Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 6, 1993 TAG: 9312220001
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ROBERT W. BUTLER THE KANSAS CITY STAR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
```It's corny,''' the writer, actor and director said in a telephone interview from his native Chicago. ```It's preachy.'
``But, hey, that's what they used to say about Frank Capra's movies. They called them `Capracorn.' And `It's a Wonderful Life' is on TV every Christmas, right?''
In ``The Meteor Man,'' Townsend plays an inner-city schoolteacher who becomes a superhero after a close encounter with a meteorite. In an era when ``black'' movies seem divided between pure escapism and grim examinations of the hopelessness of black youths, Townsend devised ``Meteor Man'' specifically to give these young people a role model. And the 36-year-old filmmaker and stand-up comic makes no apologies for that.
He recalls a fan letter he received after the release of his last film, 1991's ``The Five Heartbeats,'' the story of the 25-year-friendship of the members of a Motown-style vocal group.
``I got this letter from a woman who'd seen `Five Heartbeats' and had been really moved by it. She said she had a son who was going to join a gang, and she took him to the movie. Afterward, she wrote, the boy sat in the living room, just thinking. And when she asked him what he was doing, he said the movie had gotten him thinking about who his real friends were.
``And he decided not to join the gang.
``This really shook me up. But the point is that I do believe movies can make a difference. We get a good deal of who we are from TV and movies, but we've gotten away from values in movies. We have movies nowadays in which the bad guy can win in the end.''
It is no surprise, then, that the good guy wins in the end of ``The Meteor Man.'' Townsend's character finally overcomes his own insecurities and fears - even after he gains special powers - to act against the drugs, crime and gang violence that paralyze his community.
The movie's heavy is, significantly, a gang leader who recruits grade-school boys, including some in the class Townsend's character teaches, into his criminal organization.
``I've really got a lot of respect for teachers,'' Townsend said. ``They're preparing young minds for the future. But it's a tough situation. The kids know what's going on. Teachers are underpaid, there are strikes and the kids are badly served again.
``I really wanted to deal with that and with the fact that more and more kids are being turned on to gangs and drugs because they see dealers making money while teachers, who are doing worthwhile work, get depressed until sometimes they no longer care.''
Townsend acknowledges that Hollywood studios don't usually exhibit a highly developed social conscience but that ``The Meteor Man'' was financed because it combines harsh realities with fantasy and comedy.
It didn't hurt that Townsend recruited a dream cast of black performers: Bill Cosby, Robert Guillaume, James Earl Jones, Marla Gibbs, Nancy Wilson, Sinbad and Luther Vandross.
``At the time they signed on, nobody had read the script,'' Townsend said. ``When they finally did, they all said they were really glad to be involved.
``Everybody came together and arranged their schedules so they could make the movie for peanuts - and these are really busy people.''
A successful comic, Townsend broke into the directing ranks with ``Hollywood Shuffle,'' a comedy about his experiences as a black actor in the movie industry. Townsend borrowed money from friends and financed the film in part with his credit cards, but it became a hit. That lead to ``Eddie Murphy - Raw'' and ``The Five Heartbeats,'' successful concert tours and cable comedy specials, and of course ``The Meteor Man.'' Next up for Townsend is a weekly comedy and music variety program on the Fox network.
Through it all, he says he has managed to retain a sense of what's right.
``I came from the inner city, the west side of Chicago. My mother raised four kids on welfare. My father had passed on - to another family. We had no money, but she gave me a million dollars worth of kisses and love, and the idea that you have to do what's right in your heart.
``So I'm always going to take my time and do just the movies I want to do. I hope I never have to do anything just for the sake of money.''
by CNB