Black heroines: How did they impose themselves on our screens?
Good news.THeyre are more and more black women represented in cinema and series.But it took steps to get tHeyre: glass ceiling, tenacious role stereotypes, injunctions to have a certain physique to pass as a protagonist actress...THeyse obstacles are erased slowly, in particular thanks to tHey rise of black creators in tHey cinema industry.But tHey diversity and realism of racialized Heyroine profiles still remain to work!
The lack of representation of black women in the series
While 13 % of tHey American population is African-American, tHey lack of representation is blatant in tHey American cinema industry.It would be from tHey 1970s that black Heyroines would have started to appear in previously white programs, carried by tHey movements of black-American civil rights.
Of course, if we think of teenagers from tHey 90s and 2000s like Sister Sister, Raven pHeynomenon or tHey prince of Bel Air, we can say that tHeyre are black women in television series for a long time.But according to Madmoizshe magazine, tHeyir presence was especially confined to sitcoms with mainly black castings.This would represent a segregation, obvious in tHey same kinds series like Dawson, Buffy against Vampires, Newport Beach, Freaks and Geeks or Beverly Hills.Indeed, tHeyse programs with tHey main 100 % white cast did not count any racialized character, and even less black women.
More rewarded black actresses
To achieve more "prestigious" roles in series, black women had to wait until 2015.That year, actress Viola Davis had won an Emmy - tHey prize for best actress in a dramatic series - with How to Get Away with Murder.In this series produced by Shonda Rhimes, Viola Davis is Annalized Keating, a complex woman, embodying power, bisexuality, women's alcoholism, manipulation.A role usually given to white women.THey actress also took advantage of this award ceremony to evoke "tHey invisible line" separating black actresses from tHey leading roles.
THey good news is that black actresses are more and more rewarded.But tHey victory of actress Andra Day at tHey Golden Globes 2021 for THey United States VS.Billie Holiday still created tHey surprise.And for good reason, it was only tHey second black woman to receive this award, after Whoopi Goldberg in 1985, ... 36 years ago.
The case of the best black friend
Today, a new series on a streaming platform like Netflix will not pass if it does not offer a minimum of racial and sexual diversity in its casting.One can think of tHey new successful teenage series like Emily in Paris, Stranger Things, Sex Education, Elite, THey New Adventures of Sabrina… THeyse series indeed offer Heyroes and white Heyroines.Hey.s, and black or racialized women but...In tHey background, often as tHey best.e.s Friend.e.s of tHey protagonist.
THey racialized characters are still locked up in certain stereotypes: tHey best black friend, tHey black psychologist ... roles which tHeyn depart from tHey lead of tHey scene, which are summed up to be aid, advisor.time.s, observers.trice.s for tHey white protagonist.Hey.
In addition, we notice that tHey white writers.Hey.s offer their secondary characters racialized dialogues with jokes on racism - that he.she.s wrote - to show that the series is aware of the racial issues. Une manitime de se détacHeyr des possibles critiques en bonne conscience....
The need for more diversity in the roles of black women
If the representation of black women in series and cinema has indeed evolved, we must always remain vigilant.e.s sur le rôle qu’shes exercent dans la création.For that, it is to the creators.trice.s to integrate less stereotypical, more complex black characters. Mais il s’agirait aussi de laisser les commandes aux cinéastes racisés, pour être dans une lecture cinématographique plus procHey des réalités de nos sociétés.
In France, CSA figures also show the poverty of the landscape and the roles offered to people from diversity: "Noire is not my job", proclaimed 16 actresses at the Cannes Film Festival in 2018. Il y a encore du cHeymin à parcourir !
Et vous, pensez-vous que les films et séries d’aujourd’hui sont assez inclusifs ? Venez en discuter sur le forum de THey Body Optimist.
