Denzel Washington and the Difficulties of Being a Dark Skinned Woman in Hollywood
Many kids with famous parents often go on to seek their own careers in music or acting. A famous last name along with the connections made by the parent eases one into a career in Hollywood. They’ll tell you that they had to overcome their famous last name or that they didn’t receive any special treatment. Call me a cynic, but I don’t buy that for one moment, when it comes to the majority. Oscar winner Denzel Washington recently appeared on The Actors and he spoke about the advice he gave to his dark-skinned daughter Olivia.
I tell my daughter — she’s at NYU — I say: “You’re black, you’re a woman, and you’re dark-skinned at that. So you have to be a triple/quadruple threat.” I said: “You gotta learn how to act. You gotta learn how to dance, sing, move onstage.” That’s the only place, in my humble opinion, you really learn how to act. I said: “Look at Viola Davis. That’s who you want to be. Forget about the little pretty girls; if you’re relying on that, when you hit 40, you’re out the door. You better have some chops.”
Even with the Washington last name, Denzel is aware that Olivia’s race and gender are going to work against her. Consider for a moment that Nina Simone, a woman who was abused because of her dark skin and decided Afrocentric features, is being portrayed by Zoe Saldana. Even when the role specifically calls for a dark-skinned Black woman, we are not given the consideration we deserve. There are precious few roles out there for women period, beyond the floozy, the love interest, heroine in need of saving and the sexpot. As a woman ages, even these roles disappear, leaving her if she is lucky, to play the mother to a person ten years her junior.
To be a dark-skinned Black woman is to struggle to get roles and to get one’s talent recognized. Even with the ability to rely on her famous father, Denzel still gave the same advice that Black parents having been giving out since the end of slavery, “you have to be a triple/quadruple threat.” Denzel knows what all parents of dark-skinned children know – the worst stereotypes attached to Blackness, will be ascribed to your dark-skinned child, no matter how talented, hard-working or intelligent they are. This is the cost of living in a white supremacist state.
The success of actresses like the bi-racial Halle Berry is not a success for Blackness. Though Berry has gone out of her way to identify as Black, and promote the work of Black artists, the truth of the matter is that her light skin makes her less threatening to the White power structure. I doubt that even with the same talent, that a dark-skinned Halle Berry would have the social cache that she does today. There are some who would argue that this kind of argument is divisive because despite hue, all Black people must to some degree negotiate racism; however, it is an undeniable fact that some are simply given more opportunities than others.
Even within Black families’ hueism continues to be an issue. One child may be treated better than a sibling, simply because one is light-skinned. There are families who encourage their children to marry as light-skinned as possible to continue the light skin in the family. Surely, this is a legacy of slavery and the fact that the majority of images in the media choose to uplift those who are light-skinned versus those who are dark-skinned. Knowing this to be truth, we accept and even laud the successes of light-skinned people, though we know it does not translate into uplift for all Black people.
Denzel Washington is right when he warns his daughter that she is going to have to work very hard to have a career in Hollywood. The very fact that she cannot rely on her famous last name, unlike so many Hollywood children like, Michael Douglas, Ben Stiller, Drew Barrymore or Jamie Lee Curtis to at least open the door to opportunity, speaks loudly about the degree that race continues to impact Black people and particularly dark-skinned Black women. We can continue to deny that there is a problem to our own detriment or we can fight to ensure that all of the ways that Blackness manifests gets the representation that it deserves.
He’s just being honest – it’s true! BTW I think the video you’re meant to upload is something along the lines of ‘Advice for Up and Coming Actors’ :-)
Attention please just leave the article if you are only going to say things like I’m tired of hearing this discussion blah blah blah. This discussion will continue when there is no issue. Now its true and sad that this is the reality. If you pay attention to little things there are really no darker skinned or black women represented besides Kerry. Just take a look at the commercials there is a black man/boy but no black girl/woman. We have truly disappeared off of the entertainment industry even in movies by black people the actress is 9/10 biracial.
“Attention please just leave the article if you are only going to say things like I’m tired of hearing this discussion blah blah blah. ”
Thank you!!!!!! This needs to be a disclaimer. Ladies of Clutch: No derailing the topic please!!!!
Thank you for that disclaimer, I despise when issues facing black women in particular are met with the purposely naive “stop giving it attention and it’ll go away” B.S. but I have to disagree with you on one point, I’ve noticed TV commercials do in fact almost always feature not just dark women but dark women with natural hair whereas that is not the case in movies or TV. My theory is that the natural hair/dark women is such a rarity in media that she is used as a “unicorn”/attention grabber for those 30 second spots (but no more than that, of course)
I read an interesting discussion regarding biracials, in a nut shell, the consensus was “we” screwed ourselves over by embracing biracials as black whether or not they self identify as such. IOW they get the benefit of blackness (playing black roles) while non mixed blacks get screwed over 2x, biracials are playing our parts and no way in hell would the reverse happen.
@keepitreal That’s true I see alot of darker skinned/black natural haired women on McDonald, laundry commercials .
Yes. I think the advertising industry is a bit better at showing darker skinned black women and not just in stereotypical roles like that Pepsi superbowl ad.
Maybe with Kerry Washington and Joy Bryant, the TV world is slowly moving towards showing darker skinned black women.
I think some black women themselves have a problem with this. I have read short stories and novels by black female writers and many times especially if it’s a book with a romance story line, the writers will write the characters to have long wavy hair or green or silver eyes.
I read somewhere that black people respond in a more positive way to advertisement featuring light skinned or mixed people. I don’t know if that’s true, but I don’t doubt it.
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So very sad and so very true. The author of this article is right on point. Thank you to Clucth for continuing this much needed discussion. Black women will not stand by as we are erased. Dark skinned black women are the mother of black people. Point blank, period.
beautiful statement and very true. I know some of us think silence is this answer and we will look better but it’s not working i.e Zoe saldana playing Nina Simone
Ugh. I just can’t co-sign this: Well, because light-skinned people get to be around the table of power that that should be our focus and not say fighting to be at the table.
“The success of actresses like the bi-racial Halle Berry is not a success for Blackness.” It’s instructive that the author only cites Halle’s relative success. Light or dark-skinned Halle is the only black woman occupying the space she’s been occupying. Even at her peak Halle was never the highest paid actress in Hollywood. She was the first to crack the top ten if not top five. You could give a dark-skinned actress all of Halle’s “successes” and would anyone really be satisfied? When was the last time Halle made headlines for her artistic merit? The only woman in Hollywood whose career and life could conceivably garner envy is Angelina Jolie. Jennifer Aniston and Kate Hudson have resigned themselves to the rom-com ghetto. And winning Oscar is no guarantee. It has proven to be a curse. I mean really this is laughable: Halle Berry’s position in Hollywood NOW is something to envy? Um, the early ’00s called. And it’s 50/50 on how far a famous pedigree can take one in Hollywood. There are just as many celeb spawns who’ve failed.
I am pursuing a career in filmmaking to put black women at the forefront but Hollywood in seems to hate women general.
What is the current definition of “Blackness”? Please no emotional responses, just plain facts.
I honestly don’t know what it is for African Americans. But I know if you were to go to certain parts of West Africa, they do not consider someone like Beyonce black. They will tell you she is white. The problem with African AMericans is that theyw ant to claim everyone under the sun who has 1/10 of African lineage as “black”, even if they are as pale as paper. Look at the word “black”, and then ask yourself what is the definition of blackness. The word itself tells you what the definition of blackness is.
I resent the phrase “Afrocentric features.” Africa is a big place with many looks in many different colors, shapes, and sizes.
It’s a term that is generally used black Americans. We are not the only and final authority on what Africans look like. Can we find a better term, please?
You reject the phrase afrocentric features or do you resent the features associated with the phrase?
I reject the phrase that tends to narrowly define the features of close to one billion people. For all this talk about African people being so diverse how can we then you a hallow phrase like Afrocentric features? Whose features will represent Africa: Nina Simone, Alek Wek, Iman Bowie, Ajak Deng or Liela Lopes? None of them look anything a like but all African.
You arent even black American in the first place so you can sit your basic ass down attempting to speak on behalf of us. And I heard the term used by West Indians, west Africans, and black Canadians and Americans.
Take your bitter, jealous anti black American some where else.
@YB
Stay on topic before your comments get moderated.
@YB
Then we should use the term West African features since the very vast majority of blacks in the Americas like Nina Simone and Zoe Saldana are of West Afrixan descent. And when we say Africentric features we aren’t describing Somali women.
Not to gear away from the topic but you just use “we” when talking about AA. I know you are Haitian living in the U.K with an Asian husband. I’m curious to know do you relate to Haitian culture??? I notice you tend to frequent AA based topics.
What?!?!!!!?? This poster ChillyRoad is a black Haitan woman with an Asian husband?
Mind blown.
I would have never gotten that from this person’s comments.
@Box
I didn’t fail to notice your little “gotcha moment.” Not sure what anyone’s life has anything to do with this topic or any topic. Perhaps in your intellectually bankruptcy you can’t fathom that regardless of anyone history or profile they can still manage to OBJECTIVELY contribute to any topic they have sufficient knowledge in.
So not only is this space not for men but it is only for certain black women. What’s with the ethnic cleansing? I feel like I am in Pol Pot’s Cambodia.
For the record I was born and raised in the US and would appreciate if my comments are judged on its own merits.
Next time you comment refer to Clutch’s comment policy.
Thanks.
@November
Yes, in your ignorance you assumed that based on what little you have heard about an anonymous commentator on a blog you can pigeon hole someone’s politics and values.
Welcome to the world outside the hood.
@Chillyroad You just wrote a whole lot and said nothing please refer to the Lauryn Hill post you commented on.
@November yes this is true. I usually ignore the troll because she’s known around AA particularly women based blogs but I had to say something once she used “we” to refer to us yet she puts us (bw) down all the time.
Black American women don’t speak for all black women. And just because I’m not goose stepping to you political and social views doesn’t mean I’m a troll. I have every right to be here regardless of my parents immigration status.
So do you disgaree that there are physical traits found in Africa that simply aren’t found in Europe, Asia and Australia? Do you have the same problem with the term “Eurocentric.”
No. Black Africans aren’t a different species and because of the sheer size of Africa there are bound to be similarities. The only thing I can think of that is the most unique is the hair texture found in most parts of sub Saharan Africa. Not even the skin colour of Africans are that unique considering the range you can find in South Asia.
I have less of a problem with the term Eurocentricism because it is rarely used to describe a European look. But even that term is very limiting because of its over usage when describing Anglo Saxon cultural dominance.
None of those terms can adequately give justice to human populations.
Of course not. Lol. SMFH Self hate is a beast.