"He Was Way Ahead of His Time, Unfortunately That Time Hasn't Come Yet."

February 13, 2020 1:47 PM

Hollywood Reporter: He Was Star Wars' Secret Weapon, So Why Was He Forgotten?
posted by WCityMike (13 comments total)

This was a fascinating read about someone directly connected with my life (his marketing for Star Wars and 9 year old me) that I had no knowledge of before. And it seems this is one of the first times his story has been told! I hope he gains the place in history he deserves, not just for Star Wars but for so many other films he had a hand in promoting to popular box office and awards season.
posted by hippybear at 2:12 PM on February 13, 2020 [4 favorites]

Wow. What an amazing (for him) and shameful (for the industry) story. Liberal Hollywood indeed.
posted by kokaku at 3:08 PM on February 13, 2020 [3 favorites]

Wow! What a story! Reading the highlights out loud to my coworkers and we're all pretty impressed.
posted by redsparkler at 3:33 PM on February 13, 2020 [1 favorite]

Why was he forgotten? Ashley Boone was brilliant, black, and gay.
(Thank you for the post, WCityMike; this is a great read. Please consider adding the 'blackhistory' tag?)
posted by Iris Gambol at 4:05 PM on February 13, 2020 [8 favorites]

What a guy! What a career!

Pancreatic cancer is a merciless bitch.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 4:55 PM on February 13, 2020 [1 favorite]

Wow. Just, wow. I wish I could have met him!
posted by starscream at 6:13 PM on February 13, 2020

It’s rare for a “you’ve never heard of this before!” piece to live up to its billing as much as this one does.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 6:33 PM on February 13, 2020 [7 favorites]

Wow, thank you for posting this.
posted by LobsterMitten at 6:45 PM on February 13, 2020

"The white conservatives aren't friends of the Negro either, but they at least don't try to hide it. They are like wolves; they show their teeth in a snarl that keeps the Negro always aware of where he stands with them.

But the white liberals are foxes, who also show their teeth to the Negro but pretend that they are smiling. The white liberals are more dangerous than the conservatives; they lure the Negro, and as the Negro runs from the growling wolf, he flees into the open jaws of the "smiling" fox."
posted by Borborygmus at 7:43 PM on February 13, 2020 [4 favorites]

Mod note: One comment deleted. This isn't the thread for har-har Star Wars jokes, which are disrespectful in this context. Read the Community Guidelines on being sensitive to context.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 8:35 PM on February 13, 2020 [1 favorite]

There's a great comic book called Planetary, which looks at the secret (and fictional) history of the 20th century, where many superhero things occurred out of sight of the general public.

Swear to god, it seems like someone could revamp that idea to investigate all hidden and forgotten ways that minorities have contributed to America/Western society.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:35 PM on February 14, 2020 [4 favorites]

Swear to god, it seems like someone could revamp that idea to investigate all hidden and forgotten ways that minorities have contributed to America/Western society.

Same with women.
posted by Eikonaut at 1:41 PM on February 14, 2020

A sci-fi mashup of People’s History of the US and Planetary would be a fitting book for this guy to show up in.
posted by es_de_bah at 6:21 AM on February 15, 2020 [1 favorite]