Happy Monday! Needless to say that my city is electric with the SuperBowl win from yesterday, Go Giants! It’s great to be the champions once again. The feeling of pride is unmistakable as you, for an instant befriend a complete stranger in celebration of victory. Team spirit is indeed in the air. You feel, even if for a brief moment, unstoppable. I love my city. I love victory. Who doesn’t want to win? The excitement of knowing you worked for something and it paid off, came in first during a race, finished a project or, by some chance was chosen at random to win first prize. It’s a victory and it feels darn good!
The first two months of the year mark awards season in the entertainment industry. We are flooded with the Oscars, Grammys, Golden Globes, SAG, Critics’ Choice and probably more that I’m unaware of but nonetheless important to those who seek the ultimate prize for a job well done. In this season, I’ve been following the winning track of the stars of the incredible movie, The Help. This amazing film which stars Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer was adapted by the bestselling book of the same title by Kathryn Stockett. Both the film and book were remarkable and the characters of Aibileen and Minny were brought to life and beyond through the talents of Davis and Spencer. The Help received major acclaim and undoubtedly would be included in the list of films to receive many accolades this award season.
Well, as predicted, the film, Viola and Octavia have received many awards praising their work. Both women, both humbled to be acknowledged by their peers, both are now the “it” girls of the season. Both gracing magazine covers and fashion spreads that, I promise, wouldn’t have given them a second glance before. Now, they are a big deal. They are gifted. They are beautiful. They are black girls who rock.
But did they win? Is this a real victory for them? For us?
As a black woman, it’s hard not to take everything that happens to our people to heart. It’s what most of us do as a people. One wins, we all win. One fails, we’re mad as hell. LOL! I’ve heard the various commentaries about our sisters’ rise to this place and the fact that they had seemingly played roles lower than themselves in order to be seen as real actors. To some degree I get it. Why the acclaim for playing a maid? Why aren’t there roles for us as historical figures, sexy love stories, meaty dramas for us to portray our dynamic side for longer than 8 minutes in a feature film that isn’t written, produced, directed and starring Tyler Perry? Seriously, Ain’t I A Woman? Certainly not taking away from the importance and plight of Aibileen and Minny, but it seems as if playing something that drastic is what gets the masses’ attention. Halle won an Oscar for a lackluster performance in Monsters Ball. Seriously? She got twisted in a bunch of positions after saying “make me feel good…”, seriously? I can’t. Anyhoo, I digress. My point though is that our extraordinary brilliance doesn’t seem sufficient to get the recognition it deserves.
This weekend, Viola is featured in the LA Times magazine (http://www.latimesmagazine.com/2012/02/viola.html). In fact, she is on the cover, has a gorgeous spread and a wonderful article. Here’s the thing that struck me, she isn’t wearing a wig or weave and she is absolutely stunning! She could truly have a second career in modeling. With her career as an actor, she’s been seen on various red carpets and events, she always looks perfectly styled but we’ve never seen her with her natural cropped hair. The images are beautiful, her skin glows in all of its mocha glory in various all black ensembles and minimal makeup. It’s just enough makeup to play up depth in her eyes and her full mouth– gorgeous. So what’s the issue? Well the question arises, would she be celebrated like this in the start of her career? Could she now go on auditions and get roles without the aid of perfectly coifed wigs and weaves? Could her short, tight coils be emulated as much as Halle’s signature choppy, softly curled hair? Is she beautiful because she’s this close to winning an Oscar? After Julliard and 23 years in an industry who took notice of her 8 minutes playing opposite Meryl Streep (Doubt, 2008), is she just now worthy of praise?
An interesting quote from the LA Times article states, “Doing more with less—that’s quintessential Davis.” I suppose that will always be our lot to bear. Whether it’s making the role of a domestic somehow regal or the guttural growl of anguish of a single mother being silenced by multiple thrusts poignant; whatever we’re given, we make it work. But when I consider citing the careers of Halle, Mo’Nique, and Jennifer Hudson after their Oscar wins, I’m just not sure it’s always to our benefit.
Hopefully it will be different for Octavia and Viola. In the article, Viola shares hat she mentors young actors and those who aren’t sure they want to be actors. She also states that she is working to produce projects that will employ black actresses to have more fulfilling roles and to be afforded the same opportunity to shine as she does now so brightly. A necessary venture and a huge endeavor to undertake, she knows she will need the help of a benefactor or two in order to make it work and she has to move while she is the “hot black girl” on the scene.
So again I pose the question, do we win? Is this a victory? In some ways, undeniably yes, but in other ways, not so much. I would love it if Viola, as photographed in this spread, would be seen as sexy with substance and a story would be offered to her that truly had the complexities of being a woman. Showing depth, emotion, love, intimacy, success, struggle, all of it co-starring Denzel Washington as her love interest. Why is that such a stretch? And not a period piece set in slavery. Good grief. A story that encompasses the depth of the human story just because we’re human. But in the meantime, I’ll be glued to the TV waiting to hear her name called along with Octavia’s and cheer loudly knowing that for one moment, even if she never gets nominated again that we is kind, we is smart, we is important. We win.
elanaking
