ALTHOUGH rapper-come-actress Queen Latifah has received rave reviews and a best supporting actress nomination for her portrayal of Mama Morton in the soon-to-be-classic film "Chicago," the Oscar nomination and recognition she received for her characterization needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Latifah's role as a devilish prison matron is a good one, but the fact that the Academy believes it is one of the best supporting actress roles of this year leaves a lot of room for questioning. Though Latifah sings and sashays with the gait of a rebellious Sarah Vaughn, her portrayal of Mama Morton is as one-sided and commonplace as any heavy-set, heavy-handed woman with the heart of gold seen in film after film after film. This begs film connoisseurs to question whether Latifah was really that good or if she was simply singled out because she gave one of the better performances by an African-American actress this year and the Academy wanted to avoid controversy from the NAACP and had to include her on the list.
In this day and age, any African-American actor or actress who is bestowed the honor of an Academy Award nomination needs to be weary of the high-profiled recognition of a nomination for any award. In recent years, it seems that several nominations may have been doled out just to appease different communities, keep viewers tuned in and boost box office sales. But followers of the film industry must take note that when nominating an African-American, it may also come with the cost of promoting a characterization of the black American experience that is depicted in a less than positive light -- depictions that may endanger black actors in Hollywood just as often as it gets them nominated.
With Halle Berry and Denzel Washinton's Oscar wins last year, many thought that the African-American experience was finally receiving the credit due to it, but once film aficionados took a closer look at the characters being portrayed, African-Americans were forced to ask themselves: Is this the most accurate manner in which we can be portrayed?
Although she has played weather-beaten women before, Berry's moment of glory came after portraying a poor, Southern black waitress who lost her black husband on death row, lost her son in a car accident and fell in love with her husband's white executioner -- one of the most negative portrayals of an African-American familial experience in recent memory. Washington garnered his second Oscar, not for portraying the versatile role of a complex civil rights figure or for his portrayal of a noble boxing hero framed for murder -- but for his characterization of a two-faced, crooked cop in modern day Los Angeles.
While it is true that black actors and actresses must fight for roles and recognition in the Hollywood film machine, when nomination time comes around, many of them seem too hasty to jump on the bandwagon and herald actors' quality performances -- even if they are the ones that stereotype or objectify the black experience in a negative way. This year alone, the Oscar academy passed up Dennis Haysbert's role as the other man in an interracial relationship in "Far From Heaven" and Denzel Washington's directorial debut with "Antwone Fisher" in favor of Latifah's sultry song and dance -- a modern-day mock-up of the same routine black female blues and jazz singers have been doing for decades. Latifah should question whether or not she is the token this time around and how this will impact the kinds of performances acclaimed next time around.
Needless to say, it would be wonderful if any and every performance could be taken at face value, but in reality, moviegoers should understand that race equality, just as in real life, isn't all that equal on the big screen either. While white male actors have a large variety of characters to portray, black female actresses are confined to the roles Hollywood sets them up in, and breaking out these confines is no easy task. Every once in a while, an African-American actress will put forth a stellar performance worthy of notoriety, but the portrayals that receive recognition are often the ones that do not characterize black women in a positive or empowering light. Most recently honored, the portrayals of Latifah, Washington and Berry displayed mostly the negativity, aggression, sadness and volatility present within the black experience; and when Hollywood gives these performance the accolade of best actor or actress, what the Academy is bestowing is credibility to a performance that most resembles real life emotion. The problem arises when the only real life emotions black people are awarded for are emotions of aggression, sadness and volatility, and what is even worse is that this may be the only way Hollywood, or the American public, might see black people.
An Oscar nomination is in itself an accolade often given by the Academy to a true acting talent -- either proven or potential -- and for most who receive the honor, it is the single most important turning point in their careers. Even without a win, a nomination can spell a significant increase in the number of roles and the payment per film an actor or actress garners. Winning the Oscar, especially for African-Americans, can spell success, the ultimate marker of breaking the color barrier in American popular culture, but at what cost does it come? African-American actors, writers and directors should ask themselves whether it is worth selling a negative depiction of the black experience, to further the cause for African-Americans in the film industry.
Though the Academy has recently made an effort to broaden the horizon for nominated performances and films, when it comes to down it, honored African-American actors need to be cognizant and call attention to quality African-American performances that do not typify or negate their experiences, or else black actors may soon find themselves in a hole too deep to dig out of.
(Kazz Alexander Pinkard's column appears Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at kpinkard@cavalierdaily.com.)
Read More
PATEL: Personal development courses support students beyond the gradebook
By Heer Patel | YesterdayThe University must rethink its approach to education beyond traditional major-specific requirements and mandate personal development courses.
EDITORIAL: Commercialization threatens U.Va.’s educational mission
By Editorial Board | 2 days agoAfter all, measuring the University’s worth in terms of accrued capital, operational efficiency and numerical rankings molds this space into just another cookie-cutter institution.
YOUNIS: Why every U.Va. student should say yes to English
By Ayat Younis | January 9, 2025Every student at the University, regardless of their primary field of study, can professionally and academically benefit from engaging with the English department.
