[Posted Jan. 9, 2008]

Hollywood Loves Those Good Black Actors in Dubious Roles

By Gregory Kane

BlackAmericaWeb.com

   About two weeks after I finally got to see Denzel Washington in “American Gangster,” I got to see Will Smith in “I Am Legend.” In my non-expert opinion, Smith gave a far better acting performance.
   So why is Washington nominated for a Golden Globe award for his portrayal of Harlem drug kingpin Frank Lucas, while Smith got snubbed in the voting?
    I’m not sure I like what the folks who are in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, who hand out the Golden Globe nominations and awards, are saying. The HFPA is exactly what its name says it is: A bunch of foreign journalists based in Hollywood. The HFPA Web site says the Golden Globe awards were designed to let their audience—the folks back in their home countries—know what is the best Hollywood has to offer.
   So, let me see if I’m clear about this: Washington’s portrayal of a low-life drug dealer like Lucas is considered the best Hollywood has to offer, while Smith’s portrayal of an Army scientist working diligently in his lab to find a cure for a disease that has wiped out most of mankind is an image of a black man the foreigners just aren’t feeling?
    Maybe I’m being too cynical or sensitive about this. The folks in Hollywood—those who hand out the Golden Globes and the Oscars—have changed over the last several years. They aren’t what they used to be, and thank heavens for that. Gone are the days when one black actor or actress—and one only —would be nominated. And then that black person was guaranteed not to win.
    And gone are the days when Hattie McDaniel had to proclaim she was “a credit to my race” after giving the fine but stereotypical, cringe-inducing performance of Mammy in “Gone With The Wind.”

   Still, I find Washington’s nomination and Smith’s lack of one, well, troubling—especially in light of what happened last year. A black actor was nominated and won for best actor in a drama.
Remember who it was? Forrest Whitaker.
Do you remember the film? “The Last King of Scotland.” Whitaker played the late Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, who led a murderous regime in which he killed thousands of Africans.
    So this year we have a black actor nominated who portrayed a murdering drug dealer. Last year, we had a black nominated who played a murdering despot—and won. Anyone notice a pattern?
    When Washington won his best actor Oscar in 2001 for playing a corrupt narcotics detective in “Training Day,” a lot of black folks groused about why he won for that particular role. I didn’t join the chorus; there are, indeed, corrupt cops who are black. Corruption knows no color line.
Halle Berry won her best actress Oscar the same year Washington did for her portrayal of a black woman who has an affair with a white corrections officer who was involved with executing her husband. Berry was also criticized for the role she played, and I felt that criticism was on much firmer ground. I haven’t met the woman of any race who’s going to expose her breasts to a man she barely knows and demand that he make her feel good immediately after the emotional trauma of losing a child to sudden death.
    But the back-to-back Golden Globe nominations of Whitaker and Washington warrant some scrutiny, especially considering the roles they played. I’m not saying Hollywood shouldn’t have made a film about Amin. But the man got his start murdering Africans in Kenya during the 1950s when, as a member of the King’s African Rifles, he helped put down the so-called Mau Mau rebellion.
How many Africans did the British murder in Kenya during those years? How many Africans did Amin kill? And why are there no films about it?
Lucas, with his drug dealing, directly or indirectly killed his fair share of black folks too. Films about black men like Amin and Lucas should be made; actors who portray them, if warranted, should be nominated for awards.
    But murdering despots and murdering drug dealers aren’t the only black men being portrayed in films. When an actor like Smith gives the kind of performance he gives in “I Am Legend”—being the only character on the screen for much of the film and pulling it off superbly—that should be recognized.
    The folks at the HFPA might not realize black men can be Army scientists, but black folks know better.
At least, I hope we do.

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