Why showing up for ‘You, Me & Tuscany’ actually matters
TheGrio...
The success of Halle Bailey and Regé-Jean Page’s “You, Me & Tuscany” could unlock a new wave of Hollywood investments in Black storytelling.
We’ve heard it a thousand times: when one of us wins, we all win. But leave it to Hollywood to remind us just how literally that rings true.
This week, award-winning writer, director, and actor Nina Lee revealed that behind the scenes, all eyes are on “You, Me & Tuscany” for more reasons than its star-studded cast. In a series of tweets, Lee shared some insights into a conversation she reportedly had with entertainment executives behind the scenes.
“1. Met with a studio about my already shot romcom and they won’t buy it until they see how ‘You, Me & Tuscany’ does,” she wrote. “2. Met with an exec about a romance script I have, they won’t buy it until they see how ‘You, Me & Tuscany’ does.”
“A film that has nothing to do with me could quite literally change my life. Plus, I’ve heard it’s really great so I’m looking forward to supporting,” she added in a separate tweet.
Lee’s words not only sparked a wave of support but also highlighted a clear disparity in the expectations surrounding Black-led films vs. non-Black films, particularly in the romance category.
“You, Me & Tuscany” marks the first Black-led romantic comedy to hit theaters in what feels like years. Starring Halle Bailey and Regé-Jean Page, the film’s producer, Will Packer, who also created “Girls Trip,” previously stressed the importance of the genre.
“There are a lot of people out there who said: ‘Rom-coms are dead. People don’t want to see rom-coms anymore. They’re not going to the movies to see rom coms.’ But the reality is that we need them now more than ever. We love to fall in love. We love to laugh,” Packer said as previously reported by theGrio. “When you get it [a movie] right, it stands the test of time. So that’s one thing that I think I’m really hopeful for this film, is that it will be for an audience that maybe hasn’t seen themselves in a rom-com like this.”
Hollywood has never been subtle about its gatekeeping. In an industry that treats diversity like a quarterly trend and routinely tries to funnel all of Black creativity through a single “proven” name, the idea of earning a seat at the table has always come with an asterisk. And as social media was quick to point out, the pushback Lee received on her already completed rom-com “That’s Her,” starring Kountry Wayne, Coco Jones, Loretta Devine, Tabitha Brown, and more, is proof that the unfair pressure put on Black creatives to justify their work before it ever reaches an audience is very much by design.
Now, while we can only hope this discourse sparks a change of heart within these studios and executives, here’s what we know: audiences have the power to cut through that noise. We watched “Sinners” get underestimated by the trade publications like Variety, and then watched audiences show up and show out in a way that rewrote the narrative in real time. “You, Me & Tuscany” deserves that same energy. Not just because it looks like a good time, but because every ticket sold is a data point that tells Hollywood: Black love stories, Black stories are worth investing in, and Black creatives shouldn’t have to wait on a verdict that was never theirs to earn in the first place.
So, go see the movie, take a friend with you; a plethora of undiscovered, unreleased Black stories, directors, writers, actors, and actresses are depending on it.