Black women are making it happen in Hollywood, or so it seems. Gabourey Sibide and Mo’Nique are belles of the proverbial 2010 Oscar Ball with nominations for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, respectively. Mo’Nique is heading into the competition with a recent Golden Globe win for her turn as a heartless mother in the controversial film, “Precious”. Even much maligned singer turned actress Mariah Carey got street cred in the acting world for her portrayal of a no-nonsense social worker in said film. She picked up a best supporting actress award at the Palm Springs film festival.
With the success of Halle Berry, Jennifer Hudson, Zoe Saldana, Queen Latifah and Beyonce at the box office and on the awards show circuit, it looks like sisters are really doing it for themselves in Hollywood – at least on the surface.
While we are encouraged and celebratory of these fine actresses, film is more than onscreen performances. It is a production process marked by the hard work of hundreds of people. Success in Hollywood is measured by more than the number of actresses that receive nominations for prestigious awards. It is about representation across the filmmaking spectrum, whether we talk about directors, producers, writers, grips or cinematographers. Chances are that whatever category you check, the numbers are abysmal for all women, so what does that mean for black women?
For example, Kathryn Bigelow may become the first woman to win a Best Director award in the history of the Academy. Critically acclaimed filmmakers like Sophia Coppola, Euzhan Palcy, Jane Campion, Kasi Lemmons, and Julie Dash have been overlooked for a very long time. In fact only 6% of film directors are women and fewer are cinematographers. Up until 2008, no female cinematographer had ever been nominated for an Academy Award. That means the work of Lisa Rinzler, Mandy Walker and Maryse Alberti had been overlooked for years. This is the first year that a black film has been nominated for a best film Oscar. Blacks and women are just gaining recognition even though they’ve been at it as long as many others.
In film history courses, we learn about the films of Dorothy Arzner, a white woman who was making films from the 1920s to the 1940s. Some even suggest that she was the only woman directing films at that time. In fact, Eloise Gist was an African American woman making films during that time, two of which were well received and screened in multiple settings. Gist, along with her husband James, made morality films that cautioned African-Americans to lead a clean and holy life in order to escape the confines of Jim Crow and second-class citizenry. She literally drove around Washington, DC with a film camera, shooting her stories. Her films, Hellbound Train and Verdict: Not Guilty were released in 1930 and were strongly endorsed by the NAACP.
Gist is an example of the precarious existence that black women have in the film industry. Those that toil away in Hollywood are rarely recognized or receive the same opportunities as their male and female counterparts. Those that work outside of the system are often written out of existence. This applies to black actresses, most of whom do not have the same access to opportunities or pay as their colleagues who may or may not be as “successful” as they are. When is the last time that you had seen Angela Bassett or Alfre Woodard in a mainstream Hollywood film before Tyler Perry? Like their white counterparts, they may have aged out, but unlike their white counterparts, they don’t get nearly the same number of roles. For instance, think about Sigourney Weaver, Meryl Streep and Susan Sarandon. Now think about Bassett Woodward, or even Halle Berry. In the case of Berry, she makes between $12 and $14 million dollars per film, while most of her counterparts (Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock) make $20+ million per film. Bullock hasn’t won an Oscar yet.
Black women in Hollywood are definitely doing it for themselves, but the price is high. Can we expect them to work an entire lifetime working just as hard but getting less than everyone else? Some would argue that this is the black female condition in America, so if these women were doing something else, they would be experiencing the same thing. I’m not sure that I agree with that, but I do wonder what does the future hold for Black women in the filmmaking profession?
History suggests that it will continue to be an uphill battle, but that it is not insurmountable. It will just take time. Remembering the past will inform the future for black female filmmakers. Eloise Gist’s story reminds me of indie filmmaker Christine Swanson’s journey in creating her last feature All About Us, in which she literally drove around with her husband and kids, shooting her film. Like Gist, she made it happen at all costs.
That’s what black women do in society and in the film industry. We take risks that others won’t and continue to keep at it, when others give up. So, I say celebrate Mo’Nique, Gabourey, and Zoe but don’t let the glitter cloud the reality, which is that black women in filmmaking are fighting an uphill battle. While they are the bells of the ball – this year, black women in film still have a long way to go.
Written specially for TheBlackBoxOffice.com by Dr. Nsenga K. Burton, PhD.
The African American community is ripe with talent, creativity and intellect. This remains true despite efforts to remove the arts from public schools, and despite rampant closures of those places where historically such talents have been nurtured — after school programs and guilds, boys and girls clubs, community theatre and the like. Still, African American youth are trendsetters in fashion, music and dance … still more are talented writers, designers, artists, poets, vocalists … songwriters, screenwriters and filmmakers. Perhaps then, beating down doors to old Hollywood is no longer the answer. When one has all the best raw materials in his own yard, he must build.
I believe it is time for people to build their own studios and make their own films outside hollywood. Hollywood obviously has said no