So, About Zoe Saldana as Nina Simone... On 'Ghostbusters' and Palatable Blackness

At the core of the issue is the question, what is acceptable Blackness? What narrative is acceptable for white consumption of Blackness? We continue to erase darker skinned Black people with dishonest portrayals that subconsciously send the message Blackness is only acceptable the closer it gets to Eurocentric standards of beauty.

Casting Zoe (a Black woman who still benefits from smaller, Eurocentric features like a straight nose and thinner lips) makes Nina's Blackness - and by default, her activism - more palatable for consumption. It makes Nina's fight more palatable and digestible to the white audience. It prevents them from being made uncomfortable by seeing actual dark skin, wide noses, and kinky hair onscreen (instead, we're shown makeup, prosthetics, and a wig). Zoe is the face of Nina and, to a lesser extent, Black Activism, from the White Gaze: mass produced, palatable, and processed.

And It's not about saying Zoe is not Black enough to play Nina, but about the fact that dark-skinned actresses are seen as TOO BLACK, and do not fit into a Eurocentric standard of beauty- even for the portrayal of an artist and activist whose life's work was based on her dark-skinned Black womanhood.

Casting Leslie Jones as the sole character in the new Ghostbusters movie to not be a scientist and making her the 'sassy Black friend' is, again, about creating a narrative of Blackness that is easily consumed by the white gaze. Complex, nuanced, dark-skinned women (not mammies or buffoons), go against the standard narrative.

Thanks for watching.

Follow me on social media!

Twitter:   / seren_sensei  
Instagram:   / sensei_aishitemasu  
Tumblr:   / sensei-aishitemasu  
Snapchat: sssseren

******************

Did you know I wrote a book? ☺️ 'So, About That... A Year of Contemporary Essays on Race and Pop Culture'

Paperback: http://www.amazon.com/About-That-Cont...

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B013V0CHK6

Digital download (e-book): https://gumroad.com/l/IkUa

Twitter handles mentioned:

@Tripping_Crutch
@k1mc0leman
@itszanj
@dualityman81
@brownandbella
@imindigomoon
@cypheroftyr

Links:

'7 Actresses We Would Have Cast As Nina Simone Instead of Zoe Saldana:'
https://www.yahoo.com/movies/7-actres...

'Nina Simone Estate Slams Biopic Star Zoe Saldana:'
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/new...

'ZOE SALDANA AS NINA SIMONE IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN DIVERSITY DOESN’T:'
http://verysmartbrothas.com/zoe-salda...

'Ghostbusters trailer: Anger over 'add-on' black female character in movie reboot:'
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-ent...

'So … Why Is Patty the Only Non-Scientist in the New Ghostbusters?'
http://www.themarysue.com/ghostbuster...

'IMAN RECALLS THAT TIME A FORMER ESSENCE EDITOR DESCRIBED HER AS “A WHITE WOMAN DIPPED IN CHOCOLATE:”
http://madamenoire.com/586232/white-w...

'Policing Blackness: Iman Recalls Being Called “A White Woman Dipped in Chocolate” by Essence Magazine:'
http://blackgirllonghair.com/2015/09/...

'Iman Opens Up About Deeply Upsetting Career Moment:'
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/i...