By: Amanda Anderson-Niles
Zoe Saldana seems to have it all. A movie career that really seems to be taking off, a reestablished romance with actor Bradley Cooper, and an up and coming modeling career. Saldana usually isn’t the kind of actress to get herself caught up in controversy, but she’s found herself right in the middle of controversy surrounding the production of the current biopic on Nina Simone’s life that is said to be in the works. When it was announced that Nina Simone would be portrayed by Zoe Saldana, many were outraged. And it’s because they feel as if Hollywood is opting to select an actress of lighter skin, rather than selecting an actress who could represent Nina better with physical traits that more closely resembles Nina’s real life features. Many feel like it’s just Hollywood pulling the same racist card towards darker skin actresses they have been pulling for years.
Refusing to be silent, many have come together and a petition was even created urging the producer to cast a dark skin actress to portray Nina Simone in the upcoming film or they would boycott the film.
The petition reads:
Replace Zoe Saldana with an actress who actually looks like Nina Simone .
Nina Simone, dubbed The High Priestess of Soul, is an American icon and a music legend. Because of this, it is without a doubt straight up disrespectful to Ms. Simone and her legacy to get an actress who looks nothing like she did to portray her in a movie about her life. Getting light complexioned actors to play the roles of dark complexioned historical figures is not only a sign of blatant disrespect to the persons they are portraying, it is also disrespectful to history, to the people who look like the persons being whitewashed, and to the intelligence of the audience. For too long Hollywood has gotten away with this practice of revisionist history and it is time that we let our voices be heard be it by this petition or by boycotting the movie if no change has been made as to who will portray Nina Simone.
Although Zoe has said nothing publicly about the controversy, it looks as if she has responded on a smaller scale on her official Twitter account. The other day when a fan tweeted her their thoughts on the petition, she retweeted their opinion as if she might agree with their position on the subject:
Reverse racism? I can’t…Does she NOT know her history (she did claim to be BLACK)
So she and the chick who tweeted that first are clearly idiots.
Reverse Racism: Discrimination against members of a dominant or majority group, especially when resulting from policies established to correct discrimination against members of a minority or disadvantaged group.
Sigh…
Oh Zoe…smh
Wait she’s dating Bradley Cooper?!! Oh that will NOT end well.
Exactly. He’s notoriously known for being a player.
She really shouldn’t have tweeted anything about the petition. Silence is golden and now she looks like a fool. Yeah the petition seems extreme, but the creator’s heart was in the right place. And lastly, she looks like she really doesn’t need to have the part since she just demonstrated that she doesn’t even know what “reverse racism” is.
Reverse Racism? What a silly comment.
I told yall this chick ain’t black. All black people know what reverse racism is. I mean really.
She’s straight out stupid. We know how Dominicans see us.
Stupid comment but she is black. Black people can have different ethnicity. Someone’s race doesn’t always equal their ethnicity. I’m not sure why that’s so hard for people to understand.
Umm well ok. I liked her better before this tweet.
#cosign
Ok. Here’s my problem with Zoe. She comes of real insensitive to other black actresses. Not too long ago she made some comment about how black actresses who complain about how hard it is to find work aren’t working hard enough to find parts. But her simple minded a– fails to realize is she only gets her parts because she doesn’t look like the traditional black woman. And yet again, here she is being insensitive to black women. Now she wants to call them racist (lol at reverse racism, she really is an airhead) for standing up for the injustices that darker skinned women have been enduring for years in Hollywood. I really can’t stand this chick anymore.
She should have kept quiet or released a classier statement through her publicist. Just tacky.
I agree with Zoe. Casting someone on their skin tone and not their talent is racist.
If people would go back and read her comments in previous interviews they would see why people are upset with this casting choice. She really did say that black actressess need to get off their butts and work hard to get acting roles like she does. Her mother also told her she was not black. She was totally raised in a Latin environment and that’s what she relates to. My main peeve with this actress and the people involved in this project is the total disrespect towards the Simone family. They were told not to discuss or talk with Nina’s only child or any other family members. Nina’s daughter has stated this movie about a love affair with a gay male caregiver is not true. Nina’s brother has also stated the same thing. Hollywood is making a movie based on lies and they can’t understand all the fuss. Future generations will see this movie and think this really happened. A lie can become the truth. Historical misinformation on Hollywood’s part and slander /defaming for the Simone family. Zoe is participating in hurting this family and future generations.