Racial Barriers in Hollywood

Oscar Nominees Luncheon in Beverly Hills, CA.

Racial Barriers in Hollywood- There was a very interesting article on msnbc dealing with Hollywood and race. One important topic brought up in the article was if Hollywood has become color blind or are they money-blind? The article mainly focuses on Will Smith, Denzel Washinton, and Tyler Perry, three of the most successful actors in black Hollywood. Tyler Perry alone has opened many doors for other African American actors and actresses. Glenn Whipp, a film critic for the Los Angeles Times, Variety, MSN and others stated:

“I think they’d be the first to tell you that African-American actors have made strides in terms of movies and Hollywood… I think it’s much like when Obama was elected president, people don’t pay attention to color and are able to see past it.”

"Precious" Screening - 2009 Toronto International Film Festival

Personally, I feel people do still see color, but people know what sales and America is all about making money, not sure what side Glenn Whipp is looking from. Another thing is that Will Smith and Denzel Washington doesn’t really play roles that cause for the audience to think about their race. Kara Keeling, assistant professor of critical studies at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts stated on Smith and Washington:

“It’s important to look at the kinds of roles they’re playing and the fact that — with the exception of Tyler Perry — they’re playing roles that don’t require any sort of racial consciousness… They don’t bring a racial consciousness to bear on the story in a way that disturbs the audience.”

All I can say that this is a very interesting read and I recommend you check it out on msnbc and tell us your thoughts on the topic. During Black History month it is a great time to think about our heritage and where we feel we fit in and where we want to go as a people. It is time to discuss.

And that is Taye’s Black Celebrity News.

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The Racial Barriers in Hollywood by Quatavia Wilkins, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.