The participation of the African American people in the history of North American military has always been a contentious issue and one that was widely disputed. The African Americans were a set of people who were always competing hard to have significant roles in the history of North America. The rampant belief among the Americans during those times was that African Americans were not adept enough to be skilled soldiers. There was an underlying assumption that the African Americans did not have the ability to tackle the challenges of warfare due to an intellectual incompetency (Hunter and Rollins, 2015). The Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African American servicemen, were formed with the intention of dispelling these false beliefs. The unit was formed with the collective efforts of the press, activists, and a group of educational institutions. The US Army, which had so far been resistant to employ African American soldiers, had to finally succumb to the pressures of activist groups. It was decided that a few cadets would be enrolled in the US military under strict stipulation (Brown, 2017). The authorities decided to call the group the Tuskegee Airmen because the Tuskegee Institute was the civilian contractor for providing the technical acumen for the selected students. The youngsters performed impressively in their battles and were widely acknowledged for resisting the resentment among the soldiers on seeing African Americans in a predominantly white territory (Sawyer, 2016). Modern Hollywood adaptions of the Tuskegee Airmen overdramatize and exaggerate many of their accomplishments to make their movies more successful and interesting for viewers.
The movie Red Tails, released in 2012, largely discusses the exploits of the Tuskegee Airmen. The movie depicted the gallantry of the Tuskegee Airmen and the storyline was written in such a way that it gave the impression of being a historically accurate movie. The movie reiterates the claim that the Tuskegee Airmen had never lost a bomber in an enemy attack. This was contradicted later when it was identified by historian William Holton that there were at least 25 bombers who were escorted by the Tuskegee Airmen who were shot down in enemy attacks Holton, 2004). The reports made by Holton were based on the data and information collected by bomber units soon after their missions. This information was later verified as true by authentic witnesses and records made by the crew based on the facts that were shared.
It is a general practice in Hollywood to overtly dramatize the facts purely for entertainment purposes and to ensure commercial success. The dramatization of movies can seriously alter the truth, especially when it comes to historical movies. Though Red Tails was different from other Hollywood adaptations of the Tuskegee Airmen, certain facts remained distorted in the movie. The prevalent belief that the Tuskegee Airmen never lost a bomber had been repeated in the movie (Hemingway, 2012). The movie also tries to enhance the reputation and image of the Tuskegee Airmen just like the way other Hollywood adaptations had done. As many critics are of the opinion that historical movies should be represented with a fair degree of accuracy, the misrepresentation of the facts could only make the audience undervalue the contribution of the real heroes.
Though certain blemishes like these affected the reputation of the Tuskegee Airmen in American war history, their contributions could never be undermined. Though they were initially shunned during combat, the exploits of the soldiers, first in North Africa, then later in Europe, proved to be decisive in its eventual success (Cunningham, 2017). After a long struggle, the Tuskegee Airmen were accepted as a set of courageous soldiers capable of engaging in combat fearlessly. They proved to be a successful unit, shooting down more than 100 enemy aircraft. And all this, for a majority of the time, without losing a bomber who was under escort. Red Tails is considered as one of the movies that had depicted the history about the Tuskegee Airmen genuinely.
Though the movie reminded the people of the contributions of the African Americans in World War II, it failed to illustrate a few historical facts that should not have been discounted. The movie failed to acknowledge the contribution of one of the most historically significant characters, Mary McLeod Bethune. It was mostly due to the efforts of Bethune that the African American youngsters were able to get into the pilot training programs. Even during the time of intense racial discrimination against the African Americans, Bethune, with immense foresight, understood the importance of opening training institutes at places with predominant black communities (Haynes, 2015). The producers of the movie, with commercial aspects in mind, downplayed the contribution of people like Bethune and instead spent a lot of time centered on the relationship between one of the airmen and his Italian fiancé, which Hollywood figured would be more interesting to an audience.
The Tuskegee Airmen flew a large variety of fighter planes in combat. They were assigned the role of bomber escorts, protecting other heavy aircraft. One of the most commonly flown aircraft was the Bell P-39Q Airacobra which had a very distinctive shape. The features of the plane came with an engine that was located behind the cockpit and doors that opened on either side of the cockpit. Another commonly used aircraft by the Airmen was the Curtis P-40. This particular aircraft used the Merlin engine that was different from the engines used in other aircraft. These aircraft were the main tools for the Tuskegee Airmen during their attacks in North Africa. The Airmen also used the North American B-25 Mitchell, the North American P-51 Mustang, and the Republic P47 Thunderbolt. The movie Red Tails features both the P-40 and, later in the movie, the new P-51, but makes no other mention of other aircraft used by the Tuskegee Airmen.
Hollywood has always type-casted the role of African Americans in their movies. Movies have shown African Americans as gallant individuals whose sole intention in the movie is to help the white protagonist become a better person. Hollywood movies have made it a common practice to show African Americans at two extremes: either virtuous or vicious. The movie also depicts the African Americans on the same lines. Though the movie initially gave the impression of being strongly against stereotypes, it had also fallen into the trap of depicting African Americans in a particular way. The movie shows the men as unkempt and crude, which is said to be far from how the real men were. In an attempt to break all stereotypes, the movie strays far from reality.
The movie Red Tails is considered an accurate depiction of the Tuskegee Airmen; however, just like any modern Hollywood production, the film is exaggerated and overplayed to make the movie more successful and interesting for viewers. Following World War II, the Tuskegee Airmen were famed for their accomplishments and bravery in battle. This resulted in a number of Hollywood depictions of these airmen. As discussed in this paper, not all of these depictions were totally accurate, and many statistics and accomplishments were overdramatized for screen effect.