Film and television are supposed to tell stories people identify with or learn from.
Ethnicity and culture do affect the chapters of someone’s life, but it shouldn’t be the only theme. Everyone has experienced the loss of a loved one. We all make mistakes and have felt remorseful or hopeless. Love doesn’t discriminate against race, sexual orientation or age. Pain is inevitable. Happiness is definite.
These human experiences and feelings make us more interconnected than misunderstood by each other. So, why do I only see black actresses in roles about the struggles of being a black female in America? It’s because opportunities to portray characters everyone can connect with are rarely offered to them.
Black actresses who play the main character in a story are often seen in a predominantly black cast. I fully support black empowerment, but it would be great to see a black actress obtain a lead or supporting role in a diverse cast. The reason there are networks like BET with all black shows and movies is because other stations refuse to cast black people as main characters. It’s similar to black colleges, as black people had to create their own universities because opportunities to be successful in white America are hard to possess.
I’m aware there has been progress with casting more black people to fulfill ordinary roles and not play the stereotypical ghetto girl or gangster, but the progress is slow. The first black person to win an Oscar was Hattie McDaniel in 1939. However, I don’t feel pride about McDaniel’s accomplishment because black actresses should’ve been got recognized for their talent. Fifty-one years later, Whoopi Goldberg became the second black actress to win an Oscar. She was the first to receive several nominations.
In 2014, Kenyan-Mexican actress Lupita Nyong’o made headlines when she won an Oscar for best supporting actress for the critically acclaimed film “12 Years a Slave.” She is the first African woman to win an Academy Award.
Everyone applauded Nyong’o for her win because she was phenomenal in her role, but would she have gotten a supporting role if it wasn’t related to racism in the South? Would she have gotten her leading role in “Black Panther” if it weren’t related to Africa?
I can name every black actress in Hollywood because not many who have talent manage to become successful. Those who are well-known have fans who are mainly black and play in movies centered on black culture. When will the time come for more black actresses to play roles in universal storylines where the main character just so happens to be black?
Many people complain black people always try to victimize themselves and play the race card, but we wouldn’t if racism wasn’t still present. Black actresses are told by society they aren’t pretty enough to be cast as leads like white women. Their darker pigmentation and unique-textured hair is too unattractive to be seen on the big screen or in the homes of American families. Black actresses who do make it on the big screen and on television have mostly black viewers. Little black girls who see black casts only develop the impression it’s unusual to see all black women tell a story every ethnicity can relate to.
It’s disappointing when I scroll through Netflix and see majority white people on my screen. If a black person is the lead in a mainly white cast, she’s light-skinned with “good hair.” This strategy by filmmakers to say black women are granted opportunities is so outdated and agitating to see.
I want to see women of all ethnicities telling stories every female can relate to without race being the main factor. I don’t want a black actress winning a prestigious award to be considered another historical moment. It should be normal. Film and television critics should call her portrayal of the character groundbreaking without race being an influence.
The talent black actresses have isn’t rare, their chance to succeed in Hollywood is. The barriers they face daily must change.
Jasmine Edmonson is a 20-year-old mass communication sophomore from Denham Springs, Louisiana.