By: Amanda Anderson-Niles
Up and coming black actor Michael B. Jordan knows well enough how troubling race relations are in this country, especially since he caught lots of racist backlash for nabbing the role as The Human Torch in the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot, and he also said in past interviews that playing Oscar Grant in “Fruitvale Station” was a very emotional experience for him. So it’s no surprise his recent comments on the Mike Brown situation has disappointed many of his fans.
In a recent interview with HuffPost Live, he says:
“You really can’t make sense of it. It’s something that I feel like…it’s a touchy subject. Especially speaking your opinion an actor, as a celebrity, it’s really rough on these subjects because you know how we feel as black men. We know what we know, and that’s what it is. And sometimes you can’t always go out forward with that information.
“Honestly, you have to navigate that way…at the end of the day I express myself through my work. When I’m up there on screen that’s not me. That’s whoever I’m portraying at the moment. It’s kind of like, you have to hide the medicine in the food.”
A lot of Michael’s fans are disappointed in his comments because they feel he should be more vocal and involved in the issues pertaining to the killings of unarmed black men.
What are your thoughts?
In related news, Mike Brown’s killer has been revealed. Darren Wilson is the police officer who killed the unarmed teen and now authorities are trying to link the slain teen to a robbery.
Very disappointed. It sounds like he’s letting his “celebrity” go to his head which has resulted in him walking on egg shells regarding topics that matter.
I agree. When he did Fruitvale Station he kept speaking out about unarmed black men being killed and how he felt it was unfair. He’s definitely let Hollywood change him.
Agreed.
Well he’s come a long way since the Wire and Fruitvale Station. He’s afraid to revert.
What does he owe the fans though? Anything he does or say will be viewed as wrong since he’s not just a black man, but his livehood is as a black actor in white Hollywood.
I think he said what’s best for him, and that’s all he needed to do. The so called fans hold these people to incredibly high standards, that are impossible to maintain. And then eviscerate them for falling off the pedestal.
I just think people (especially those he gained as fans based on Fruitvale Station) expected him to use his platform to bring awareness to this situation. I agree that fans can hold celebrities to high standards, but I didn’t think that standing up for a just cause would be considered as such. Speaking for myself, I honestly would not have been disappointed in his response had it not been for Fruitvale Station. But I guess that speaks to his comment of “when I’m up there on the screen, that’s not me.” It’s just unfortunate that the person he WAS portraying on the screen could have easily been any other black man……including him.
That’s how I feel. I expected him to say something more profound because of the Oscar Grant movie. I’m disappointed.
well said
Not surprised. He dates white women and said recently he doesn’t like to date women who wear weaves because he wants to be able to rub his fingers in a woman’s hair and not catch anything. Smh.
Yeah he loves the Beckys. Smh.
Really?! Where have I been?!
Under a rock. LOL. j/k
But when he was promoting that Oscar Grant movie he had no problem speaking up for the black community then. What happened? Is he changing up now because he’s more famous than he was then?
In short, yes. He’s on a different page now because he’s more well known and he crossed over. He’s not trying to mess that up.
If he says anything it will placed under a microscope and taken out of context. People don’t know what they want. One minute they want black celebs to get involved in these issues, the next minute the same people are bashing Beyonce and Jay Z for showing up to a Trayvon Martin rally.
I’m disappointed but I think he’s trying to say he wants to say something but he knows it will only hurt him because the powers to be don’t support his views. He wants to keep getting work and it’s hard to do that when the industry is ran by whites.
If he chose not to really speak on it then that’s on him. I’m not for or against what he said. But if everybody is watching the news notice the character assassination on Mike Brown here they go again attacking the VICTIM’s character on display same way they did Trayvon. Notice how they released the video exactly when they released the police officer’s name.
& IMO that isn’t even him in that vid…it’s just sad that celebrities use us to gain popularity and then disassociate themselves during times like these cause they are scared of losing the lil yt privilege they are allowed to have.
And this is why I have so much respect for Jamie Foxx. Jamie says whatever the hell he wants and doesn’t give a damn who it offends. We need more people like that in Hollywood.
F-ck that. We need him and others who have the platform to speak up!!!!!!! This is why these issues are still occurring in the black community. The only leader we have is Al Sharpton’s crooked a-s!!!!!
And who was expecting him to say anything? I never got the vibe that he was the fearless, caring about black people kind of dude. He’s cute though but you can tell he’s into brunettes and racially ambitious video chicks.
He sounds like a coward here.
Yep.
Now if he doesn’t even date black women why on earth would he mess up his money for black people? Let’s just keep it real. LOL.
This whole Mike Brown situation is looking more and more like the Trayvon situation. Smh.
It is. As usual they are blaming the victim for why they were murdered. It’s really scary how they view us.
I would have rather he not have said anything at all than this.
What does him possibly robbing a store have to do with him being shot and killed while he was unarmed with his hands in the air? These police officers need to try again.
Damn really? I like him. This makes me look at him differently.
So basically he’s afraid to say what he wants. Not surprised. A lot of celebs are scared to speak up because they know they can get backlisted.
Chile…
Him, Keke, Jhene and all these other cowards need to shut the hell up.
Not my honey bun…
Lame.
Is he in Pharrel’s New Black club?
I am not surprised he is punking out but I don’t really care because I’m not looking for celebrities to speak for our people anymore. They are too afraid to stand up for anything because white people sign their checks.
Wel I take it as he does feel the same way we do but he doesn’t want to deal with the consequences of saying what he really feels about it. And he’s not the only one.
This.
He was nervous as hell. LOL.
New black.
I still like him. I just think he was really afraid to say what he really feels because his career is finally taking off and he doesn’t want to be shut down. Hollywood is very liberal but it’s still ran by whites.
He’s still fine tho..