NAACP Nominates Angelina Jolie for “A Mighty Heart”. A Slap In The Face To Black Women In Hollywood!!!
I cannot believe the news I just learned today. Angelina Jolie has been nominated for a NAACP award for her performance in the film “A Mighty Heart”. It is pathetic that the NAACP is supporting racism and following the status quo. I believe the black community cares more about heterosexual black men then other members of the race. Some people have said that Jolie is not in blackface because the makeup used in “A Mighty Heart” doesn’t make her skin dark. Are some people ignorant? Don’t people know that the black race has different shades from light to dark? However, it is obvious to the discerning eye that Angelina Jolie’s skin is indeed darkened to appear more African. Jolie is also wearing a kinky curly wig. Once again Hollywood didn’t want to go black even though the real Mariane Pearl has black heritage.
Would the NAACP support the DVD release of Al Jolson’s racist film “The Jazz Singer”? Or the racist film “Birth Of A Nation”? I guess anything that affects heterosexual black men is a priority of the NAACP and any issue that affects black women the NAACP could care less about. Yet the NAACP has no problem supporting “A Mighty Heart”. Is the NAACP a black organization for the advancement of the black race? Or is the NAACP just a group that focuses on the concerns of just black heterosexual men?
The real Mariane Pearl is not just white she has black heritage. The symbolism of blackface is not about whether a white actor darkens their skin to be dark black. Blackface has a long history and still exists in this world. Very few media outlets have discussed Angelina Jolie and the racial issues behind “A Mighty Heart.”
The message Hollywood is sending is that talented black actresses can be replaced by white women. I have researched Pearl and read articles about her. One article in particular Pearl wrote for Glamour magazine in 2006 called “The Woman Who Gave Me My Strength”. The piece is about Pearl’s mother yet Pearl refuses to use the word “black” to describe her mother. Pearl uses the word “Cuban” as a way to conceal her blackness. Cuban is not a race it is a nationality. Pearl has no problem describing her white heritage that her father has Dutch and Jewish roots.
However, Pearl clearly has issues with her blackness. If you look read between the lines of the Glamour magazine article you can tell Pearl has issues with race. Next, you will the picture of Pearl’s mother she is clearly a black woman and so is Mariane Pearl. It is well known in the black community some people of mixed heritage frown on their black roots and look down on black people. We also know blackness is considered inferior to whiteness in society and popular culture. Mariane Pearl is not white not with her brown skin and kinky curly hair. Mariane Pearl needs to look in the mirror and check with reality. The world is never going to view Pearl as white woman so it is ludicrous to me that Angelina Jolie is the female lead in “A Mighty Heart”.
Readers on my blog know I have written passionately about the incredible racism and sexism taking place here against black actresses. Last year I wrote two powerful articles one for the New Zealand Herald called “Shades of Blackface”. I interviewed scholars and experts on the issue of racism, sexism, and films. I also wrote a second article “Is White The New Black?” for the Georgia Straight newspaper based in Vancouver. Both my articles were not published in the United States. It appears to me the USA mainstream media are just ignoring the blatant racism and sexism taking place here. I believe this racism and sexism is so abhorrent and disgraceful. It is even more disgusting that the NAACP an organization that claims it is about the advancement of black people support this. The NAACP has lost my respect they cannot be taken seriously.
The NAACP just jumped on the Hollywood bandwagon. One of the mandates of the NAACP Image Awards is to support black actresses that are often overlooked for leading lady roles. Yet here we have a movie “A Mighty Heart” where Hollywood erases a major role meant for a black actress. The NAACP are supporting a white actress in blackface. The NAACP, has disrespected black women this is a slap in the face. The NAACP will regret this decision and will lose support the NAACP is a joke.
The incredible racism and sexism against black women is in full force. Yet here is the NAACP supporting racism by nominating Angelina Jolie for an NAACP award. Now I can understand white Hollywood nominating Jolie for awards for this film I am not surprised. White Hollywood ignores black women the majority of the time and pretends to be liberal yet the covert racism taking place here is pernicious. The North American media all gloss over this abhorrent bigotry taking place here because they have white skin privilege. It is easy for whites to not think of race or to care about the concerns of the black community. Audre Lorde wrote passionately about the power of white skin privilege in her groundbreaking book “Sister Outsider”. Lorde is correct in her analysis.
bell hooks also wrote about the manipulation of Hollywood in relation to the representations of race in her wonderful book “Outlaw Culture”. hooks reminds us we must be “enlighten witnesses” we must be cognizant of bigotry and challenge it. Pop Culture isn’t just about entertainment this is an incredibly racist precedent that is taking place here. The representation of images in films are powerful because the pictures are languages although not words there are messages being sent. Reality can be distorted for profit. If we ignore the bigotry of Hollywood, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Mariane Pearl is to support racism.
However, the NAACP prides itself as an organization that wants to promote good films with black talent. The NAACP is contradicting itself. Is the NAACP for real or are they irrelevant? It appears to me the NAACP’s endorsement of Angelina Jolie means they have no respect for black actresses in Hollywood. Black women in Hollywood cannot openly criticize Angelina Jolie because they have to worry about the racist forces in Hollywood. The NAACP is supporting racism and sexism by nominating Angelina Jolie for “A Mighty Heart”. The NAACP claim they are a group that believes in fighting for black rights yet here they support supremacy, prejudice, and bigotry against black women.
A biracial actress such as Thandie Newton, Sophie Okonedo, Jennifer Beals, Troy Beyer, Rae Dawn Chong, should of been chosen for the female lead in “A Mighty Heart”. The reason Jolie was chosen is because she’s considered bankable. However, Mariane and Daniel Pearl’s life story is not fiction. Doesn’t Mariane Pearl care about the legacy of her husband and their interracial marriage? Or is the lust for money and fame to profit off the death of her deceased husband more important to Mariane Pearl?
Let’s be real here my dear readers. The reason Hollywood chose Jolie for the female lead is because Hollywood believes a white actress in blackface and a kinky curly wig can make more money. Another reason is Hollywood just doesn’t want to present a complex, real life interracial marriage on the silver screen. How many interracial dramatic films have been released this decade? Monster’s Ball is the only major studio film released this decade dealing with an interracial romance between a black woman and a white man. Monster’s Ball was filled with racist and sexist imagery. Yes, Halle Berry won the Oscar but at what cost? In Monster’s Ball Halle Berry’s character Leticia Musgrove is another stereotype the oversexed Jezebel.
In order to not disgust white audiences from seeing a white man kiss a black woman Hollywood changes the race of the leading lady to make the film more palatable. The real interracial marriage between Daniel and Mariane Pearl is erased. Hollywood did not want to present a real interracial marriage on film. The relationship between a white man and his black wife is just not acceptable for white American audiences. Here is a role that is complex, serious, dramatic, that should of went to a black actress. People complain all the time that black women rarely get the serious roles in Hollywood. Yet here is a movie role clearly meant for a black woman and Hollywood decides to go blackface.
Hollywood ignores talented black actresses and replaces black women with white women. Angelina Jolie may win awards for her performance but she has zero credibility.
Some people fawn over Angelina Jolie because she is a classic Hollywood white beauty that is “saving” Africa. Yes, Jolie has adopted an African daughter and she’s done good work with the United Nations. However, doesn’t anyone question the attitude of the press and Jolie towards the African continent? The liberal media reports are drenched in racism and paternalism. The western world’s attitude towards the black race and African continent one formed through prejudice with a Eurocentric lens. The African continent is not one nation but fifty three independent countries with their own issues and identities.
Just because Angelina Jolie is a Hollywood white liberal does not give her the right to take a role meant for a black actress. Although Mariane Pearl claims she “chose” Jolie for the role. Brad Pitt owns the rights to Pearl’s memoir therefore he has the power. Last time I checked Angelina Jolie is not a black woman yet Hollywood doesn’t seem to care.
Hollywood has a history of changing the race of leading lady roles for white women. The vast majority of the female roles in Hollywood are geared towards white actresses. The legendary black actress Lena Horne lost the female lead role in Show Boat role to Ava Gardner. Dorothy Dandridge also lost major roles in the 1950s to white actresses due to racism and sexism. Now in the twenty first century blackface returns and once again talented black actresses that want leading lady roles lose out once again to white women. Hollywood continues to promote the subversive message that white women are the true womanhood and that the only female image acceptable is whiteness. Even though “A Mighty Heart” is about a real person Mariane Pearl and a real interracial marriage Hollywood still changed the race of the leading lady. Halle Berry claimed that Hollywood was changing when she won the Oscar for her performance in the stereotypical and racist drama Monster’s Ball. Berry is right Hollywood changed for her she’s an A list actress.
However, for the other black women in Hollywood struggling to get solid roles nothing has changed. The sad part about this you would think the NAACP would be more cognizant of the message they are sending here. Just because white Hollywood, the white American media, and white society ignore the issue of blackface doesn’t mean it will go away.
The NAACP was once a very important black rights organization those days are over. It seems to me the NAACP will do anything to get into the Hollywood limelight. The NAACP has totally lost its importance and credibility.
Links: http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jGag3mIYols_7MsN3adaN6A0CAnA
http://www.straight.com/article-96155/is-white-the-new-black
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10444455&ref=emailfriend Douglas’
Gayblackcanada 
IN-CREDIBLE!!!
yet ultimately unsurprising. the colonial mentality has spilled into an organisation that is supposed to be protecting black people in the US?
unbelievable!
Aulelia you are correct! The NAACP was once a source of pride for the black race. The NAACP was once an important black organization that fought for black rights. I know this is so sad but it is also pathetic of the NAACP. The colonial mentality thrives still. This is just plain insipid slackness by the NAACP.
Oh please give it a rest. This is a big honor the NAACP is giving to Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt and I think it’s has to do with all their charity work including what they’re doing in New Orleans, LA.
And if you really want to nick pick…but Brad and Angelina are people of Color based on their Native American background and base on the “Jim Crow” laws still on the books in the U.S.A.
No it is not a big honor the NAACP just proved how pathetic the organization has become. I will not be quiet because this is my blog and I am claiming my space. It is pretty easy to have white skin privilege such as the North American media and Jolie and Pitt. Whites have the power to think about race whenever they choose. People of colour we don’t have that choice. Race is a reality of life and this NAACP award nomination is just disgusting it is so racist and sexist. There is no excuse why a biracial actress could not been chosen for the female lead in “A Mighty Heart”. I have also written a few articles about this in the media. I will speak my mind.There are many black people that find Jolie and Pitt typical Hollywood white liberals. So blacks are supposed to give Jolie and Pitt a pat on the back. Give me a break girlfriend.
So because Hollywood white liberals Jolie and Pitt are helping Katrina they cannot be criticized for their other actions? Jolie and Pitt are media whores that love to profit off the image of blackness. All those two want is free publicity. Do not think Jolie and Pitt are altruistic because they are not. You don’t even question why Jolie and Pitt are receiving so much media attention. It is the classic white media paternalism and racism.
In North America Pitt and Jolie are white and not black. The female lead for “A Mighty Heart” should of went to a biracial actress such as Thandie Newton.
The NAACP is a total joke the organization mandate is the advancement of the black race. Black women hardly ever get the leading lady roles this is not racial uplift when black women are struggling in Hollywood. Here you have a movie about a real interracial couple yet Hollywood goes blackface for profit.
girladvenger — are you white? I don’t mean to nit pick…
Aulelia, you just read my mind I was just about to ask the same question.
I dunno.
“Thandie Newton, Sophie Okonedo, Jennifer Beals, Troy Beyer, Rae Dawn Chong, should of been chosen for the female lead in “A Mighty Heart”
I don’t know much about Marianne Pearl; save newsbites and soundbites of her during the time of her husband’s captivity and murder. I knew right away, she wasn’t “completely” white. I figured she was mixed race – maybe with some latin or middleeastern influence, etc.
Looking at her, to me, she doesn’t look like “a lightskinned black woman.”
I never questioned Jolie for the role.
If they would have selected one of the light complected black actresses you mentioned, that would have seemed like a miscast to me.
No?
My issue is not with the casting; but with the NAACP’s choice. I doubt this organization is presently anything at all like it once was.
I thought this choice on their part was inappropriate and just wrong.
You have every right to be upset with the NAACP for wanting to award Angelina Jolie and the producers of the film for casting her, but why is your ire aimed at Jolie? She is an actress who was offered a role which for whatever reason interested her. Should she have turned down a job because the character is multiethnic and she is white? Having worked in the business for nearly 10 years, a job is a job. If I can do the job, I am going to take it. I suppose whether or not she was in black face is a matter of opinion, but actors regularly dye their hair, change their weight, tan/stay out of the sun to change their physical appearance to fit the physical requirements of a role.
Personally attack Mariane Pearl is simply unfair. Who are you to judge how anyone identifies themselves? What is even worse is that you seem to be basing you judgment on a single article. He mother may look black, but she is indeed Cuban of Afro and Chinese ancestry. In my opinion, to say she if black is a matter of oversimplification and negates her Chinese and Dutch ancestors. I would also like to point out she is French and Europeans are generally less obsessed with color than we are in North America.
Finally, I would like to challenge you on your use of the term “race”. It is an antiquated term created white colonialists which focuses on skin color rather than cultural differences . From my point of view, on the one hand you are advocating for the equality and advancement of people of African descent, but on the other, the language you use serves to propagate the an outdated, oppressive ideology.
I suggest you should read my article “Shades Of Blackface” it was published by the New Zealand Herald to get a better understanding of my perspective. I live in the real world and in the real world race always matters. Your utopia suggestion ignores the reality of racism. People are judged on appearance whether you like it or not. Barack Obama everyone knows is mixed race but guess what, Obama seems himself as a black man his white mother taught him that is how he will be viewed by society. Halle Berry said the exact same thing although Berry has a white mom she also said she knows in the real world she is a black woman.
I criticize Angelina Jolie because she presents the image that she is a typical Hollywood white liberal that is cognizant about racism. Yet Jolie has no problem taking a role meant for a black actress. Yes, Jolie is an actress but is she so ignorant not to know how hard black women have it in Hollywood?
I never suggested racism does not exist. Racism continues to be be relevant because we (North American society) continue to make it relevant.
I merely commented on the fact that Europeans are generally not as race obsessed as we are in North America in an effort to counter your point that Mariane Pearl is ashamed of her African heritage. I also suggest ethnicity is a more appropriate term to use than race because it encompasses more than jsut skin color. Perhaps, Mrs. Pearl chose to say, “Cuban” because she identifies with Cuban culture more easily than African. It is not fair for you to assume she is exhibiting “her self hatred for her blackness” because she does not use the word “black”. Until you interview her personally, you can never know what she feels about her African heritage. Have you read her book? How about the article about her mother she wrote for Glamour?
I have no opinion on Angelina Jolie and whether or not her motives are altruistic. Your ire should be aimed at the director and producers of the film for their choice to cast Jolie. Why did they not select Thandie Newton or any of the other actors previously mentioned who look the part?
Since you chose to go the ad hominem route, why does it seem I have done more factual research in responding to your blog than you seem to have put into the initial blog itself? Perhaps your inability to get published in the States has more to do with your journalistic standards than the content of your message.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariane_Pearl
http://www.glamour.com/news/feature/articles/2006/07/10/womanstrength
http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/review/2007/05/21/cannes_5/
(particularly the last line of the second to last paragraph on the first page)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1002/p15s02-bogn.html?s=widep
Jstew — Whoa, there is no need to go after a person’s journalistic standard, my friend! As is pretty clear, Orville’s writing is what keeps people coming back as you have so proved by producing another response to his comment. The US is not the only English-language market out there (does England count? Hmmm) – if you did your research, you would know that.
Back to the topics at hand, as someone who has spent more than 10 years living in England and who has spent spells living in Sweden and Switzerland, race DOES matter in Europe. And that term of ethnicity would be laughed at in the some of the most racist areas of this nation, trust me because all that matters is what you look like for some people. Race does matter, I think the difference in Europe is simple: people are much more covert with how they feel. Racism is alive and kicking, the culprits just stay within their circles to practice it.
Marianne Pearl is French and because of France’s ‘mission civilisatrice’ policy of assimilating colonials, non white French people tend find identity with France (and I saw this first-hand spending a term in Martinique, French Caribbean). So it is hardly surprising that she was barking about it not mattering. Of course, we should all be treated as equals and loved for who we are. But, the fact of the matter is that racism is fucking dripping in Occidental society — Jolie playing a black girl exacerbates this issue especially in creative industries like film where only 50 years ago or so, minstrel shows were the norm and black actresses were given Mammny roles. Jolie’s role is symbolic of the fact that not much progress is being made; that is what people are annoyed about. This is not a personal attack on Jolie (although I think it was a fucking stupid choice myself); it is about what Jolie’s part in it symbolised.
Margaret Kimberly, a journalist, wrote of Marianne Pearl that “Pearl’s acquiescence is no reason for other black people to think that this throwback to Hollywood’s dark ages, pun intended, should be acceptable. She is not free to instruct the rest of the African ancestored world how we should react when our very presence is denied and our image is erased”
I could not agree with this more! Pearl was pissed that people had negative reactions to but what the hell is her problem? Doesn’t she realise that it will always be in an issue? Look at places like Brazil that have extreme racism against Afro-Brazilians — do you think you can just run and scream ethnicity in a country that created categorisations on how dark or light a black person was?
Pearl is a great example of her hate for her black skin. Looking black is being black in my opinion. Like it or leave it. Yes, race was a concept created by colonials but at the end of the day, its manifestation means it is a reality.
Any black person (in my view, someone who clearly IS black) who does not want to realise that they are black should then not discuss black issues as far as I am concerned
and Cuban culture was heavily influenced by African as proven by Afro-Cuban music. I think this Pearl saga has shown that for some people, the self-hatred is desperate. Pearl was a columnist for Glamour, a magazine that employed a troll who said that Afros were a no-no…wow, great choice Marianne!
JStew you are entitled to your opinion as I am with mine. Race matters here it always has and always will. People are judged based on appearance. It may not sound politically correct but it is the truth. When people see Mariane Pearl they see a black woman and definitely not a white woman.
A special shout out to Aulelia girlfriend thank you for speaking the truth! Preach it! Hollywood has a history of racism and sexism against black woman. In the year 1951 Lena Horne lost a big role in Show Boat to Ava Gardner, and Dorothy Dandridge also lost out on big roles to white women in Hollywood during the 1950s. The more things change the more things stay the same. Angelina Jolie taking on the female lead in “A Mighty Heart” is a perfect example of the symbolism of Hollywood racism and sexism against black women. Why is there this fear by some people to talk about race?
Pearl was born in France but everyone knows race matters in Europe. France is one of the most hypocritical racist nations in Western Europe. Europeans definitely have covert racist attitudes towards black people and blackness. You have right wing extremists such as Jean Marie Le Pen, and other extremist racist groups across Europe that are anti black. Nicolas Sarkozy the French president last year called black and Arab youth “scum”. Sarkozy is the son of Hungarian immigrants but he is white so that’s all gravy for the French public.
“A Mighty Heart” is not fiction it is about a real interracial couple. There is absolutely no reason Angelina Jolie should be the star of the movie. I do think Jolie is a hypocrite because she tries to act like she is some kind of Hollywood white liberal that is against racism. Yet the minute a role comes along clearly meant for a black actress she takes the role. Hollywood ignores black women and gives this very big leading lady role to a white actress in blackface.
I think if you would read current sociolology journals, you would find race as an identifying category is on the way out in favor of ethnicity as there is growing genetic evidence that skin color is not a reliable identifier of common ancestry.
People have different values. The anger here seem to be directed at Mrs. Pearl because her ideas about her own ethnic identity differ from your expectations. How is the film about a “black girl” if Mariane Pearl does not self identify as a “black girl” and it is her story. This is what I meant by saying race is relevant because we keep it relevant. Your argument seems to say that an individual must claim to be black if they have any African ancestry. It is the sum of the parts that makes the whole and it is up to each individual to determine how they want to identify themselves. Will you hate on her son who, in addition to being of African decent, can also claim Iraqi, Israeli, Dutch, Cuban and Chinese decent if he does not choose to self-identify as being “black”?
I promise this will be the last time I read this blog because the self-righteousness prevails over any real discourse.
By the way, I am have known Indigenous American, Scottish, Irish, Swedish and African ancestry. I check off every box I can because on one level or another I identify with them all. I have no problem if that disqualifies me from this discussion.
Well wait a second JStew what about Daniel Pearl? After all, he is the one that died. People may have different values but black people we are consistently discriminated against and looked down upon because we are black. Why do some mixed race people that have black heritage always hype up their white roots yet always look down on blackness? The reason is whiteness is praised in western culture and Angelina Jolie taking on a role meant for a black actress is so racist and abhorrent. The black woman is being erased for the white female. The worst part is Jolie views herself as some white Hollywood liberal when in fact her bigotry is so obvious.
Seems to me Mariane Pearl made “A Mighty Heart” all about her while ignoring the racial reality of her interracial marriage. It is so disgusting and racist for Hollywood to just change the race of the leading lady because Hollywood believes it will be make more profit. ” A Mighty Heart” is bigger then Mariane Pearl this movie is just another example in the long history of Hollywood’s racism against black women. Again, I suggest Thandie Newton would be perfect for the role she is mixed race, she is a solid actress but Thandie never gets the leading lady roles due to racism. Black women are always ignored and discriminated in Hollywood nothing new same old story.
Aulelia and I have both stated that just because Mariane Pearl doesn’t have a problem with Jolie cast in the lead doesn’t mean the black community doesn’t have a right to speak up. Again, I ask why did Hollywood feel the need necessary to go to the extreme and have a white actress in the lead role? It is insulting to all the talented black actresses in Hollywood that are struggling for work. This is bigger then Mariane Pearl the more things change they stay the same. Here is a movie about Daniel Pearl he was married to a woman of colour. However, for white Hollywood they find it more palatable for a white actress to be in blackface. I refuse to accept this racism and sexism against black women and I will continue to challenge this disgusting bigotry. We agree to disagree.
Hello, Orville. I came here via Aulelia’s blog (thanks for linking, Aulelia, because the discussion is v. interesting).
I think that the blackface argument that you evoke, albeit controversial, is valid here. If we take the attitude that anyone could be cast as anyone regardless of race, then why don’t we ever see it the other way around? Well, apart from some Shakespeare adaptations I haven’t heard of any cases of Black actors playing characters that are White according to the writer’s idea. So the Jolie nomination is, above all, not happening in a vacuum but in a very loaded context and, as you point out, with rather nasty precedents in the backdrop.
I can’t speak about Mariane Pearl’s identity. I am not Black and I do not know her story too well, so I don’t feel that I can say anything of value. The complexity of the situation reminds me vaguely of Nella Larsen’s biography. But Larsen strived to be accepted as both Black and White and it was that insistence that her contemporaries found difficult to understand. I only read somewhere (therefore I’m hesitant to take a stand) that Pearl is not comfortable with acknowledging her black heritage. I don’t know if that really is the case, but if so, then her preference for Jolie playing her in the movie looks like a sign of an inferiority complex. Why not Thandie Newton? I see a greater physical resemblance between her and Pearl than Jolie and Pearl. Why not one of many talented Black or mixed race actresses that I am unaware of because such opportunities pass them due to a similar rationale as in this case?
As long as women of color don’t have a chance of an exactly reverse situation, that is of being cast in “white roles” without anyone questioning it, this and other such decisions will reverberate with the history of minstrel shows and blackface. I have no idea what the NAACP was thinking…
Exactly Januaries, you make an excellent argument why do we never see the reverse? Why are black women and other women of colour never given the same opportunities for leading lady roles as white actresses? Why the obvious snub? I am glad I had both my articles “Shades of Blackface” and “Is White The New Black?” published last year because I felt like I had to make my voice heard. The racism and sexism here is so deleterious and offensive. I mean instead of Helen Mirren playing Queen Elizabeth why not Angela Bassett? How about Sarah Jessica Parker play Harriet Tubman? Or how about Vivica A Fox playing Queen Victoria? I mean after all race shouldn’t matter in casting an actor for a role right?
The articles I have read about Mariane Pearl my perspective is she tries very hard to not distance herself from her black heritage. It is obvious that Pearl is part black. I understand that some mixed race people say why can’t they acknowledge both sides of their heritage. But my question is why do some mixed race people feel the need to just acknowledge the white side? My argument is because racism is so entrenched in society whiteness is valued over blackness. The reason Angelina Jolie was cast was due to the studio wanting to generate more press and make more money. However, it is so offensive so racist, sexist and abhorrent. The extremes the studio went to darken Jolie’s skin and place a kinky curly wig on her head to make her appear more African. The history of blackface in Hollywood exists in the year 2008. Why ignore the most obvious side for the eyes see. Pearl looks extremely similar to Thandie Newton.
I just find it so offensive that black women and other women of colour are consistently blocked from acclaim and getting the leading lady roles.
The worst part about this is the NAACP. The NAACP is a human rights organization that’s mandate is supposed to uplift the black actors ignored by mainstream Hollywood. Now the NAACP are nominating a white actress in blackface it just makes me want to scream!
interesting…i came here via aulelia’s blog too…
…regarding the naacp…it is an outdated fallacy of an organization…for christ’s sake…it never occurred to them that their name was still calling for the advancement of “colored people”…who the hell is that?…in that case, i guess nominating jolie would make sense, since she is colored…if we all agree that white is a color…i long since stopped looking to them for guidance or insight on anything other than coonery and nigger-type behavior…(i define nigger as ignorance, not black people…my use here refers to ignorant-ass behavior)…
…as for jolie…dunno…is she wrong to have taken the role?…should she have dismissed the role in favor of a black-mixed girl?…should we expect her to have done such a thing?…
…dunno pearl…but i do know that in the ‘black’ community, we have a tendency to want people to make sure they claim their ‘blackness’ and wear it like a badge, proudly and at all times…the same way that people want ‘blacks’ to proudly answer to being african…i don’t agree that you can impose such a thing as identity on someone…if she doesn’t identify as black, so be it…
…i learned this after having someone try to dictate to me how i shoudl identify…it was reiterated again when i went to brasil…and again when i watched a documentary type film done by some capoeiristas in sao paulo…it was about making sure the youth recognized the africanness of capoeira angola…they interviewed one of the children’s grandmother…there is nooo confusion whatsoever about her skin color and how most of us would classify her…when asked if she had any african heritage, she vehemently, and i mean vehemently denied any…i don’t know where the hell she believes she got her dark skin from…
…is she wrong?…i don’t know…people do what they can to survive on a daily basis…some of us may not agree…but no one is perfect…and until we are in their shoes, we really don’t know what we would do…
…as you said, hollywood is notorious for the promotion of stereotypes and certain images…the two black people who have won oscars (i think that was the award) won them playing questionable roles- a rogue cop and a black girl ‘done’ hard by a white man-excuse my crassness…if ‘black’ people continue to wait on hollywood to portray ‘black’ people accurately, well, the world will continue to think that egypt is not part of africa and that all ancient egyptians were white…plain and simple, those black screenwriters and producers need to do more to make sure that we write worthy films and that we cast ourselves in the roles…and remember the society in which we live in…
…i won’t comment on the whole race thing…my comment is already way toooo long…
I found Newton’s resemblance to Pearl quite striking, and Newton is hardly an unknown actress, so the decision seems stranger still. And isn’t it strange that Hollywood (and the NAACP, it appears) has such a short memory? It would seem to me that minstrel shows and blackface aren’t things you can ever forget once you’ve heard of them. They are an undeniable and uncomfortable association. What is their argument against that?
Leaving the question of Pearl’s identity aside, casting Jolie in her role is a scary message to actresses of color, a suggestion that they are replaceable, because all that the cinematic illusion supposedly needs is make-up. I don’t like such a vision of the cinema. And I dread to think what repercussions this could have for actresses of color: yet lower pay and demands that they exhibit a greater “flexibility” when it comes to showing their bodies?… I don’t even want to think about this.
The links aren’t loading, but I will try to paste them into the browser. I would like to read your articles.
Hello, Januaries, if you go to google and just type my name Orville Lloyd Douglas and go to my wikipedia page you should be able to read both articles about this issue. “Shades of Blackface” was published in the New Zealand Herald last year in June 2007. Even better if you go to wikipedia.org and type my name Orville Lloyd Douglas you will be able to read “Is White The Black?” that piece was published by the Georgia Straight last year.
Exactly, Hollywood is sending the wrong message that women of colour can be replaced by a white actress for profit. I also notice the American media are just ignoring the deleterious racist and sexism taking place here. I think the silence of the mainstream American press about this issue speaks volumes. The black actresses they can’t speak up because they got to worry about finding work. Hollywood likes to present the image that it is so liberal yet there the racism and sexism is obvious yet the major American media outlets are ignoring the story. In the 1940s and 1950s Hollywood consistently had white actresses play women of colour in the movies. There is a long racist and sexist history going on here.
I disagree. Januaries, you wrote:
“think that the blackface argument that you evoke, albeit controversial, is valid here. If we take the attitude that anyone could be cast as anyone regardless of race, then why don’t we ever see it the other way around? ”
Actually, many blacks have played in roles that the character was white. Morgan Freeman in “The Shawshank,” Will Smith in “The Wild Wild West” and “Six Degrees” and another. The Rock in “Gridion Gang”.
Heck, Denzel doesn’t look anything like Malcolm X, but he was very good an effective in the role.
I am a Black Woman. I have a hard time putting the problems of Black America on to the back of a French woman of Cuban/Dutch descent, who wasn’t raised here.
If “A Mighty Heart” was in any way about Marianne being a Black woman or facing discrimination while searching for her husband, then Angelina Jolie, was miscast. However, this movie wasn’t about that. It was about a pregnant woman who lost her husband because he was a Jew and her search to find him.
I saw the movie and thought Jolie was wonderful in it. I also have seen Thandie in various films, and, just have not been impressed.
I also hear that Halle Berry is playing a based on the life of a white woman.
JMO. But, I think we need to have more Black Writers and Producers provide more roles for Black Actors, a la Spike Lee, Tyler Perry, and quit wasting film on stupid stuff like “First Sunday” and “Who’s Your Caddy?”
Seems like a lot of misplaced anger here.
One more question: Does Thandie Newton embrace her “blackness”?
Your analogy to Denzel and Malcolm X is just simply wrong. Denzel might not have been light skinned but both Malcolm X and Denzel have black heritage. Angelina Jolie being cast as Mariane Pearl is totally abhorrent. Denzel’s skin also wasn’t lightened up and to appear light like Malcolm. Here you have Jolie a white woman her skin is darkened in blackface and she has on a kinky curly wig to appear black.
You aren’t even looking at the bigger picture. “A Mighty Heart” isn’t just one movie there is a long history in Hollywood of racism and sexism against black actresses. Here you have a movie about a real interracial marriage and Hollywood decides to change the race of the leading lady because they think it will make more money. Don’t you see the racism here? Don’t you see that Thandie Newton was last seen in Norbit in 2007. Norbit has to be one of the most garbage comedies out there but guess what Thandie needs to work. “A Mighty Heart” could of been Thandie’s breakthrough.
I will continue to write about this pernicious and deleterious racism and sexism taking place here.
You are entitled to your opinion but the term “anger” is a loaded word. Sometimes people think “anger” is a bad thing but I think here the “anger” is justified. Our anger is not misplaced our anger is correct and valid.
So what if Angelina Jolie did a great job the bottom line is she is not black nor does Jolie have black heritage. “A Mighty Heart” is not fiction it is a story about real people. You mention black male actors but we are focusing on black women. Black women in Hollywood like other women of colour have had it much harder then black men. Black women encounter the racism and the sexism. Just because Angelina Jolie has changed her image from being a goth girl into a wannabe Mother Teresa doesn’t mean she cannot be criticized.
Yes, Thandie has spoken passionately about race Thandie if you recall played a slave in three movies back to back first she was a slave in “Interview With A Vampire”, after that Thandie was a slave in “Jefferson In Paris” and then she was a slave again in “The Journey Of August King”. Thandie didn’t take those slave roles because she wanted to but she needed the work.
I suggest you visit the http://www.theblackactor.com on her website she points out the people behind “Who’s Your Caddy?” are actually drum roll please…..white people. Yes, white heterosexual men are the screenwriters behind that racist filth that is being sold and promoted to black audiences.
I noticed you didn’t mentioned the fact that Thandie may not be considered the greatest actress. You also glossed over the fact that Halle Berry is playing a white woman and that also Storm is not Black in the X-Men comic books.
I don’t think Jolie as you put it “cannot be criticized”. I think that the role was offered to her, and I think it was personal for Marianne, as she was someone she knew before the movie was made and felt that Angie knew her well enough to play her authentically (which she did). To them, it transcended race. What a concept.
Whoopie Goldberg has also played a character that was originally a black woman, in “Ghost”.
Face it, I saw the movie, and Angelina was NOT in black face. Her skin was the same color it is now. In fact, if you watch the movie closely, her Jewish co-star’s skin is darker than hers. I know you will probably gloss over this point, as it doesn’t fit your agenda, however, it is true.
Anyway, anger can be good, without it, we’d be alot further back as a people than we are (although now, it’s more a state of mind than being held back by whites). But, I think we need to focus the anger on the writers, producers and movie studios and ask them why aren’t there more films for Black Actresses?
What happened to all the wonderful novels written by black authors? Could not films by Terri McMillian, Eleanor Taylor Bland, E. Jerome Dickey, E Lynn Harris, Toni Morrison, Walter Mosley, or Bebe Moore Campbell be written and bankrolled for the big screen?
Who do we contact to make this happen? So, instead of just anger, we find a solution, and MAKE change happen; which is much more effective than ranting and raving about something that is over and done.
I don’t care whether or not she’s nominated for an NAACP Award. If it bothers you, send them an email.
Correction: Whoopie Goldberg’s character in Ghose was a white woman.
I guess we agree to disagree about the term “anger”. I don’t think anger is always a negative. Anger can sometimes be used to make and provoke social change. I am a writer and I also have written articles about this controversy. I have also written a play that I want produced. I definitely want to make a difference because I am sick of the way black people are treated by Hollywood. Maybe we don’t agree on this debate but I am definitely trying to get my perspective out there. I think black people and other people of colour do have to challenge this because of the racist and sexist message Hollywood is sending. And I am doing my part.
I decided instead of just complaining I am going to challenge Hollywood on this issue. I interviewed university professors and anti racism experts.
I cannot change the world I can only present my perspective. I have indeed written in the media about my perspective about this issue last year. I’m just a struggling writer a young black man that is voicing my opinion. I think my blog is important because I am challenging the racist and sexist representations of black people and other people of colour. I suggest you read bell hooks outstanding book “Outlaw Culture” in this book hooks says we must be “enlighten witnesses” to the pernicious racism and manipulation of Hollywood.
Here is the link to two articles I wrote.
One is called “Shades Of Blackface” it was published in the New Zealand Herald
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=200&objectid=10444455&pnum=0
The second article is “Is White The New Black?” published in the Georgia Straight.
http://www.straight.com/article-96155/is-white-the-new-black
The symbolism is the big issue here not the skin tone and the history of racism against black women in Hollywood. Jolie was wearing make up to make her appear more African. The issue here is the lack of diversity for women of colour in the leading lady roles. Thandie Newton is a good actress.
Okay, you may not care about the NAACP nominating Jolie but I think the NAACP is sending the wrong message to the public. Actually one of Walter Mosley’s books was made into a movie I believe with Denzel Washington in the lead role in the mid 1990s.
TMG, thanks for writing about those movies. I’ll give it more thought.
But the NAACP nomination still seems quite puzzling, don’t you think? If this is not a racial issue, why nominate at all? If an organization is concerned with racial issues, then its decision cannot be received as just a ‘neutral’ announcement. Just looking at how many people and interests get involved in this whole story shows that it has a significance beyond being just another movie, it seems to me.
The history of Hollywood misrepresentations is long. It’s not that I hit the roof, but it does anger me when I see Slavic characters lumped in together in the movie world as if our languages and cultures were indistinguishable and, moreover, interchangeable. Russians mistaken for Poles mistaken for Czechs mistaken for Bulgarians… It makes no sense. Also, it does send a message to the audiences from those countries that Hollywood cannot be bothered to do the least bit of research about them.
I don’t want to divert attention from the subject. However we might approach the whole Mighty Heart issue, with anger, indignance, or indifference, it seems logical for me to suspect that it might have repercussions for the movie industry and the question of representation of race. Defining race is beyond me. There is a point at which it becomes personal, very intimate. What is disturbing about the Mighty Heart adaptation is that it brings the personal and the public dimension of race in what seems like a head-on crash. There is no way it could not be controversial.
Last word about misrepresentation in pop culture. I was never a big fan of X-Men comics but had some more knowledgeable friends. As far as I remember, although Storm was drawn in a different way depending on the artist, she was said to be a Kenyan. There was even a story about her going back to Africa or a flashback, anyway a story about Africanness and motherhood (I am sure, though, that it wasn’t very profound). And, since we’re in the terrain of misrepresentations: women in comics all tend to have busts that would crack their spines, so there is A LOT going on there in terms of white male gaze, etc.
Anyway, I would like to thank you for your comment. In my case, it’s not anger about the nomination but puzzlement. I hope I didn’t offend anyone with my contribution to the discussion.
Wow, this discussion has gotten intense and very interesting! I have a big essay to write for Friday for university so I will keep my response brief. To the commenter who asked if T. Newton embraces her blackness, she does as I read in a Harper’s Bazaar interview that she talked about her childhood experiences of growing up as a black girl. She represents unlike Pearl.
Also Pearl is French but being French does not mean you are exempt to race. There are many black French people who recognise their blackness and their national identity as French people such as supermodel Noemie Lenoir.
Thank you all. Thandie did, however marry a white man as well. She also played the heroine in MIission Impossible II which I’m pretty sure was written for a white girl.
Truthfully, though I am a fan of Angelina’s, I was also puzzled by the nomination, but, I chalk it up to the NAACP wanting the “power Hollywood couple” at this show to boost their ratings and get more media coverage than for anything else.
If she was receiving an acheivement award for her UN work, it would make more sense.
I think embracing your “blackness” usually depends upon how you are raised as an interracial child. I know many white/black children who were raised around whites, with very little contact with black people. Many of them, do not identify with being black. I blame their parents more than I blame them. JMO.
Yes, by all means contact the studios and encourage, no demand, that they produce good black movies, not the crap they’ve been feeding us. I miss the “Waiting to Exhale”, “X”, etc., good dramas that made us think. How good was the Great Debaters?
Also, if you check IMBD, there are a lot of Black Actresses with movies coming out. What we need, are more of therm behind the scenes.
The black actors/actresses need to unite and create their own production company, and produce the kind of movies they want to be in.
YELLING AT THE SCREEN: Where Have All the Black Girls Gone? by Mark H. Harris, Popmatters.com
[5 December 2005]
If a black woman ever needs reminding of the dearth of black female leads, she need only ask a white person what actress she most resembles. Chances are she’ll hear “Whoopi Goldberg” at some point.
by Mark H. Harris
If I’ve learned anything about women from a lifetime of watching movies, it’s that they’re inextricably drawn to the sight of a penis. Maybe that’s because I watch porn. What I do know for sure is that women don’t like to be ignored — like when Dirk Wellhung is in a threesome, he makes sure no one feels left out. But I digress. Women hate to be ignored. Especially when they’re my wife, and I’m ignoring her for porn.
But ignoring women — black women — is all that movies seem to do nowadays. Sweet, sweet porn aside, black women have become an endangered species in Hollywood. Not that they were all that prevalent to begin with, but now casting agents have discovered viable alternatives in the “other” — any minority other than black. Latin, Asian, Inuit, even white women with tans have scooped up roles that would traditionally be reserved for black women, leaving nary but the dreggiest of dregs.
Did Eva Mendes have to play Denzel Washington’s dependable wife to Sanaa Lathan’s philandering backstabber girlfriend in Out of Time? Did Roselyn Sanchez have to play the sexy vixen rescuing Cuba Gooding, Jr. from the shallow, catty Vivica A. Fox in Boat Trip? And what in the name of Al Jolson was Jessica Alba doing playing anyone black in Honey?
Hitch illustrated all too clearly the economics of hooking up black lead characters with “others”. Studios don’t want to piss off black people by putting the black lead with a white person, but if they have two black leads, then all of a sudden, it’s a “black film” that can’t open in more than 400 Magic Johnson theaters. So, as the reasoning goes, a nice, tan Latina won’t seem like such a sellout to blacks, and whites won’t feel like they’ll get shot if they see it in the theater. It’s Hollywood’s “Two Drop Rule”:
One black person = Equal opportunity, Affirmative Action, whatever; we need a black character!
Two black people = Niche film. Run ads on Soul Train and open in less than 1,000 theaters. Consider a tie-in with Kool Aid.
Two black people + a budget = Oscar-skewed biopic. Make sure Roger Ebert’s wife sees it.
So, one black actor is ideal, and if there’s a choice between the black lead being a man or a woman, in the immortal words of James Brown, it’s a man’s world…And hit her where she won’t bruise. While things have “progressed” to the point where you can count on two hands the number of black men who are allowed to headline a non-black film — Will Smith, Denzel Washington, Eddie Murphy, Martin Lawrence, Sam Jackson, and maybe Bernie Mac, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Ice Cube, or Jamie Foxx — you can count the black female leads on two fingers: Halle Berry and maybe Queen Latifah. If a black woman ever needs reminding of the dearth of black female leads, she need only ask a white person what actress she most resembles. Chances are she’ll hear “Whoopi Goldberg” at some point.
Things started out well enough for black actresses, with Hattie McDaniel winning an Oscar decades before Sidney Poitier got his, but over time, the black female stigma has proven too powerful. They get double-barreled social discrimination: race and gender. Sure, everyone secretly likes to feel a little oppressed now and then, but when you actually are oppressed, it’s pretty annoying. While black men have been increasingly celebrated in cinema for being trendy, tough, sexually potent, athletic, and in the case of some rappers, borderline retarded, black women aren’t allowed to expand beyond characterizations normally relegated to reality show divas. Do any positive black female stereotypes even exist? Even Arabs get to be “rich”. This world would be a better place if we learned to reserve our stereotypes for those most deserving, like the poor and the Floridian.
Perhaps nowhere is the rigidity of black female roles more apparent than in on-screen romance. Films like Save the Last Dance, Jungle Fever, In the Mix, and even the House of Wax remake have paired black men with white women, but rarely do you see the reverse. It’s as if black women are incapable of tenderness or amorous feelings. (Granted, the cold-fish climactic kiss in The Bodyguard didn’t help matters, what with Whitney Houston’s fear that smooching a white man would give her vaginal albinism.)
Halle Berry — who’s been allowed to survive as Hollywood’s token shining example of “See, we like black women!” — is one of the only real exceptions. Her tan Barbie doll looks have allowed her the freedom to have on-screen relations with every non-black man from James Bond to Billy Bob Thornton, but she’s still largely relegated to sex pot roles devoid of genuine feeling; witness her Oscar for Best Interracial Butt-Screw.
The quality of black women’s roles have reached dire proportions. There’s something inherently wrong with the fact that there’ve been more movies this decade starring Nick Cannon than Angela Bassett. And as great as Kimberly Elise was in Diary of a Mad Black Woman, it doesn’t make up for the fact that the main draw of the film was a dude in a dress. The way I see it, there are a few options that black actresses can pursue:
Solution #1:
Kick black actors’ asses. The few who might actually have some say in casting haven’t always shown much sympathy for the cause: Will Smith in Hitch, Ice Cube in Next Friday, Denzel in Out of Time and Training Day. Jada Pinkett needs to climb up on her husband’s shoulders and box his ears. Does he not care that his wife can’t get a job unless he gives it to her? Does he not care that the less work she gets as an actress, the more work she gets as a singer? I’m sure Denzel’s wife must’ve told him that if he puts Eva Mendes in one more movie, she’d cut him off at the knees.
Solution #2:
There’s no quicker way to get a black man’s attention than to not date a black man. Ask Garcelle Beauvais, Kerry Washington, Aisha Tyler, Thandie Newton, or Tyra Banks. The goal is twofold: one, you’ll get noticed by the few black men who have some pull in the industry. Two, you’ll infiltrate the non-black power structure; it’s the Hollywood way (Near Vine way; take a right past the hooker.).
Solution #3:
Being black in America is like being gay in that you can’t be “a little black” or “a little gay”, so the solution is simple: try not to look black. Witness: Vin Diesel, The Rock, Jennifer Beals, Mariah Carey, and Rashida Jones. And if you can’t pass for “other”, at least try to be light-skinned enough to play the love interest in an Eddie Murphy film.
Solution #4:
Boycott. Who are they gonna get to play their attitudinal hookers, their attitudinal welfare mothers, and their attitudinal authoritarian cock blockers (loan officers, judges, DMV workers, et al.)?
Solution #5:
Try not to make movies like Woo, B*A*P*S, or Glitter.
Hopefully, my advice can help black actresses gain some leverage in the industry and put a positive black female face on Hollywood so that black women worldwide will take pride in these roles and feel more secure about their future in this world.
Then maybe my wife will have sex with me again.
I believe when you need a dictionary to read the first paragraph of a blog post, you really wouldnt want to continue, especially when youre in a rush.