Why is 'browning up' acceptable in Hollywood?
- Thread starter Orang Utan
- Start date
Treacle Toes
Time
What I mean is that Whiteness becomes the default to 'otherness' so the conversation is rarely about what it means to be White, how White people are etc.
Whiteness is not examined or named/labelled in the same way Blackness/otherness is. The focus is Black/Brown/other people are x, y, z, on perceived, generalised difference, which in itself implies anything un-named as White because the gaze is 'White'. It creates absolute positions and representations.
Prevalent/institutionalised/accepted/internalised, yet for the most part unexamined and deconstructed by many.
Already in bed so not a full response. Hope it makes sense and maybe I can get back to this tomorrow.
Whiteness is not examined or named/labelled in the same way Blackness/otherness is. The focus is Black/Brown/other people are x, y, z, on perceived, generalised difference, which in itself implies anything un-named as White because the gaze is 'White'. It creates absolute positions and representations.
Prevalent/institutionalised/accepted/internalised, yet for the most part unexamined and deconstructed by many.
Already in bed so not a full response. Hope it makes sense and maybe I can get back to this tomorrow.
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Vintage Paw
dead stare and computer glare
What I mean is that Whiteness becomes the default to 'otherness' so the conversation is rarely about what it means to be White, how White people are etc.
Whiteness is not examined or named/labelled in the same way Blackness/otherness is. The focus is Black/Brown/other people are x, y, z, on perceived, generalised difference, which in itself implies anything un-named as White because the gaze is 'White'. It creates absolute positions and representations.
Prevalent/institutionalised/accepted/internalised, yet for the most part unexamined and deconstructed by many.
Already in bed so not a full response. Hope it makes sense and maybe I can get back to this tomorrow.
It's the same thing with saying 'female doctor', etc. Male is default. White is default. Straight is default. Able-bodied is default. None of them require prefacing with a descriptor because they are assumed to be the 'norm' and anything that isn't one of those things needs an explanation.
Edit: I don't know if anyone's read it, but Erasure by Percival Everett is a very interesting novel that covers a lot of these issues with an emphasis on being African American.
Treacle Toes
Time
Vintage Paw
dead stare and computer glare
Yes it is. I was being specific because I was asked to be.
Oh, I know. I was just expanding on it. Sorry.
Treacle Toes
Time
No need to be sorry!
Thimble Queen
Called away to another place
Thanks both... I get what you mean now but I'm not getting why POC as a phrase has an impact. Again not challenging but really interested in your views on this.
Treacle Toes
Time
...in short because White is a colour too. The term POC doesn't include Whiteness, therefore the 'gaze' is generalised and by default White even if we are using it as a unifier/to talk about our collective experiences of racism.
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Treacle Toes
Time
A question you could be asking of hollywood directors/producers/casting departments. 
Why does someone have to be white or black to play the role of a white or black person? How racist is that?
Treacle Toes
Time
I read the thread title and asked myself... "Did I throw a wobbler when Brad Pitt played a piss-poor pikey in Snatch"... No, I didn't... what's the problem with anyone of any race playing the part of anyone from any race?We are on page 22 of this same discussion. Read the thread?
Treacle Toes
Time
If that was aimed at me, could you please point out where I went wrong?
bubblesmcgrath
Well-Known Member
I read the thread title and asked myself... "Did I throw a wobbler when Brad Pitt played a piss-poor pikey in Snatch"... No, I didn't... what's the problem with anyone of any race playing the part of anyone from any race?
Yul Brynner made a great King of Siam too.....
SpookyFrank
A cheap source of teeth for aquarium gravel
Zoe Saldana is forever getting painted different colours isn't she?
e2a: I've seen some of the photos of her made up as Simone, and it's the kind of work you'd expect to see in a community theatre pantomime.
e2a: I've seen some of the photos of her made up as Simone, and it's the kind of work you'd expect to see in a community theatre pantomime.
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
It was rather an offensive portrayal of an Irish traveller. The whole film demonises travellers, with the hero of the film repeatedly saying how much he 'hates fucking pikeys'.I read the thread title and asked myself... "Did I throw a wobbler when Brad Pitt played a piss-poor pikey in Snatch"... No, I didn't... what's the problem with anyone of any race playing the part of anyone from any race?
Guy Ritchie should have been pitchforked for it.
On the balance of evidence i think i agree with Nina Simones daughters point that Kimberly Elise would have portrayed her mother better without the need for cheap prosthetics and a comedy wig
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=58986
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=58986
Vintage Paw
dead stare and computer glare
But but but, I bet Saldana was literally the BEST actor for the job, so how dare you suggest she shouldn't have played that part.
Etc.
Etc.
Thimble Queen
Called away to another place
Thanks for this. None of it's simple, eh. I hadn't thought of it in this way before.
8ball
Maximum Facepalm
White people are hard to see in foggy conditions.
SpookyFrank
A cheap source of teeth for aquarium gravel
Indeed. This is clearly a case where someone's life, and therefore any story you might want to tell about that person, has been profoundly affected by the colour of their skin. To do justice to both the story and the subject of that story you'd need to cast someone who looks the part.
SpookyFrank
A cheap source of teeth for aquarium gravel
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