RON SIMMONS, a veteran R&B booking agent, club promotor and talent manager for Lynx Productions, is developing a documentary film about his childhood in Cabrini–Green Homes, the legendary public housing project that was erected on Chicago's Near North Side in 1942 and demolished in 2011.
The television sitcom Good Times (1974-79) was set in the Cabrini–Green projects and featured shots of the complex in the opening and closing credits. In September 2020, it was announced that Netflix would revive the series as an animated sitcom with atheist Family Guy creator SETH MCFARLANE (50) and Golden State Warriors guard STEPHEN CURRY (36) executive producing.
Simmons, however, isn't looking forward to the animated Netflix series, which premieres this Friday (April 12, 2024) and centers on the current generation of the Evans family. Many black Americans were shocked after watching the trailer for the new show. Organizers of a boycott say it is "a glorified stereotypical show that has damaged the image of the original" and claim the Netflix animated series "promotes violence, culture destruction of the Black community and alcohol abuse."
Simmons, who grew up in Cabrini-Homes and has worked as a local club promotor for over 40 years, says: "I don't like it at all. Here we go again with them controlling the narrative of our lives. ERIC MONTE (80) is a childhood friend from Cabrini Green. He created and wrote on Good Times and fought with NORMAN LEAR (101) about all of this stereotype mess that Netflix is getting ready to air and it got Eric fired off the show as a writer."
Shortly after Good Times series creator and executive producer Norman Lear died in December 2023, it was announced that Netflix hired Cuban-American RANADA SHEPARD (52), who has less than a handful of credits to her name, to replace original showrunner CARL JONES (47), who produced The Boondocks and Black Dynamite.
A young Ron Simmons
"This is not how we acted growing up in the projects," says Ron Simmons. "Whites continue to control the narrative and make money off of us in whatever way they want. That is why my film is so important. Not just to me, but to all of us [who] grew up in public housing. It's our stories. This is about about real life and wanting to leave a legacy that we all can be proud of."
Source: Screen Rant