Essay one.
About a month ago I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to sit about two feet away from Viola Davis and Charles Stone and hear them both answer generally focused on the struggles of making it in Hollywood as a black actor/actress. A key point Viola Davis and Charles Stone made that I hadn't really though of was the fact that many people that sit in the high seat in movie production don't necessarily think about the black actors. It isn't because people with the movie making industry don't believe that black actors don't have the ability to give a convincing performance. It is purely because our eyes are so use to seeing a white face as the leading role.
White is seen as "transparent" in our world, so when seeing any other race on the silver screen (even in day to day life) we notice and seem to become distracted by that.
So black actors roles stay very limited, because of the fear of shaking the normalcy of Media and Hollywood.
When we think of black actors we think of supporting roles; the main characters sidekick/best friend. We think of black actors as the comic relief of a movie by playing on the degrading stereo types that our cast on black people. And if it isn't that particular role, it's a role of a slave or butler in an era film. It's irritating to think that these are the the major options for black actors who could do so much more. Who could be the Leonardo DiCaprio's or the Meryl Streep's, but can't even get the opportunity to showcase that type of undeniable talent.
This is something that also plays a major part in the world of pop music (more so with black women). Women in general that are major names in the music industry, not only have to release catchy tunes and have a relatively descent voice but also have to be attractive. Like, very attractive. They are forced to over sexualize themselves just for people to pay attention to them, and in the process they strip their talent down. Narrowing this down to just black women in the music industry is even more ridiculous and heart-wrenching.
White is seen as "transparent" in our world, so when seeing any other race on the silver screen (even in day to day life) we notice and seem to become distracted by that.
So black actors roles stay very limited, because of the fear of shaking the normalcy of Media and Hollywood.
When we think of black actors we think of supporting roles; the main characters sidekick/best friend. We think of black actors as the comic relief of a movie by playing on the degrading stereo types that our cast on black people. And if it isn't that particular role, it's a role of a slave or butler in an era film. It's irritating to think that these are the the major options for black actors who could do so much more. Who could be the Leonardo DiCaprio's or the Meryl Streep's, but can't even get the opportunity to showcase that type of undeniable talent.
This is something that also plays a major part in the world of pop music (more so with black women). Women in general that are major names in the music industry, not only have to release catchy tunes and have a relatively descent voice but also have to be attractive. Like, very attractive. They are forced to over sexualize themselves just for people to pay attention to them, and in the process they strip their talent down. Narrowing this down to just black women in the music industry is even more ridiculous and heart-wrenching.