I’ve realized something. Armond White is certifiably allergic to films which depict “Black Pathology” or “Black Victimization” writ large. He hates “Precious”, he hates “Selma”, he hates “The Butler”, he hates “Monster’s Ball”, he hates “The Help”, he hates “Do the Right Thing”, he hates all of the films made by Tyler Perry, Lee Daniels, Steve McQueen and most of those directed by Spike Lee.

He praised, among other films, comedies such as “Meet Dave”, “Norbit”, “Marci X”, “Little Man”.

He thinks of the above films he hates as “sob stories”, perhaps because they reflect very much upon social or socio-psychological vulnerabilities of Afro-American characters in unequal ways. Films like Meet Dave, I guess, don’t reflect on that vulnerability or victimization.

Maybe he is contrarian (in a #Diogenes of Sinope way) when it comes to films directed by Black people, or has experienced anger from other critics regarding his reviews of such films, because he has different standards or expectations about films in general.

But I think that, in his hatred of depictions of vulnerability and “sob stories”, he shows a bit of his own vulnerability as an African-American moviegoer in a society which heaps praise or scorn upon films which affirm the prejudices of the status quo viewers.

Unfortunately, he now writes for the National Review. Oy.