Why does zoe saldana always

Zoe Saldana, Nina Simone and the painful history of blackface. Much of Simone's work centered on her marginalization as a dark-skinned black woman in America, and fans condemned the casting since it was first announced in When promotion for the film began, Simone's estate tweeted at Saldana: "Cool story but please take Nina's name out your mouth.

For the rest of your life. Read More. And I am. But it was Nina Simone, and Nina had a life and she had a journey that should be honored to the most specific detail, because she was a specifically detailed individual. The controversy marked one of the most high-profile incidents of "whitewashing" in Hollywood. Without any attempt at embodying Black womanhood in real life, Saldana never could have done Nina justice.

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Photo: Wikimedia Commons. Jackson Jenn M. Website Facebook Twitter. Follow BYP. In response to the trailer's release, Vox culture writer Alex Abad-Santos spoke with Vox identities fellow Victoria Massie and identities intern Candice Norwood about Simone's legacy and the outrage the film has inspired. Victoria : Even though the release date was announced this week, people have been outraged about Zoe Saldana's casting as Nina Simone for years.

There were obvious issues about Saldana's casting and skin color when some of the first images surfaced in A lot of the controversy is rooted in the fact that Saldana is a light-skinned actress of color of Puerto Rican and Dominican descent who is essentially donning blackface.

Candice : I think there are two important points when looking at this. The first being that it's just ridiculous to spend money and effort making a light-skinned actress darker for the role when there are so many dark-skinned actresses who are equally, if not more, qualified to play Simone. Given our history of showing preference for people with light skin over those with darker skin, it is easy to see how the casting decision would quickly erupt. Secondly, considering how much Simone loved and promoted her dark skin, it is wrong and disrespectful to her legacy to cast a light-skinned actress to play her.

Alex : The thing to keep in mind here is that it wasn't just the general public that was mad about this movie. There was also pushback from Simone's daughter, Simone Kelly, who felt as though the film was side-stepping the singer's family and their wishes.

Victoria : You cannot understand Nina Simone's life and legacy without taking stock of her identity as a dark-skinned black woman. That fact was inextricably linked to her life's trajectory, her art, and her politics — to everything that made Nina fearlessly and unapologetically Nina. Simone Kelly, her daughter, explained this — how her mother's dark skin affected how she was treated — to the Los Angeles Times :. We all have a story. My mother suffered. We can go all the way back to when she was a child and people told her her nose was too big, her skin was too dark, her lips were too wide.

It's very important the world acknowledges my mother was a classical musician whose dreams were not realized because of racism. Candice : The concept of "colorism" can get a little complicated, and the Vox Identities team plans to explore it more in the coming weeks.

But the basic idea is that racism involves prejudice or discrimination based on a person's racial background, and colorism is based on differences in skin tone. Colorism can certainly happen between people of different races, but it can also occur among people of the same race.

Among black people there's a long history of viewing light-skinned blacks as more attractive or accomplished. This has affected the educational , economic, and professional opportunities available to dark-skinned blacks.

Simone wholeheartedly celebrated her dark skin in her work, so it's important that this is reflected in the casting decisions for her biopic. By the way, it's worth noting that colorism isn't just an issue for blacks or for the US; it's a global problem. In fact, "skin-whitening" is a multibillion-dollar industry, and it happens in many countries, including India, China, and the Philippines. In the wake of a messy New York Times television piece that accused Shonda Rhimes of being an angry black woman, Davis appeared on The View and talked about race, Hollywood, and opportunity.

She said :. I think that beauty is subjective. Being a dark-skinned black woman, you heard it from the womb. And "classically not beautiful" is a fancy term for saying ugly. And denouncing you. And erasing you. Alex : A lot of the creative forces behind this movie are white people. This isn't to say that white men and women can't tell beautiful, honest, stories about people of color. But blind spots exist. And Saldana's distracting appearance in the movie might be indicative of a larger problem in Hollywood.

Candice : The director-writer is a white woman and a majority of the executive producers are white men.

That clearly highlights some of the issues surrounding the diversity in Hollywood debate.