Spencer winning for a Mammy does not help black women
-
ifembot — 13 years ago(May 13, 2012 02:54 PM)
all they do is perpetuate the fat, black, dark woman, sterotype in their movies. Until healthy, brown, beautiful black women that dont encourage stereotypes win awards and have great leading roles, your argument is and will be irrelevant
-
Dr_Dmitri-Yuriev — 14 years ago(March 05, 2012 03:34 PM)
AMPAS is interested is baity brave performances most of the time not boring goody two shoes type roles. Take a look at the actress nominees/winners this decade; they often play psychaotic women, drugy singers, nazi's, murderers, supportive wife, tomboys, etc.
-
activista — 13 years ago(April 14, 2012 11:43 AM)
@salt
Excuse me? All of the first 3 actresses you mentioned do LOOK blackblack folks come in ALL different colors, as you should well know. Also, Zoe Saldana is a beautiful brown skinned sister who also happens to be Latina (yeah, Black Latinos do existI say that because some people act as if that's NOT possible)and of the other two,only Paula Patton is clearly light-skinned. Halle is NOWHERE near light-skinnedand honestly, I wish stop saying she's not black because her mama is whiteI think that's so stupid. They ALL have made it very clear that they identify themselves as BLACK women, period, so quit stereotyping.
The reality is, is that as long as white folks run Hollywood, and it has been that way since Hollywood began,black folks are gonna have to decide whether to take stereotypical roles or not, because a lot of the time that is usually most of what they get if they want to make it in this business. Blaming Spencer for getting an award for playing a maid role is a waste of time because she really has NO control over how Hollywood treats black actors/actresseshell,why blame her for some s*** Hollywood has ALWAYS done and will continue to do? She got her foot in the damn door, which I'm sure was hard enough, considering that she's not white and blond (Hollywood's ultimate narrow-a** racist definition of beautyshe IS pretty,though) so let's see how she makes the most of her opportunities from here on out. -
activista — 12 years ago(August 10, 2013 12:04 AM)
@Salt-and-Limes
Gotta disagree with you about these ladiesfor one thing, if you have actually seen Zoe Saldana in films, she is a beautiful dark-skinned women and she does look blacksounds like you're only going by her IMDB photo,which is obviously over-lit. And both Patton and Berry not only look black, but, also like Saldana, they have made it very clear that they identify as black women, period. Plus Patton is the only one out of the three who can be called light-skinned. Why people keep saying that Berry and Saldana are light-akinned, I'll never figure out, because they clearly aren't. I don't know where that came from. -
Salt-and-Limes — 14 years ago(March 06, 2012 10:57 PM)
She is an ACTRESS. She is not a domestic servant. She was playing one in a movie during a time period which really existed, and not too long a go at that, to show people how blacks were actually treated during that period and what they had to endure. PERIOD! I think it's important to remind people how ignorant and stupid people were in the past. The segregation of blacks, the holocaust etc. It is important so people can apply this idiocy to their modern day prejudices.
I understand that Spencer is an actress that needs to take whatever she can find. My problem is with the system that nominated her and gave accolades to the book and movie. "The Help" was a flowery fantasy of segregation. The movie only covered the tip of the iceberg of what black maids, and black people in general, had to go through. It was a white savior story in the guise of racial progress. I mean they had MAMMY CARICATURES portray black domestics living in the 1960s.
Can you imagine a holocaust story that has Jews doing and saying whatever they want to their Nazi officers? A holocaust story that's played up for laughs? To top it all off, all the Jewish characters in the film
actually fit the stereotypes used against them!
Can you imagine something like that accepted as an accurate depiction of the times; a source in understanding history?
Women in Hollywood always get the short end of the stick. It's a boy's town and always has been. I'm not saying it's right, but it's true. White women are always playing hookers, mistresses, doting wives to their powerful husbands. So please don't give me this sh** that she sent "black women" back all these years, because she played a maid. BIG DEAL! Hey, she is a women in Hollywood and a black woman at that who is working and getting paid a lot of money and who just won an Academy Award. I don't think she's complaining.
White actresses have better opportunities of chosing better roles. The media (and western society in general) is Caucasian dominated so white entertainers have the luxury of choosing more diverse scripts. Despite whatever stereotypes exist for white people. Black actresses do not have that availability. Which is why people have to keep an eye out for how we are being shown.
She didn't set black women back. She actually pushed them forward by bringing the plight that black women had to endure to the screen so people could witness it for themselves and come to terms with it. And in turnshe won an Oscar and opened more doors for black actresses.
This so called plight was primarily about toilet faciliates. Not the physical, verbal and sexual abuse that these maids suffered at the hands of their employers. Minny Jackson was the typical black woman that everyone likes to make fun ofthe neck rolling, eye bulging, sassy, overweight matriach. She had to spout lines such as "frying chicken tends to make you feel better about life." Come on really?
My point is is that Hollyweird is going to keep creating these fat-black-woman-with-sass characters. In their minds they think since everyone finds mammy so enduring then they'll continue in making these dumbass roles. Well why can't black women be portrayed like all every other woman in Hollywood? Instead of having to conform to these racist stereotypes? -
Salt-and-Limes — 14 years ago(March 07, 2012 08:40 AM)
Remember thisthere is now A BLACK MAN sitting in the White Houseno pun intended and THE RICHEST WOMAN in the entertainment industry is A BLACK WOMAN
So simply because we have a black president and Oprah, racism is no longer an issue? We don't have to worry about racist stereotypes being shown in the media? -
Dr_Dmitri-Yuriev — 14 years ago(March 07, 2012 02:11 PM)
Can you imagine a holocaust story that has Jews doing and saying whatever they want to their Nazi officers? A holocaust story that's played up for laughs?
It's been done, it's called
Life is Beautiful
which was nominated for best film, director and screenplay and it won best foreign language film and best leading actor in 1998. -
Tyson_Kidd_for_WWE_Champion — 14 years ago(March 07, 2012 09:44 PM)
Salt-and-Limes then please tell us exactly what would actually help black actresses? If people only saw American black women as maids then would they think Michelle Obama, Condoleeza Rice, and my own mother were maids? Not there is anything wrong with being a maid I am jb68ust asking.
What I would really like to know is what role would help black actresses? What role would finally win an actress the Best Actress in a Leading Role for a positive role? And I highly doubt just one role would do anything, not that I am concerned about it because I know a lot of good black women.
Something else that has been on my mind. Also, the video you provided and I have seen other people complain about is Octavia Spencer using her eyes as means for playing a stereotype. I would like to point out that it is not a stereotype. It is her signature comedic deadpan expression she gives in a lot of her work. Viola Davis does it too in almost all her movies except hers is for dramatic purposes. -
omoxus — 14 years ago(March 08, 2012 07:32 AM)
^
Some say the same about Chris Tucker. Just becuase his eyes pop out, he's playing 5b4a stereotype.
that's just the way he looks. This race thing has gotten so bad that black folk are sensitive to any and every image. Concerns over image is very important, but the energy needs to be focused on places where it applies. Constructive not reactive.
Im the Alpha and the Omoxus. The Omoxus and the Omega -
Tyson_Kidd_for_WWE_Champion — 14 years ago(March 08, 2012 07:37 AM)
I know right. Some people actually think just because Disney put the black princess on its candy packets that are flavored watermelon, it is racist. I can't believe how sensitive some people can be. Although, this is Disney we are talking about so it is debatable. But yes I just realized that about Chris Tucker now that you brought him up. In Rush Hour 2, I swear he did it all throughout that movie!
-
omoxus — 14 years ago(March 15, 2012 07:02 AM)
This whole racial imagery thing reminds me of Martin Lawrence's charecter in Boomerang. He was so paranoid, he would look for race in everything. Life's too short. The Help is a disney chick flick. Am homage to the southern maids. Not intended as a hard nosed portrayal of the South.
Im the Alpha and the Omoxus. The Omoxus and the Omega -
Salt-and-Limes — 14 years ago(March 08, 2012 10:59 PM)
Salt-and-Limes then please tell us exactly what would actually help black actresses?
What would actually help black actresses is getting roles that have them as complex human beings instead of b!tches & hoes who are about the money. Or as self sacrificing matriarchs & domineering women who are completely de-sexualized. All I'm saying is that we should see more of black women being like any other woman that is portrayed in the media.
If people only saw American black women as maids then would they think Michelle Obama, Condoleeza Rice, and my own mother were maids? Not there is anything wrong with being a maid I am just asking.
If they didn't know who Michelle Obama (Condoleeza Rice was a bad example) or your own mother were then they probably would. Not necessarily maids, but characterize them with the stereotypes mentioned above.
What I would really like to know is what role would help black actresses? What role would finally win an actress the Best Actress in a Leading Role for a positive role? And I highly doubt just one role would do anything, not that I am concerned about it because I know a lot of good black women.
Anything that doesn't show a mammy, sapphire, or a hoe. A maid isn't a mammy btw. You can be a mammy-like character and be a secretary, judge, National Security Adviser, etc.
Also, the video you provided and I have seen other people complain about is Octavia Spencer using her eyes as means for playing a stereotype. I would like to point out that it is not a stereotype. It is her signature comedic deadpan expression she gives in a lot of her work. Viola Davis does it too in almost all her movies except hers is for dramatic purposes.
Yep and Mantan Mooreland also made that his signature. Anyway, Spencer and some other posters mentioned Chris Tucker, use that as a comedic expression. Which they probably adopted from previous black comedians before them. As for Viola Davis, she more than likely uses it to give her character more of a comedic expression.
The point of the video, is that the world likes to make fun of black women who are overweight, sassy, rude and with coonish expressions. So awarding Spencer for all of those atributes is kind like a slap in the face to black women who have to put up with these stereotypes. I'll use me as an example: I'm not fat, rude or self sacrificing. However, people still think that I'm a whore or a bitch because their brains have been conditioned to think of black women that way via the media.
I remember reading on imdb where this guy considered all other races of women feminine and beautifulexcept for black women. Gee, I wonder why? -
Tyson_Kidd_for_WWE_Champion — 14 years ago(March 08, 2012 11:22 PM)
To respond to your last question, I have to say maybe becuase of reality television and the Maury Show. I don't watch reality television but from what I heard it makes black women look like bitches and hoes. Anyway, that thing about the stereotype about eyes. I was saying Octavia Spence5b4r, Viola Davis, and Chris Tucker use them for different reasons. Octavia Spencer is for her comic deadpan expression because it is her trademark. While it may have been Mantan Mooreland's trademark, at least she doesn't speak slow as hell but it is still a trademark nonetheless. Same with Chris Tucker because he is very funny, but during Rush Hour 2 that is what I remember with his facial expressions. Now for Viola Davis, it is more for dramatic purposes. In Antwone Fisher, Doubt, and The Help, in almost all the scenes that focus on her, you can see her eyes are among her biggest attributes. You can see how much passion she can give just by looking at them.
I do not think you are a bitch or a whore. I like the point you are trying to make. While Octavia Spencer's Oscar win may not have been the for the best role, she is continuing to receive roles in mainstream Hollywood, as is Viola Davis. Hopefully, they will not be stereotypes. Since Octavia and Viola already have roles open for them, I think they are already doing better than Halle Berry, who really did nothing after Catwoman bombed. I also hope more black actresses will break into mainstream soon because I swear Hollywood has left behind some of the great ones. I would like to know why aren't roles given to Angela Bassett and Cicely Tyson like to Angelina Jolie and Meryl Streep? Both Angela and Cicely are powerful actresses and if maybe if Meryl's roles didn't call for th111ce character to be white, I think Cicely Tyson could do the same great work as her.
Also, I heard earlier today that Viola Davis will be portraying politician Barbara Jordan in a biopic. I think that is something to look forward too and will probably bring her the Academy Award for Best Actress because I think she is overdue for an Oscar. -
Marisa_Gabriella — 14 years ago(March 14, 2012 02:44 PM)
I don't understand, do you expect people to forget history? To forget how black people were treated? This film was in no way a negative portrayal of black people.
http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_luz4tgV2fD1r41djgo1_500.gif -
Salt-and-Limes — 14 years ago(March 14, 2012 06:36 PM)
I don't understand, do you expect people to forget history? To forget how black people were treated?
The Help only barely touched the surface of how black people were treated during this time period. In fact it was inaccurate because it had black maids doing and saying whatever they wanted to their white employers.
