Why are black portrayed so incorrectly in movies and on the t.v.?

Question

Characters tend to have curly hair, fair, or light eyes. They always looked mixed. The average black is of caramel colored skin with coarse or fine hair. This upsets me, because people especially women will never get casted for big roles because of our dark skin. I am not blaming white people, because black people are known to do this also. All of my life, I have been told you are cute to be dark skinned or you are beautiful black girl. That's an insult.

Answer 1

Racism, I suppose. Racism in most cultures (it's a worldwide thing) generally applauds people with lighter skin and "good" hair (like, say, straight as opposed to curly, or curly as opposed to frizzy, or light as opposed to dark.)

Like, I saw this thing on TV about how Brazilians were being offered special scholarships if they were black...but they had to go through this approval process to determine if they were "black enough."

There were these twin boys, identical twins, and one was considered "black" and the other wasn't. Around 50% of Brazilians are of African descent, but they have to go by a panel to determine their "race."

Totally bizarre. The racism there is out of control--half the people there are at least partly African, but all the magazines are full of white people and the government is almost all white.

Even though they're the minority.

I mean, the answer is that it's racism. An easy answer...but fighting racism is really difficult and most TV execs don't want to do it because they want to pander to racist audiences, or they THINK audiences are racist and never bothered to ask them who they REALLY want to see. I mean, how would they know the reaction to people who looked different if they never put them on TV? Everybody on TV looks the same.

Except for the people on The Biggest Loser.

They look different.

Fat people, dark people, albinos, short people, skinny people, people of all colors and sizes and shapes and abilities...why aren't ALL people represented on TV? If they're beautiful in real life, why can't they be beautiful on TV?

Answer 2

Movies: Roots, Queen-starring Halle Berry, Sounder, The Great Debate team- starring Denzel Washington, Training Day, American Gangster, Sparkle, Remember the Titans, Glory, Mississippi Burning, For Colored Girls, Diary of a Mad Black Women, Madea Family Reunion, Why Did I get Married part I and II. TV: T.I road to recovery (documentary due to his incarceration). Good Times, The Jefferson's. Log into Youtube and enter some of the titles I mentioned.

Answer 3

Because America's standard of beauty is that of the European standard which is:

-Fair, Straight, Long Hair
-Light Eyes
-Light Skin

So in movies they find the black women who have the most European features. I can count the number of well-known dark-skinned black actresses on one hand, and that should prove my point.

Answer 4

different opinion.

to some large extent its the same for white people. think of it; are the white folks you see on tv and in the movies the average white folks??

producers and their staff have casting staff who choose actors for ability and looks. i know very bad decisions have been made in the past.

rent a movie called 'gold diggers 1935' these girls are white and were chosen on how much they put out. its dealt with in the script. yes, some actresses have to put out to get parts. this happens all the way up and down the scale.

the most attractive persons are chosen on the basis of what casting folks think will be most attractive to the largest number of persons.

sometimes an actress is chosen by the person financing the movie over the objection of the producers, directors, studio chiefs and everyone in the chain of command. but just imagine this actress working on her back!!!

take a look at qwerty's answer.

its also important to note you have plugged yourself on your good looks and compliments you receive.

some conclusions; actors are chosen on ability and looks.

is there favoritism, exclusion and partiality to a person with a certain look?? you bet!!!

do black folks with european looks get chosen more often, decidedly yes.

is there any validity to your comments? yes there is!!

i would like to see your pretty face, post a picture and email me.

i will offer a truthful comment on your looks.

Answer 5

Same thing with white actors, blonde's are portrayed "dumb" very often, Randy in the show my name is Earle is portrayed as a complete idiot, and so on.
Oprah sure has not done bad, the late Jimi Hendrix is a rock legend, Samuel L. Jackson is probably one of the hardest working actors in Hollywood, and a darn good actor.

Answer 6

Yeah, black people are sometimes stereotyped in movies. I agree with everything you said. And have hope that maybe SOME day the world will FINALLY understand that it's not appearance that truly matters when casting people in movies, it's talent!

Answer 7

It's unfortunate, but you have to ask the ignorant heads of the movie and TV studios, they have control of all of that.

Answer 8

One of the best movies ever is "In the Heat of the Night" with Sidney Poitier. He was as black as coal and so eloquent and such a powerful and much respected actor. If you have never seen the movie, please rent it. It is outstanding. By the way, Oprah is pretty dark, wouldn't you say?

Answer 9

I feel as though they should show all shades of black people, from the lightest of the light to the darkest of the dark.

Answer 10

Why do people choose to do things the way they do?

It's easier to make jokes, have to make a person inferior to make yourself feel good, (that's what people say). Generalizing makes casting less brain work.