“No matter what, people don’t think of me for glamorous parts. I’ll go to an audition or a meeting in a pretty dress, and they still think of me as depressed or embattled. Hopefully, that will change.”
source:
Yesterday we posted two frames from our Oscar Roundtable in which Viola Davis, alluding to the fact black women who are not exactly Halle Berry have it hard in Hollywood, was silenced by Charlize Theron’s well-intentioned, “Stop saying that…you’re hot as shit.” It kinda blew up. So we asked Allison Samuels, a senior writer at Newsweek, to take a stab at what it is, exactly, Charlize doesn’t get about black Hollywood.
An excerpt:
Charlize Theron surely meant no harm. The actress genuinely thought she was complimenting fellow thespian Viola Davis during this year’s Newsweek Oscar roundtable when she told Davis, “You’re hot as sh-t.’’
Their exchange revolved around Davis’s comments on finding work as an African-American actress. Davis, who has won praise for her starring role in The Help, was attempting to explain the difficult plight of being black and female in the movie industry. “I’m a 46-year-old black woman who really doesn’t look like Halle Berry, and Halle Berry is having a hard time,” said Davis.
No doubt hoping to forge a sisterly bond, Theron rushed in to reassure Davis that she was indeed “hot’’ and naively implied that a simple change of attitude would make a world of difference. Her exact words—“You have to stop saying that, because you’re hot as sh-t.’’
How sweet of Theron to say, and how thoroughly misguided and offensive as well. Davis was honestly confronting a number of painful and complicated issues faced by many women of color in Hollywood today—issues Theron (who was born in South Africa to parents of European descent) more than likely has never encountered and would have done well to listen to. The Oscar roundtable was the perfect forum for such a discussion, and yet Theron’s verbal charity managed to downplay the importance of Davis’s point. What difference does it make if Davis stops speaking a truth if the reality remains?
Keep reading, What Charlize Theron Doesn’t Get About Black Hollywood.
From the article: “Apparently Theron didn’t get the memo that mainstream culture strictly dictates what beauty is.”
Yeah. There’s a lot of that going around.
is this real …
When? Where? I will watch it. Record it. TiVo it & Ion even have one.
WHAT WHAT WHAT i need info about in this in my ask box ASAPTUALLY
i usually would watch medi/dramas but this here, will get the fuck watched out of it!
Is this still on the air? I thought City of Angels was cancelled a while ago.
I never did watch it; I guess I’m part of the problem. :[
Hollywood is a business. And I don’t fault it for that. It’s a business about money and advertising, and we don’t translate in the foreign market. And a lot of people want to indict Hollywood for that, but I don’t think it’s just an indictment on Hollywood; it may be more of an indictment on people who go to the theatre to put their money down – to see what? You see a film with a predominantly black cast and you don’t see it as inclusive, but you see a film with a predominantly white cast and it is. Why?
I want to be a pioneer; I want to take on the responsibility and the weight of something bigger than myself, which is more diverse storylines, especially for African-American actresses. But I can only do what I do. I certainly can’t change Hollywood’s complete perception of black actresses – I need help.
The Help by Hunter Langston
This poster says more about the problematic aspects of the movie than almost anything I’ve ever seen
Pretty fucking accurate.
Charlie Rose: Are you where you thought you would be? Are you further than you thought you would be? Have you had the opportunity to show how good you are? [x]
I’ve NEVER seen this one.
BEAUTIFUL! I love this woman!
(Source: inanorderlyfashion)
Viola Davis at the 2012 White House Correspondents’ Dinner
