MovieChat Forums > Nina (2016) Discussion > what a stupid controversey!

what a stupid controversey!

posted 8 years ago by waats1
88 replies | jump to latest

I keep reading about how Zoe shouldn't play Nina because Zoe isn't black....they are claiming shes in "black face" and its racist... im like WTF??? LMAO! Zoe Saldana has been a Dark skin Spanish woman her entire life. She is Dominican/Puerto Rican and she only played a Spanish woman in 1 film, Columbiana... other than that she always played an African- American woman in damn near all her roles (if shes not an alien that is).... So let me get this straight, its OK for Zoe to play a "Black" Woman or come from a "Black" Family in all of her films (accept for Columbiana of course), weather its a comedy film (Guess Who?, Death at a Funeral, etc) or any other film that the majority cast is Black (Drumline) or if shes playing an iconic black character (Uhura from Star Trek) and any other film where she plays the only "Black" person with a "Black Name" among a cast of White actors, and NO ONE BATS AN EYE!!! BUT, GOD Forbid she plays a well known Singer.... people need to get over it. U don't hear us Spanish people complaining on how they cast a white or black actor to play a Spanish person and talk with an obvious stupid accent... Do you? you want examples of that? I got plenty of them..

[–] JennyShineEye 8 years ago

I agree completely. It's just a film at the end of the day

[–] 8 years ago

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[–] 8 years ago

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[–] Batgirl16 8 years ago

She's not dark skin, she's inbetween.

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[–] waats1 8 years ago

LMAO.. wow I heard it all

[–] bezorta 8 years ago

I'm not black but I understand that Nina Simone was a important part of black culture and much more to some. It might not make any difference to you or me who plays the part or using cosmetics to make the actress's skin darker.

But for blacks in general it is important in a way we can't comprehend, hence why it's not a controversy for people like us. Maybe if you could imagine Abraham Lincoln being played by an actor with light dark skin, that was made white with cosmetics, while there are a ton of talented white actors around for the role. Would that be a controversy to you and many others? Or would it make no difference? I think a lot of people, specially white Americans, would not be happy with such a choice.

[–] Prismark10 8 years ago

Looking at the ratings. The film has got horrible reviews and will flop at the box office.

It's that man again!!

[–] Ithilfaen 8 years ago

I'm not black but I understand that Nina Simone was a important part of black culture and much more to some. It might not make any difference to you or me who plays the part or using cosmetics to make the actress's skin darker.

But somehow if Beyonce or Almost-White Berry had been cast, and their skins made darker, then everybody would have been fine? How is that ok?

For every lie I unlearn I learn something new - Ani Difranco

[–] cfj5948 8 years ago

Same result. Zoe is a very popular actress on the level in film as Beyonce is in music so it's not about celebrity. It's the appropriateness of casting a person that fits and embodies the person being portrayed. Zoe had to do too much with weight, prostehtics, complexion, voice, demeanor to try to be Nina and still missed the mark by a mile when many other actresses already embody Nina. That's the issue
If a man has not discovered something he will die for, he isn't fit to live. Martin Luther King Jr.

[–] Hannah-T-Wilson 8 years ago

Discriminating Zoe Saldana because is a different shade of black...you're just making up an excuse to be racist. Pretty ironic considering this is a biopic about someone who was quite vocal about racism.

[–] Morgan_Moreno 8 years ago

The irony being that you can't even spell 'CONTROVERSY' correctly.

[–] phydeos-532-204564 8 years ago

That's not irony, that's just bad english.

[–] waats1 8 years ago

who cares... people misspell all the time.... talk about the subject

[–] chrome_face 8 years ago

Actually, some Spanish people do complain...and rightly so. The deal here is that in the many films Zoe has played a " black female ", she wasn't playing someone who actually use to exsist in real life, and whom was quite significant to the civil rights movement and music. Zoe has always played mocha skinned characters whom honestly could have been of mixed heritage or just a light skinned black female. Those characters weren't real. The alien chick from Avatar wasn't real. I love Zoe, but speaking for myself here, I'd rather have seen a unknown dark skinned actress get the part. It would, in ALL seriousness, be less distracting if she wasn't wearing dark make up and mediocre prosthetics.

* gun shot * "...What is the *beep* number..TO THE PHONE IN MY CAR!!!? "

[–] Nicknacktralala 8 years ago

But why all the fuss if they are fixing the resemblance with make up???

[–] Furrerd 8 years ago

The whole point is, there are plenty of talented actresses out there that wouldn't need prosthetics or unusual make-up.

This isn't scifi, horror or fantasy.

How to create an atheist: read the bible twice cover to cover.

[–] Nicknacktralala 8 years ago

But acting isn't all about looking like someone. It's so much more than that. take the elvis tv show for example, sure, there were loads of other actors that would actually look more like elvis, but this one (dont knw his name right now) was better. thats it.

and she is black, so why all the fuss? are there more sub-races hollywood needs to keep happy?

[–] THEBADFOUR1987 8 years ago

If they would have just casted Zoe and did not use all that protestic make up, then that's one thing. It's a completely different thing for when you put the woman in black face and a fake nose instead of giving an opportunity for a dark skinned actress if they really wanted someone with that exact skin color. There already are not many leading roles for darker skinned women so why even take that route. I'm not denying Zoe's blackness. But they clearly wanted a dark skinned woman to be on screen so they should have just CASTED a dark skinned woman.

[–] tropicvibe 8 years ago

That's not the only problem, in fact she looks pretty bad in a lot of the shots and you can clearly tell something is wrong with her face. She should've sat down and really analyzed the role and what she was about to do and perhaps get feedback from various sources before jumping up like a jack in the box when the role was offered to her and tearing off the producer's arm.... No actor or actress worth their 2 cents is going to accept anything thrown their way and rather refuse and pass it on than make a mistake they'll never recover from or make a fool of themselves.

[–] C_Dubya 8 years ago

I don't think you know what "Spanish" means. Speaking Spanish doesn't make you Spanish. Just like I'm not English even though I speak English.

[–] waats1 8 years ago

thank you captain obvious! I come from a Spanish speaking island "Puerto Rico" and since all Spanish lineage comes from Spain.... its pretty much Spanish.... we as individuals have to stop separating each other. if someone is African and from Africa, I don't say they are from Zimbabwe, or Somalia. they're just African

[–] C_Dubya 8 years ago

Then what the *beep* is a dark skinned Spanish woman? Zoe is black and native South American. Just because you want to claim European (white) don't put Zoe in that category.

[–] C_Dubya 8 years ago

I've seen Puerto Ricans and they are not white!

[–] waats1 8 years ago

Hispanic people or anyone of Spanish decent from Spanish speaking countries come in all shades.... u got your Blond hair blue eyed to your dark hair brown eyed.... im Puerto Rican and im Dark hair Green eyed, WAT A MIX UP! and my complexion is "Fair"...but the rest of my family are either Darker or lighter than me.

[–] C_Dubya 8 years ago

What's your point? I said you're not white. Spaniards are white. My family is different shades as well due to white admixture but I'm not calling myself English. Zoe is not Spanish and neither are you.

[–] C_Dubya 8 years ago

Getting conquered by the Spanish makes you Spanish now? You're Puerto Rican claiming rapists and slavers from another region of the world. Embarrassing.

[–] waats1 8 years ago

the whole point is Zoe being a dark skinned Hispanic... everyone seems to have an issue with her not being "Black". everyone is throwing color out there. u said Puerto Ricans are not "white". I said that we come in all different shades. somewhere in all that we got lost in the subject at hand. it from Nationality to just color to nationality and back to color again.

But whatever... my only thing is, where on Earth do you get... "Getting conquered by the Spanish makes you Spanish now? You're Puerto Rican claiming rapists and slavers from another region of the world. Embarrassing." ...From my comment? let alone about a film starring Zoe Saldana?

Does that have anything to do with the subject???

you are weird... or a racist or just too confused and mistaken to be a racist... I don't know take your pick.... SMH

[–] C_Dubya 8 years ago

You're not Spanish and neither is Zoe and that's all you need to be concerned about.

[–] waats1 8 years ago

LOL! if you say so...

So wait... what are we then?
Hispanic?
Latino?
Spanish?
PR?
DR?
Mexican?

are we any of those?

it all goes down the line and regardless of "history" it all points to our origin-Spanish!

Just like when someone says African-American, but the Person is not from Africa, but its where the bloodline comes from

[–] C_Dubya 8 years ago

But your origins are not in Spain, they're in the Caribbean. You never left. If you moved to Spain you'd still be a Puerto Rican. The Spanish are the ones who conquered your ancestors. I really don't like arguing with self haters. You're blind. This conversation is over.

[–] C_Dubya 8 years ago

How the hell is your origin Spanish if your ancestors were there before the Spanish arrived?

You speak Spanish because your native language was stolen from you. Now you're claiming you're Spanish when Spain is on the other side of the world smh...brainwashed...

[–] bigbagwolf 8 years ago



As I grow older, I pay less attention to what people post, I just watch their avatars.

[–] waats1 8 years ago

It's called history, the lineage of your sure name, and DNA. My family is from PR, yes!.. but my roots come from Spain... BIG difference.. you talk about thing you nothing about... I did my research years ago.... the only one brainwashed is you

[–] waats1 8 years ago

I don't understand some ppl sometimes... lemmie guess, your gonna tell me something else about "roots" and research and DNA? Let's see what else you think I'm wrong about.

[–] waats1 8 years ago

The point is... you say Zoe or myself is not *Spanish*... and weather we were 'conquered' or not, people from spanish speaking countries or islands all have a bloodline that traces back to Spain... it's not self hating. It's accepting wat it is and appreciating everything that makes who you are. If anything your the self hater. Everything you replied back with try and segregate everything. So to me it doesn't matter if Zoe is, 4% white, PR, DR, Hatian, African, American, or Asian for that matter. It's a stupid controversy.

[–] C_Dubya 8 years ago

You poor thing.

[–] YakkityNYC 8 years ago

Following your logic, poor Charlize Theron must be so confused if reading here.

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You know it was a good day if you did not have to bite anyone.
Gus B., mini dachshund

[–] moviechick1010 8 years ago

Totally agree. And this attachment to the "black face" label is tired and inappropriate. So I say if Zoe catches heat for portraying Nina Simone then tell me why Octvaia Spencer and Taraji Henson should play the female mathematicians in the upcoming "Hidden Figures" because they look nothing like those light-skinned ladies.

[–] waats1 8 years ago

wow... your absolutely right... those women are practically pale... LMAO.
I think that film will do great though

[–] sukhkknight 8 years ago

Nina Simone was a strong opponent of the eurocentric ideals that were being put unto black women. Most famous women of color like Diana Ross had a lot of white features and Nina thought that very dark, afrocentric girls with a wide nose and big lips like her must be given a chance.

That you then take a very light-skinned latina, give her a wide prosthetic nose and dye her skin tone darker is basically an insult to what Nina Simone was saying.

So forget about racism, it's blasphemy towards Nina this.

[–] assumedkilla 8 years ago

I agree for the most part. Like I said in another thread, Zoe herself seems to identify more with Raven Symone than Nina Simone as far as her thinking - as in black when convenient, we're past race, and it doesn't matter anymore. So that's also a slap in the face to Nina just like a delusional, privileged actor playing Garvey or Malcolm X thinking that would be disrespectful to them.

If her makeup job looked decent I'd maybe see the argument for Zoe being picked, but it looks horrible. I think only a Zoe fanboy/fangirl or someone who's never seen a black person in real life would think that looks natural or real. As far as her background, she is a black Hispanic. I have no problem with that, but she's not proven to be a good/great actress and doesn't look the part.

To the OP, Spanish/Hispanic are not interchangeable words. Her being Spanish would mean she's from Spain. She is Hispanic - from a Spanish speaking country.

I never saved anything for the swim back.

[–] trojan_qt 8 years ago

Raven considers herself black. She just doesn't like the term African-American. That's all she said and everyone blew up. I agree with her. Just call me black or a black American. Call Charlize Theron African-American. She's actually from Africa! People need to let that go.

[–] assumedkilla 8 years ago

That's not what she said. The entire segment of that interview boiled down to "I'm just American (even though I hate all labels) - I identify with white, Asian, Indian, and black - I'm a melting pot". She can say that, it's her life, but it's funny how mixed stars get like this after they're established. I didn't hear Raven say she's only American and she's a "melting pot" when she was on black shows that made her career. The same goes for Zoe when she was playing Bernie Mac's daughter or in Drumline. If they had always said they're "colorless" or whatever then I'd respect them, but it goes back to "graduating" from black people to the mainstream. Also, she's an idiot in general. If you also agree with Raven on not hiring black people with "ghetto" names then shame on you.

I never saved anything for the swim back.

[–] itsbecauseimapanda 8 years ago

You americans are so racist. And simultaneously love to complain about racism. It's so funny.

[–] bigbagwolf 8 years ago

Exactly.

Nina Simone's appearance played a huge part in her career and life. The OP and the other people who don't understand this clearly are people who don't know much about Nina Simone or her career.

As I grow older, I pay less attention to what people post, I just watch their avatars.

[–] phydeos-532-204564 8 years ago

Just curious, is it that they used makeup and prostetics trying to match Zoe's look more to Nina or is it that she have the wrong skin-tone that is the issue?

[–] bigbagwolf 8 years ago

It's both. It's more about the prosthetics than the make up though.

Forest Whitaker used makeup to make himself look darker in TLKoS but that isn't a big deal because Idi Amin's appearance wasn't a very important factor in his life. In this case

-They've used makeup and prosthetics and it looks terrible.
-They've used makeup and prosthetics when they could have used a different actress
-Darker toned black women have a terrible opportunities in western cinema compared to lighter ones.
-The makers of the bio favoured an actress with less typical western african features to play Nina Simone. Nina herself was disfavoured by many (including lighter black people) because despite her talents, she had strong western african features.

The last point is the most important point. It is ironic that someone chose to make a biopic using the same obstacles Nina faced.

As I grow older, I pay less attention to what people post, I just watch their avatars.

[–] activista 8 years ago

@sukhkknight

That you then take a very light-skinned latina, give her a wide prosthetic nose and dye her skin tone darker is basically an insult to what Nina Simone was saying.

Uh,have you ever even seen Saldana in a movie? She is not "light-skinned" at all, and she's a black Latina woman who's always repped her pride in her blackness. The film is out, it's almost four years old, and people need to get the hell over the fact that's Saldana is playing her, and actually SEE the film to see if it's any good. If you don't like it after you see it., then cheack out a documentary with Nona herself called WHAT HAPPENED, MISS SIMONE? which is really excellent, BTW00it's also on Netflix.

[–] trojan_qt 8 years ago

I agree! This is stupid. First of all, Zoe IS a black woman. Her being Dominican/Puerto Rican (and HAITIAN, hello?!!) doesn't change that. There are black Latina women just like there are black women from other countries. It's not like she's a Selena Gomez or Jennifer Lopez kind of Latina. Now that would be blackface. She considers herself black. We, the black community, have always considered her black. Now everyone suddenly wants to renege? She's a black woman portraying a black woman. So what she has to wear makeup for it. BFD. I'd rather she play the role well than get a darker black actress who wouldn't play it as well.