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BLACK ACTRESSES -- STUCK BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE.
I'll admit it -- I'm one of the millions of women nationwide anxiously waiting to be disappointed/frustrated/angered/sartorially delighted by the new "Sex and the City" movie. In the meantime, Helena Andrews at The Root (spoiler alert) has a great piece on the hackneyed "best black friend" character played by Jennifer Hudson of "Dreamgirls" fame. Yes, "Louise" is Carrie's sassy young assistant, and yes, as a black woman she is portrayed, as Andrews writes, less as a full human being than as a "perfect pocket life coach."
On the upside, at least the SATC directors and producers chose a real-life African American to play the part of a black woman. Because in the new indie film "Stuck," Mena Suvari (yes, the blond cheerleader chick from "American Beauty") plays this lady. You know, because cornrows can make anybody black.
--Dana Goldstein
COMMENTS (3)
And then, from the male side, there's Robert Downey Jr. turn in the upcoming "Tropic Thunder" as a black platoon sergeant. Based on the trailer, they seem to be lampooning the very idea of white people playing black people, so it could either be brilliant—or the most racist thing ever. (Or both.)
Posted by: Paulk | May 30, 2008 11:11 AM
Changing a depraved murderess from black to white isn't going to bother me much.
Posted by: Andrew J. Lazarus | May 30, 2008 5:06 PM
Don't mistake random crassness for a pattern of anything. Downey's character is a intensely manly Aussie actor named Kirk Lazarus who may/may not be based on a real intensely manly Aussie actor.
I remember when Sidney Poitier made minor history in 1965 in "The Bedford Incident"--a black man playing a non-racially specific role for the first time.
The nadir came around 1980 in "The Hunter" with Levar Burton playing a young sidekick originally written as a dog.
Posted by: Steve Paradis | May 30, 2008 10:15 PM