Running The Numbers, by Michael Davis – Straight No Chaser #155
February 20, 2010 Michael Davis 0 Comments
I have never paid attention to numbers. If I’m buying a car I look at the car and then price. I have a slew of people wanting to ‘friend’ me on facebook. I have no idea how many friends I have I know it’s less than 200. I know there are some people with a zillions friends. Me? I’m fine with whatever number it is and I will not befriend you just because I’m asked. I have a fan page somewhere and that page has less than 100 fans. I didn’t start the fan page nor did I start the “I was a student of Michael Davis’ page which is out there somewhere. I’ve been to my ‘fan’ pages maybe twenty times last year and I think that’s a stretch.
I didn’t count how many girls I’ve dated, no idea how many comics I own, not a clue to how many G.I. Joe’s or Barbie’s I have, I’m a collector of both. Could not tell you how many movies I saw last year. NO idea how many times I’ve watched ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding.’ My ALL TIME FAVORITE MOVIE!! When people look at me and say, “I’ve seen Debbie Does Dallas, eighty times.” I just stare. I have no clue how many square feet my home is. I’m sure I knew once but now, nope.
I just don’t care about numbers, but it seems that numbers have convinced me of an ugly truth.
I’ve worked with or worked for some of the most powerful black people in the entertainment world. I know a lot of Black Hollywood. In fact most of Black Hollywood will be together honoring Bill Duke when he is given a lifetime achievement award next week at The Director’s Guild Of America.
This past week I had a meeting with one of the most famous Black people in the world. He or she is so famous that if I mention his or her name the tenor of this article would change just because I mentioned his/her name.
This person told me something that a great many powerful and famous black people have told me. No matter how many times I’ve heard it before I just dismissed it, but this time I took note. This in essence is what he/she and so many black powerbrokers have told me.
The powers that be, those who can make it happen don’t want a Black Superhero to succeed, they don’t want ‘us’ meaning Black Talent having that sort of success. Before you bring up Boondocks (which is no where near Superman Status) let me leave you with this, why is there action figures from the TV show Smallville where no one is even in costume and there are no actions figures for Static Shock, which has been on TV for almost a decade?
I’m just asking. I’ve been told the reason a million times by some powerhouse black people much smarter than me. You know, I know I’m hard headed and stubborn but I think I finally get it.
Now I’m starting to respect numbers, like the massive number of people ( not just black people) who may just want to rise our collected voices LOUDLY and make the ‘powers that be’ very worried about a number of things.
So, I think it’s safe to say to some people (and you KNOW who the FUCK you are) your number is up.
Russ Rogers
February 20, 2010 - 8:09 am
When I was a kid, it was difficult finding Wonder Woman stuff. And there is no question that Wonder Woman is a lynch pin in the DC Universe. So where is the Wonder Woman movie?
For the longest time, little girls were lied to and told, “You don’t like comic books, you don’t like action stories.” For the longest time, people were misled into thinking that boys only like stories about boys. Or worse that they had to be written by men. Boys were told, “You don’t like stories about girls or romance stories.”
I’m convinced that one of the reasons Manga has sold so well is that it’s a genre of comics that’s not afraid to write stories directed at girls or stories directed at boys that feature girl protagonists. It’s a sexism that cuts both ways. And it’s a lie.
It’s criminal that there aren’t Static Shock Toys and action figures available. The TV show is clever, well written and cleanly executed. It’s criminal that Warner Bros. has not released the DVDs of any of the Static Shock seasons. There is lots of crappier DVDs running around.
But numbers mean something.
I’ve been involved in an online songwriting contest called “Masters of Song Fu.” It’s a crazy cross between Iron Chef and American Idol. Songwriters are given a specific songwriting task like, “Write a song about a number,” and have just one week to write, record and submit the song. Then there is a week of voting by the general public.
One thing that I discovered was that song quality didn’t matter as much in the vote as how big your network of friends and fans is. High School and young college students tend to do pretty well in the competition because they have a large network of friends with access to computers and time to go vote. It didn’t matter how good a song my group, Godz Poodlz, wrote or recorded, we always ended up in the middle of the pack in the vote, with respectable but not impressive numbers.
So last month, my band, “Godz Poodlz,” decided to have a facebook fan drive. We promised to make our downloads album on godzpoodlz.bandcamp.com “name your own price with no minimum”(read that as “FREE”)this week IF we could get just 100 fans to join our page. We also promised to write and record a song based on our fans suggestions. Long story short, we’ve grown our fan page from less than 20 members to more than 120 members now. These are NOT big numbers. But that was enough to give us our best showing in Song Fu 6, Round 1 (a FOURTH PLACE finish). We had never finished in the top 5 in any of our previous rounds.
And the very funny thing is, in the week that we have been “giving away free downloads” of our songs, we’ve SOLD more downloads than ever! People come in, listen to the songs and then BUY them, sometimes for more than we had been asking before. It makes me wonder if I should continue making the album a free download or if I should just find reasons to make our album FREE for short periods in the future.
OK, points of interest:
The facebook Michael Davis World fan page
http://www.facebook.com/michaeldavisworld
This is convenient, because it reminds me on facebook when new Columns are published here. I sometimes read the columns there on facebook too!
The largest Static Shock fan page on facebook.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Static-Shock/53561529010
This page has about 2900 members. Not that many yet. But at the start of 2010, the page had just crossed over the mark of having 2000 members. That means there has been nearly a 50% jump in membership in less than 2 months. And the fan page is less than a year old! There’s no telling where the “tipping point” will be, where the numbers of fans will explode. But if this page gets over 50,000 members, someone at DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. will notice. There will be toys. There will be DVDs. I have no doubt that one of the things that is keeping Static Shock toys and DVDs from the shelves is the unspoken racist lie that stories with Black Action heroes won’t appeal to white audiences. I’m convinced that this is a lie, but the proof will be in the numbers. There have been three Wesley Snipes “Blade” movies. Denzel just did a post apocalyptic blockbuster with “The Book of Eli.”
Finally, Godz Poodlz (my band) has a growing facebook fan page.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Godz-Poodlz/151736822018
And you can listen to all the Godz Poodlz songs at
http://godzpoodlz.bandcamp.com/
And anyone can download ALL the songs for FREE just by naming a price of $0! But this offer is set to expire on Monday, 2/22/2010. So take advantage of us now. Yes, I’m shamelessly self promoting Godz Poodlz on your page, MOTU. Thanks for your indulgence. But Godz Poodlz needs the numbers.
Mike Gold
February 20, 2010 - 9:55 am
President Obama told you the powers that be don’t want a black superhero to succeed and they don’t want black talent having that sort of success? Really? The most powerful black person in the world pissed on your dreams?
Well, then, he’s completely wrong. Nothing EVER happens UNTIL it happens. That’s why people like Bert Williams and George Kirby are legendary door-openers (Goggle ’em if you don’t know). That’s why Bessie Coleman is my personal hero — and I’m not black, a woman, or an aviator.
Today we have unprecedented access to the general public. We can make things happen we could never make happen before.
Make it happen. Or, to put it more delicately, put up or shut up.
Jonathan (the other one)
February 20, 2010 - 12:47 pm
You know, the only reason I ever even heard of “Static Shock” was because our cable system expanded its channel selection a few years back, and Toon Disney showed up. It’s the only place I’ve ever seen the show – and, to my mind, the fact that it is forced to share airtime with commercials for “The Emperor’s High School” is shameful.
Vinnie Bartilucci
February 20, 2010 - 3:14 pm
To this day I can’t believe Static Shock made the air.
I remember whe Filmation was going to do a show called “Blackstar” where the guy was actually going to be black, and got talked out of that BUT fast. He became, the titles stayed, the show didn’t.
Hanna Barbera went to the mat after the networks said they didn’t want Valerie included in the Pussycats. They acquiesced…only to get beaten to the punch by Pete Jones on The hardy Boys. But for a long time, Valerie was the strongest and most inspirational black character on kids TV.
GI Joe had one of the best and most varied cast on TV for along time. And it never felt pushed or forced upon the writers, the characters all worked together and ethnicity never came up at all. They had plenty of black action figures.
But Static? Yeah, I agree, a three year first-run on the WB, and not a single piece of merchandise. Actually, I think there might have been a halloween costume. I think it’s the same midset as Russ mentioned. They don’t make a lot of female character action figures for the same reason – they think boys (ok, yes, white boys) will buy them. So the few they make get packed one or two to a case and go for stupid prices on ebay.
The new Firestorm is getting a figure in the Batman The Brave and the Bold line, so things are changing, and that’s a good thing. But yeag, a Static line might have done well.
That famous person…it was gary Coleman, wasn’t it?
MOTU
February 20, 2010 - 4:09 pm
Mike,
I’m going to call you with the details of the talk and I guarantee you what I tell you from this person will give you pause to at least think about it. Dude this shit is DEEP and for years I just thought it was a conspiracy theory but man after this meeting I was like, S”HIT THAT IS SO DEEP!”
I had to do what I never did before and that was CONSIDER THE SOURCE. If I said I have a billion dollars no oner would believe me but what if Bill Gates said he had 50 billion dollars? Every one believes that. But what if I really DID have a billion dollars?
This meeting, what I was told, and who I was told by, was what I like to call a “Come To Jesus’ moment. That’s a moment when you realize something so profound that faith ( when hard facts are not and will never be proven ) is the only thing you have to go on. You you believe no matter what you can prove.
DEEEEEEP!
MOTU
February 20, 2010 - 4:10 pm
Russ,
I love you man.
MOTU
February 20, 2010 - 4:13 pm
Vinnie said,
“That famous person…it was gary Coleman, wasn’t it?”
What you takin bout Vinnie?
MOTU
February 20, 2010 - 4:18 pm
Russ said,
“It’s criminal that Warner Bros. has not released the DVDs of any of the Static Shock seasons. There is lots of crappier DVDs running around.”
Not true- they did release SOME of the first season on DVD. You must have MISSED that MASSIVE ad campaign they did.
That was sarcasim
I got all my copies not from the WB but from the 99 cents store.
That was true.
McCarthy
February 20, 2010 - 5:54 pm
Yeah, I have a copy of STATIC SHOCK: The New Kid on DVD, but no Static action figure to make sweet love to my Forager action figure while I’m watching it.
Big Barda. I meant to say Big Barda action figure.
And FIGHTING. I meant to say make sweet fighting. Tatiana, please edit this comment.
Stephanie
February 20, 2010 - 8:35 pm
The closest they came to action figures were the Subway toys that came with children’s meals for a short while. I managed to get a Static and a frisbee before they disappeared.
Sam
February 20, 2010 - 9:12 pm
Wait, your favorite movie is “My Best Friend’s Wedding”? Are there two movies titled “My Best Friend’s Wedding”?
Anyway, as long as we’re guessing who the powerful black person is, was it Will Smith? And what does “Hancock” do to this theory? It did okay, right? No action figures, though, I’m guessing.
Martha Thomases
February 21, 2010 - 8:54 am
@Russ: Because of some complicated agreement with the Marston estate, Wonder Woman is not entirely controlled by DC, and, hence, the licensing is more limited.
Marc Alan Fishman
February 21, 2010 - 11:46 am
I personally enjoyed a lot of the Static Shock show, and given it’s eventual tie into the DCU / JLU series… I would probably purchase it very quickly. In terms of “numbers” I myself live and die by them… but then again, I’m at least 33% “The Man”. I’d like to see an eventual “collectors” Static for the JLU line.
But that aside… I’m glad you had a “COME TO JESUS” moment MOTU. I’ve been waiting for the man for years, but he seems to be holding a grudge.
R. Maheras
February 21, 2010 - 4:46 pm
MOTU wrote: “The powers that be, those who can make it happen don’t want a Black Superhero to succeed, they don’t want ‘us’ meaning Black Talent having that sort of success.”
Why?
Call me pollyanna-ish, but that makes no sense — especially if “the powers that be” are in the business community.
The goal of a business is to (a.) Survive, and (b.) To make money.
If a business partnership is developed to make money, what difference does it make if the hero or the talent is black?
A few weeks ago I went to the Grauman’s Chinese Theater to see “The Book of Eli,” starring Denzel Washington. I didn’t make my decision based on Washington’s race, I went because he’s one of my favorite actors.
Interestingly enough (and maybe even related), that very same night, on the corner of Highland and Hollywood, about a hundred yards from the theater, a black street hustler (who literally got in my face), loudly accused me of being a racist because I had the gall to ignore him. But the fact is, being a seasoned Chicagoan used to such unsolicited intrusions of my space, I ignore ALL belligerent street hustlers. Yet this particular dipwad went out of his way to the surrounding crowd to make it look like I was the villain.
I guess what I’m saying is, while there may actually BE some sort of conspiracy, it’s also possible the perceived slight — whatever it is — may be self-generated. Than again, maybe because I am so colorblind, I may just go to my grave as an idealistic boob.
Alan Coil
February 21, 2010 - 5:04 pm
Our country is increasingly becoming more and more
White Makes Right.
R. Maheras
February 21, 2010 - 5:20 pm
In your opinion.
Frankly, I think racial tolerance in the United States is better than it’s ever been, and far better than what it is in the myriad of countries abroad I’ve visited.
MOTU
February 22, 2010 - 5:20 pm
Sam said,
“Wait, your favorite movie is “My Best Friend’s Wedding”? Are there two movies titled “My Best Friend’s Wedding”?’
No, just one.
Sigh.
MOTU
February 22, 2010 - 5:45 pm
R. Maheras quoted,
MOTU wrote: “The powers that be, those who can make it happen don’t want a Black Superhero to succeed, they don’t want ‘us’ meaning Black Talent having that sort of success.”
Then R. Maheras asked
Why?
Then R. Maheras said,
” Call me pollyanna-ish, but that makes no sense — especially if “the powers that be” are in the business community.”
I thought the SAME thing for years. My question to you is this, if I told you that the “War on Terror’ was started because Bush lost a bet, you would not believe me.
What if Colin Powell told you that?
Let me clue you into something else that I have KNOW for years- I’ve run major divisions at major entertainment companies I can’t tell you how many times ‘business’ has taken a back seat because of egos. It happens EVERY day.
EVERY single day.
R. Maheras
February 22, 2010 - 8:53 pm
MOTU wrote: “Let me clue you into something else that I have KNOW for years- I’ve run major divisions at major entertainment companies I can’t tell you how many times ‘business’ has taken a back seat because of egos. It happens EVERY day.”
Now the ego thing I HAVE seen. Not every day, but often enough.
And if Colin Powell told me the bet story to my face, the first thing I’d say is, “You’ve gotta be shittin’ me! Did you hear that with your own ears?” And if he kept a straight face and said, “Yep! And I swear on my mom’s grave it’s true,” I’d probably believe him. That said, my follow-up question would no doubt be, “What exactly the was the bet?”
Steven Atkins
February 24, 2010 - 11:22 pm
I like Bill Duke.
Never liked STATIC SHOCK all that much. Gimme an ICON or HARDWARE series and I will not only watch them, but buy the DVDs.
It’s more of an interest thing for me.
Mike Gold
February 25, 2010 - 1:53 am
Ah, Steven, but would you buy the action figures?
When it comes to black action figures, does Spawn count? I haven’t read the book in well over a decade, but he was the least black black character in comics. Of course, he was dead. Hmmmm…
Steven Atkins
February 25, 2010 - 12:24 pm
@Mike Gold – I haven’t bought an action figure since I was nine. I thought about getting back into it, but I would rather have the DVDs and comics.