Found this on Diversity Inc.'s website: Link to Article Here
Black actors and actresses have made their presence known on the silver screen and among their peers, particularly in the past decade. But does it help or hurt these talented actors to win for such roles?
Syndicated columnist and National Public Radio commentator Deborah Mathis wonders why black actors and actresses in stereotypical roles get awards while the more "nuanced performances go unrecognized."
Mathis says some of the high points for the entertainment industry have been the Academy of Motion Pictures' nods to black actors such as Sidney Poitier and Jamie Foxx. The roles which earned Oscars for Halle Berry, Denzel Washington and even Hattie McDaniel, in her opinion, are questionable. The most recent example of this is Three 6 Mafia's Oscar for their song to "It's Hard out Here for A Pimp" from the movie "Hustle & Flow."
"Awarding 'It's Hard Out Here for Pimp' is regression," says Mathis. "It makes me wonder if stereotype portrayals might be the surest way for a black artist to win. The music has a hook to it but it's pretty monotonous, and the lyrics … mercy. All I can say is it's hard out here for a listener. This song … doesn't even raise 'pimp' to its modern level, which is a term of art, if you will, for anyone who is making it."
Mathis says the song is "replete with invectives" and wonders if the song won because the academy wanted to "keep up its image of being inclusive."
"In their minds you don't get any blacker than talking about the low-down gritty hustle," she says. "I've got a favor to ask the Academy: Don't do us any more favors. Don't strain yourself to award black artists. We'd rather wait until it's really something that blows your mind, something that really does honor to the craft. And by the way, you'll find plenty of that if you look beyond the mammy's, crooked cops and the emotional cripples."
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Here's my thing:
If the Black actors don't play stereotypical roles that Hollywood has written for them, does it force Hollywood to rewrite Black roles or does it put Black actors out of work?
Do they just sacrifice their career or do they accept Hollywood's terms until they become a superstar and can change things?
Speak up!
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