Black actresses and the Oscars

I'm sorry that I'm not jumping up and down about the Oscar nominations of Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer. 
It has nothing to do with their work. Both are great actresses--however it's 2012 and black actresses still only get acknowledged for playing maids, victims, whores and singing in musicals. 


The last time a black actress won an Oscar was in 2001. Halle Berry for her role in Monster's Ball.
A role that was basically a white man's whore. 


I posted my thoughts on black actresses and the Oscars on Facebook, stating:
Black actresses get awards for playing maids, whores and victims. Or singing. #thatsall
The responses from people on my page ranged from, "that's right" to "fuck the past."
Yeah, Fuck the past. But the second highest grossing film last weekend was about the past. What is really disturbing about these comments is that black filmgoers complain about the images we see on the screen, yet when a black actor or actress is nominated, we're supposed to be excited?
No.
I have my issues with The Help -- the movie and the book -- because in the 1960s, black women were not speaking as if they were African slaves. And with the book, what black person would compare themselves to a cockroach?
So, why would I jump up and down for these nominations? And yes, I'm still salty as hell that Denzel lost to Al Pacino. I mean, really, if Denzel didn't deserve an Academy Award for Malcolm X, then the sun shouldn't shine.
So, on Oscar night, I will be watching Malcolm X, again.

Comments

bettye griffin said…
Good point, Cheris! Although I didn't think Halle Berry's role was a "white man's whore"--if I remember correctly, they both genuinely cared about each other--but I didn't really think it was an Oscar-worthy performance, simply because it didn't seem fleshed out all that much. But the Oscars aren't given for the best performance; too many other factors are involved. That's why Denzel lost the Oscar to Al back in 1992: Al had lost the Oscar he deserved for The Godfather Part II to someone else, and that's why he got it for Scent of a Woman. Even Denzel's own Oscar for Training Day wasn't his best performance, in my opinion.
February 2, 2012 at 12:53 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Woman rapes a dead man and gets pregnant

Image
So, stop me if you've heard this one. Woman has a last romp with a dead man and gets pregnant. No, this isn't the beginning of a short story, this is a true story . A 38 year old female mortuary worker is being held on $250,000 bond after becoming pregnant by one of her clients-a dead man. The alleged crime took place at the Mourning Glory Mortuary just outside of Lexington, Missouri. Police have charged Felicity Marmaduke with desecration of the dead and necrophilia. According to a statement made to police by Marmaduke, the alleged victim experienced a post mortem erection while being bathed. Being alone, Marmaduke straddled the dead man and proceeded have sex with him. Much to her surprise, the alleged victim came to orgasm after several minutes. A few weeks later, Marmaduke had a positive pregnancy test while receiving a routine medical exam. Upon telling her doctor the circumstances leading to the conception, the police were notified. Marmaduke was
Read more

Django Unchained or The live version of Catcher Freeman

Image
Forget what Spike Lee has to say about Django Unchained , I want to know if Aaron McGruder recognized his work on the big screen. After reading what Quentin Tarantino said about Roots , I had plans to sit this one out. Then I got an invite to see it.  Tarantino called out Roots as inauthentic as a part of his battle with Lee, who accurately said Django was disrespectful to his ancestors. About ten minutes into this overly long spaghetti western/blaxplotation flick, I wanted to make a tee shirt that would read, SPIKE WAS RIGHT.  Tarantino should've made a western with a black hero -- the slavery aspect of the movie was just so unnecessary. Granted, this movie is a work of fiction and not based on any historical slavery story. And yes, people go to the movies to be entertained, but overly violent movies aren't entertaining to me. However, I digress.  The fact that some many people are talking about how "original" this movie is proves one thing: Y'all don
Read more

We can be so petty

Image
Sixteen year old Gabby Douglas won a gold medal in the London Olympics. She's the first African American to ever, EVER, win gold in the all around gymnastics. And you petty people are talking about her hair? And when I say YOU PEOPLE, I'm looking at the media. The Huffington Post : I really thought you all were more progressive than this. I guess your progression stops at the African American hairline. The New York Times points out how people weren't happy for Gabby. It kind of only matters that her mother, her beautiful mother, was over the moon proud of her child. And at the end of the day -- this is all that matters: Douglas, a 16-year-old who left her Virginia Beach, Va., home and her family when she was 14 so she could train and learn better gymnastics in Iowa, won the Olympic gold medal Thursday at the North Greenwich Arena. She led from start to finish, scoring 62.232 and leaving a pair of Russians, Victoria Komova and Aliya Mustafina, as disconsolate silv
Read more