#335. The Lack of Roles for Black actresses

Gentlemen prefer blondes, or so it is said. Tiger Woods might agree with that statement, as his choice of diversity is apparently only includes brunettes or blondes.

Human Biodiversity (HBD) research is a sorely under-funded area of science that also is poised to end the hegemony of Black Run America (BRA). This is why any findings by scientists pursuing answers through the scientific method in this field are generally regarded as being in league with merchants of evil.

A book published by two evolutionary psychologists, Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters, dares to answer the question why gentlemen are always pursuing the blonde affections, leaving everyone else scurrying to replicate that look even at the expense of their own hair.

The authors of the book postulates:

Men like blond bombshells (and women want to look like them)

Long before TV—in 15th- and 16th- century Italy, and possibly two millennia ago—women were dying their hair blond. A recent study shows that in Iran, where exposure to Western media and culture is limited, women are actually more concerned with their body image, and want to lose more weight, than their American counterparts. It is difficult to ascribe the preferences and desires of women in 15th-century Italy and 21st-century Iran to socialization by media.

Women's desire to look like Barbie—young with small waist, large breasts, long blond hair, and blue eyes—is a direct, realistic, and sensible response to the desire of men to mate with women who look like her. There is evolutionary logic behind each of these features.

Men prefer young women in part because they tend to be healthier than older women. One accurate indicator of health is physical attractiveness; another is hair. Healthy women have lustrous, shiny hair, whereas the hair of sickly people loses its luster. Because hair grows slowly, shoulder-length hair reveals several years of a woman's health status.

Men also have a universal preference for women with a low waist-to-hip ratio. They are healthier and more fertile than other women; they have an easier time conceiving a child and do so at earlier ages because they have larger amounts of essential reproductive hormones. Thus men are unconsciously seeking healthier and more fertile women when they seek women with small waists.

Were it not for the heroic efforts of Tyler Perry, Hollywood’s casting of females could theoretically come exclusively out of a Republican gathering, Winter Olympic event or University of Mississippi sorority house.

Black actresses in Hollywood find a scarce amount of work in small, medium or big budget films because the demand for their vocational skills is undeniably limited. Recently, Vanity Fair came under intense scrutiny for the high offense of featuring an all-white female cover dedicated the brightest stars of Hollywood:

It's like one of those seeing eye puzzles.

Wait for it, wait for it.

Oh! Any non-white girls!

Now, I’m not saying that this Vanity Fair piece about Hollywood’s new, fresh class of young actresses IS racist per se, I’m just saying that’s what the entire rest of the internet is saying. And it does raise certain questions.

The girls featured are Abbie Cornish (STOP-LOSS), Rebecca Hall (FROST/NIXON), Anna Kendrick (UP IN THE AIR), Carey Mulligan (WALL STREET 2), Amanda Seyfried (DEAR JOHN), Kristen Stewart (TWILIGHT), Emma Stone (ZOMBIELAND), Mia Wasikowska (ALICE IN WONDERLAND) and Evan Rachel Wood (THE WRESTLER).

Now, yes, most of this girls’ careers are on the upswing in some form or another, so I think it’s fair to feature them here, however, does the lack of any actresses of other races reflect poorly on Vanity Fair, or more so Hollywood in general?

My thoughts immediately jumped to Zoe Saldana, who had a breakout year starring in two huge films, AVATAR and STAR TREK, but at 31, she might be too old for a “young Hollywood” list. And outside of her, it’s hard to think of other black, latino, Indian, Arabic, or Asian actresses having similar career surges at the moment. SLUMDOG's Frieda Pinto maybe? Jamie Chung? What do you mean DRAGONBALL wasn’t a career booster?

This does look bad for Vanity Fair (another up-and-coming actress they could have featured is PRECIOUS’ Gabby Sidibe, but I think we know why they passed on that), but I do think the blame lies more with Hollywood as barely any mainstream filmmaker wants to take a chance by making a non-white young actress the lead of their film. I’m really not trying to be Mr. Politically Correct here, but look around and it’s true for the most part.

The shameful lack of Black actresses on the cover of Vanity Fair is grounds for heads rolling through the amazing power the new Jacobins in Black Run America (BRA) wield and their verbal guillotine charge of “racism”.

Black female actors find commonality with successful, educated Black single women, as they both are left out of casting decisions (educated Black females have a difficulty finding suitable mates, as opposed to those Black women who have a whopping median wealth of only $5) and find themselves forever trying to secure a prominent role for career (or personal) growth.

The lack of Black female actresses as leading ladies has absolutely nothing do with market forces or the fact that gentlemen prefer blondes, but entrenched, dogmatic racism in casting practices:

…Hollywood never seems to pair him with a black actress in a potential blockbuster? From Denzel Washington (Training Day) to Dwayne ''The Rock'' Johnson (The Game Plan), leading African-American actors have been increasingly matched with non-black love interests. The sci-fi comedy Meet Dave (out now) finds Eddie Murphy romancing Elizabeth Banks, while Smith is paired with Latina actress Rosario Dawson in his next film, Seven Pounds (out in December). It's obviously a strategy to make these films as accessible as possible to all audiences, but I think it also expresses an implicit fear: A film featuring the coupling of a black actor and actress is too ''urban'' for the masses.

Just imagine how refreshing Hancock would have been if Theron's heroine had been played by a black actress like Tracee Ellis Ross (TV's Girlfriends), Paula Patton (Déjà Vu), or even Smith's real-life wife, Jada. Would the movie have tanked? Will Smith's last seven films have opened at No. 1, and Charlize Theron didn't star in any of those.

I don't have a thing against Theron — I loved her in Monster. And I don't have anything against Will Smith, either — he's done an enormous amount for African-Americans in Hollywood by proving to studios that actors of color can open movies here and overseas. I don't even have anything against interracial couples on screen — in fact, that's a nice sign of progress. My beef is that Hollywood opts for these couples again and again. The result? Black actresses are getting the shaft, and reality as I know it is not getting portrayed on the big screen. (And please don't mention Tyler Perry's name to me — Madea doesn't represent me either.)

Right now, with the exception of Halle Berry, Queen Latifah, and occasionally, Beyoncé Knowles, African-American women rarely get above-the-title billing in mainstream movies that pull in big numbers. Even when they do end up in supposedly plum roles as the love interest of a white male, most of their screen time is spent talking about and dealing with the fallout of that relationship. Just look at Sanaa Lathan, who freaked out when Simon Baker discovered she wears a weave in Something New. Or Zoe Saldana, who struggled to get her father (Bernie Mac) to accept her relationship with Ashton Kutcher in Guess Who.

And Lord knows I can't wait to see Lakeview Terrace, due out Sept. 19. This thriller, which is produced by Smith, finds Kerry Washington and Patrick Wilson playing an interracial couple living in L.A., suffering the wrath of their disapproving neighbor: an angry black cop played by Samuel L. Jackson.

C'mon, Hollywood, this is tired territory. Haven't you redone Guess Who's Coming to Dinner enough? Why can't black actresses play lead roles in benign romantic comedies like 27 Dresses and Made of Honor — or Hitch? Here's the real hitch: Until women like Nia Long and Gabrielle Union are cast opposite big guns like Smith and Washington, they'll never gain the recognition they need to open their own films. And until that happens, well, I'll always have Dreamgirls.

Obviously, a demand for Black actresses (outside of Tyler Perry movies) exists, correct? And we aren’t talking about just pictures that the Academy Awards deems entertaining, but those that the average moviegoer will part with $10 dollars to view:

The recognition of black actresses in nominations for the 82nd annual Academy Awards came as no surprise. Film aficionados anticipated nods for Best Supporting Actress and Best Actress to Mo’nique and Gabourey Sidibe, respectively. Articles at The Grio and MSNBC.com to name a few suggest that just maybe, a diversity in recent years seen across the Oscar nominations signifies an overall push towards diversity in filmmaking.

And it is true that since 2000, a person of color has been nominated in at least one of the six most notable categories (Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Picture, and Best Director). In 2001, 2004, and 2006 African Americans won in two major categories (Denzel Washington/Halle Berry, Morgan Freeman/Jamie Foxx, and Forest Whitaker/Jennifer Hudson). But are the Oscars symbolic of actual inclusivity in Hollywood or do they just obscure a larger, deep-seated problem in the cinematic representation of African American women?

Well? Is there a movie? Outside of a the Jurassic Park sequel – The Lost World – which included diversity through the odd-coupling of Ian Malcolm and his visibly Black daughter (most inter-racial couplings produce paper-bag test passing off-spring), name one big budget film that tried to create a new Black female star.

Precious, a film about a morbidly obese Black teenager, won the hearts and minds of Disingenuous White Liberals. Fresh off of a high induced by The Blind Side, white people found a new turgid Black person to coddle over in the form of actresses Gabourey Sidibe.

Words cannot express the outrage as to why this lovely, beauteous individual was left off of The Vanity Fair cover. The only conceivable reason is that she might have taken up to much of the cover, for she might outweigh all the white girls combined.

But Sidibes is emblematic of Black women in America, as the US Office on Minority Health reports:

• African American women have the highest rates of being overweight or obese compared to other groups in the U.S. About four out of five African American women are overweight or obese.
• In 2007, African Americans were 1.4 times as likely to be obese as Non- Hispanic Whites.
• From 2003-2006, African American women were 70% more likely to be obese than Non-Hispanic White women.
• In 2003-2004, African American children between ages 6 -17 were 1.3 times as likely to be overweight than Non-Hispanic Whites.

Howard Stern recently attacked Sidibe for her appearance, and doing so made it clear his views 80 percent of the Black women in America:

Howard Stern blasted "Precious" star Gabourey Sidibe on his Sirius radio talk show on Monday, viciously mocking her weight and questioning her abilities as an actress.

"There's the most enormous, fat black chick I've ever seen. She is enormous," Stern ranted. "Everyone's pretending she's a part of show business and she's never going to be in another movie.

"She should have gotten the Best Actress award because she's never going to have another shot. What movie is she gonna be in?"

The fact that some of Hollywood's most powerful African-American heavyweights, including Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry, back the 26-year-old actress, doesn't mean squat to Stern.

The shock jock knocked Winfrey, who praised Sidibe at the Academy Awards on Sunday night and said she was sure the actress would have a long, fruitful career.

"Oprah's another liar, a filthy liar," Stern, 56, said. "She's telling an enormous woman the size of a planet that she's going to have a career."

Fortunately for the young actress, Stern spoke too soon.

According to "Access Hollywood," Sidibe is set to have a recurring part in Showtime's new dark comedy series, "The Big C," which also stars Laura Linney and Oliver Platt.

Stern should take note that she is also set to star in the upcoming feature film "Yelling to the Sky," which co-stars Zoe Kravitz.

The Brooklyn-born actress won critical acclaim (not to mention Golden Globe, SAG and Oscar nods) for her powerful debut performance in "Precious."

SBPDL also has it on good authority (a well-placed source inside a top Hollywood studio) that Sidibe is currently the leading choice to play opposite Hugh Grant in the romantic comedy slated for a 2011 Valentine’s Day release, Date with Destiny. The story will be loosely based on the real-life antics of Grant and his notorious affair with the Black hooker Divine. We can’t wait for those intense looks of love between those two!

Stuff Black People Don’t Like includes the lack of roles for Black actresses. Even TNT had a hard time renewing Will Smith’s wife show, Hawthorne, and Hollywood is still searching for that true precious Black female that transcends race. It’s axiomatic that Sidibe isn’t going to be that star.

Hugh Grant, with his boyish English charm, couldn’t even pull that one off.