Will smith not black enough

By Eisa Nefertari Ulen.

With the film industry already grappling with a diversity crisis and people calling for more opportunities for minorities and women, the colorism debate appears to have taken this one step further. Critics of the casting announcement felt that the decision to choose Will Smith over other actors including Don Cheadle or Idris Elba was a mistake and that his skin tone was not dark enough to portray Williams:. Skin color matters in how folk were treated and navigated spaces. Is Alexandra Shipp playing Venus? I like Will Smith but him as Richard Williams is not ok. It's just not appropriate and there are other actors that are dark skinned and have name recognition that can do this work. Anyone that doesn't get that its colorism is delusional.

Will smith not black enough

While Smith and Williams are both black men, critics say the role should go to an actor with darker skin, citing Idris Elba and Mahershala Ali as examples of more appropriate choices. Colorism matters.. But not everyone agrees. This is really pathetic and sad. He is an awesome actor and will play hell out of it. People complaining about Will Smith not being the right shade of black to play a role pic. So let me understand that a black man can only play a black man now if he is the right shade of black. So that case Denzel Washington should never have played Malcom x. We as black people only brings ourselves down,. Luke Perry dead at 52 following massive stroke. Kanye West has a contract that forbids him from retiring. One of track and fields' most exciting events could see a major format change. Woods was followed by a group of more than 50 fans, some of whom did not behave well. Walmart is conducting a stock split for the first time in nearly 25 years.

It's just not appropriate and there are other actors that are dark skinned and have name recognition that can do this work.

The year-old actor has spent the last three decades crafting himself into the perfect image of the ever-pleasant, non-threatening Black man. From curse-free rap lyrics to his tender, nuanced portrayals of complicated characters, Smith has been a darling of mainstream Hollywood for a very long time. And prior to the last few years , he was one of a few celebrities who had made it to the peak of their careers virtually scandal-free. In him, white Hollywood found a Black man who was equal parts insanely talented and widely marketable, according to their standards of propriety and respectability. As a Black person, I can confirm that when I see a Black face on my TV screen in relation to a crime, my first thought is not what it means for me or how it makes me look. Give me a break. Statements like his reek of a desperation to protect that fragile dynamic, rather than confront the systems that make pandering to whiteness necessary in the first place.

The influence of family can never be understated, especially when it comes to art. Not only has he experienced this through the lessons taught to him by his family, but the award-winning entertainer has used them to help raise children that have also become more conscious artists in their own right. Back in November , Smith was on tour with his autobiography Will , which saw him making select stops to promote his life story. That was until his grandmother Gigi caught a hold of his lyrics, which led to the following story which CinemaBlend was present to hear first hand:. I had the black and white speckled school book, and I was putting all my rhymes in there. And, you know, I was 12 years old, so I was letting it rip a little bit. She wrote me a letter, in the front of my book.

Will smith not black enough

Will Smith said that his socioeconomic status played a part in the criticism he faced when he entered the hip-hop world as a teen. He added: "I grew up on a nice street in a two-parent household. I went to a Catholic school with mostly white kids until I was And for all of his faults, my father always put food on the table and would die before he abandoned his kids. Smith was born and raised in West Philadelphia. His father, Willard Smith Sr. The actor's mother, Carolyn Bright, "was one of the first Black women to ever study at Carnegie Mellon University," Smith wrote in his memoir.

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Anyone that doesn't get that its colorism is delusional. The film industry has faced a number of problems for several years and production companies are under added pressure on casting decisions, production roles and character portrayals. Babalola says darker-skinned men and women are often seen as "animalistic" and "more sexualised" than their counterparts in the media, whereas light-skinned people are often portrayed as more refined, less threatening and more likeable. Politics Yahoo Finance. Share your opinion with us: filminetwork. Copyright The Associated Press. Directors, producers and casting agents often seem to favor biracial and light-skinned blacks, presumably because they are closer to the idealized white beauty standard and therefore more acceptable to white audiences. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment. Read full article. They are not a line in a joke — especially when the transformation is not of our own choosing. Williams must have been up against seemingly insurmountable racism while trying to break his daughters into the predominantly white world of tennis, but if any of the Williamses suffered the distinct disadvantages of colorism, it would have been the far more visible Venus and Serena. In America, colourism has existed since the days of slavery, where the shade of someone's skin often determined which jobs slaves were given. Like Dara, we are more than capable of standing up for ourselves.

Hollywood and the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences have been trying to do better since then.

The Associated Press is an independent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting. What is Colourism? Walmart is conducting a stock split for the first time in nearly 25 years. Advertise on Film Industry Network. Will Smith great actor great human great artist. So let me understand that a black man can only play a black man now if he is the right shade of black. Celebration of black beauty. He is an awesome actor and will play hell out of it. You are worthy. Colourism isn't an issue unique to Black Hollywood though. More content below. Smith was 9 at the time and would long chastise himself for not defending his mother. Ayanna Pressley, as you advocate for marginalized people everywhere in this country. Will Smith's casting in the upcoming "Aladdin" movie was also controversial with critics arguing that he wasn't blue, and that it made no sense for him to take on the role.