Is Zoe Saldana The New A list Black Actress Or Just The New Interracial Vixen?

Halle Berry hasn’t  released a film since  her 2007 interracial drama, “Things We Lost In A Fire” bombed. Some black people aren’t supporting Halle Berry anymore, and why should we?

Berry decided she wanted to crossover to white Hollywood while forgetting her core audience is black.  Berry isn’t appealing to black audiences anymore even though she first obtained her success working in black cinema. Zoe Saldana also started out working in black films and she is now mainstream.

Halle  Berry is a mother, and she is also 43 years old. Of course, 43 is not old in life terms. However, Hollywood has been searching for the new A list black actress that is young, thin, has long straight hair, attractive, lighter skin,  and talented.

Zoe Saldana may reach the A list, she has all the ingredients that mainstream white Hollywood desires for an actress that wants to become a leading lady.

Zoe is basically a black woman with a white woman’s body. If you look at Zoe’s early films, such as 2002’s “Crossroads” or “Drumline” she actually had curves.

Unfortunately, Zoe’s body has changed, she has conformed to Eurocentric standards of beauty.

Zoe is now rail thin, she lost her curves, her ass is now non-existent, she used to have a buttocks. Now Zoe just looks malnourished and she looks almost anorexic.

Meanwhile, Halle Maria Berry used to be a black woman with grace, charm, and dignity. However, Berry transformed into  the “interracial vixen” with controversial performances in Monster’s Ball & Swordfish by flashing her breasts, ass, and pubic hair.

Berry was reduced to being the “black Jezebel”, and an “interracial vixen” for white heterosexual male desire. Berry’s lost a lot of respect from some blacks for appearing in both films.

Angela Bassett she is a respectable, sophisticated,black woman, she has class, dignity, and self-respect.

In fact, Bassett turned down Monster Ball because she felt the character Leticia Musgrove was a prostitute.

Bassett’s analysis is correct, Leticia Musgrove was  the black whore she sold her body in exchange for shelter and food.

The quandary is, why can’t several black actresses reach A list and maintain their dignity?

Does a black woman have to “strip” in order to reach the A list? Halle Berry has had some incredible performances in films such as “Queen”,  “Losing Isaiah”, & “Introducing Dorothy Dandridge”.

However, Berry did not reach the A list until she “turned a trick” in Monster’s Ball!

Berry did not  reach the “mainstream” until  her black ass was bent over a couch getting drilled doggy style  by a white man!

So  is this the  subliminal racist and sexist  message Hollywood is sending to the public?

The blue print appears to be that a black actress has to have white male love interests in order to “make it”?

In other words, does a black woman have to “fuck” a white guy in the movies to reach the top of Hollywood?

The only other route a black woman has to reach the A list is to become the asexual overweight mammy. The mammy is non threatening she is just  asexual.

Why is it always one or two at a time? Queen Latifah is also A list but she’s another stereotype of black womanhood. Queen Latifah is the overweight, asexual, black mammy.

It appears black Latina, Zoe Saldana is, the new A list black actress. The problem is, why is Zoe Saldana only “now” considered A list because she has received mainstream “recognition”?

Saldana has appeared in two box office blockbuster films this year Star Trek & Avatar. Saldana is 31 years old, so she’s young. I thought Kerry Washington was going to become A list black actress, but her career has cooled off. I only remember Kerry for her L’Oreal hair commercials and that’s it.

What is Kerry doing these days anyway? The last film I saw Kerry Washington in was the horrible interracial drama Lakeview Terrace which flopped! If Lakeview Terrace was supposed to help Kerry Washington crossover it backfired.

Rosario Dawson was supposed to be the new interracial vixen, she works mostly with white male actors but her career hasn’t taken off.  Maybe, Zoe is lucky she was in the right place at the right time?

If you have been paying attention to  Zoe’s career, in the last four years, she works exclusively with white heterosexual men. Of course, in terms of the Hollywood marketplace white heterosexual men want to maintain their dominance over all women. Black feminist bell hooks reminds us in her amazing book “Outlaw Culture” that pop culture are representations of  society’s views about sexuality. In Hollywood, the message in these movies are black women only desire white men. Is this really true? The images from these films depict white men having a sexual aura or power over all women.

If you look at the USA 2006 census,  black men are more than likely to be married to white women than black women married to white men. Have you ever noticed the black male and white female couples in society? Next time you look at interracial couples on the street you will notice when a black heterosexual man enters an interracial relationship it is usually with a white woman.

I always see  black men with their  white girlfriends and wives all the time. It is more rare to see a black woman with a white man. The reason some heterosexual black men marry or date white women isn’t just about love; it is about obtaining a higher social status.  Some black heterosexual men believe if they marry or date a white woman they will be closer to whiteness which means closer to social acceptance.

In black Hollywood, it is common to see black heterosexual males marry or date white females. First, I just want to say if a black man wants to date or marry white women that is his right and his business. However, I am just questioning a few things. For instance, my argument is some black heterosexual men want more social privilege and they believe by dating or marrying white women they will have access to white privilege.

However, in the film industry the opposite is true. It is palatable for a black actress such as Sanaa Lathan, Zoe Saldana, or Halle Berry to have a white male love interest.

When was the last time you saw Will Smith or Jamie Foxx have an intense sex scene with an A list white actresses such as Penelope Cruz, Kate Winslet, Julia Roberts, Angelina Jolie, Hilary Swank,  or Nicole Kidman? The answer is never. So why can’t  A list black male actors have explicit interracial sex and romance with   white actresses?

The most recent film that has an intense interracial sex scene is the film “Mother & Child” with Samuel L Jackson and  Naomi Watts. My argument is, interracial sex between black men and white women is viewed as problematic due to America’s anxieties about black male sexuality. Hollywood doesn’t want to present the image that white women are sexually attracted to black men that would upset white male dominance.

White heterosexual men control Hollywood so a black actress has to work with white men in order to attract mainstream media attention. However, for an A list black male actor the opposite is true. Will Smith and Denzel Washington never have A list white actresses as their love interests.

Here is a brief look at some of Zoe’s most promiment films:

Pirates of the Caribbean (implied) – Johnny Depp
Haven – Orlando Bloom
Guess Who – Ashton Kutcher
Star Trek – Zachary Quinto
Avatar (sorta) – Sam Worthington

What do you think? Is Zoe Saldana the new A list black actress or just the new interracial vixen? The interracial vixen is a movie role where a black actress is  hypersexualized and viewed as just a sex symbol for white heterosexual male desire. Halle Berry was the former black bombsell of Hollywood but she’s 43 snd her career has dried up.  Saldana has replaced Berry but Saldana should be  very careful she doesn’t want to be typecast.

It is very limiting to be the interracial vixen because there is a time limit on these kinds of roles due to age. Also, why hasn’t Zoe Saldana worked with A list black male actors such as Jamie Foxx, Will Smith, or Denzel Washington? I am yearning to see an A list black male actor and an A list black actress work together in a movie for the longest time.