Randy Blue's Use of Color

Let me start from the outset by saying this: I love Randy Blue. I love his models. I love his marketing oomph. And I especially love the fact that he has done exponentially more for men of color than any one of his peers. Hands down. Actually, about the only thing I don't like about Randy Blue is his refusal to grant me an interview. So far. But as far as men of color go, the man walks the walk. Well, sort of.

Today Randy introduced us to James Russo, another fine specimen from the labs of RB Industries. He's beautiful, thin but muscular, not a thimble of fat to be found. But I got to wondering how many black and biracial men - exactly - has Randy Blue actually shot? So I counted. According to his site, the webmaster has featured 39 models, including James, since his inception in, I believe, 2003.

Now we can wrestle in a vat of doughy cookie batter until the chips melt about whether that's a "good" number or not. But what interested me was the chronological story. Of the 39 black models Randy Blue has had on his site, 29 appeared in the first two years and a whopping 26 appeared his first year running! In fact, in 2005 there was only one black performer, Jay, two in 2006, Dominic and Joelle, three in 2007 and only two in 2008. So far this year, three black models have appeared. So the question became: What happened?? Why, after a groundbreaking start did he seemingly purposefully weed black models out? I mean did all the hot, available black men in the Los Angeles area evaporate?

Weirder still, Sean Cody laid the groundwork for this business model by doing the same thing only first. He has a number of black and Latin men on his site but only - with a rare exception or two - early on. Why? I have pondered this for years and the only plausible explanation I can come up with - though not by any means the final word - is that it would recuse most of them, the Seans, Jakes, and Corbins of the world, of the charge of racism by featuring men of color only early on or, more accurately, only periodically. After all, it was a business decision. "They weren't making us money." "The market doesn't want it." (The 'they' and 'it' here being men of color.) They knew their bread and butter was a bunch of white people that are perfectly content never having to see any other sexual color but white again. And if this offended a few people, oh well. Infinitely more weren't offended and they were being called 'paying customers' by many of these websites.

It might also explain why many of these same eponymously-named webmasters have never given a substantial interview. I could be wrong, but have any of these guys - all men, all white, all over 35 - ever explained this rather gaping anomaly in their hiring practices? Oops. I guess Randy Blue now knows one question I'll certainly be asking him. If I ever get that damn interview.

Comments

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1370167087]

I have to correct you on something.

They are all white, maybe all over 35, but by no means are they MEN. MEN own up to their decisions, be it for business or personal sake. The fact they won't grant an interview on this issue shows just how much they are NOT men.

Feel free to pass this FACT along to them.

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1370167087]

I can attest to the fact that you're on to something. For it's just like you said. The models of color weren't generating enough money (so they say) to their liking. Dominic Ford has told me that he has lost memberships by using non-White models, but he says he still tries to mix it up.

That's another reason why I left the industry altogether instead of starting a website (as some suggested) when I know that the main consumer is a bunch of Midwestern and Southern racist and repressed pigs. I have enough of a conscience that I couldn't live with myself knowing that I'm making business decisions to cater to a clientele that may have the money, but in actuality because of their racist attitudes and repressed admiration of color are such worthless existences.

[ZZ]

Did you know that Fox, UPN, and the WB used similar business models? Get established with black, latino, or broadly multiculti material, then move to white exclusivity and charge more money. Even Madonna used to be played on what was then called "black radio" before she got big. It seems like this old trend isn't going anywhere. Thank you for asking the questions and doing the research to note the trend. And sorry that some doofuses on other sites think that noting the way that race works is itself racist. All I can say is if they don't want to be called racist, they should stop making decisions that (as you have shown) have such a clear and obvious reliance on race.