| Author |
Message |
    
Chrishayden
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 4770
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, June 28, 2007 - 05:21 pm: | 
|
When White Actors Play Black Characters
The Whitening of Marianne Pearl
By MARGARET KIMBERLEY
When Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped in Pakistan in 2002 his wife, Marianne, became a fixture in international media. The first time I saw her I made a very simple observation. "His wife is black," I said to myself. I know a black person when I see one, and I saw one in Marianne Pearl. In the new film A Mighty Heart, Pearl is portrayed by actress Angelina Jolie. Jolie is white.
Here we are in the 21st century and a white actor is portraying a black character. Not just any character, but a real life, well-known, still living human being. Anyone who sees Marianne Pearl knows she isn't white, but the powers that be in Hollywood didn't care and knew they could get away with this offensive charade.
Marianne Pearl was born in France to a Cuban mother and a Dutch father. Her mother was quite obviously black, photos are unambiguous on that point. Her father was European, so she can be described as multi-racial or biracial. It doesn't really matter what term or words Pearl uses to describe herself. She is clearly a person of African ancestry, and putting dark make up and a curly wig on Angelina Jolie doesn't change that fact or fool anyone.
The days of white actors using various makeup techniques to play non-white people should be over in the new millennium. Who can forget Marlon Brando portraying an Okinawan or John Wayne as Genghis Khan. Those days should be long gone and consigned to the dust bin of Hollywood's shameful history.
In the old days, white actors always played light-skinned black characters who could "pass" for white. Films such as Pinky and Imitation of Life are historic examples of that phenomenon. We now have a white person portraying a not so light skinned, obviously black, living person. It seems that Hollywood is becoming less enlightened with time.
Of course, it didn't hurt Jolie that her boyfriend Brad Pitt produced the movie. Because Pitt is a bankable star and producer, he can get whatever he wants. If he had insisted on having an actress of color portray a woman of color he could have gotten that too. It isn't clear if he was motivated by the desire for familial bliss, "color doesn't count, can't we all get along, kumbayah" fantasy, bigger bucks at the box office, or all of the above.
Pearl and Jolie are just fine with the arrangement, and why not. Jolie gets a role she wanted and Pearl gets to see her story on the silver screen. Both are defensive about the casting criticisms and plead with the peasantry to remain silent.
"I know that people are frustrated at the lack of great roles [for people of color], but I think they've picked the wrong example here," Jolie opined. Why is this example wrong? Is it because honesty and integrity would have denied her the part? If Jolie can possibly think of a reason why the rest of us should just shut up and accept modern day blackface she needs to come up with a better explanation.
Marianne Pearl also thinks that critics should bite their tongues. "This is not about skin color. I wanted her to play me because I trust her. Aren't we past this?" Who is we? Hollywood endlessly promotes white people and their image. If they aren't "past" the business of telling the world that only white people are acceptable, beautiful, and noble, then the rest of us shouldn't be "past" demanding that our images be shown, especially if the image in question is that of a living individual who is obviously not the same race as the actor playing the part.
Pearl's acquiescence is no reason for other black people to think that this throwback to Hollywood's dark ages, pun intended, should be acceptable. She is not free to instruct the rest of the African ancestored world how we should react when our very presence is denied and our image is erased. The story of a pregnant journalist whose husband is kidnapped and beheaded tugs at the heart strings. Apparently the deal makers in Hollywood feared that those heart strings wouldn't be moved if one black or multiracial person portrayed another.
Last but not least, Pitt and Jolie should not be given a pass for their white washing endeavor. They have adopted Asian and African children and given birth to one on the African continent. They may get brownie points for having a multiracial family, but that shouldn't protect them from criticism when they tell us not to believe our lying eyes.
Margaret Kimberley is an editor and senior columnist for the Black Agenda Report. Her Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR. Ms. Kimberley lives in New York City, and can be reached via e-Mail at margaret.kimberley@blackagendareport.com.
|
Mzuri
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Mzuri
Post Number: 5104
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, June 28, 2007 - 05:29 pm: |
|
I heard that this movie is a flop. Maybe they'll think twice next time. Stay out of the spotlight so that the public doesn't get sick of seeing you on the news every other day, and spread the wealth by giving an opportunity to another person, instead of hoarding all the roles for yourself.
|
Renata
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Renata
Post Number: 2330
Registered: 08-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, June 28, 2007 - 09:30 pm: |
|
So, Chris, I take it you don't agree with people who believe fat lips and a curling iron is enough to make one black?
LOL
That was very silly of her. You think Hollywood will understand if I decide to get a weave and a bottle of bleaching cream and take on the role of Jackie Kennedy? |
Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 9405
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: 
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 07:03 am: |
|
Would the author of this article been as bothered by a much DARKER actress - ala a young Cicerly Tyson - portraying Mrs. Pearl?
Because, honestly, Marianne looks a lot MORE like Angelina Jolie than she does A LOT of Black women I know and see. |
Yvettep
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Yvettep
Post Number: 2111
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 09:48 am: |
|
You think Hollywood will understand if I decide to get a weave and a bottle of bleaching cream and take on the role of Jackie Kennedy?
LOLOLOL! You go 'head, girl! I'd go see that film! |
Nuuon
Newbie Poster
Username: Nuuon
Post Number: 37
Registered: 03-2006
Rating:
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 10:25 am: |
|
Here is a picture of Marianne Pearl's mother. Obviously her mother is a Cuban woman with plenty of "Black" in her.
White society is expert at taking a "Black" hero who can "pass" for white and turning that hero into a WHITE person. This happens a lot in tennis, gymnastics, music (Mariah Carey), and baseball (Derek Jeter). It also happens a lot in that strange academic subject called "Western civilization." Mariah Carey and Derek Jeter offer good examples: First whites will try to lie outright and call a Black person "white." Then they will try semantics; finally they admit that the "white hero" is actually Black but only when forced to.
When they don't have enough white heroes, whites often steal heroes of other races.
|
Renata
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Renata
Post Number: 2341
Registered: 08-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 11:25 am: |
|
I can see your point, ABM. Seriously, I think if someone looking like Cicely Tyson were chosen to portray her, enough trouble would have been caused to stop production. |
Chrishayden
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 4775
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 12:42 pm: |
|
Would the author of this article been as bothered by a much DARKER actress - ala a young Cicerly Tyson - portraying Mrs. Pearl?
Because, honestly, Marianne looks a lot MORE like Angelina Jolie than she does A LOT of Black women I know and see.
(As usual when it comes to a racial issue your comments go way crazy. The issue is NOT picking a darker black woman since they did not pick a black woman at all, but a white one.
How about we get a blonde, blue eyed man to stand in for you when we do a family picture?
I think it says more about Mrs Pearl than Angelina Jolie, who being a Hollywood actress, do not have the brains of a gnat. |
Tonya
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 6101
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 12:57 pm: |
|
I want Jolie to win the Oscar.....JUST to see her pass out on her way to the stage then get up bawling and Shrieking and pausing just enough to catch her breath and give this speech:
"OMG! OMG! OMG!…This moment (tears)…this moment (more tears)…is so much bigger than me!!! This moment is for Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne, Diahann Carroll…
….it’s for the women that stand beside me: Halle Berry, Thandie Newton and Jennifer Lopez…
...and it’s for every nameless faceless woman of color that now has a chance because this door tonight has been opened!!! Thank you! Thank you! I thank the Academy for choosing me to be the VESSEL..."
Wouldn't that be special?  |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 9067
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 01:06 pm: |
|
Is this any less authentic than Sidney Poiter portraying Thurgoood Marshall in a TV movie biography? (Try and get a visual on this.})
And chrishayden lives and dies by generalities. There are plenty of hollywood actresses who are quite savvy. The own their own production companies and play hardball to earn those million dollar salaries. |
Chrishayden
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 4780
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 02:17 pm: |
|
Is this any less authentic than Sidney Poiter portraying Thurgoood Marshall in a TV movie biography? (Try and get a visual on this.})
(If I didn't know you were insane this comment would be beneath contempt. You have been staring at the screen too long. Take a break) |
Moonsigns
Veteran Poster
Username: Moonsigns
Post Number: 1981
Registered: 07-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 02:20 pm: |
|
Jolie, with a bit of make-up and the wig, surely didn't look White. However, naturally, she doesn't look like a typical (blond) White woman either (imo). I think I would have taken more issue with Marianne being portrayed by somebody like Jessica Simpson or Reese Witherspoon (sp?). And Marianne's biological mother, as anyone can see, isn't White, but it's not like her African ancestry is so strong either. She looks multiracial - which she is.
|
Chrishayden
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 4783
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 02:29 pm: |
|
How does it feel knowing that you can destroy any black man in the whole world that you want to? |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 9076
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 02:52 pm: |
|
No wonder you're bloated, chrishayden, you so full of bilge. Apropros to the subject being discussed, do you think slender, dark-skinned Sidney Poitier should've been the choice to play fat, high-yellow Thurgood Marshall? And your loopy remark to Moonsigns is just another example of how unfocused your a brain is. |
Chrishayden
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 4789
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 03:31 pm: |
|
Apropros to the subject being discussed, do you think slender, dark-skinned Sidney Poitier should've been the choice to play fat, high-yellow Thurgood Marshall
(Sure. What difference does it make? They were both African American. Only a self loathing Negro like you would notice that--
"He yaint high yella, Massa! Why is you lettin' ole black Sidney play a quadroon--or octaroon or macaroon or whatever they call them.
When you read Cynique's posts, there should be no question about why the race is in the shape its in, folks! |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 9087
Registered: 01-2004
Rating:
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 04:36 pm: |
|
Yeah, right, chrishayden. Let Halle Berry be selected to play Hattie McDaniel in her life story, and see what the reaction would be in the black community. You are never more pathetic than when you are driven to fall back on the old "self-loathing negro" label to relieve yourself of making sense. |
Misty
Veteran Poster
Username: Misty
Post Number: 958
Registered: 02-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 04:50 pm: |
|
Would the author of this article been as bothered by a much DARKER actress - ala a young Cicerly Tyson - portraying Mrs. Pearl?
Because, honestly, Marianne looks a lot MORE like Angelina Jolie than she does A LOT of Black women I know and see.
i know i wouldnt be bothered because white women get roles all the time...its much harder for a black actress to get roles...why would i fret over something like that. |
Misty
Veteran Poster
Username: Misty
Post Number: 959
Registered: 02-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 04:52 pm: |
|
White society is expert at taking a "Black" hero who can "pass" for white and turning that hero into a WHITE person. This happens a lot in tennis, gymnastics, music (Mariah Carey), and baseball (Derek Jeter). It also happens a lot in that strange academic subject called "Western civilization."
this is also true with native americans...there are alot of people who they try to pass off as white who are actually native american...elvis was one of them. |
Misty
Veteran Poster
Username: Misty
Post Number: 960
Registered: 02-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 04:55 pm: |
|
jolie isnt full white herself but people pass her off as white. |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 9091
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 05:10 pm: |
|
What is Jolie if she isn't fully white? The claim of her having native American blood has been disproven. |
Misty
Veteran Poster
Username: Misty
Post Number: 961
Registered: 02-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 05:16 pm: |
|
i read that it wasnt nessesarily native american but indian (as in the type from india) |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 9092
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 05:16 pm: |
|
Most people who have native American blood, brag about this. Being able to trace one's roots to an Indian tribe has never been a stigma either among blacks or whites. |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 9093
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 05:19 pm: |
|
Angelina's mother is French Candadian and her father German and either Belgium or Swiss. |
Misty
Veteran Poster
Username: Misty
Post Number: 962
Registered: 02-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 05:37 pm: |
|
i tried finding where i read that she was part indian (from india) but all i could find was that she was part native american by way of her mother.
Part Czechoslovakian, English, and Native American, beauty Angelina Jolie is quickly becoming Hollywood's bad girl icon.
http://www.superiorpics.com/angelina_jolie/
January 29, 2007
Angelina's Native connection
Angelina Jolie's Mother Dies
Angelina Jolie is in mourning after her mother Marcheline Bertrand lost her battle with cancer on Saturday.
The former actress died Saturday afternoon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
Bertrand, who was partly of native American descent, appeared in movies like 'Lookin' To Get Out' and 'The Man Who Loved Women,' but gave up her acting career to raise her kids as a single mom, after divorcing their father, actor Jon Voight, in 1978.
http://www.bluecorncomics.com/2007/01/angelinas-native-connection.html |
Misty
Veteran Poster
Username: Misty
Post Number: 963
Registered: 02-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 05:42 pm: |
|
as far as being proud to be part native american i think that is only an american thing because outside this country (as in places like canada and latin america) no one brags about being part native american. There are also still plenty whites passing as white who are in fact part native american....i visit a native american myspace group sometimes and they discuss this pretty often about natives passing as white....so that's pretty much still going on.
i think the only reason we think white people are proud to say they are part native is because of the few people who actually do out themselves. i bet if you actually check most white americans are part native somewhere down the line and dont know it because certain ancestors were forced to pass as white in the past and some know this and just wont admit it still to this day. its sjut now becoming a kind of popular to be native but you still have alot of "white" people in america who dont want to claim native. |
Misty
Veteran Poster
Username: Misty
Post Number: 964
Registered: 02-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 05:46 pm: |
|
Marcheline Bertrand (May 9, 1950 – January 27, 2007) was an American actress of French-Canadian and Indigenous Iroquois descent. According to daughter Angelina Jolie, Bertrand is often wrongly identified as a French actress: "My mom is as far from French Parisian as you can get. She's part Iroquois Indian, from Chicago. She grew up in a bowling alley that my grandparents owned."[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcheline_Bertrand |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 9098
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 06:10 pm: |
|
Well, likewise, I can remember where I just read that John Voigt, Angelina's father, debunked the idea that his ex-wife had Native American blood in her. Angelina herself has never made this claim, something I'd think she would do if it were true, her being the way she is. And I am surprised that there is currently a stigma attached to having native American blood. Down through American history Native Americans have always been romanticized as the Noble Savage. That's why so many athletic teams adopted Indian braves and tribes as their mascots. As a subdivision of Asian stock, Native Americans have dead straight hair and amber skin and the fact that they can pass for white if they choose, begs the question as to why they would have to conceal their Indian blood. |
Misty
Veteran Poster
Username: Misty
Post Number: 967
Registered: 02-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 06:47 pm: |
|
the mascots are more of an insult to native americans than anything and it places them in the same category as being non-human and non-existant. There is still a huge stigma associated with being native american. we may not hear about it because native americans dont really have their own voice nor do they have a mainstream media outlet. another reaosn you dont really hear about their issues is because they tend to live in very remote places out in the boondox and hardly no one knows whats actually happening on the reservation. but police brutality and racial profiling is extreemely high in native american communities. right now native american resevations and communities are being put on toxic waist (the same as in black communities) and people are dieing like flies with cancer and all kinds of disease. native american women are thought to be extreemely promiscuous (just like black women are thought to be) therefore native american women are the group most likely to be subject to rape in america.... and native men are thought to be violent and thuggish and alcoholic (very much to the way black men are thought to be except for the alcoholic part). native americans men are also sexually fetishized (like black men). they are also believed to be lazy and complain too much. as in the case with black people whites who come in contact with natives are often afraid of them...not only that but they are thought to be thieving and low-lifted. i've read many cases where natives express how white people clutch their purses etc. when they walk by.
so there are still alot of stigmas attached to being native we jsut dont heat about it because they dont realy have a voice.
as far as angelina not coming out with the fact that shes part native, i jsut quoted her in that last post right above yours where she said her mother was part iriquoa indian and "as far from french conadian as one could get". She was also on a desperate search to reconnect wiht her native heritage. |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 9099
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 29, 2007 - 08:39 pm: |
|
That's the current mind-set now about mascots. But, obviously, that didn't use to be the case. The University of Illiinois' Chief Illiniwek, for instance, was revered and loved by the student body and was never disrespected. And I speak from experience. But the politically-correct crowd took over and villified an age-old tradition just as it did with a whole lot of other Indian mascots. The Seminole Indians, however, who are the mascots of Florida State told all the PCers to back off because they considered being the mascot of the college an honor. Actually the sad plight of Native Americans is fairly common knowledge, the exception of those involved with the casinos not withstanding. And, of course there are those members of those tribes who receive financial reparations from the U. S. Government in compensation for stealing their lands. As for whether or not Angelina Jolie has native America blood, time and time again, information supplied by Wikideia has been proven inaccurate. Obviously this is a discussion that could go on and on. But, it's not a subject that really commands my further interest. |
Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 9410
Registered: 04-2004
Rating:
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, June 30, 2007 - 04:37 am: |
|
I understand and appreciate the consternation Black (and other non-White) foks harbor on the issue of Whites (and like-Whites) portraying Black people. But rather than squabbling over the few and often trite/limiting Black roles, I believe what offers the greater long-term prospects and opportunities for Black entertainers is for them to write, produce, direct and portray NON-Black people, issues and scenarios.
The only thing that's bother me about this story is I really don't think there IS an actual STORY. I mean WHY are we concerned about Daniel and Marianne Pearl?
100's if not a 1,000 journalists have been killed since the (alleged) War on Terrorism was initiated. So why should we be so especially concerned about one of them and his spouse, especially when he did NOT provide some especially, uniquely enlightening REPORTING? |
Email This Page