I remember watching a interview with Jimmy Walker where he said that the cast of the show didn't even talk to each other outside of their lines.. that they just showed up, did their thing and bounced out.. no conversations.. no nothing.. and John was only on the show for what?.. 1 season.. 2?.. Good times was a white show about black people.. and though black people watched it and liked it.. it was still a very white representation of black life. Let's not revise it into something profound.

And you said all of that to say what?

You know, the old tired excuses that are always used to get certain Black-people off the hook is just that… old and tired. They’re actors, they’re this, they’re that… so what. That suppose to exonerate them from having any sense of morals and having respect shown for their people? No, I don’t think so. Then when they get in trouble they always wanna come runnin’ back to the hood crying… just like Michael Jackson did. Yeah, that’s right, I said Michael Jackson (and y’all know what I’m sayin’ is true).

"should".. "deserve"... "okay"... what? what? what?.. John Amos can do what he wants to do.. what does that have to do with "we" or "our". What are we The Borg now? John is in entitled to recall his personal experiences in any form he sees fit... as are you. But all of this talk about what people should do.. and what's okay.. is irrelevant outside of our own circles of influence. And besides that.. there's no way to police every thought and utterance of others.. especially entertainers in the act of entertaining.. stop taking entertainers seriously..

Yo man, I gotta tell it like it is, that's a cop-out. All those instances you sited above are weak excuses for not even having moral-fortitude to call something what it is. No one said they're gonna make Amos do anything. However, people have the right to give their opinion on whether something is right or wrong.

And how does something like that helps us in any way? Exercising the right to stand tall and speak-out, for one.

 

[cherryblossom]

While I was perusing Black Voices, I found a post that made me very angry.

You remember John Amos and Esther Rolle from the Good Times series? Apparently Amos allowed Howard Stern to make some very disparaging remarks about her appearance. He told him that he must've been the greatest actor in the world to call Esther beautiful without "laughing or throwing up." He also said that (despite being ugly) JJ got all the beautiful girls, while he was "stuck" with Florida.

Not once did Amos defend Esther, who was (and is still) an ancestor in heaven. This is even more disrespectful as both of them were laughing at a dead person.

What does this show about our status in Hollywood? Can we really depend on each other with the way things are right now?

If there was a second, black-oriented Hollywood, do you think these incidents would occur?

I'm not defending John Amos here; but does anybody even know if this is TRUE?

YOU saw this on another website....Whoever posted it there probably saw it somewhere else...

Where is the actual interview of John Amos by Howard Stern?

IJS......So many times, stuff like this becomes "urban legends" and most of the time, the people involved don't even dignify it by refuting it.

 

[BlackSunlight]

^ True that, I did look for it and couldn't find it. You do have a point.

 

[MsVeraisblessed]

i'm hafta agree with cherryblossom. i see this post was 3 yrs old and OP is no longer here. i couldnt find that actual video of this interview. maybe someone has better way of getting it..

 

[cherryblossom]

.. and John was only on the show for what?.. 1 season.. 2?.....

Actually, 3 seasons.....They killed off the character of James at the beginning of the 4th season.