It’s urban folklore and almost goes without saying that in Hollywood movies, if there is a black character on screen, that character will most likely not make it to the end of the movie. This seems about as commonplace a plot line as the guy getting the girl or the hero facing adversity but overcoming those obstacles to eventually emerge triumphant. It is the non negotiable and formulaic nature of Tinsel Town. But why is it that the black guy has to die and is it an urban myth or does it really hold true? Welp, I set out to do some research and it would appear there may be some legs to it.

Below are a list of movies where our friendly neighborhood black man meets his untimely but eminent demise;

1. The Shining – Dick Halloran (Scatman Crothers)
2. Heat – The first member of the criminal gang to get killed during the bank robbery shootout is the getaway driver Donald Breedan
3. Red – Morgan Freeman dies first, then turns up alive, then is the first to die for real
4. Aliens – Frost is the first major character to go, and Apone isn’t far behind him
5. Full Metal Jacket – Corporal Eightball is sent to do recon and first to be abated
6. In Gremlins – The black science teacher dies first
7. Enter the Dragon plays it straight. Of the three main protagonists, Williams exists only to show off his fabulous afro and be killed by the villain first
8. United 93 – Between the two pilots, one is white while the other is black. Give ya three guesses who’s the first to get shanked by the hijackers
9. Mars Attacks! – Paul Williams
10. Resident Evil: Extinction – The only black guy was the first to be attacked by a zombie
11. The Edge – Harold Perrineau is eaten by the bear first
12. Alien Nation – Sykes’ original partner
13. 3000 Miles to Graceland – Five Elvis impersonators setting out to rob a casino. The black one dies first
14. Red Dawn – Black guy dies in the first 2 minutes
15. American Psycho – The first victim the film shows Patrick Bateman killing is a homeless black man
16. Deep Blue Sea – Of the group of survivors trying to reach the surface Russell Franklin (played by Samuel L. Jackson) dies first
17. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer – The gruff black general is killed by Doctor Doom
18. Christine – A black assembly-line worker is the first victim of the killer car
19. Wing Commander – When Paladin and Knight are making a torpedo run on a battleship, Knight blows up even though he took just as many hits as Paladin
20. X-Men: First Class – Darwin, the only Black mutant/character is killed after only a few minutes onscreen
21. Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem – A group of five high school students are ambushed by an Alien inside the high school. Guess which one the Alien kills first
22. The Sting – The black character Luther is the first person to die in 1973 film
23. Apocalypse Now – The two black guys are the first and second members of the boat crew to die
24. Star Trek Into Darkness – A black father is desperate to save his bedridden daughter. The black man commits a suicide terrorist bombing
25. The Other Guys – A pair of black policemen fall off a building to their deaths while attempting to pursue a criminal
26. Mortal Kombat – Liu Kang’s first opponent ends up having his soul sucked out by Tsung after Liu refuses to finish him, and Art Lean ends up dead
27. The Bucket List – Two men diagnosed are terminal illnesses but Morgan Freeman’s character die first at the end
28. A Christmas Story – When Ralphie gets his BB gun and fantasizes about shooting the villains, the black guy gets shot first
29. The Hangover Part III – Black Doug is shot by Marshall and is the first character to die in the film
30. Forrest Gump – An unnamed black Red Shirt gets sniped at the very beginning of the ambush in which Bubba, Forrest’s best friend, dies
31. The Karate Kid – The first Cobra Kai kid Daniel-san beats at the karate tournament is black
32. Grumpy Old Men – Chuck the black bait shop owner is the first to die
33. The Hunger Games – Catching Fire the first district they go to on the victory tour contains the first and only death. That district is prominently black people

Now some may argue “What’s the big deal? Someone’s gotta die in these movies and at least the black actor got a chance to work so no harm no foul.” The same argument I will make for Tyler Perry movies (which I abhor) is the same argument I will make for this; The black actor may be working but if the overall harm done to society is net negative, maybe the paycheck wasn’t worth it.

If the effect of seeing black actors constantly killed on film (particularly black males) is to be desensitized to the loss of black life (particularly black males) then maybe the paycheck wasn’t worth it. This may be yet another instance of art imitating life and vice versa but can there really be any benefit from consistently reinforcing this stereotype? Does it then translate into kids growing up to become cops who don’t think twice about black lives? Some may think that to be a stretch but consider this; most of us have only interacted with people and places we’ve never physically seen and been to through film and television.

If you’ve never known any African Americans personally then your only frame of reference will be their portrayal on the boob tube or big screen. Coupled with antiquated (and quite frankly racist) practices of casting directors and writers in which the main characters are traditionally Caucasian males while the minority is typically the villain or expendable, It would seem that even on screen, black lives don’t matter.

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