This Coffee Rhetoric article is one of the various examples of an intense negative reaction from journalists, bloggers, academics and commenters following the casting of Zoe Saldana to play Nina Simone, the High Priestess of Soul, in the upcoming biopic Nina.
The author writes that
“Zoe will always be bankable because while she has brown skin and is a moderately decent actress, she’s still a multiethnic Black (Afro-latina) woman who puts casting directors’ minds at ease because of her decidedly more palatable features.”
The question that is on everyone’s lips in the media is: Why would they cast an actress who doesn’t look at all like the legend she is portraying? Simone is a strong, dark skinned woman with afrocentric features, while Saldana is light skinned, very thin, has straight hair and narrow facial features.
Even Nina Simone’s family and close entourage have also responded to the news with disapproval of Saldana’s casting, as presented in this video news report.
From my point of view, Hollywood is all about
maximizing profits and minimizing the risks, which explains the choice of
Saldana over other actresses or singers who would have been a lot better for
the part, such as India Arie, Whoopi Goldberg or even Jennifer Hudson. I don’t
understand why they would choose someone who doesn’t look the part and then
make them wear wigs, dark make up and even prosthetic nose and teeth. This
reminds me of ‘blackface’ and ‘yellowface’ in old Hollywood, when White actors
used to wear makeup to portray Blacks and Asians… and it makes me feel sorry
for our cinema.
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