Here’s the trailer for Tim Story‘s “Think Like A Man,” which I am interested in seeing–not because it looks entertaining–it does–but because it’s directed by Tim Story.  Story directed “The Fantastic Four,” and “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer,” among others, two films that weren’t that great, but whose weakness was due more to the writing–I will never forgive the ‘Galactus cloud‘–and the casting, which was almost pitch-perfect, till you get to Jessica Alba as Sue Storm, that is.

What bothers me is that, as an African-American director, it feels sometimes as if they’re quick to get “exiled” into doing films that cater primarily to an African-American audience.

There’s nothing wrong with making films for a select audience; and some people, like Spike Lee and Tyler Perry, have managed to turn it into a lucrative career.

But it’s somewhat limiting, and way beneath what most African-American directors are capable of (Spike Lee has begun to expand his repertoire, with films like “Clockers,” and “Inside Man,”) but it almost feels like it’s something that he has to continually earn, as opposed to what he has already proven.

That being said, there are some African-American directors that manage to transcend being typecast, such as Ernest Dickerson, who was formerly Spike Lee’s cinematographer before he went on to direct films like “Surviving The Game,” “Bones,” and becoming the go-to director for “The Walking Dead.”