That movie might be out there for him, but ID wasn't that kind of movie. Smith's career hadn't stretched that far by that time.
Like most actors, he was typed cast. No argument there. And like you said, Will Smith's box office draw is not as a scientist. But that's part of my point.
Will Smith was just as much a stereotype of any action hero.
I'm not claiming that he's the only one stereotyped. Or that white actors are not stereotyped. Someone who doesn't look like a scientist, is less likely to get a role as a scientist. I'm not saying he should have been cast as the scientist.
If you want to point out a stereotype in that movie, it would have to be his love interest played by Vivica Fox.
I don't really remember her too well, but this sounds a bit subjective. You may very well be right, but she may have simply been more blatantly a stereotype.
I remember the 70s. I was in my twenties during the 70s. There was a line between black action movies and black exploitation movies. You have to take each movie and its message into account. Who wrote and produced the movie also counted.
Exploitation is not a movie category like action, science fiction, drama, etc. I don't think there was a distinct line between black action, and black exploitation. Some of the movies were better done, had better movie score, better cast, etc. Some of them may have been more profoundly exploitive than others.
Shaft was black action, Dolemite was black exploitation. The movie generally considered today by people who weren't there to be the first blaxploitation move was "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song," but in our opinion at the time, it was the first movie with the message black people wanted to hear and say.
Shaft and Superfly were 2 of the more respected movies. Some of these characters were similar to James Bond. A flattering role. Males who run off to Hollywood to get into the movies imagine themselves getting these type of roles. They don't aspire to getting embarrassing roles some fall into, like being turned into a piece of excrement (Weird Science), or getting beat up by Mel Gibson while he's acting like Moe from The 3 Stooges (Lethal Weapon), etc. Even in the Church, when us males give a testimony of a prior sinful lifestyle, we present it in a
James Bond fashion. Sort of a
What would James Bond do? sort of thing.
Are these flattering roles like Shaft and Superfly harmful? In and of themselves, probably not. But it might depend on which if any contribute to the negative
gangsta image like some rap allegedly is said to do. Or, if an individual doesn't mind being used for a facade of liberal support. Norman Lear, in my opinion, was a good example of this. His MO was to contend with Christian conservatism. All In The Family was not an anti-racism sit-com. He was careful about using the "N" word, but had no problem using the "J" word for a Japanese, or the "C" word for a Chinese. It was an anti-Christian/conservative/WASP sitcom, employing a facade of supporting Black Americans. Thus the over-the-top White conservative bigot named Archie Bunker. Thus the liberal corrective voice of Michael Stivic and his daughter Gloria, and the child-like mind of his wife too innocent to hold prejudice named Edith. Thus the intrusive relative of Edith (or friend of her family?) named Maude, who portrayed his aggressive liberal female counterpart. The show pushed liberalism, not anti-racism.
Racism in comedy has always been a commodity. It never goes away, just repackaged to to fit current sensitivities. For years, Asian stereotypes were comfortably used in American media. Eventually mostly silent Asian activist groups protested against demeaning stereotypes, which is why we see a slight improvement on how they're portrayed. If they hadn't protested, we, liberals and all would feel completely comfortable with the stereotypes, because racial stereotypes
sell in movies and TV. We're not going to just give them up that easy. If the protest becomes strong enough, we'll discard some Asian stereotypes, some Hispanic stereotypes, and even some gay stereotypes. In the case of the Civil Right Movement, a complete about face was made, removing the Stepin Fetchit character for the Shaft character.
To keep black stereotype humor alive in the past few decades required clever tactics like those of Mel Brooks, Lisa Lampanelli, and Norman Lear.
The black comedians of the past like Mantan Moreland, Tim Moore, and Spencer Williams, whether justified or not, have been demonized. Their white counterparts (Abbott and Costello, Laurel and Hardy, 3 Stooges) are now heroes.
