The Advocate

Who will be the advocate in Hollywood of African American woman in Media? Who is it? Not Oprah who has shown the world that she advocates for herself and people she wants to be like or feels reflects her ideas. Not the various men and woman who occupy the studio leadership and make the green light decisions. Most are white males a majority white Jewish men who are allowed to fulfill there childhood fantasy on screen those men and woman called Goyem, (white Anglo-Saxon men and woman) in Yiddish. Unmet childhood needs color our likes and dislikes so maybe we all would b guilty of casting from there. Who is the advocate for the many hues both physically and emotionally and socioeconomically of the African American woman? Not Tyler Perry who dresses in drag and whose portrayal of women is both strong and degrading and popular I suspect because this is all we are going to get. Not Spike Lee whose movies are like him taut, angry and male centric. It is fascinating that the only director of note to step into the Black woman fray is a foreigner…Luc Bresson (see Columbiana) here’s to you Luc. Who is going to open up and let us in? Will we ever be allowed to express ourselves on screen in any other capacity than hard luck over burden domestics? If it were not so enjoyable to watch “The Help” it would be revealed as yet another story where white people are helping black woman or men survive. I am exhausted and sad and fully aware of my own place in the larger scheme of things. I sit in my house away form the palm trees of Sunset Blvd and the lies of the establishment because I just don’t have it in me to fight and I have too many faults to be a contender. I had a shot and it didn’t matter. Win an Oscar it still won’t matter (see Halle Berry)
I see that no matter what something will keep us down. Oprah the last great black hope and yet all we really are left with is her unmet childhood needs in the form of Oprah isms. Oprah on every magazine cover and central to any and all her shows, only always.
…UGH. A level playing field in both movies and shows that reflect who we are the multifaceted beautiful and sometimes not so pretty woman and men, who will be the brave one and when will it happen if it will happen or maybe should we refuse to move to the back of the pile of scripts and books sitting undeveloped on every major studio bosses desk. There are thousands of unread undeveloped stories worthy of the talent that is moldering in Hollywood and in NYC, stories that are worthy of our essence, of our unique spectacular mystery. Who will be our advocate and see this to fruition?