Reply to “kept down by systemic racism,” Djimon Hounsou “struggles to make a living”

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think the wording is wrong - he struggles to get work probably, and to get paid an appropriate amount for the work he does get. Also, keep in mind that black actors often have additional expenses white actors don't have. I watched a roundtable panel of black actors talking about how there's no-one on crew who knows how to style black hair or can't do it without damaging it, and they often had to go to a nearby barber or salon that has stylists that can cater to black hair. That's an expense white people don't have.

But if you have $4M and can't figure out how to invest in a way to live off that interest, you're doing something wrong. Again, I don't think that's what he means. [/quote]

You really don't think they can't submit those expenses? Give me a break.[/quote]

DP and it's not just about the expense. Imagine having to leave a set and find a barber who can style your hair for a role, explain to them what is needed for the role, etc. Versus a white actor who can just pop over to the hair and makeup trailer and have someone who is an expert at doing this kind of thing for film do their hair without having to oversee the whole process. The white actor can run lines, focus on internal character work, get into the proper headspace for the scene. The black actor meanwhile is in an uber coming back from the barber worrying about being late and then criticized for not taking their job seriously even though they are going above and beyond to ensure they look right on film.

It's also a well known fact that black actors are often poorly lit in films and tv because a lot of lighting directors have insufficient understanding of how to light them. I remember Issa Rae talking about this and how they hired a lighting director with a lot of experience in this area an that's why all the black actors on Insecure looked so good. Imagine putting tons of effort into your acting and performance and then you see the movie and your facial expressions aren't as visible as those of the white actors because you are poorly lit? Or think about how that can impact your viability for a role that has neutral race casting in theory -- to what degree does the preference for lighting lighter skinned actors impact a director who just doesn't want to deal with the trouble of lighting someone with darker skin? Think about how stupid it is in 2025 that there would still be people claiming it's too hard to light an actor with dark skin on a movie. This is pure racism but it's also accepted in the industry like "oh yeah everyone knows it's really hard to light a black actor, should we hire Viola Davis for this?" It's idiocy.[/quote]

Why don't the actors put a proper barber into the contract?

Hollywood is definitely racist, but that one complaint seems like a very easy fix.

If they can write in specific requests down to a certain type of bottle water, surely rhey can write in a proper barber.[/quote]

Because when white people make less-typical requests, they're being unique and are serious about their craft. When black/brown people do it, they're being unreasonable divas.[/quote]

Like who? Who was called unreasonable for this?[/quote]

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